Comments by "peabase" (@peabase) on "Forgotten Weapons" channel.

  1. It was more common to shoot at bunker ports with phosphorous rounds. Anyone splattered by the phosphor was in for a very long hospital stay.
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  2.  @catalinxnecula  Aggressive expansion of NATO? Defensive expansion more like. Finland is a case in point. For decades, NATO membership was considered optional. This much-vaunted "NATO option" was only to be exercised in case relations with Russia took another turn for the worse -- which they certainly did when Russia invaded Ukraine. It's interesting that it's the Finnish populace that has been energetically pushing for NATO membership, whereas some of our MPs would like to proceed slowly, but they're starting to feel their seats getting wobbly. Perhaps you should put your money where your mouth is and start pushing for the UK to leave NATO. Brexit worked wonders, didn't it?
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  3. I briefly served as a Finnish conscript in Taistelukoulu, a training centre for officers, in the eighties. A major had us conscripts test all manner of assault rifles and relate our experiences. I immediately took to the AR pattern. We even had a rare 7.62x39 version of the M16. The thinking was that the Soviet cartridge was better suited for Finland's heavily forested environment, where a twig would supposedly send a 5.56 tumbling.
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  4. In Finland's case, these were not Arisakas, but Swiss Vetterlis, or as the Finns called them, Graftons, after SS John Grafton, the ship that brought them in. Some of my then-living relatives were involved in unloading and/or transporting the rifles. They probably 'borrowed' a few for moose hunting, judging from old pictures.
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  5. Linus Fahlcrantz Dutch army instructors warned us that the FAL transformed itself into a light anti-aircraft weapon when used in full auto mode.
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  6. The prize for the silliest name for a weapon type goes to Sweden. The literal translation of "machine gun" in Swedish is "bullet sprayer".
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  7. +Ford Prefect There are plenty of indigenous designs that have stood the test of time. The Suomi submachine gun and the Lahti pistol come to mind, and more recently, the Sako TRG has proven its worth.
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  8. +Bundeswehr des Vaterlands Finnish is a language in its own right; nothing pseudo about it. It's German and the Slavic languages that are related.
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  9. Here in Finland, you're very innocent till you're proven guilty.
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  10.  @Stevarooni  Ian mentions it in the video. Not grass, but snow.
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  11.  @youngmasterzhi  It's "bullet sprayer", when literally translated from Swedish to English. My great-grandfather told my father how the Reds smashed his rifle butt with a "bullet sprayer" but missed him. We still have the Winchester 1895 in the family -- with great gramps' DIY buttstock.
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  12. +Neil Mckay That's a very poor impersonation. Finnish is nothing like German.
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  13.  @kutter_ttl6786  Ian is way ahead of you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xovdRJYg_-o
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  14. It's pretty common. My grandfather had an Ukko-Mauseri and so did my godfather. My granddad never explained how we came to own his, but we have our theories. After the war, he was briefly held in custody on suspicion of illegally caching weapons in the event of a Soviet occupation. It must be true, because he kept a box of hot 9mm SMG ammunition -- too hot to handle for the C96 -- till the day he died, suggesting there's still a private cache somewhere out there with a Suomi SMG in it.
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  15. When the mosquitos reappear, I let the first ones enjoy their blood meals in peace so as to build up resistance. Afterwards, when you get the inevitable bites, you don't get the itchy bumps.
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  16. *Varusteleka Särmä Windproof Smock. Thanks for the tip about the price rise, since I have to get another. I gave mine to Ukraine.
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  17.  @rocknepoovey4381  That's just utter nonsense. Finnish Lottas didn't see any combat.
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  18.  @mitamajr  The 7.62 is inherently more stable in flight that the 5.56. I've experienced myself how the soft-nosed .308 splatters when it hits a twig on elk hunts (that's moose hunt for the New Worlders), but that's not exactly applicable to combat.
