Lahti-Saloranta LS-26: Finland's Domestic LMG
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- Опубликовано: 16 дек 2021
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The buildings of the rifle factory still exist: the main factory is office space now, and the worker housing has been renovated into apartments.
You can't miss those buildings if you are sitting on a train. The buildings are right next to the tracks and there's a huge KIVÄÄRITEHDAS (Rifle factory) sign on the wall.
@@danielescobar7618 Quite nice. The apartment buildings are bit bland imho, but the factory buildings themselves are very nice.
@@danielescobar7618 Typical 1920's factory architecture. Four to five storey buildings. Made of red bricks and big glass windows everywhere :D
That is incredibly cool. 100% would live there.
@@danielescobar7618 My girlfriend lives in one of these renovated apartments. Big windows and thicker concrete walls than I've ever seen anywhere before, something like 40cm thick. Also these peculiar wide "windowsills" made of concrete. The height of the room is something like 3m. But because of the old ventilation systems, it gets very cold during winter. The air intake is from the bathroom ceiling, so on cold days, the incoming air is nearly as cold as the outside, so when it's -20 degrees celsius it makes the toilet a bit... uncomfortable. :D
Even the army didn´t teach troops to clean the recoil spring, it was trained in the Civil Guards. So during the winter war soldiers issued with LS-26 had some issues with reliability, unless the soldier was lucky to be trained in the Civil Guards. I happen to know a war veteran who was a light machine gunner during the continuation war and according to him, with proper cleaning and maintenance LS-26 runs reliably. Biggest disadvantage comparing to the Soviet DP-27 is small magazine capacity. That´s biggest reason why he preferred DP-27.
THANKS FOR SHARING the information!
So all the people who ran it post war didn't maintain it properly either? While all DP-28's in existence were properly maintained? Ok, good to know. Thanks for the info.
@@TheArklyte DP does not need maintenance :) That thing has still record of least number of parts of any locked breech automatic weapon. LS was finicky, but doable in field with trained crew. 20 round mags, fed from bottom was the killer. ZBs for example also had 20 round mags, but from top feed, every mag change is 2+ seconds less fumbling. DP had 47rd mag (even some tank DPs in ground use with even higher capacity). LS served till the end of wars in 1945 on infantry units, there were just so much captured DPs that many units were capable of running solely with them.
War in north was many tines small unit clashes in middle of nowhere. If holders of recent battlefield, Finns tended to dump enemy weapons to some lake or swamp, but DPs were carried home even from distant wilderness. There was need to start domestic magazine production for them. Rarely enemy captures outnumber to such degree own standard issue in any class of weapons.
As a Finn I have to admit... the LS-26 kinda looks like how a kid would draw a gun. Funny looking magazine and bulky body.
Think about the Maxim gun. It's basically a cylindrical tube sticking out from the metal box with two handles
Looks like a kid's attempt at drawing an AK47 😂
In terms of disassembly, this is way easier than the WW1 BAR.
Could have been one of the factors on why this was adopted instead.
Must be important in the cold.
I'm guessing avoiding paying for a technical package is a larger part of it all.
@@SlavicCelery Also most countries prefer domestic guns as a point of pride
That and the BAR being chambered in 30.06 instead of 7.62x54R.
@@Razgriz85 To be fair, it got chambered in more than just 30-06.
Every serious gun collection needs a xylophone.
Ill make sure to get one, seriously I'm looking into it.
Exactly what I was thinking 😂
It is in fact not a xylophone but a range finder, based on audio. You fire your coaxial MG at your intended target and listen for the sound of the bullet(s) hitting - you then "play the range" until you get a similar note - then read the range of that particular metal bar.
And if you believe this explanation it will be a good idea to put milk and cookies out on the evening of the 24th.......
And a random robed dude ready to offer you a 'Gun Jesus Approval' scroll.
It's a combat xylophone
Ian discusses Finnish firearms as Marshal Mannerheim watches sternly over his shoulder.
Happy Friday!
The room exudes Finnish-ness.
