Description
Mint & matching with holster!
A less well known but much sought after & highly desirable sidearm of WW2 was the Finnish produced Lahti L-35 developed by the Finnish designer Aimo Lahti & manufactured by Finnish company VKT from 1935 until 1985 or so which served the Finnish military from 1935 through the Winter War, Continuation War & beyond.
The Swedish military bought the licensing in 1939/40 & renamed the L-35 the M.40, with Husqvarna producing the pistol under a government contract. Its design is both robust & reliable, designed to work reliably in Arctic conditions that rendered other automatic pistol designs inoperable. The L-35 Lahti / M.40 Husqvarna was a superb combat pistol. It was designed to be tough, accurate & supremely reliable. Unlike any of the other combat pistols manufactured during that time, the action of the 9mm Lahti incorporated a bolt accelerator which gives to the bolt additional energy to operate in extreme cold or dirt to ensure that the slide would close into battery & function flawlessly in sub-zero Arctic conditions. The Finnish, Russian & German troops learned the hard way when their sidearms locked up/malfunctioned in extreme cold, a common battlefield condition of many WW2 theatres. Another benefit was that this allowed troops in the field to use 9mm sub-machine gun ammo which was quite a bit ‘hotter’ than 9mm pistol ammo.
Built to be operated by gloved hands with deep slide serrations which allow for easy retraction of the slide while a large trigger guard & protruding safety catch are also designed specifically for gloved hands. Diamond checkered hard plastic grips ensure users have a secure grasp on this pistol.
This is a mint Husqvarna M40 pistol rig with its original holster which is also in excellent condition with soft leather & is correctly HV marked with the ‘3 crowns’ of Sweden. The Swedish army realized there would be a shortage of pistols in the event of large scale military mobilization in Europe. Originally adopting the Walther P.38 in 1939, Germany’s entry into World War II stopped the export of P.38s to Sweden. To compensate, Sweden adopted the Lahti pistol but was unable to import L-35 guns because of Finland’s conflicts with the USSR. Production was licensed to Svenska Automatvapen AB but the immediate collapse of the company passed the contract to Husqvarna Vapenfabriks Aktiebolag. The first M.40s were delivered to the Swedish military by 1942 with slight differences from the Finnish L-35 Lahtis. The grips of the M.40 have the Husqvarna “crown H” motif engraved & the front sight was slightly larger. The barrel is also slightly longer on the M.40 than the Finnish Lahti with the M.40’s trigger guard being heavier & the pistol does not have the loaded chamber indicator & lock-retaining spring of the Finnish Lahti.
Chambered in 9mm with an 8-plus-1 round capacity & 4.75-inch barrel, this is club legal in Australia.
Only around 80,000 Swedish Lahti M40 pistols were produced during World War 2 & remained in service with that country through the 1980’s until they were replaced by the Glock G17.
Technically, L-35 / M.40 is a recoil operated, locked breech pistol. It uses short recoiling barrel with barrel extension of rectangular cross-shape. Inside that extension the bolt is located, also of squared cross-section. Bolt & barrel extension are interlocked by vertically movable locking lug, which is cammed out of engagement when hitting the frame after a short recoil. The M.40 is a concealed hammer fired, single action gun, that featured manual safety at the left side of the frame.
Do your own research & you will know if this is for you. Please view the photos carefully & make your decision based on what you see as they form the main description & override all written information. Ask for more if desired.
We think we have described it accurately & correctly but do not claim to be infallible so if we have got anything wrong, it is unintentional & are happy for feedback from people who know more than we do.
Whilst we check these out for serviceability, the warranty has expired & this is sold on an ‘as is’ basis. As with all used guns, we recommend you have this checked by a suitably qualified person prior to shooting.
We have a pretty unique refund policy on our collectable guns whereby we will refund your money if it is not in the condition as described when you receive it. Just let us know before you send it back.
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