I have been doing a bunch of filming with this Finnish collector, who has been very generous with his time and giving me access. He thought it would be fun to show folks a full tour of the collection he has assembled, and I though that would be a fine idea! So enjoy – this is the sort of fantastic historical collection that many people do not realize can still exist in private hands in Finland.
General Purpose MGs
Finland’s Prototype Belt-Fed GPMG: L41 Sampo
During the 1930s, there was interest in Finland in replacing the Maxim heavy machine gun with something handier and more mobile. There were experiments with large drum magazines for the LS-26 light machine gun, but […]
Commentary
Dr. Jackson Crawford’s Thoughts on Finnish Brutality 2022
I am very happy to have had the chance to introduce my friend Dr. Jackson Crawford to Brutality matches this year, at Finnish Brutality 2022. I thought we should take a few minutes to sit […]
Heavy MGs
Soviet DS-39 Heavy Machine Gun at the Range
The DS-39 is an air-cooled heavy machine gun designed by Degtyarev, which was intended to replace the 1910 Maxim as the standard Soviet HMG. It was lighter and more mobile than the Maxim, and also […]
I was searching my very limited vocabulary for the most intelligent comment on this video and came up with… HOLY FREAKING Cow! Wonderful collection sir.
Thank you Ian. It is always good to know that there are mechanisms for other country’s collectors, enthusiasts and shooters to own guns beyond a single shot, bolt action. I know that EU rulings have started to creep in to displace some of those sovereign laws, but hopefully Finland will hang tough.
Oh yeah…and…
HOLY FREAKING Cow!
created to David+Wallace lol
Man that dude is my hero, very nice collection
Wow. I mean, just wow.
Did I say wow?
Wow.
This collection really deserves a catalogue. I wonder if Headstamp Publishing would find a market for a book that is basically this collection?
Svastika is actually the symbol of the greek god Apollo, god of music and light.As many other gods, he was ‘borrowed’ from the middle east. Hitler copied it on the wrong side !
Not totally correct. Yes the cult of Apollon used the symbol, so did and still do hindus and bhuddists and other religious groups. Sometimes in heraldry angeled or crooked crosses are used simply to differantiate the coat of arms from other coats of arms with crosses. The vikings used the sunwheel. Mosaics and paintings used a similar pattern for decorations. Even in the Americas it was used despite being disconnected form the rest of the world for most of history… The list goes on and on.
Actually the Finnish Air Force still uses the crooked cross on flags and such, but has discontinued using it on the aircraft roundel for obvious reasons. And the army stopped painting it on its tanks.
This collection needs a photo book!
The Finns did get the swastika from the Swedish count von Rosen, who presented the government ( white ) troops with their first airplane and von Rosen had painted his good luck symbol on it, ie a swastika, thus it came into Finnish use. It is still used by the air force, on the flag of The President and on different medals. The current roundel used by the Finns is the same they had been wearing on their caps from the beginning of independence.
“(…)still used by the air force(…)”
Swastika was removed from Suomen ilmavoimat logo in 2017
https://www.dw.com/en/finlands-air-force-removes-the-swastika-from-logo-after-almost-a-century/a-54020470
Also Latvia used same symbol but in different color long before it was adopted by NSDAP, see https://www.fotw.info/flags/lv%5Eair.html
Said symbol was also used by Finnish Lotta Svärd, which was WW2 female service which did collected bodies of fallen soldiers, which were then sent back to next-of-kin for identification (I do not know regulation back then, but apparently dog tag was not enough under then active Finnish laws).
The Finnish air force stopped using the swastika symbol on its aircraft after WW2, using a blue and white roundel in its place. https://www.airplane-pictures.net/photo/135223/gn-106-finland-air-force-folland-gnat-f-1/ Some Finnish air force units continued to use the old symbol, as noted by Daaweo. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53249645
I stand corrected. Huh, quietly dropping it is a pretty weak move. But then tradition is not in the zeitgeist.
Fabulous collection, most likely impossible to create anew today. The back history of it’s growth is a story for another day. Now the question facing is that all collectors are human, and some day the challenge will be to properly dispose of this massive piece of military history. Only a museum could afford to obtain and maintain. Piecing it out to a few here and a few there would be a criminal act towards military history.
I wanted at least a quick look at that garland OF puukkot. The scabbards look like soldiers’ projects from WW2. Anything to pass the time behind the front.
Wonderful collection – the only sad thing is that such truly marvelous engineering was used to kill people.
Everyone stay safe and sane.
A HUGE thanks to the collector, both for generously opening his doors to you but even more so for preserving so many interesting bits of history. Thank you sir!
Is there anything better than a rack of old rifles and a stack of old books? Thank you for sharing.
So many interesting handguns- videos of the rarest ones would be marvelous and worth the time.
Does he have: Finnih marked Artillery luger Finn marked M1911 Russian contract ulaani carbine? ]Those you can film at my house LOL
if one has the cash rateher a house and all one can get a collectors license in germany, too. but NOTHING close to this! the beltfeds alone would be SO illegal, keep momorbilia with certain symbols and authorities would see that as ones political orientation lets say… heck we ain’t even allowed NORMAL cap mags here no more damned (nothing to do with collections though)… think I move to finland. niiiiiice room! keeps those well oiled!
I’m a little surprised that there was only one L-35 Lahti pistol in this otherwise extensive collection.
As always, a great learning experience.
Yeah, they’re still pretty lenient towards gun collectors. But in other regards you don’t want to live in Finland. Especially if you live in the US. The nanny state is already going strong and the EU has its own sinister plans.
“What is a Russian general in Finland” (C)
There were a few, but not many.
For example, Konstantin Holthoer is similar.
https://snappygoat.com/b/df202f24dce01da4b84c9673f6c247d066a26c7f
I think you can try to deal with his awards.