Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: this_feature_currently_requires_accessing_site_using_safari
Thank you for that information. I have been trying for years to put the collection in the photo together. Frankly, I'm relieved if the M71 was not available in the Russian caliber! The Valmet with the stock folded is a M76 with milled receiver and the improved side folding stock. Some say Galil copied from Valmet and others say Valmet copied the folder from Galil.The M71 was made in 7.62x39, but as far as I know was not made as a semiauto for civilian sale in that caliber. The original was intended as a basic AKM, with stamped receiver and original Soviet style gas system and open sights. Manufacturing cost was less than the rk/62, but not many were built. I believe they were issued mainly to reserve units. As far as I know the m/71 semi was only made in .223 and .222, the latter being a small number for France and other European countries where semiautos were legal but not in military calibers.
There are some rare and valuable guns in that photo. From the bottom:
m/62s with fixed tubular stock, milled receiver, and early "bicycle" style pistol grip.
m/76 with fixed tubular stock. Very rare in 7.62x39.
Model uncertain because the folding stock obscures view of the receiver, but probably a stamped m/76 - also rare in 7.62x39
m/78 in 7.62x39 with what appears to be a Soviet 75-round RPK drum. Not as rare as the 76 in 7.62x39, but a fairly scarce item. Most examples are in .308, some in .223.
What do you mean by "improved" side folding stock? Were there two versions of the Finnish stock, or are you comparing it with the Galil? The original Galil was a modified rk/62 with some improvements and adaptations for Israeli use. The stock was one of these; the Israelis didn't care for the tube stock and replaced it with one apparently derived from the para version of the FAL, the previous Israeli service rifle. Other mods included a thumb-operated safety lever on the left side (a huge improvement in handling). The ARM version of the Galil also had a bipod, which doubled as a wire cutter, and a bottle opener built into the forend.Thank you for that information. I have been trying for years to put the collection in the photo together. Frankly, I'm relieved if the M71 was not available in the Russian caliber! The Valmet with the stock folded is a M76 with milled receiver and the improved side folding stock. Some say Galil copied from Valmet and others say Valmet copied the folder from Galil.
What do you mean by "improved" side folding stock? Were there two versions of the Finnish stock, or are you comparing it with the Galil? The original Galil was a modified rk/62 with some improvements and adaptations for Israeli use. The stock was one of these; the Israelis didn't care for the tube stock and replaced it with one apparently derived from the para version of the FAL, the previous Israeli service rifle. Other mods included a thumb-operated safety lever on the left side (a huge improvement in handling). The ARM version of the Galil also had a bipod, which doubled as a wire cutter, and a bottle opener built into the forend.
The chain of copying goes like this: Finland obtained some Polish AK-47's with milled receivers, which they used as a base for the much improved rk/62. Improvements included a much better barrel for improved accuracy, an aperture rear sight, an improved gas system with a hooded front sight mounted on the gas bock, a flash hider, and of course the tubular folding stock. The Israelis took the rk/62 as the basis for the Galil, adding their own improvements and adaptations as noted above.
The tubular stock of the rk/62 and its successors is a curious and purely Finnish design. I've never seen anything like it anywhere else. It is quite rugged and practical, but takes a bit of getting used to. I hate to say this as a partisan of all things Finnish, but I prefer to shoot with the more conventional stock on the Galil. My Galil is actually a parts kit gun, a Century "Golani." I picked it up for cheap at a small-town gun show; I didn't want to spend two or three grand on a real IMI-built import, preferring to conserve my resources for Finnish weapons.
By the way, I have seen one (and only one) m/71s in .223 with a tubular stock. I don't know if it was a factory original or a buildup. The original military rk/71 did have a tubular stock. The gun was for sale online and I should have bought it, but I was short of cash at the time and decided to pass. Oh well.
No, but I wish I did.I've seen a couple of the 7.63x39 m/76 folders on Gunbroker. They went for fairly large sums of money.
My stamped m/76 in .223 has the left-folding stock with the multi-fingered hinge and the hook. It's been so long since I shot it, I had to dig to the back row of the safe to confirm that, since I couldn't remember which it was. The right-folding hinge may well have been borrowed from the Galil, since it was a later development. It looks like the Galil hinge.
Do you have one of these? It's quite useful.
View attachment 20280
That is correct. Odin overestimated the demand for the m/78 and had some unsold units fitted with AK-style scope mounts and Dragunov-type stocks to sell as "sniper rifles." Surprisingly for such a small number of guns, they used both wood and plastic stocks. I wonder if they got back the cost of the mold, or what might have happened to it. Those molds are expensive! I don't know how many guns were converted but it wasn't many. Couple of hundred at most, maybe as few as fifty.I heard the "sniper" M78s were put together in this country by Odin Imports. Over the years I had one pass through my hands, but that was a long time ago.