Rifles of Simo Häyhä: The World's Greatest Sniper (w/ 9 Hole Reviews)
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- čas přidán 13. 01. 2021
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Thanks to Henry from 9 Hole Reviews for the guest segment! Check out his channel:
/ @9holereviews
In light of the approaching Finnish Brutality: The Winter War match, I though we could take a look at the two rifles associated with the world's most successful sniper: Simo Häyhä. Häyhä was born in 1905, joined the Civil Guard at the age of 17, and did his mandatory military service from 1925 to 1927. He was first issued an American-made New England Westinghouse M91 Mosin as a Guardsman. After being discharged from the Army in 1927, he returned to active Civil Guard membership while living and working on his family farm in Karelia. He developed a reputation as an excellent marksman, both in competitive shooting and as a hunter.
When the Civil Guard developed the M28-30 pattern of Mosin, Häyhä was once of many who opted to pay a part of the cost to have his own personal rifle to keep at home, and it is with his personal M28-30 (slight correction from the video: Simo's rifle was s/n 35281, and had Civil Guard inventory number S60974.) that he went to war when the Soviet Union attacked in November 1939, starting the Winter War. The 28-30 featured a new style of sights to replace the Russian Konovalov pattern. Henry Chan from 9 Hole Reviews will give us some insight into why these sights were so excellent. In addition, the barrels were free-floated and the stocks made from two spliced pieces of wood to prevent changing temperatures and humidity from impacting rifle zero.
In his 95 days of active service during the Winter War, Simo Häyhä was credited with 542 enemy soldiers killed - mostly with his M28-30 Mosin Nagant (although he did also use the Suomi SMG and LS-26 LMG at times). He finally ran out of luck on March 6, 1940 when he was hit in the face by a Soviet exploding bullet. He was in a coma for 6 days, and spent several months in hospital, where some 26 surgeries were necessary to reconstruct his jaw - and he was permanently disfigured. His name is permanently linked to snipers worldwide, and also to the Winter War legacy "Kollaa kestää" - "Kollaa holds". He lived a quiet bachelor life as a farmer after the war, breeding hunting dogs and occasionally doing things like taking the President of Finland moose hunting. He passed away peacefully in 2002 at the age of 96.
For much more detail on Häyhä's life and practical shooting advice, I recommend "The White Sniper: Simo Häyhä" by Tapio Saarelainen:
amzn.to/3brM12y
Contact:
Forgotten Weapons
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It's worth noting that despite his injuries he lived until the age of 96!
And he spent most of his life out in -40 degrees ..... prone in the snow, running, crawling... They don't make men like that anymore
Very very hardy people....
@@Narcan885 They do, it's just that the loudest ones today are the weakest, kind of like dogs.
@@Colaglass dogs evolved to what they are because of people. Pets reflect their owners
Death was probably a little scared to come for him
Simo Häyhä with the most disgusting no-scope montage of 1939
Some of those kills were made with Suomi KP/-31
@@marseldagistani1989 actually it was top of those +500 kills with rifle. Estimated like 300 kills with kp 31
@@daweqa2406 OK most of those kills were made with Suomi KP/-31
@@marseldagistani1989 why would you keep going lmao
@@neeldeshmukh124 eh.
Because I can
My parents found three old military rifles hidden in their hause. This was common in Finland after the war. I adopted the rifles and one of them is similar to the civil guard rifle what Simo used. Even the serial number is very close. My rifle has a serial number 60674 and Simos rifle has 60974.
@Jukka Enarvi. That is super cool and exciting! Hopefully they are in good working order and you are able to shoot them from time to time.
Cool
You are a very fortunate person to have such classic and well-built tools in your collection!
@jukkaenarvi1226
Hei Jukka...se on tosi hyvää!
Melkein suomalainen canadasta
"Beware the man with one gun. He can probably use it." - Jeff Cooper.
Well said
I think no one knows how exactly this phrase is.
Actually Simo also had and used a submachine gun for something like 30 or 40 of those confirmed kills..... This guy was the real John Wick when it came to killing Russians 🤣
I think he would be deadly with a pile of rocks .
@@THX..1138 I heard it was 200
Everybody gangster till the snow starts speaking Finnish
😁😁... Or the trees Vietnamese.
Commie eradicating weapon
Or the streets Russian?
Like WW2?
Or the roof's Korean 😅
or the tree's germanic.
"I wanna fight in the continuation war."
"They blew friggin' your face off!"
"It's just a flesh wound..."
"Tis but a scratch!"
"I've had worse."
I walked it off im good to go
"Half a face. And nothing wrong with my eyes."
