Experimental Lilja Model 1943 assault rifle (Finland. 1943).
Lilja Model 1943. Prototype of the Finnish assault rifle. Inspector Erkki Lilja, a close colleague of Aimo Lahti, was interested in the use of intermediate cartridges around that time. Thus, Lilja developed the design of his assault rifle also in 1943. At the end of the same year, he manufactured a prototype at VKT facilities without official company approval, but left the weapon unfinished…
It remained so until the 1970s, when Lilja finally finished assembling the rifle and retired. Very little is known about the design of the rifle, speculation comes from the very few photographs available. The weapon uses a detachable 30-round box magazine and (most likely, but not accurately) a free bolt. The Sturmgewehr uses the patented 9 × 40mm Lilja cartridge, essentially an elongated version of the .30 Carbine cartridges.
9x40 Lilja / 9 mm Finnish Lilja XPL Model 43 / 9x40 Finnish experimental 1943 / 9x40 Finnish XPL Lilja M-43 / 9x40 Lilja
In 1943, the cartridge was developed privately by the Finnish gunsmith Erkki Lilja, an employee of the state-owned arms factory Valtion Kivääritehdas (VKT), a colleague and colleague of Aimo Lahti. The ammunition was intended for an experimental prototype of his own assault rifle and was built from some sources on the basis of the elongated case of the 9 mm Parabellum pistol. Other sources indicate the similarity of the design idea with the American .30 M1 Carbine, but in an increased caliber. In the same year, the direct production of a batch of cartridges was carried out by the Finnish state cartridge factory from Lapua “Valtion Patruuniatehdas” (VPT).
According to available information, the then Finnish military leadership did not have the opportunity to introduce an intermediate cartridge, focusing on maintaining the operability of already existing small arms systems. The signing of the Moscow Armistice (1944) between Finland, the USSR and Great Britain made further research in this direction irrelevant and led to the curtailment of the relevant projects, including the one under consideration. This circumstance is considered one of the key circumstances that left this cartridge and weapon within the framework of the experimental. Some Finish squads(premium or event squad)
