page_title: Suomi KP/-31
section_title: Sales
hierarchical_section_title: Suomi KP/-31 / History / Sales
caption_attribution_description: Suomi: Suomalaiset panssaritorjuntamiehet tutkivat ohikulkiessaan tuhoutunutta venäläistä hyökkäysvaunua. Suomi: Suomalaiset panssaritorjuntamiehet tutkivat ohikulkiessaan tuhoutunutta venäläistä hyökkäysvaunua. (Kuvassa on läpi murtautunut T-34-panssarivaunu, jonka saksalainen rynnäkkötykki tuhosi. Lähimpänä kameraa on kersantti Heino Nikulassi (6./JR 12), keskellä kersantti Kaarlo (Kalle) Niemelä (8./JR 12) ja vasemmalla panssarijääkäri Eino Heikkilä. Kuva otettu 30. kesäkuuta 1944 Ihantalassa.) Viipurin pohjoispuoli. English: Finnish soldiers of Infantry Regiment 12 inspect a destroyed Soviet T-34 tank destroyed by a German assault gun during the Battle of Tali-Ihantala in northern Vyborg. From left, jaeger Eino Heikkilä, sergeant Kalle Niemelä and sergeant Heino Nikulassi. Niemelä and Nikulassi have Panzerfäuste on their shoulders, Nikulassi is carrying a Finnish-made Suomi KP/-31 submachine gun.
context_page_description: The Suomi KP/-31 is a submachine gun of Finnish design that was mainly used during World War II. It is a descendant of the M-22 prototype and the KP/-26 production model, which was revealed to the public in 1925. The Suomi-konepistooli KP/-31 is often abbreviated to Suomi KP.
  The Suomi KP/-31 is regarded by many as one of the most successful submachine guns of World War II. It also had a profound effect on that conflict beyond Finland as the Soviet authorities, who had been dismissive of submachine guns, were persuaded of their deadly efficiency by the Finns after attacking them in 1939. Its 71-round drum magazine was later copied and adopted by the Soviets for their PPD-40 and PPSh-41. Though a relatively early design, the Suomi was a formidable weapon: highly controllable and with accuracy superior to that of the mass-produced PPSh-41 thanks in part to a noticeably longer barrel, with the same exceptionally high rate of fire and an equally large magazine capacity. Its one major disadvantage was its high production cost, which led to the later introduction of the KP/-44, a close copy of the Soviet PPS-43 but accepting the existing magazines and drums for the KP/-31.
context_section_description: Finland focused on sales to South America and the Baltic States. It was sold to both sides during the Spanish Civil War; about 300 were confiscated by France from interned Republican troops in 1939. Estonia, France, and Poland bought some before World War Two that were later captured. Germany and their Axis allies Bulgaria and Croatia bought some after the war began. The German Armeeoberkommando Norwegen and Finnish SS Troops were issued the KP/-31 from Finnish stores. A weld-on magazine adapter was created by the Germans to convert MP38/MP40 magazines to feed in the KP/-31 to simplify logistics.   
  The Suomi KP was also manufactured under license. It was made in Sweden as the Husquarna Kulsprutepistol Kpist M37 with a shorter 8.4-inch [213 mm] barrel. It was chambered for the weak 9mm Browning Long [9x20mmSR]  cartridge, which required a rear-slanting magazine well. It used a 56-round four-column "coffin" magazine designed by Linde AB and manufactured by the Carl Gustav State Rifle Factory. They later adopted the redesigned Husquarna Kpist M37/39 chambered in 9mm Parabellum with a standard-length barrel [314mm] and 50-round "coffin" magazine. The Danish adopted it as the Madsen Maskinpistol M/41. It has distinctive protective metal “ears” on either side of the front post sight and used the 20-round magazine. The Swiss adopted it as the Hispano-Suiza Machinenpistole MP43 and issued it with the "coffin" magazine. The later MP43/44 had a fixed square notch rather than adjustable rear sights and the barrel jacket was modified to take a bayonet mount.
caption: Finnish soldier armed with a Suomi KP/-31 SJR (muzzle brake version) and a Panzerfaust walks past a destroyed Soviet tank
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "4972", "Image ImageLength": "3509", "Image BitsPerSample": "16", "Image Compression": "Uncompressed", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "1", "Image ImageDescription": "Suomalaiset panssaritorjuntamiehet tutkivat ohikulkiessaan tuhoutunutta ven\ufffdist\ufffdy\ufffdysvaunua.", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "1", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2016:04:14 17:04:02", "Image Artist": "Sot.virk. Hedenstr\ufffd", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "392", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "566", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6472", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0210", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4861", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3355"}