Can somebody educate me on Finnish AKs and AK variants? [Archive]

Jippo

02-23-12, 08:50

Finnish guns have been mad in various configurations. Mostly in 7.62x39 but also in .308win and .223 Rem. Rifles were imported to USA before the ban, and most of the imported guns were in .223. These guns are known as Valmets in the US due to the original manufacturer. I believe no guns were ever made in 5.45x39. What you will find in the US is a 30 year old gun, most likely .223 caliber, which will cost you an arm and leg due to collectibility

Manufacturing of these guns was bought by Sako (these days known for hunting rifles and the sniper gun the TRG which was one of the first guns designed for the .338 Lapua magnum). Manufacture finally ended in the 90's when the Finnish defence forces discontinued their orders.

Israeli Galil is a development of the Finnish rifle with first guns built partly from Finnish parts. I believe Finns took part in many ways when the Israelis were putting up their production lines. Because of this many Galil spares will work with the Finnish rifles, and vice versa. Also some improvements to the original made by the Israelis were copied to later Sako built rifles known as M92S (civilian model) and RK95 (FDF model). In many areas Valmets are not compatible with "real" AK parts even though some parts will fit either directly or with minor fitting.

In my experience the weapon function is not affected by the installation of the suppressor. It will run with normal ammunition suppressed just the same as without the can. Additionally it will function with sub-sonic cartridges in 7.62x39 caliber. On newer Sako models installition of suppressor is straightforward as the factory flashider has internal threads for installation. Older models require the three-prong flashhider to be removed before installation. Concentricity of threads will not cause problems with these guns.

Accuracy wise one should be able to get below 1.5MOA with good ammunition with most if not all of the guns from machine rest. FDF uses ammunition loaded by Lapua or Sako with 123grs FMJ. I believe this round was copied by the Yugoslavs as the M67.

Reliability is similar to any good AK. It might be slightly worse than say a nice AKM as it has less play in the moving parts. But this becomes very academic as it is very difficult to get these guns to malfunction. Also a big thing in this equation is the magazine, which IMHO is a very good one. Finns were pioneering the modern polymer mag in the 90's and created a light but extremely durable magazine. In nearly two decades in and out of service I have seen exactly one magazine that was broken and was causing malfunctions. There are prototypes of these mags in the market which can be recognised by their green color and they are not as good as the lack some of the reinforcements of the final version.

Ps. Few external links:
http://www.valmetweapons.com/
http://www.ar15.com/forums/f_4/92_Galil_andamp__Valmet_Discussions.html
http://world.guns.ru/assault/fi/valmet-sako-rk62--76--95-e.html