"I don't need a face to use a gun."
The fame of Simo unfortunately overshadows an army full of outstanding marksmen that were extremely effective in frightful conditions. A significant number of Finns in this time period would be the top sniper in most other countries. Even putting Simo's achievements aside, the Winter War highlights the difference between an army filled with men acquainted with firearms from an early age and an army comprised of men that handled their first firearm a matter of months ago. While the Mosin action is a committee design with too many parts, its loose tolerances made it better suited to use in the frozen north than a more precision based design, which to a certain extent is also true of the use of a rimmed cartridge. I have two very late production M39 rifles that are a pleasure to shoot and a few of the original Russian M91 rifles that all I can say is "what were they thinking?" The Finns did an outstanding job with what they had in an incredible short time period.
Shows in how to this day the finns use the RK62 and RK95, which are based on the AK platform.
And other northern countries do the same. The swedish AK 5, is another rifle modified for climate, but based on the FNC.
Good point; Recognition for heroism and notable accomplishments requires someone seeing and reporting them. Real heroes are quick to point out that many others did as much, if not more, but simply weren't observed doing so.
You think Russians didn't grow up with firearms & hunting ?
Have you been to Russia ?
They are no different to the Finns ... Only difference was that Finns were fighting for freedom from Communism & Russian citizens were already subjugated by it, so had little taste in Defending it ...
clearance instead of tolerance... And it's not a gunmanship question, it's a tactics question. You put some dudes in a bunch in a camp - it's easy for a sniper to come and start picking them off. Whether those dudes are good shots or not is irrelevant.
@@hardrada8637 You forget that this was after the Purge and years after Stalin's government who banned firearms as fast as he could. So you do have a generation of soldiers who have no combat experience from officers who have no combat experience pressed into service who may have at best a week of firearms training.
Russian Soldier *gets sniped*
Says to comrade: " Ivan, I think I am Finnish-ed"
Sigghhhhh...
take your damn like
Why would a Russian soldier speak English?
@@punchysonichu5395 Because the joke only works in english.
@@punchysonichu5395 so a Chinese, a Russian, a Korean & an Iranian walk into a bar...BRB just got to go learn 4 languages so I can tell you this joke.
czcams.com/video/er7jUvhHMQ0/video.html
Fun fact: The Winter War ended on the same day Häyhä woke up from his coma.
Coincidence? I think not.
Häyhä: wakes up
Russians: *hears boss music intensify*
@@bikerdude923 "This isn't even my final form"
@@bikerdude923 “They are rage, brutal, without mercy. But you. You will be worse. Rip and tear, until it is done.” - "Okay, okay, we're ending the war"
Do you watch a lot of Russian TV channels?
Soviet HQ: "C'mon boys, just one final push, we can still do it!"
Intelligence: "Simo Häyhä has just regained consciousness."
Soviet HQ: "Awwww for fuck's sake God fucking dammit!.. (pause) Whatever! Who needs this ass-freezing shithole anyway? Let's wrap it up boys!"
Gun jesus talking about the sniper jesus's rifle
What? I thought Simo Hayha was gun jesus's apostle
true
I don't think that the Russians called him that.. 😂
Sniper moses, simoses hayha
I'm the 400th like!
5.7 sniper kills per day. To put it another way, about 1 per hour of daylight.
That's the correct avg you know your history 👍
Well it ain't such hard if you manage to dodge all the bullets coming your way.. Russian doctrine at the time were mass attacks, which are very slow to commence in snow.. Now imagine to being your flanking sniper hide and see a huge wall of Russians slowly struggling onward across your field of fire...
and that are only the confirmed kills. due to weather or other reasons there was plenty of times where the kill couldnt be confirmed.
@Luther Blissett quite sure no german ever crossed off simo on thier kill list. becaus germany wasnt the enemy in that war, it ewas actually the opposite. they where friends. also it wasnt trench warfare. it was guerilla warfare. and as for how they confirmed it? no clue. most is probably accounts from simo himself.
Not Sniper kills...kills by a sniper, the vast majority of his kills were with a Kp machine gun.
As a finn, I am humbled by the detail and the amount of work you must've put in making of this video. As usual, I state "suomi mainittu, torilla tavataan!" meaning something like "Finland got mentioned, everyone meet at the city town Square" 🇫🇮
@Andrew Phillips as a Canadian who enjoys pulla, cross country skiing and saunas i can get behind this comment.
As an American my most prized rifle I keep loaded next to my bed is my Finnish M39 😊
I want to be buried with it. My AR15 is a second place.
