Photo Of The Day: Proficiency with allied and enemy gear and firearms is something all pros train for, and that’s why these American soldiers are in Sodankyla, Finland, to learn how to use the 7.62mm RK62 assault rifle. Exercise Arctic Forge 23 is a U.S. Army [Read More…]
Photo Of The Day – have you ever tried shooting like this? If you’re one of TFB’s readers, you probably own at least 20 firearms, but no skis? We’re in Finland (where else?) where a soldier from Charlie Troop, 3-71 Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade [Read More…]
Photo Of The Day: Finnish Lapland, some 130 kilometers (81 miles) north of the Arctic Circle, and we’re visiting the Sodankylä Garrison, in the middle of winter 2023. Above you see a U.S. Army cavalry scout assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 183rd Cavalry Regiment, [Read More…]
Photo Of The Day: We have U.S. soldiers on training in Finland. The U.S. unit got to shoot with the Finnish unit’s RK62 rifles and PKM machine guns. The Finnish troops also provided a mobility demonstration with engineers clearing an opening with a Bangalore in an [Read More…]
In 1965 the Finnish Army adopted the 7.62x39mm Valmet RK62, and it has been produced in volumes over 350,000 by Valmet and Sako in Finland. As with many “modern” firearms, the RK62s have been in need of upgrades and modernization, and after years of planning [Read More…]
When it comes to the improvement of the main service rifle of the Armed Forces, different countries demonstrate various approaches. Some decide to completely replace the existing stock of weapons, like France, that replaced the venerable FAMAS with HK416. Other [Read More…]
The Finish Army have release photos of their newly upgraded RK62 service rifle. The RK62M embodies a number of ergonomic improvements over the original rifle and allows more modularity. Finland adopted the 7.62x39mm Valmet RK62 in 1965 with over 300,000 produced by the [Read More…]
In part 1 of this article, I wrote about the early development history of Finnish AKs, part 2 was dedicated to RK 60 and RK 62. In this article, I will talk about less-known Finnish AKs some of which became truly iconic in the most unexpected way. AK History @ TFB: [Read More…]
In Part 1 of this article, I wrote about the early development history of Finnish AKs and the m/58 prototype. In this article, I will delve into the history of the first mass-produced AK from Finland – Valmet RK 62. In recent years, I had a chance to visit [Read More…]
The small European country of Finland always had a great reputation when it comes to arms production. For collectors, Finnish-made Mosin-Nagants are some of the most desirable Mosin rifles, but there is another rifle design that the Finnish took to a whole other level. [Read More…]
The producers of the multi-caliber rifle KAR-21, Ensio FireArms Oy, recently published a press release that criticizes Finland’s procurement process to acquire a new weapon system to replace the current RK62 and RK95 assault rifles. In the press release, Ensio [Read More…]
The Finnish and Swedish Defense Forces will purchase a range of various rifles from Sako Ltd. TFB reported about this almost two years ago, but it’s now official what the framework and the firearms will look like. Sweden & Finland @ TFB: Sweden And Finland To [Read More…]
“If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.” That’s probably the most common mistake, but we can’t really complain about the image above? Valmets and Aimpoints in the Winter Warfare Training during Arctic Forge 2023, in our [Read More…]
We’ve been running our Photo Of The Day article series for almost 10 years, and the archives keep growing every day. Today it’s time for the 7.62 RK 62, made in Finland. This is the second in a series of articles TFB is doing on some of the firearms used by [Read More…]
The Finnish Minister of Defense Antti Kaikkonen has authorized the Logistics Department of the Defense Forces to acquire more combat equipment from Senop Oy. The order is described as significant and includes laser sights and NVG monocular image intensifiers. The value [Read More…]
The hungriest beast of them all on this blog is our Photo Of The Day. It consumes hundreds of images every month, and it has been doing so for over 8 years. In a series of articles, we’ll be going through some of the firearms used by the Finnish Army. We’re [Read More…]
Ensio FireArms, a small arms manufacturer from Finland, has released a new rifle called KAR-21. This rifle is designed by a gentleman named Toni Käräjämies and KAR in the model name stands for Käräjämies Automatic Rifle. One of the main features of the rifle is [Read More…]
At the end of a long press release about the news that Sweden is buying 200 tracked vehicles (BAE Systems/Hagglunds 410) someone hid this little gem about Sweden and Finland collaborating on a service rifle (machine-translated and edited): In September (2021), a [Read More…]
In Vlad’s article from the beginning of this year titled “AK 2.0 – Finnish Upgrade Kit for Kalashnikov Rifles by Value Manufacturing”, we got a good introduction to Value Manufacturing. In this Photo Of The Day, we take a closer look at what the [Read More…]
In June 2020, we reported that the Finnish Reservists were to receive a new rifle made by Dasan Machineries of South Korea. These new rifles have begun to arrive and are being fielded with Finland’s MPK. Eric wrote about the selection of the new rifles here. The [Read More…]
When it comes to AK upgrades, the average Kalashnikov aficionado is torn between American made accessories and Russian products that are often unavailable in the US and worldwide. For me, that seems odd, since, over the years, at least 30 countries produced different [Read More…]
The Finnish Reservists are getting a new rifle. The rifle is a semi-automatic AK-clone made by Dasan Machineries of South Korea. The design of the MPK rifle is made to resemble the Rk series (rynnäkkökivääri or “assault rifle”) of rifles. MPK is The [Read More…]
From full auto machine gunning in the hottest desert to skiing into ice-cold water, TFB’s Photo Of The Day covers all possible subjects. Today we go to Finland for their Winter Warfare Course, which of course includes going for a swim. So, how brave are you? [Read More…]
The Finnish Defense Forces are getting new combat and medical packs. They are made from high quality 1000D Cordura in Finnish M05 camouflage, to match the current issue M17 body armour. There are G-hook attachment straps that can be used to attach the packs to the M17 [Read More…]
Photo Of The Day and we visit Finland for a look at their Basic Military Training. I think the weapon above is an M72 LAW (Light Anti-Tank Weapon). IV / 19 BASIC EXERCISE – Translated from the Finnish language: A seven-day combat and shooting exercise for the [Read More…]
Today’s Photo Of The Day takes us to the Land Warfare Center in Sweden (Kvarn), where the Guard Jaeger Regiment from Finland found it suitable to do some training. This is Sweden’s largest facility for urban warfare, for fighting in built-up areas.. The [Read More…]
Last week we enjoyed looking at a number of pictures from Europe’s Best Sniper Team Competition. As you can see in the pictures, you need to be able to handle a variety of situations and firearms to score and win. Everything from medical care to shooting at [Read More…]
So you want to buy an AK, but don’t know where to start, eh? Well, don’t worry about it because as the kids say these days “there’s an app for that”. The famous Soviet Kalashnikov rifle has become something of a redheaded stepchild on the [Read More…]
The Finnish Commander of the Army has announced that the Nordic country will not be purchasing 5.56mm replacements for their existing 7.62x39mm caliber Rk. 62 rifles, but instead will seek to upgrade the venerable Kalashnikov-based Valmet. Altair.com reports (machine [Read More…]