Valmet m/81

[Ari_H]

Some 55 years back the Finnish gun company Valmet was planning to start making air pistols. They had already produced an air rifle, the humble Airis springer which was moderately successful domestically and some amount was even exported. The pistol however was about to be a modern competition grade SSP. The first version was m/72, of which total number of 15 of were made. The construction resembles an another SSP of the time, Walther LP3. Air cylinder is located in the butt and pressure is produced by the upstroke the the underlever. It also cocks the firing mechanism, the bolt just pushes the pellet into the breech and seals it.

Changes were then made to the design, for example the air duct from the cylinder to the breech was made more straight to improve air flow. A batch of parts were manufactured but for some reason the parts pile sat under the desk of one of the constructors for a full decade. Then a the batch was assembled as complete pistols which got the model designation m/81. Here's one of them, which I was able to buy from the retired constructor who did the final assembly work.





As far as he can remember not more than a dozen of these were finished as complete pistols, which were then distributed among the workers of the factory department. The construction had already became dated so planning commercial production was not any more feasible.

Quality wise my piece is kind of a mixed bag. The trigger and metalwork are superb but the woodwork does not quite match. The pistol shoots but it is quite low power and the power varies from shot to shot. It may be that the air release valve is sticking because of the 30+ years' hiatus. I am NOT going to try to fix and maybe mangle the thing, it may stay what it is, a rarity and a minuscule grace note of the short lived production of Finnish air guns.