Suomi KP/-31

Last Updated on Tuesday, 21 July 2009 17:51 Written by Administrator Friday, 03 July 2009 00:06

The concept of the submachine gun underwent rapid changes in between the World Wars. Gun designers began to explore different possibilities to make the submachine gun more effective in the field. They came up with numerous models and designs—many of which proved totally unsatisfactory in the field. However, some designs were exceptional both in terms of reliability and in the way they influenced the future designs. The Suomi KP/-31 was one such design.

The Suomi KP/-31 was designed by Aimo Johannes Lahiti, a gun designer from Finland. The KP/-31 is designed to use the 9mm Parabellum round and is fed from either a 20 or 50-round box magazine or a drum magazine capable of holding 71 rounds. Externally, the submachine gun closely resembles a carbine rifle.

The Suomi KP/-31 was capable of accurate fire up to 300 meters—the range of a conventional rifle. It was capable of delivering 900 rounds per minute and because of its high firepower was very effective in field conditions.

The Suomi was very popular and many countries from as far as South America expressed interest in acquiring the weapon. However, the weapon was ceased from production in 1944 and phased out of service after 10 years or so.

A number of submachine guns have been designed based on the Suomi’s design. Most notable of these is the Soviet PPSh-41 which is considered as one of the best submachine guns to be ever designed.