It's a good finnish to the week.
Here's a vaguely interesting small piece of trivia: the city of Jyväskylä nowadays contains what was once the town/village of Tikkakoski, which, you guessed it, housed the weapons factory that built the Suomi KP-31s. Tikkakoski also houses what can be considered as the staff HQ for the Finnish Air Forces as well as the Air Forces Air War Academy.
Thanks for that
A friend of mine was doing his mandatory service in Tikkakoski as an airplane mechanic of some sort, but had to abort his service due to a health issue.
When I see Finnish gun, I arrive instantly
Everytime i see a Finnish gun, i "arrive" too...
Same
Me with Berettas
Your pfp defenitely suggests so....
Torille!
Nothing more terrifying than finely tuned handcrafted Glockenspiel.
I saw THAT on the wall as well!😊😊
The US M60 has a reputation for unreliability. I carried one for one field problem, I cleaned it every day, and it ran like a top. The other gunner in the platoon wasn't as fastidious and his pig had issues.
"Field problem" is probably the most interesting euphemism I have heard in awhile.
@@HarveyDangerLurker It's Old Army Speak for a field training exercise. What do you think it's a euphemism for?
From following discussions elsewhere, the age of a particular gun was also an issue. Soldiers who used new guns swore by it; those who got worn ones swore AT it...
@@petesheppard1709 Not really. This was the late '80s and all our pigs were Vietnam War era or older. User maintenance matters.
@@michaelhorning6014 I'm not military so yeah, don't know the lingo.
I have read that although Finnish soldiers generally preferred the looted DP-27 light machineguns, those that took good care of the LS-26 (which required more work and skill than keeping a DP-27 running) generally valued it highly.
At this point I feel I owe it to Ian to try my best to increase his engagement numbers as much as possible whenever a Finnish firearm video is posted. Please do the same, guys!
I am simple man. I see neat gun, I engage video! :)
Uncommon gun, but the complete parts sets were available in the US many years ago and they were very nice. It's a shame the guns get cut up but they make great example guns to see how everything works. The LS-26 was one of the more interesting parts sets I've owned since the barrel and entire locking system was still intact and only the boxy 'receiver' had been cut. Mocked up, the gun would still hand cycle and display fairly well.
How much do those go for today?
That definitely looks like a Finnish room
We need a video about that wall behind you Ian! Wow, what a masterpiece!!
Could be more guns on that rack than in the whole of Great Britain!
Still trying to figure out how the marching lyre factors in to a gun collection.
@@armorer94 me too, but I love it!
@@armorer94 It "might" be a WW2 one...
Damnit, Ian, you did it! You made a tie-in from a Finnish LMG to your book on the guns of Chinese warlords!
That's such a subtle plug, hat's off to you.
Someone claimed you can load the magazines up to 15 rounds without a tool, if you go rim first and rotate, like loading a Winchester 1895 without a clip. I don't have a LS magazine to hand, but if you got one I'd be interested to know how it goes.
Degtarev was developing guns for 20 years by the time he completed DP-27, so experience was definitely a major factor.
Based on all the WW2 history I've seen, in Russian designs the realities of mass production and achieving production numbers that actually matter always seemed to be kept in mind from the very beginning. Somehow it almost feels like the opposite of Finnish weapon design, which led to expensive guns slow to manufacture.
@@herrakaarme I think it matter for military that chose such design in the end, but for designers it was different. As you may know there were lots of competing designs in Soviet trials and Finland simply didn't have luxury to choose the best, as there simply was no internal competition.
@@rustem123ful A very good point.
The xylophone: the most forgotten weapon of them all
It was too dangerous to be remembered
Note also the puukko knives with aluminum sheaths behind Ian's left shoulder. Making knife sheaths out of metal from downed Russian airplanes was a popular hobby during the war.
Another early 20th century firearm that would make a good Star Wars blaster IMHO
Just because the prop department in the original movies were lazy and just took some old guns and put some random parts on them to make them look sci-fi instead of designing something new.
