World War II Database

Country of Origin	Finland
Type	Machine Gun
Caliber	7.620 mm
Capacity	20 rounds
Length	1.109 m
Barrel Length	500.000 mm
Weight	9.300 kg
Rate of Fire	500 rounds/min
Range	400.000 m
Muzzle Velocity	800 m/s

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseThe Lahti-Saloranta M/26 (LS/26) light machine gun design was originally designed by Aimo Lahti and Avro Saloranta in 1925. Later in the same year, it was selected as the Finnish Army's standard light machine gun. Production began in 1927 at the Valtion kivääritehdas factory in Finland. In 1937, China placed an order for 30,000 weapons, but only 1,200 were actually delivered, largely due to German and Japanese diplomatic pressure. Finnish troops found them to be too complex for cleaning and field stripping purposes; despite of their accuracy, they were often stockpiled, the front line machine gun crews preferring to use crude but reliable captured Soviet machine guns such as the Degtyaryov Pekhotny "DP" machine guns. Production for the LS/26 light machine gun design ended in 1942; by that time, more than 5,000 were built. By the summer of 1944, 3,400 were still in operational status.

Although designs exist for both 20-round and 75-round magazines for this weapon, the Finnish Army used the 20-round box magazine variant almost exclusively.

Source: Wikipedia ww2dbase

Last Major Revision: Jan 2012

Photographs

See all 3 photographs of Lahti-Saloranta M/26 Machine Gun

Did you enjoy this article or find this article helpful? If so, please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 per month will go a long way! Thank you. Share this article with your friends:  Facebook  Reddit  Twitter Stay updated with WW2DB:  RSS Feeds

Posting Your Comments on this Topic

Your Name
Your Email
	Your email will not be published
Comment Type	General comment/question Additional information about this page Looking for more information on this topic Looking for information about my relative
Your Comments
	Submit

Notes:

1. We hope that visitor conversations at WW2DB will be constructive and thought-provoking. Please refrain from using strong language. HTML tags are not allowed. Your IP address will be tracked even if you remain anonymous. WW2DB site administrators reserve the right to moderate, censor, and/or remove any comment. All comment submissions will become the property of WW2DB.

2. For inquiries about military records for members of the World War II armed forces, please see our FAQ.