M40 Lahti
 

Guys,
I have the opportunity to buy an (original??) stock iron for the M40 Lahti. The photo I have seen is not like the luger iron, the WWII rare Sweden stock iron, the Finnish stock iron or any other type Lahti stock iron that I've seen. It does fit the M40.

I know that the Dane police force had a new version of the shoulder stocks made and need a photo of the 1960's version.

Does anyone have a photo of the 1960's shoulder stock for the Dane police M40?????

I know it's like hunting for hens teeth or chicken lips but I have to ask.

Thank you.

[I can hear the old timers here gnashing their teeth] :D

At the risk of being scorned, can you provide a pic, Duane??? :)

I know it's not always convenient to carry a mini-cam with you, but even my BlackBerry takes a fairly good pic and most sellers have no problem if they see you pull out a phone...(I guess they think it's instant approval for a sale)...

I have an M40, and read here some year ago that a Luger stock would fit...That's not quite true - the locking notch is in a different position...and although I don't have a Luger stock, I don't think it's an easy task to slip the stock on...(If it will go on at all)...

Not Danish but one of a Finn M 35 and a Swede M40. I would think that the Danish stock would be similar, if not the same as the Swede M40. The Danes contracted to Sweden for their M40s.

Here's a quote from the same site:The Danish Brigade was trained in secrete from 1944 until spring 1945 and it was equipped with pistol m/40 which were taken directly from Swedish Military stores. The Danish brigade was equipped in Sweden with 1 000 of ordinary Swedish military pistols m/40 with SS inspector stamp.
These guns followed with the brigade when it was transferred to Denmark on the night between 4th and 5th of May 1945. The pistols were later used by the Danish police.


http://www.gotavapen.se/gota/m40/pist40_6.htm

Here's the pic that I forgot to post. Sorry about that. I don't know why it's not showing. It's also very small. I may have shrunk it too much.

... ?? ...It doesn't show up here, either...

I 'saved', enlarged, and lightened it...It looks home made...

The stock was cut off. A diferent seller (6+ months ago) made a reproduction board (his cut also) for his M40 stock iron. I don't have a photo of that one. Maybe to get onto the open market they had to cut the stocks. I don't think it is home made.
A photo of an original 1960's stock would tell me if it's correct or not and the shape of the board to make a copy if correct.

Ron, it is not a WWII Swedish stock iron or similar. The Danes contracted for 10K+ pistols for their police force also.

Thank you.

"The Danes contracted for 10K+ pistols for their police force also."

Duane,

I saw that on the website. Did they produce their own butt-stocks? Until now I didn't know that they ordered the additional Police contract run after the war. It seems as though they would have ordered them with the stocks.

Ron

Duane - How do you think that stock iron atteched to the board??? I don't see any holes...Is it a hollow piece, maybe with vertical screws???

Hello Ron,
From my research, the Danes produced their own stocks and iron. The luger stock will fit but not as well because there is a slight lug difference (using Luger stock illegal also). The Danes only made a couple hundred stocks. Don't know how a holster was attatched but here is MY theory.

Most Lahti holsters have a "leather tab" at the bottom and some don't. I believe they screwed/rivetted the holster onto the board thru the bottom tab and inside under the flap to mount the top of the holster to the board. One photo shows the WWII Swedish holster attatched to the stock with a screw/rivet. One photo shows the WWII Lahti holster with the leather tab. Yes, this is MY personal reasoning and NOT written anywhere I can find.

These Danish stocks were discontinued do to the bulkiness and carry ability for a policeman.
Thank you.

Postino,
I asked the seller for photos of various angles to determine how it attatched to the lug and to help in reasearching whether original. I'll post them when I get them.

Here are photos of the stock iron sent by the seller.

Forgot one.

So it's 'sandwiched' by the board stock??? And the holster rivets to the board???

Do you think it's genuine??? Or should I say 'original'???

Well, when I compare the "style" with the original WWII test type, they are similar in some ways.
Both don't have a locking mechanism, both are sandwiched into the board and both use a screw/rivit to lock the iron onto the lug groove. The iron and the pistol are blued the same.

I would have to say that this is an original or genuine Danish police stock iron.

I do believe the holster was rivited to the board.

If any of our European friends can find an original WWII L-35 finnish stock or a M40 original WWII Swedish test stock at a show or market, I would pay a nice finders fee if I buy it.
Thank you.

It seems on this home made iron it would require a screwdriver to attach it?

So you don't think it's spring loaded??? Like a bayonet latch???

It couldn't have ever been used...there's no holes in the tang where the board would have to mount...

The 'file grooves' don't seem right...Have you ever seen a stock iron with that kind of grooving???

Rich..So you don't think it's spring loaded??? Like a bayonet latch???

No I don't. I am intimately familiar with this type of latching mechanism..the same as a Luger. The latch is activated by rotation. There would be no way to fix a rotating spring in this small space. Nor would it make sense to make such a simple latch automatic. The luger has a simple lever..This one should too but whoever made it left it off and made a slotted head. Only conclusion I can come up with is a screwdriver.

A screw driver tipped loading tool comes with every holster in its own small pouch. Also, as can be seen in the 4th pic, the screwhead has been used. How many times is a guess.

Here is the photo of the backside of the original swedish holster stock in an earlier post. The stock iron in question looks like it would work well in this board. No locking mechanism either.

Conny...

A screw driver tipped loading tool comes with every holster in its own small pouch.

I have a couple of these things floating around in my junk box..did they have any other function besides a screwdriver?

That's a very cool stocked pistol! Wish I had one...