@@Immopimmo greatness may sometimes be born out of laziness
@@Immopimmo Or more like pragmatic? Why design something from the ground up when adding some greebles to existing firearms did the trick just as well? That not only worked well with the aesthetics Star Wars was going for (rugged, sort of gritty, foreign but something that looks like it was made to actually work), made blank firing props a breeze, and no doubt helped reduce the costs.
@@MosoKaiser Yeah, but nowadays you can't watch a single video on a 19th-20th century gun without some dumb star wars fan commenting on how it would make a great blaster. :p
Jeesus, that rifle is a beauty to behold. That upper. It's just an amazing bit of engineering.Thank you, Ian. Would've never seen that otherwise. Love me interlocking metal bits. Love me some good engineering.
As a patriotic fanboy of ZB26&co., this gun looks pretty solid, well designed and well made to me. I'm perfectly willing to accept that the bad reputation resulted from improper field prep - and as we know, initial negative impressions tend to stick, even once the issue is resolved.
There is a scene in the Finnish movie "Talvisota", in which a senior advices a rookie relieving him on the front line to clean the grease from his gun for reliability reasons
Would have loved to hear Ian's attempt at pronouncing Valtion Kivääritehdas, Jyväskylä!
Awesome work Ian, as always.
History of this LMG is like history of AK - talented self-taught armorer and supervising army engineer.
Lahti is so underrated as a designer. Going from this to the 34 is crazy fast development and he made i 20mm cannon on skis in the meantime. Legend.
It would certainly be interesting to know the *true* story of the AK development. But probably less inspirational than the official Soviet narrative.
@@GrumpyGremlin. It is still controversial, I don't have side in this battle
@@GrumpyGremlin. Russian small arms development was like that across the board, more or less. Designers openly collaborated with each other, so you'll see a lot iteration on existing ideas. I don't specifically know what ideas Kalashnikov contributed, but he absolutely did find the right iteration.
@@GrumpyGremlin. Ripped off? PSSH all creators borrow ...
This is the most unique firearm I’ve seen in a long time.
10/10 Background
Wating for Jari to stick his head in and say, "Why are you in my house? I thought you went home."
Ah! Jyväskylä, the town I was born in! Typical Finnish room deco right there, btw... I see that Ians hand/finger strength has increased considerably over the years disassembling/assembling all these guns. Struggling some in yesteryears, not so much anymore. Great exercise!
I would counter that "didn't get along that well", with sounds like they got along very well; they were Fin's. As proof, the military man helped push it all the way through military trials.
If you every meet two Fins, at the same time, who have been neighbors for decades, maybe you could introduce them to each other.
I look at the racks of rifles and SMGs in the background and become green with envy.
I'm eyeballing that xylophone, there has to be a story behind it.
Like Our Saviour has pointed out, Finland bought some of the FN BARs in what I can only assume was 7.62mmR. Thus the idea of "an indepedent nation should have its own small arms" mostly seems to explain this guns' existence.
I've always really loved the design of the LS for some odd, unexplainable reason.
You have a preference for broom/paddle shaped firearms suitable for clearing a field when you're up 💩 creek?
Wow. Of all the 'array of gun' backdrops we've seen you in this has to be the winner. Just glorious.
I wish you'd take a course on the subject at a university. I'd not only never miss a class, I'll be wide awake in all of them. You're a wonderful storyteller ( rather , a 'raconteur ' par excellence)
Especially when he combs out his hair and dons the velvet smoking jacket!
@@jamesellsworth9673 bang on!
Thanks Ian!
HEY, FORGOTTEN WEAPONS, HELLO!
I'm glad to have looked up this video after getting some of these mags to convert for use in my PSL. I thought I was doing something wrong when I could get more than single digit amount of cartridges before having to use some mechanical help.
love the videos and the history lesson is Fire Emoji. I saw the CZ97 video and it mentioned the CZ75 quite a bit. A dedicated video of the 75 would be awesome. its pretty iconic.
Definitely digging that background…👍🏾
"Political Bruhaha" should be an official historical term by now.
