The Valmet M78 LMG is an AK pattern rifle made in Finland. They’re semi automatic, made for the civilian market and they’re non-restricted in Canada. Unfortunately, they haven’t been made in a long time, so they’re quite pricey ($5,000-10,000) and so they’re more of a curio than a practical rifle for hunting or sport shooting.
Features/Specs
- Comes in 7.62×39, .223, or .308 (pictured)
- Flash suppressor/wire cutter thing
- Bayonet lug for a neat Finish bayonet
Shooting the Valmet M78 LMG
The M78 uses rock and lock, straight-body magazines. Because I’m in Canada, these are pinned to 5 rounds to protect Canadian sensibilities and prevent anyone from going on a very expensive rampage. Getting mags like this in Canada is tough because there aren’t really any other guns that use them and 308 Valmets aren’t super common. You’d probably need to have an importer bring additional ones in if you wanted. It’d be easier to find 7.62×39 AK-pattern mags.
Like other AK-pattern rifles, the bolt doesn’t lock back on the last round.
The large safety also blocks the bolt from coming all the way back when engaged.
Since this is the LMG version, it has an attached bipod that you can quickly deploy.
