Old subguns

[pullnshoot25]

Well, it seems my collecting interest may have shifted a bit. I just bought two Sten parts kits (might sell one off though) and I am eyeballing the Suomi M31. Purely legal SA builds, mind you.

That said... can anyone tell me why I shouldn't get the Suomi M31?

[RaceDay]

How much is the Suomi? I paid > $500 for mine. I think they are something like $400-425 at places now.

Drawbacks are it is a heavy beast and the 16" barrel takes away from the subgun-ness (not to mention closed bolt means no subgun 9mm ammo). The benefits are it is a rare gun, the straight mags are easy to block down to 10, and it is probably one of the cheapast 9mm carbines on the market these days.

Mine has 470 rounds through it now.

[GuyW]

Suomis also had drum mags....mine were 72 rounds IIRC....so that's a kool accessory...
.

[Dr.Mauser]

I've been looking at the Suomi on Atlantic Arms and its sucking me in...You cant really find many semi-auto Mp-40s, so might as well go with a Suomi.

[Interloper]

Well, it seems my collecting interest may have shifted a bit. I just bought two Sten parts kits (might sell one off though) and I am eyeballing the Suomi M31. Purely legal SA builds, mind you.

That said... can anyone tell me why I shouldn't get the Suomi M31?

Why shouldn't you get the Soumi?....(sound of crickets chirping)....I can't think of a single reason.

Tell us about your Sten kits. Which model? Do you already have a tube picked out and are you going to cut it yourself?

There was a dude on Gunboards...actually it might have been Military Gun Supply, selling Mk. III kits for like $60. I was sorely tempted myself.

[pullnshoot25]

Why shouldn't you get the Soumi?....(sound of crickets chirping)....I can't think of a single reason.

Tell us about your Sten kits. Which model? Do you already have a tube picked out and are you going to cut it yourself?

There was a dude on Gunboards...actually it might have been Military Gun Supply, selling Mk. III kits for like $60. I was sorely tempted myself.

The plan is to use the Apexgunparts.com Sten MK III kit for 60 bucks coupled with IO INC's MKIII tube, semi-auto bolt and 16"barrel. Depending on how frisky I want to get, I might get the MK II magazine well, which is the one that rotates to vertical for storage and swings to horizontal to engage.

I am a dud when it comes to machining or anything like that (youth's impatience is a *****) so I will be working with bplvr and maybe even other guys on this.

The thing that really irks me is how simple this damn thing is but how complex the BATF goons have made it.

[Milsurp Collector]

That said... can anyone tell me why I shouldn't get the Suomi M31?

It's your money, get one if you want to. But since you asked specifically why you shouldn't get one...

A real Suomi M31 that can fire full-auto, has a 12.4" barrel, and can use high-capacity magazines is cool.



A semi-auto only, 16" barrel, 10-round magazine only in California copy is so different from the real thing it seems pointless. It's like getting a Garand with a 28" barrel and 5-shot clip that doesn't fire semi-auto and has to be cycled by hand. Its appearance and shooting experience would be so different from the real deal, what's the point?

It's like dating a transvestite instead of a real woman: they can look pretty similar to the real thing and maybe some guys would have a good time with one, but it's just not the same as the real thing. But as they say, to each his own, etc. etc.

[Spiggy]

real suomi has a flamethrower!

[Dr.Mauser]

real suomi has a flamethrower!

LOL!

[Spiggy]

Aimo Lahti. If it weren't for Browning's aggressive marketing and legal challenges, I bet there would be a world of much more revolutionary weapons.

Seriously, a Flamethrower on a SMG!