Nice to see that gun I liked it bf5 was super accurate there
When Ian walked into that room I picture a single tear running down the corner of his eye and a lump forming in his throat, a slight nervous tic developing in his left hand 😄. I'd definitely have made sure he was frisked leaving too 😄😄
Wonderful video, thanks a lot!
great videos! i want to see that Mosin Nagant carbine on the left next
Another one of our guns I've seen you shoot, yet not realising there wasn't a video about it until now.
I'd like to see a tour of the building you are in. Something tells me it's probably really cool.
Love that Mannerheim paint.
Thank you , Ian .
🐺
The profile of this LMG literally looks like what someone who can't draw well would draw a machine gun if they were just drawing one real quick. 😄
The VKT was founded for the purpose of making LS-26. After the war it came Valmet Tourula factory and it was closed in the 90s after Sako took over.
at some point he's going to take random parts off a bunch of different guns and frankenstein them together then play it off as some obscure Finnish gun and none of us will be the wiser
When your Dad insists you stay out of his room…this should be the reason why.
I love the look of this one, and I think the magazine's are gorgeous( looking)
Ian back again in probably the most Finnish gun room on earth
The LS-26 may have been superseded in front-line use by the KvKK 62 in the 1960's, but I remember still carrying an LS-26 on maneuvers in 1980. The coastal artillery had a bunch of old weapons still in stock for training and fortress defence; we also had Finnish model Mosin-Nagant rifles (that we were trained to disassemble and assemble -- including taking the bolt apart -- with a rucksack over our heads in under a minute) and Maxims, although our personal weapons were 7,62 RK 62's (Finnish AK's) and we did have KvKK's as well. But then some of our artillery dated back to 1905...
That is an amazing display room you are in
Aimo Lahti was the John Browning of Finnish weapon designing. He developed the Suomi KP/-31 SMG, the Lahti L-35 pistol and the Lahti L-39 Anti-Tank rifle, all of which would see lots of use during WW2. He also designed the Finnish modifications to the Maxim MG. Some of his more rare designs was the Sampo L-41 MMG which went through trials in the Finnish Army during the 1940s. The gun itself was air-cooled and belt fed machine gun and was capable of firing the 7,62/53R rounds 600-800 Rounds per minute. The Sampo was shelved after it had numerous problems while the gun was tested and only 35 examples were ever made.
Every time you release a video from this room, I want you to pull that glockenspiel down for a quick play.
A real christmas gift would to see that Xylophone be played :)
The whole thing has decently robust and satisfyingly machined parts and then a handle that looks like it was whittled by a cub scout.
What always puzzles me, is that if you are designing a support weapon for suppressive fire, why did everyone go with magazines instead of belts? Only the Germans seemed to understand that if a weapon is going to suppress then it needs a big damn belt of ammo. And they designed the MG34 and MG42 accordingly.
@Noel Emson I would argue outside of the Germans nobody did better with the idea of a light machine gun than the Soviets/Russians with the RPD. And later the PKM.
@@leepalmer1210 don't forget the DP
I'd say it comes down to LMG doctrine. As not every nation used their LMGs for suppression fire, the British for example used their Bren guns for much more targeted shooting.
Mobility. It´s suposed to be a light machine gun. Used on attack.
A MG34/MG42 is a worse light machine gun that a Bren in the ofensive roll.
It´s Heavier.
You can not shoulder fire it.
If you move with the weapon loaded, there are a lot more chances that the ammo get dirty or that the belt get tangled in something
If you move with the weapon unloaded, there are a significant delay since the moment you stop and the moment you start to fire.
The big advantage of mg34/42 it´s, compared with the tandem Vickers/Bren it´s that you have one MG for all the rols. Bus as a light machine gun, the Bren is better. And as a MedMg, the Vickers is better
The Germans had a metal stamping fetish suitable for making links on mass quantities but the other countries were still a bit more square and preferred box magazines?
Cool to see so many Finnish guns lately!
great vid
ian be sitting in the secret gun stash
Oh, I see the bunker Suomi machine gun on the rack !
