Finnish Issue From Other Nations

Carcano M1938 Carbine

Swedish M94 Carbine & M96 Rifle

Imperial Russian M95 Winchester & Japanese T-30

1914 Mauser & Czech CZ24 Pistol

Foreign Weapons In Finnish Service

M1938 Carcano

In 1940 Italy sent 94,500* Model 1938 Carcano Carbines to Finland. These were in 7.35mm caliber. It is thought these were issued to rear guard and artillery troops, but I know of one photo that shows a Finn 12 miles from Leningrad carrying a Carcano. The bayonets and slings were also SA marked. These are now in the US surplus market and are priced in the same range as most other M38’s. The Carcano is underrated as a weapon, as I have found them to be very good shooters. A neat little weapon with some Finnish history that can be found at a great price in most cases.

SA Marking M38 Carcano

*Rifles Of The White Death, by Doug Bowser.

Swedish Mauser M94 Carbine & M96 Rifle

During the Winter War 77,000* Swede M96 Mausers were sold to the Finns by Sweden. Also during the Winter War Sweden sent 8,000 volunteers to help in the defense of Finland. These troops , for the most part, were armed with the M96 rifle and these were left in Finland after the fighting. This added another 7,000, or so, M96's in Finnish hands in 1940. 

There were only 250 of the Swedish M94 Carbines sent to Finland as they were carried by Swedish volunteer mounted units.  These carbines were also left in Finland and were SA marked.  The low number of these carbines make them one of the most uncommon of Finnish issued weapons.

Winchester M95 & Type 30

The Finns also made use of the Winchester  M95 and the Japanese Type 30.  Both of these firearms were captured in the Finnish Civil War of 1918 when the Soviet arsenals were taken.  These are very uncommon and many times will have markings of the Finnish Civil Guard.

M1914 Mauser and Czech CZ24

Photos and text from Tuco of Mosin-Nagant Dot Net

The Mauser 1914 first made a wide appearance in Finland after WW1 as many were imported from Germany.  Many of these imports were not for Finnish military service as most of these were bought by private individuals for personal use.  Those that were in Finnish service were used in the same manner as the Germans, which was a backup pocket pistol for officers (higher ranking officers in most cases).  These were carried both by Army and Civil Guard members, with the Civil Guard in many cases carrying their own personal pistol.   In 1939-44 there was another small batch of these imported which were issued to a number of secondary troops.   As it was such a small caliber it was not deemed a true front line pistol.   Markku Palokangas states there were 500 of these in stock after WW2 and most were sold off as surplus 1965-71.

According to Palokangas the fine Czech made CZ24 pistols in Finnish service were bought in 1940 from Germany.  The Finns purchased 3,300 pistols at that time.  The CZ24 was well liked by troops and was indeed a front line issue weapon, used by a number of officers and other soldiers whose TOE included the issue of pistols.  As these saw a bit of service by 1951 there were less than 1,700 left in Finnish stocks.  These were used as late as 1986 as a training weapon and police handgun.