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Finland's High Power Rig
🕑 Added 2023-01-06 12:00:02 +0000 UTCFinland used a variety of FN pistols prior to WW2, and had already evaluated the High Power when Russian invaded and the Winter War began. With an urgent need for more arms, Finland ordered a batch of High Power pistols, which FN was happy to include with the other arms orders already being delivered to Finland. In total, the Finns bought 2,400 of them, with 900 delivered in February 1940 and 1,500 in March 1940. All of them were bought as rigs with leather holsters riveted to flat board shoulder stocks (note that a Finnish pistol with a Finnish-contract original stock is exempted form the NFA in the US, and need not be registered as a short-barreled rifle).
This delivery schedule meant that only a few were available in time to be used in the Winter War, and they saw much greater use in the Continuation War. They were particularly appreciated by the Finnish Air Force as pistol survival weapons. This is often misinterpreted to mean that they were exclusively used by the Air Force; in fact the quantity of Finnish aircraft was small enough that only a small fraction of the pistols were issued to pilots.
Finnish contract pistols have serial numbers falling between 11,000 and 15,000 (and not all guns in that range are Finnish). The stocks were marked in large numbers with the serial number of the gun, although matching rigs are quite scarce today. Some, but not all, were later marked "SA" by the Finnish Army. During the continuation War some of the holsters were separated form the stocks, and some of the pistols had new square front sights put on (a common Finnish preference, done to Lugers as well).
About 40% of the High Powers were lost or rendered unserviceable by the end of the Continuation War. The remainder were kept in service until the 1980s, when they were replaced by the Browning Double Action and slowly sold as surplus.
Comments
Reed Gregory
Love to own that one
Guido Schriewer
that looks NICE condition indeed! when got herstal "overrun" by the germans I wonder... close to no more deliveries it sounds.
The Bone Clock
Thanks for the clarification.
Forgotten Weapons
Nope, unfortunately not mine.
Forgotten Weapons
No, a lot of WW2 and earlier guns originally sold/supplied with stocks are exempted from the NFA. You can download the ATF's C&R list PDF and it ha a complete list.
ViejoLobo
Gosh, that gun is shiny. Finnish finish? Where/how did they carry spare mags?
The Bone Clock
Ian: Is a stocked pistol set like the one you featured an NFA firearm?
Steven E
Beautiful firearm, by chance yours. I am not much of a High Power fan, but I like that one, very similar to the Ingall's ones from Canada.
jubs
I went through AUK in 2004, and we had HP-DAs when we did the pistol training. The one I got really made me sad. I had done a lot of air pistol shooting in my youth and really liked it (not competitively, mind), and was fairly accurate as well, and with the gun they handed me I had to aim the target on the left shoulder to hit the right knee at 25m, and the dispersion was horrid. I was left in uncertainty, not knowing if it was just that I couldn't shoot a gunpowder pistol, or if the pistol itself was faulty, or what, until two years ago I took my safe shooter test for IPSC (the practical portion was basically 4-5 stages while being observed, with some timing and score limits in place), using a 9mm Canik, and shot almost all alphas, passing easily. Man that gun was must have been beaten to absolute hell and back...