@@2vcrew782 you should probably give it to your son or daughter, or even a nephew instead of getting it buried - it will be more useful for them : )
@@iikkakonola Yes sir. I have several rifles and three boys. They will all get them. Not getting buried with me. Just an expression to show my love for them.
@@2vcrew782 Don't give guns to kids
In Finnish Army slang 28/30 was/is called ”Pystykorva” - The spitz. Because front sight sideplates are like ears of the spitz.
You mean the dogs?
@@MrEazyE357 Yep
"Pystykorva" =en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_Spitz
And appropriately Simo had one Finnish Spitz in the 60's photo of him.
@@hece35 after the war he became breeder of Spitz.
Sako makes to this day outstanding precision rifles
I believe the Canadian Arctic Rangers new rifle is a Sako. Very nice looking
@@DaDaDo661 It is.
@@DaDaDo661 It's small, cute, fits right in my pocket.
@@DaDaDo661 Isn't it a Tikka? A sub brand of Sako?
@@DaDaDo661 Tikka. T3 CTR. Laminated stock. We call it the "C-19".
Some guy in the United States is going to look through his Mosin collection after watching this video, take out his Finnish Mosin, and have a heart attack when he sees the serial number
Can only imagine the amount of people moving to Finland just to look for Simo's Mosin.
yeah because the USA is the only country in the whole world and only an American could possibly have it. FFS, the arrogance and ignorance of many/most of the last couple of generations of Americans puts a once great nation to shame.
@@gurglejug627 I said it as more of a joke than anything else, but lots of surplus Finnish Mosins were imported to the US in the 1980's, so it isn't out of the realm of possibility. It's probably just as likely the rifle was lost/destroyed, or is owned by someone in a different country. I think your hostility is a bit unwarranted here.
@@navywolf1753 even if it's meant as a joke, Gurgle summed it up pretty accurately. And as he mentioned, the arrogance and ignorance of americans by now is so high that it's just plain annoying.
And as mentioned in the video, the rifle was never recovered by the finnish forces from the battlefield. So either some russians took it, some farmers, got scrapped or it is still there. The probability that it ended up in the US is basically not there.
@@RobinCernyMitSuffix Euros seething about America, more at 5 o' clock.
"...who very much enjoyed shooting."
That right there is "foreshadowing."
-36,0° No-scope
I see what you did there.
Clever-ass guy 🤣 lmao
welp, today you win an internet. congratulations
Perkele
Well played, sir
Nubs: Mosin is a terrible rifle in no way good enough for a sniper
Random farmboy from Finland: *Hold my beer*
Well sisu, sauna and properly applied screams of vittu and perkele is all you need.
*hold my scope
To somewhat quote Ian: the worst bolt action rifle (of the major powers) of the war.
Hähyä was just amazing.
Most if not all of Mosins were fixed to be more usable then the crap shoot condition that they were in which was the reason why they didn't suck ass like normal Mosin does
You probably wanna say: hold my snow.
A unit of Russians were walking through the Finnish woods and they heard a voice shoutout "One Finnish solider is worth ten Russians". And so the Russsian officer in charge ordered them to attack and after a short gun fight no Russians return. The next day more Russian soldiers are marching through the woods and a voice shouts out " One Finnish solider is worth a hundred Russians" and so the officer again, orders them to attack. After several hours of gun fights and a few explosions no Russian soldiers return. The next day, in anger, the officer returns to the same spot with a thousand men and as he expected a voice shouts out "One Finnish soldier is worth a thousand Russians" and so the officer orders a bombing run on the near by woods and then an artillery barrage and then orders his men to attack, after a few days of intense fighting a single solider returns from the woods with a bandage over his eye and using a branch as a crutch and he turns to his officer and says "Don't send in any more men, it's a trap, there's two of them".
Absolutely true story, not worthy of mistrust. I also readily believe that all conversations were in English.
And they're high on methamphetamines.
Dude was no scopping before no scope was a thing, absolute legend.
The scope would attract unwanted attention and/or fog up in finland, so iron sights it was.
Shows what one determend man and his rifle can do
and when you ladies leave my island, you will all be able to do the same thing
Thank you for bringing Henry in and having him go over the sights. This is another outstanding review and history, thank you again..
Little surprised there is no link to his channel... czcams.com/channels/srKsXEAqCbZyVrCibkgpwQ.html
plus as a Brit, I like his accent (Hong Kong? It's like an English accent, but without any regional bits) :)
@@njones420 Thank you. I just subscribed at 9 hole reviews.
@@njones420 Yes, Henry is from Hong Kong. It's really fun listening to him.
I watched his Mosin video a few weeks back, absolutely brilliant shooter. Simo would probably nod with approval. Or take him hunting.
