Valmet M-60 (Rk.60) Assault Rifle was the first of the Finnish "improved Kalashnikovs." Though internally almost identical to the AKM, the Valmet M-60 Assault Rifle is externally very different, with a plastic handguard that does not cover the gas tube, a plastic pistol grip, tubular steel stock, and a different-shaped receiver designed to take a better rear sight and optional optical sights or night vision equipment. The 16.55-inch barrel was tipped with a large three-prong flash suppressor.
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| Valmet M-60 Assault Rifle |
There were two basic models of the Valmet M-60 Assault Rifle. The Valmet M-60 Assault Rifle had no trigger guard (in order to allow its use with fingerless mittens), and the receiver was a carefully machined forging (stronger, but more expensive and difficult to produce). The Valmet M-60B Assault Rifle had a rubber coating for the tubular steel butt, a trigger guard which could hinge away from the trigger, and the ability to use several different bayonet types (including detachable folding bayonets). About 200 of each were made (though most M-60As were later modified to the Valmet M-60B Assault Rifle standard and called FM-60s), and they are essentially identical for game purposes.
The Valmet M-62 Assault Rifle started life as an experimental improvement of the Valmet M-60B Assault Rifle, but quickly became a service weapon, with Qatar and Indonesia as well as Finland. The Valmet M-62 Assault Rifle uses a simplified receiver cover, the handguard was ribbed, and the pistol grip shaped differently; in addition, the stock folds. The plastic parts were originally dark green, but the color was changed to black for most production rifles. At first, the gas tube of the Valmet M-62 Assault Rifle was partially enclosed in a stamped steel liner, but most have their gas tubes totally enclosed.
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| Valmet M-62 Series Assault Rifle |
Variants of the Valmet M-62 Assault Rifle include the M-62PT, introduced in 1972 and adding some refinements such as better protection for the iron sights, tritium inlays for the iron sights, and a return to the stronger machined-steel receiver. The M-62S was a semiautomatic civilian/police version (produced primarily for export); this version often had wooden furniture when sold in the US, but other versions had the M-62s standard layout or a folding stock.
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