It's so cursed, yet so beautiful
thank you
I suppose the sight offset is probably to help suggest you keep your face away from the charging handle, so you don't knock yourself in the face charging it from a shooting position
Not to mention that charging handle attaches and runs down the middle, kinda blocking the sites in the center.. Looks to be more of an afterthought
That is some interesting design and engineering
What a awesome gun room
"Do not disassemble the back end to clean." Sounds a lot like what US troops were told about the M16 in the 1960s during the Vietnam War.
I waited till I got to my friends house to watch this so I could put it on their fancy telly and stand right up close to get a good look at that wall 🤣🔥
My grand father was using Lahti in both Finnish war's. He kept the bolt inside he's jacket until he had to use it, during winter time.
Both? You mean the first 2 between 1939 and 1945.
I'm too amused by the RUclips auto-captions rendering Lahti as latte.
7,63 Pk 26 (=LS 26) was not taken out of service in 1960's. I have shot and disassembled/assembled these guns during my national conscript service in late 1970s. Very nice and stable gun for single shots, the empty cases are flying out very fast and forcefully. While firing guns laying on the ground at the shootnig range next to other gunners those empty cases really hit you on your left leg on about knee level. LS was nobodys favorite during battle trainig manovers in the woods - heavy and long. It was said that private X's (a light machinegunner) worst enemies were Lahti and Saloranta. Luckily it was not me who carried this weapon... The light machine gunner was supposed to have a small nail in his pocket in case a cartridge does not go all way the in the chamber. If you took the gun apart, striker would strike and the gun would explode. You must open the top cover and insert the nail in a hole inside to lock the parts. There were special (yellow painted) blank fire barrels for these guns, they usually did not fire blanks on full auto even whit these yellow barrels - or just two-three cartridges burst.
So for about 4 to 2 years this gun was word's best LMG until other LMG's started appearing.
Another wonderful video from gun Jesus!!
Now THAT is a proper collection
Nice room!
Ah yes, LS-26 is what the Warhammer 40k's Bolter gun resembles the most in real life.
5:48 They might be planning to use optics on this gun with iron sight as a backup.
What a gun nut's basement looks like in Finland.
Question about Finnish military organization & doctrine - based on what Ian said about how the first soldiers issued the lmg didn't know to clean out the packing grease, it leads me to believe there wasn't an intermediary who would have prepped the gun for use. Did they not have armorers as we know them today? Can someone with more knowledge of the Finnish military during the Winter War/Continuation War explain the organizational setup?
I always wanted to modify a VEPR rifle in 54r to use Lahti magazines for some reason.
I wonder if that "accelerator" would be better described as a "decelerator" for the barrel and extension? Build the geometry right and it would *significantly* reduce the impact forces when that big mass comes to a stop by smoothly transferring the motion into the bolt.
Damnit, I really wanted to hear you pronounce Jyväskylä
I like that wall
Maybe the sights are offset to try to avoid being stabbed in the brain by that long extension when the bolt reciprocates?
How does a bad gun get chosen? 'You should see the others...'
That handle though.
now get finlands wild rabid LMG
Looks like they moved the sites to the side because the charging handle runs down the view of the center. Seems like an afterthought
'they didn't get along'
Sounds like the fresh out of school engineer had a chip on his shoulder and looked down upon the degreeless, but very talented designer.
Seen it before.... Several times
Just as likely Lahti had the chip on his shoulder.
So I'm gonna guess the recoil assembly got stuck during retraction and just stayed like that until it was opened and bumped forward. I wonder if someone just said forget the recoil assembly and connected something like a bed spring to the charging handle and heat shield
Sight offset is to make the gun more user friendly with fur-hat, steel helmet and snowgamos hood on while operating the gun...!!!😅👌
Holy crap this guy has a lotta cool stuff.
If possible, please tell us from where you are broadcasting. They display behind you is amazing.
Finally seeing this 🙏🏻
That looks like a kid's drawing of an MG.