Lahti pistol question?

[lonegunman]

My dad gave me a Lahti pistol before he passed away a couple of years ago. It is minty and would probably go 98% or so and has a holster and extra mags as well. The only out of the ordinary mark is on the rear of the frame. It has a crown with the letters "HV" underneath it. It has a discreet import mark on the frame under the barrel. I'm not sure if they all had them but it has a shoulder stock notch on the frame and the s/n is in the D 94XX range.

Any information on the guns history and maybe value would be awesome. Is is safe to shoot?

[JTV]

HV = Army of Denmark. If in good mechanical condition should ok to shoot, but stay off from any hot surplus ammunition made for submachine guns. If you plan shooting it a lot try to find ammunition that is mild (I have seen Winchester white box mentioned as such, but no personal experience, since apparently not available on this side of the pond). Slide is the weak point of the design in both Finnish L-35 and Swedish M40. When these break, it's always the slide that cracks first - design flaw with possible problems with quality of steel or its heat-treatment. Unfortunately no idea about the value on that side of the Atlantic - hopefully some-one can help with that. I also recommend replacing recoil spring before shooting, if this has not been done for a while (Wolff makes replacement spring). Some recommended reading: http://www.gotavapen.se/gota/m40/pist40_1.htm

Jarkko

[lonegunman]

Thank you for the link it was very helpful. I'm guessing from the condition of my gun the danes did not get much use out of it before they sold it.

[tacfoley2]

Before the ban, I had one of each - the real deal Finnish Lahti and the Husqvarna version. I shot them both a LOT, as they were the only ones I had ever seen here in UK and they attracted a lot of attention from fellow shooters. The DAG 124gr ammuntion was great to shoot in both guns, and since I was a 'minor unit' all by myself, I had 27500 rounds of the stuff issued to me every year.... As such it was not worth me buying or reloading for them or any other of the numerous 9mm pistols I had at that time, except my Lugers. My only FTF were when using the lighter 115gr bullet, particularly in the Lahti, which had a somewhat stiffer action - maybe because of the bolt accelerator that was absent on the M40. Jarkko's point about the slide being a weak spot seems to be a failing in the Swedish version, rather than the original Finnish pistol which always seems to me to be a better item all round from the actual manufacturing POV.

Both are now long gone, but I have fond memories of beating Swedes and Finns with their own guns when I was based in Cyprus.

tac
Supporter of the Cape Meares Lighthouse Restoration Fund