Suomi M-31

Suomi M-31
general information
Military designation:	Suomi M31
Development year:	from 1922
Manufacturer country:	Finland
Production time:	1931 to 1953
Weapon Category:	Submachine gun
Furnishing
Overall length:	870 mm
Weight: (unloaded)	4.5 kg
Barrel length :	314 mm
Technical specifications
Caliber :	9 × 19 mm (or 7.65 × 21 mm )
Possible magazine fillings :	70 rounds with drum magazine ; 20, 36, 40, 50 cartridges
Ammunition supply :	Bar or drum magazine
Cadence :	900 rounds / min
Number of trains :	6th
Twist :	right
Charging principle:	Recoil loader
Lists on the subject

The Suomi-konepistooli KP / -31 (Finland submachine gun KP / -31) was developed by the Finnish weapons designer Aimo Lahti (1896–1970), produced by the Tikkakoski company and taken up in 1931 by the Finnish army . It was a further development of the prototype M / -22 and the KP / -26 models. The Suomi-konepistooli KP / -31 is also simply referred to as the Suomi KP / -31 . The Suomi KP / -31 is considered to be one of the best submachine guns of World War II . Tikkakoski had built it around 80,000 times by 1953, with almost 60,000 more in Sweden , Switzerland and Denmark .

The weapon was used successfully in large numbers for the first time during the Finnish-Soviet winter war of 1939/40. Although production began as early as 1931, the Finnish Army only owned around 4,000 KP / -31 submachine guns at the beginning of the Winter War. 730 more were made during the Winter War. The weapons were used very effectively by the Finnish sniper Simo Häyhä , who is said to have killed over 200 Soviet soldiers with them. Convinced of the value of this submachine gun, Tikkakoski produced a further 56,117 copies for the Finnish army and between 9,000 and 15,000 for neutral and allied states by the end of the war. Finland gave as a member of the Axis powers in Bulgaria (at least 505 copies), Croatia (at least 500) and Germany (3042). The KP / -31 was mainly used by the Waffen SS . Before the start of the Second World War, Tikkakoski delivered to Estonia (485), Poland (20), Iran (at least 2) and Spain (approx. 500).

In Sweden the submachine gun was first manufactured under the designation M / 37 by the Husqvarna company in caliber 9x20 Browning ; so it matched the service pistol of the Swedish army at the time, the FN 1903 . Sweden later replaced these pistols with the Walther HP (the forerunner of the Walther P38 / P1) and the Finnish Lahti L-35 , both in the more powerful 9x19 Parabellum caliber . Accordingly, this submachine gun was also built in the 9x19 caliber under the name M37-39. Compared to the Finnish version, the M37-39 was only 77 cm long and weighed 3.9 kg (loaded 4.9 kg). Husqvarna built around 35,000 submachine guns for its own army; Copies were also sold to Norway , Denmark , Indonesia and Egypt .

Denmark bought 31 KP / -31 from Tikkakoski in 1941 and began to have copies made under license by the companies Dansk Rekylriffel Syndikat and Hovea under the designation M / 41. By the time the Danish army was disarmed by the Wehrmacht in October 1943, a further 1,400 submachine guns had been completed.

In 1942, 5,200 Suomi submachine guns were introduced in Switzerland and used under the designation Mp. 43 . On the 22.468 Mp. 43/44 , later manufactured under license from Hispano-Suiza , the front end of the barrel jacket was vertical, the barrel protruded, a bayonet mount was attached to the bottom of the barrel jacket, which allowed the carabiner 31 bayonet to be attached . Only the four-row 50-round rod magazine was used as the magazine. In Switzerland, soldiers of the medical troops were trained on the Suomi submachine gun until the 1980s.