War and Military Atlas

How Battles Were Fought
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Lahti L-39

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The Lahti L-39 is a Finnish 20mm anti tank rifle designed by Aimo Lahti and manufactured by Valtion Kivaaritehdas, entering production in 1939 for use in the Second World War. Nicknamed Norsupyssy, or elephant gun, it offered good accuracy, penetration and range but was large and difficult to move, and as tank armor grew too thick for it to defeat, it was repurposed for long range sniping, harassing fire against tanks, and, in its fully automatic L-39/44 variant, improvised anti aircraft fire.

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