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  19. The RK62s with stamped receivers are kept in storage, because otherwise Finnish conscripts would abuse the hell out of them.
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  20.  @thekillers1stfan  Russian soldiers carry a knife. The same goes for the Finns, whose RK62 served as the intermediary step towards the Galil. If you have a knife, there's no need for a bottle opener.
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  21.  @davidcox3076  We can tell from the type of snow how cold it is. This isn't cold. When it's powdery, it's getting nippy.
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  22. It's interesting that Finland could spare the manufacturing capacity to export the Suomi to Switzerland, considering it was at war at the time and the Suomi KP was perpetually in short supply.
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  23. In Finland, we used to call all handguns 'prouninki' after John Moses Browning. My grandfather brought along a Colt revolver when he returned from America. He always referred to it as his prouninki. Likewise, my uncle brought back a Soviet Nagant from the front. Another prouninki.
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  24. My granddad left us a wooden box full of 9mm SMG ammo. It's a mystery why he kept the box, and if he had an SMG stashed away somewhere.
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  25. A lot of Finnish reservists have one as a keepsake. It was tradition that when our service period was coming to an end, we'd "lose" the bayonet. Of course, we had pay for it, but the replacement cost was quite reasonable.
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  26.  @travishabursky4362  Finland isn't known for high industrial output, you say? Finland's Nokia has produced more cell phones than any other brand. Just saying.
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  27. It did come to fruition, but only in 1918. My great-grandfather took part in what eventually came to be called the Finnish Civil War, although my grandparents always referred to it as 'revolution' or 'rebellion'. The story goes that he went to war carrying one of these Vetterlis -- no doubt salvaged from the shipwrecked SS Grafton -- but came back with a Winchester Model 1895, which he had personally liberated from a Russian soldier. We still have it in the family.
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  28. You're preaching to the choir. In Finland, we've prepared for Russian invasions since forever. We have AT weapons in plentiful supply and every reservist knows how to use one, too. I do wish we'd been more generous in gifting some of them to Ukraine, because every tank that is destroyed there can't be used against us. I can't help but smirk at the fate of a Russian elite unit stationed near our northeast border, the 200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade. It has suffered badly at the hands of the Ukrainians in Kharkiv.
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  29. Arquebus would be an even more appropriate term.
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  30.  @davidcruz8667  You're not as unique as you think. In Finland, we've got an unbroken tradition of hunting that goes back to the dawn of time. Not only that, we were the last hunter-gathers on the continent -- our cromagnon-like skeletal proportions are testament to that. More so than anywhere else, big-game hunting is a national pastime in Finland. Ever since practical firearms became available, we've put them to use. Every able-bodied male Finn knows how to handle a rifle, if not from boyhood, then after compulsory military training. My late grandfather, a Winter War veteran, made sure all his male grandchildren qualified as marksmen. Many of us reservists keep practising in our own time. We own our semi-auto rifles and keep them at home, too. Myself, I've got a bit of a collection going. Licenses have never been an issue. The only truly unique aspect of American gun love is your need to arm yourselves for home defence and against tyrannical government. I've never felt the need to resort to firearms to protect myself against my compatriots. I blame our elaborate welfare system and our surprisingly functional democracy.
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  31. ***** You're not far off. The Bundeswehr is re-issuing the original, the G3, as a marksman rifle -- probably because their G36 has accuracy issues and because the 5.56 cartridge lacks range. As a peacekeeper in Lebanon I felt inadequate when I saw the Swedes, the Danes and the Irish bang away with their big battle rifles -- AK4s, G3s and FALs -- at the range, but on foot patrols it was rather nice to carry my lighter RK62.
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  32. Cloth bandage or Vaatelaastari(R) is actually a thing in Finland.
