did you your money

LAHTI-SALORANTA M26 REVIEW, WITH FINNTROLL 1984 (MERCURY MAP BATTLEFIELD V) Name: Lahti-Saloranta M/26 (short LS-26) Designed: 1925 by Aimo Lahti & Arvo Saloranta Produced: 1930-1950 Number built: 6,200 Firing range: effective 400m Fire rate: 450-550 rpm The man who invented the KP/31 was also the creator of the LS-26: Aimo Lahti. He was helped by Arvo Saloranta for the LS-26 but this LMG was far from popular with the Finnish Army. Even though it was a reliable gun for decent gunmen, it was nicknamed 'kootut virheet', which means assorted mistakes. The gun was very heavy on the battlefield, was built from 188 parts and was therefor hard to clean but with a bit of oiling adapted to Winter, the gun was very reliable and accurate. Most guns used a 20-round box mag but also the LS-26-31 was invented and that one came with a 75-round drum magazine. The gun was used by the Finnish Army in the Winter War and the Lapland War but it also saw combat in the Second Sino-Japanese War. During the Winter War there were 2 squads in each platoon that provided covering fire for two 10-man rifle squads. Every squad had one LS-26 gunner plus assistant, while the rest all carried regular rifles. During both wars in Finloand between 1939 and 1945, the Finnish Army prefered the confiscated Fedorov-Degtyarev models from the Soviets to the LS-26. In Summer 1944, there were 9,000 Degtyarevs on the battlefield compared to 3,400 LS-26 machine guns.