MACHINE GUNS
During the early years the Finns used the Maxim Model 09, Maxim Model 21, and the Maxim Model 09-32, all chambered for the 7.62mm cartridge.
Lahti Saloranta Model 26
Designed and built as a light machine gun this model was chambered for the 7.62mm rimmed cartridge. Fitted with a 20-round box magazine or a 75-round drum magazine. The rate of fire was about 500 rounds per minute. Weight is approximately 23 lbs. This gun was also chambered for the 7.92mm cartridge for sale to the Chinese prior to WWII.
Pre-1968
| Exc. | V.G. | Fair |
| Too Rare To Price |
Valmet M62 (AK)
First introduced in 1962, this assault rifle is chambered for the 7.62x39mm cartridge. Fitted with a 16.5" barrel. Plastic forend with single strut butt. Thirty-round magazine. Rate of fire is about 650 rounds per minute. Weight is about 9 lbs.
Model 62 • Courtesy Blake Stevens, Kalashnikov: Arms and the Man, Ezell
Pre-1968
| Exc. | V.G. | Fair |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
Pre-1986 conversions of semi-automatic version
| Exc. | V.G. | Fair |
| 12000 | 9500 | N/A |
Valmet M78
This model is a heavy-barrel version of the Valmet M76. Barrel length is 18.75". It is offered in 7.62x39mm and 5.56x45mm calibers as well as few in 7.62 NATO. Marked “VALMET Jyvaskyla M78” on the right side of the receiver. Rate of fire is about 650 rounds per minute and magazine capacity is 15 or 30 rounds. Weight is about 10.3 lbs. Produced from 1978 to 1986.
Courtesy private NFA collection
Pre-1968
| Exc. | V.G. | Fair |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
Pre-1986 conversions of semi-automatic version
| Exc. | V.G. | Fair |
| 12500 | 9500 | N/A |
NOTE: For guns chambered for 7.62x39 add 20 percent.
FRANCE
French Military Conflicts, 1870-Present
With the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, 1870-1871, Napoleon III was ousted and the Third Republic established. France was involved in overseas colonial expansion in North Africa and Indochina. The French army bore the brunt of heavy fighting during World War I. During the war, France had 8,600,000 men under arms, of which 5,714,000 were killed or wounded, a casualty rate of 66 percent. France surrendered to Germany in 1940 and was occupied by German troops. In unoccupied France the Vichy government was headed by Marshall Petain. General Charles de Gaulle led the Free French government in exile. In the summer of 1944 the allied armies drove the German troops out of France, and when the end of the war came in 1945 a Fourth Republic was formed in 1946. The French Army received a stunning defeat in Indochina at Dien Bien Phu (1954) and other elements of the French military were busy in Algeria in that country’s war for independence against France. In 1958 Charles de Gaulle returned to power to lead the Fifth Republic and attempted to restore French world prestige. France was involved with the U.S. in Desert Storm in Kuwait as well as a NATO member in various “peacekeeping” ventures.
HANDGUNS
NOTE: At the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War the French military purchased a large number of revolvers from Colt, Remington, and Starr. These revolvers were percussion arms.
Bibliographical Note: For additional historical information, technical data, and photos, see Eugene Medlin and Jean Huon, Military Handguns of France, 1858-1958, Excalibur Publications, 1993.
Model 1870 Navy (Navy Contract)
This 6-shot solid-frame fixed-cylinder revolver uses a mechanical ejection system. Chambered for the 11mm cartridge and fitted with a 4.7" round barrel. Smooth wooden grips with lanyard loop. Adopted by the French navy in 1870 and remained in service until 1900. Built by the French firm “LEFAUCHEUX” in Paris. Marked “E LEFAUCHEUX” on the top of the frame, and on the right side “BVT. S.G.D.G. PARIS” with a naval anchor on the butt cap of the grip. This revolver was the first centerfire handgun to be adopted by any nation’s military. About 6,000 revolvers were built under contract.
A modified version of this pistol was built by the French arsenal at St. Etienne (MAS) designated the Model 1870N. About 4,000 of these revolvers were produced and are marked, “MODEL 1870” on the top strap and “MODIFIE N” on the right side of the sighting groove. The military arsenal proof of MAS is on the cylinder and the underside of the barrel.
Revolvers fitted with military extractors have the extractor located along the barrel while civilian revolvers have the extractor located offset from the barrel.
Military Extractor
Courtesy Geschichte und Technik der europaischen Militarrevolver,
Journal-Verlag Schwend GmbH with permission
Model
