Original Finnish WWII 1942 Dated Russian Maxim M/09-21 Smooth Jacket Display Machine Gun with M/21 Ring Mount Tripod

Original Item: Only One Available. This is something that we have only rarely seen before! Many Russian M1910 Machine guns were acquired out of Finland, long after the wars they were used in, and most of these were in the M1910 configuration, made to fit on a wheeled "Sokolov Mount". However, this gun is in the later M/09-21 configuration, which was introduced in 1921 following the Finnish Civil War. This led to an independent Finland, and defense was definitely a top priority. They had many Russian M1910 variants that had been captured during the Civil war, however the wheeled mounts were not really suitable for the forests of the country. They adapted many of the Maxim guns to take a "ring mount" tripod similar to the export tripod for the MG08 Maxim, originally designed by D.W.M., and the guns were fitted with a ring around the barrel jacket to fit on it.

This fantastic original WWII Issue Finnish Maxim M/09-21 Display Machine Gun was built to BATF specifications using an all original Finnish captured Russian Maxim parts sets assembled on a BATF compliant inert non-firing dummy receiver. The right side plate has been completely removed, which is what is considered the "receiver" in Maxim and Vickers derived guns. Without this it is a display "non-gun" is totally legal to own without any federal restrictions or license, as it is no longer legally considered a firearm. It then had a piece of black plastic installed in place of the side plate for display only. The lock has been removed, and will be included separately. Additional components may have been deactivated as required by the BATF.

This display gun, like many in Finnish Service, saw use during the "Winter War" and "Continuation War" against Soviet forces during the WWII Period. some parts of it are definitively Imperial Russian issue, however other parts are definitely soviet issue. Parts were swapped at arsenal regularly, and additional Soviet Made Maxims captured during the WWII period were also put into arsenal in Finland.

Features of the items included in this set are-

- All original Imperial Russian and Soviet Era Maxim MG parts, with possibly some Finnish made parts.
- Original Early Imperial Russian M1905/1910 Smooth Steel Water Jacket with Brass Ends, fitted with a steel ring to interface with the M/21 tripod.
- Top cover with later style rear sight. It is marked Korj.1942, indicating that it was re-dated for Finnish inventory after Capture in the Winter War. At this time the other markings on the top cover were scrubbed and new ones added. It also at some point had the 1942 date struck through with an engraving pen, and then had a date of 1958 written above it with the same pin.
- Original Imperial Russian Produced Fussee Spring cover, which shows very faint original markings on the rear oval portion. It has been refinished in arsenal blue by the Finnish, and looks to have been remarked many times.
- All steel Finnish M/21 Ring Mount Tripod with Finnish [SA] markings under the paint. As far as we can tell it is fully functional. It still has most of the leather components, though they are definitely worn. The right knee pad is unfortunately missing, most likely removed long ago.

Some parts of this gun may have led a romantic existence serving for close to half a century, having served through the Revolution and possibly during the Finnish Civil War. Some were again used in the 1939 Winter War invasion of Finland where many were captured. Some parts have had [SA] markings added, for which stands for Suomen Armeija, the Finnish Army. There may also be "VKT" markings on some parts, for Valtion Kivääritehdas, the Finnish State Arsenal located in Jyväskylä. Virtually all of the Russian Maxims available on the market came out of Finland, just as this example.

Condition is really great, showing a lovely patina of age, and still retaining what looks to be the original paint in most areas. The only real deficiencies noted is that the connector and pin between the rear trunion and the traverse ring is missing, and the previously mentioned right knee pad. This is really an excellent example, which will make a great display piece in any collection!

The Maxim M/09-21 is a Maxim machine gun variant made by Finland and used by the Finnish army during World War II. The Finnish Civil War in 1918 led to Finland becoming an independent democratic republic. The new Finnish army needed a machine gun to distribute to its troops. The most easily accessible machine guns were Russian PM M1910 Maxim machine guns captured during the civil war, but the wheeled mounts the machine guns used were unsuited to Finnish terrain which was mainly forests. Finland decided to make their own Maxim variant, more suited to the Finnish terrain, by developing a tripod and then mounting a Russian Maxim machine gun on it. The tripod, which would be ready for production in 1921, was derived from to the one on the DWM's MG 09 machine gun (the export version of the MG 08 machine gun) which Finland had used successfully during the civil war.

Finnish changes to the original Russian Maxim included manufacturing modifications and a simplified gunsight which changed the sight measurements to the metric system. The tripod mount could fold for easier carrying and had metal carrying handles on each of the two front legs.

The PM M1910 (Пулемёт Максима на станке Соколова, Pulemyot Maxima na stanke Sokolova or "Maxim's machine gun model 1910 on Sokolov's mount") was a heavy machine gun used by the Russian Army during World War I and the Red Army during World War II. It was adopted in 1910 and was derived from Hiram Maxim's Maxim gun, chambered for the standard Russian 7.62x54mmR rifle cartridge. The M1910 was mounted on a wheeled mount (Sokolov) with a gun shield and was replaced in Soviet service by the SG-43 Goryunov, starting in 1943. In addition to the main infantry version, there were aircraft mounted (PV-1) and naval variants.