During 1943 the Finnish authorities began showing a passing interest in an assault rifle/SMG concept like the 7.92 Kurz. They however did not have neither the time or the inclination to start the development of a whole new assault rifle/cartridge concept smack bang in the middle of a world war when they already had limited resources and were trying to keep up with the war demand. Finnish arms designed Amio Lahti saw the potential of a lightweight SMG concept and started his own development based on shortened 6.5×55 SE cases. This private venture, while in the employ of the VKT (Valtion Kivääritehdas = State Rifle Factory), lead to some serious personality clashes with management and he was accused of using company time and resources to further his own agenda. Ultimately his concept rifle, the light machinegun m/AL-43 was not adopted by the military, being rejected by Weapons-HQ of the Finnish Army HQ Commander Major General V. Svanström. Lahti was not however going to give up on his dream, and he started looking for outside funding of his project. The initial AL-43 was developed for the 9×35 Lahti cartridge, but in 1944 Lahti developed the 7.62 x 35 cartridge and some of the existing AL-43’s were converted to the 7.62mm design. The Allied Control Commission and the end of the war effectively ended this project.
Lahti M/AL43(7.6235mm Lahti)（Should be BR5 Assault rifle）