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  33.  @colemanmoore9871  In Finland, reindeer are semi-domesticated and ear-marked by their owners, who're typically indigenous Sami people. I suppose the latter can offer them for hunting, but it's not very sporting to shoot a reindeer. Even though they roam free most the year, they're not particularly shy of people. Last winter, when I took part in a veterans' biathlon, it was like they were cheering me on from the sidelines. I could've bagged quite a few as the dumb animals stood around the targets.
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  34.  @jeffreyroot6300  Wapitis. Your first settlers, being from Britain, didn't know what a real elk looked like. They called the first large animal with antlers that they encountered "elk". When they came across the real thing, they had to think of something else.
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  35. I served in two defence forces, the FDF and Netherlands Armed Forces. It was no different, only fewer woods in Holland. And as a MAG gunner, one got hoarse quickly.
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  36. Duh, Finland didn't partake in the First World War, but fought no less than three separate wars during the course of the Second World War: the Winter War, the Continuation War and the Lapland War. All three ended with the Soviet Union and, lastly, Germany, excusing themselves to attend to more pressing matters.
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  37. How many sensibilities got hurt when Ian called the US Army a cowboy army?
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  38.  @Itapirkanmaa2  Not true, and I guess that with "EU edict" you're clumsily referring to an EU directive. It still needs to be enacted into law domestically. Even so, Finland and other countries managed to introduce a exemptions to the latest EU firearms directive, mainly catering to reservists' access to semi-automatic rifles and high-capacity magazines. It's not ideal, but it doesn't interfere with me keeping up my proficiency as a reservist shooter.
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  39.  @Itapirkanmaa2  Don't makes up silly stories. An edict is something an absolute monarch would issue. It's nothing akin to a EU directive. Were you in a prolonged coma when the latest EU firearm directive was devised? Are you even a gun owner, or are you just a fiery fanboy?
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  40.  @Itapirkanmaa2  But the EU isn't saying any such thing. And Finland is fully involved in deciding about EU directives. It's interesting that you want to compare notes with the US. In the EU, there's nothing akin to a federal executive order. Now, are you going to rail against the US, comparing it with the Soviet Union? Please do -- I'd like to see the responses. It's interesting that you didn't confirm that you are a gun owner. I would sooo explain your ignorance.
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  41.  @firstconsul7286  It's not very dignified. I mean, how is a politically correct Swedish officer to report to his superiors that he turned a bullet hose on the enemy?
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  42. Petras, or Valmet Hunters, are still pretty common. You regularly come across them on elk hunts (that's moose for the Yanks).
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  43. It's all good and well if you know how to handle a firearm, but there's more to soldiering than that. I prefer to be part of well-regulated militia rather than be a lone wolf survivalist that's armed to the teeth, but no match for a trained soldier.
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  44.  @colinkillian9265  We have few restrictions on firearms in Finland yet we're very much part of the EU. A great many reservists like myself keep up their marksmanship on weekends using our own kit. I own half a dozen rifles and shotguns for hunting, too. In addition, I have a bit of a military collection going. Perhaps you should pay more attention to this channel -- Finland is up all the time.
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  45. +parabellum1262 The Suomi KP/31, too, featured a quick-change barrel.
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  46. ***** We keep saying the 7.62x39 is better suited for forested and urban environments, whereas the 5.56 veers off after hitting a twig or lacks the hitting power to punch through obstacles. But yes, Afghanistan has shown that all standard-issue intermediate cartridges -- Russian, Chinese or NATO -- have shortcomings. Still, the Taliban is worst off with their AK47 clunkers.
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  47.  @Tapio86  You should know. You're named after the god of the forest.
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  48. I suspect he summoned Shiva to do the honors.
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  49.  @sRazor96  That's right, and the Norwegian Krag-Jørgensen and the Swedish Mauser used the same 6.5x55mm ammunition. The Germans famously used the Norwegian rifle and the ammo in the Battle of Narvik.
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  50.  @FamilyR-G  Trade routes were cut with just about everyone else but Sweden and Germany, so Swiss currency wasn't it. Strategic materials maybe, or gold.
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