Yup. Thanks!
The most important part of a snipers rifle, is the sniper.
The rifle is more important than the sniper. Without it he would have to quietly sneak up to the target and manually push the bullets in.
@@3DMegadoodoo I say that Cheese is right. Give a bad rifle to an exceptional sniper and he will hit his mark, without the enemy seeing him. Give an exceptional rifle to a bad sniper and he will get killed.
Every time I put ice cream in my mouth, I think "this is just so the Russians won't see my breath, and I better get some more ice cream in there quick before my breath warms up". Sneaky Sneaky...
Bruh I'm eating strrbrry stater bros ice cream right now
I like to pack it on the ground in front of me.
lol
He was a master of fieldcraft. It would have been interesting to go hunting or hiking with him.
Seconded, however I know that he would completely run me into the ground. Way back at age 19 and peak condition, I went hunting with a group of Finish veterans in their 80s and 90s. They were polite enough not to laugh in my face when I collapsed after returning to the camp.
in his later life he became a very successful moose hunter and would take many important individuals including at least one prime minister of Finland hunting
good gravy! How do you compete?!
interesting? yes.
I dont think so. Not much talking on that trip of I know my Finns 😂
@@musiksagorswe7200 You live in their land as they do, what else can they be?
As a Finn I wish to present my sincerest thank you to Ian and Forgotten Weapons for this excellent and humbling video about our history.
About Simo, the man, the soldier and sniper. Only those who have combat time and especially those who deployed behind enemy lines, know the sheer terror of it. The smallest team i deployed in behind the lines were 5 in number. I remember still the fear of it, every single moment, gut churning fear. You cannot sleep properly, even though your mates are on watch. Your team mates are your entire existence... and you live for your team, that is your safety. Simo initially deployed with a spotter, but later became a solo sniper. As a lifelong hunter, I know why. His skills were MUCH higher than any other person going out with him. For how he operated, a spotter is a serious liability. He did not want a team member's life in his hands. Simo did this for a long time. I never got used to the fear. He must have gotten to a space where he accepted it and learnt to use it as another tool in his skillset. Super human stuff.
We salute him for being a superb marksman, but you can see here, he was MUCH, MUCH more than that! Snipers are unique people... and i am not surprised that the very best of them all was a Finn. I have shot against them in international competition and although we managed from time to time to win medals, the Finn marksmen usually dominated! Superb people, superlative marksmen.
Yet another fantastic insight from Gun Jesus!!
As a Finn are you familiar with Lauri Allan Torni? A true bad ass.
@@paulshayter1113 Yes for sure, aka Larry Thorn, quite an amazing guy he was. Some interesting videos about him in YT as well. And there was a movie starring John Wayne if memory serves me right.
Simo is revered around the world for his almost superhuman ability, he will be like Achilles, thousands of years from now military men will still know his name
@@JuhaEerikki Yes the John Wayne movie was The Green Beret.
Lauri Torni/Larry Thorn was an amazing man doing everything he could to fight the Soviets/communists.
Is he well regarded in Finland or do most Finn's not know who he is/was. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery which is a revered place in the U.S. and I bet most people would be dumbfounded to know that a man that was a Waffen SS officer was buried there.
505 russians were harmed in the making of this video.
@@drcornelius8275
Conscripts? Volunteers?
I bet the volunteer bounty was handsome.
505+ only 505 are noted he may have many more I doubt he does not have more
Soviets* many Ukrainians (and other nationalities within soviet union) died during winter war fighting for the soviet union.
@@alainerookkitsunev5605 Fine *Europeans.
You happy?
@@cortex8239 i mean, calling all soviets russian is like calling all americans californian... Right?
My grandfather fought in the Winter-war as a Swedish volunteer. He got through that ordeal but he never ever spoke about his experiences during that time...
"Finlands sak är vår!"
There were many Swedish volunteers in the war and we Finns are very grateful for them and will never forget!
Skål for your grandad 🙌
The white death. Forgotten weapons. And 9 holes. 2021 is looking up already
Yup. It doesn't get more bad ass and knowledgeable at the same time than that... plain and simple..
Simo was my Great Grandfather's 3rd cousin. He's a family hero. Your comment made me smile. Cheers
I smell burt toast am I dreaming?
@@andersjjensen How about a musical tale about the white death, by Metal band Sabaton?
@@metalboo8491 It already exists :P
The fact that a farmer took half a thousand enemy lives, and they literally used all their resources, including a sector bombardment on a single man didn't stop him, was one hell of a legend.
Dude got shot in the face with an explosive round and still didn't die. Are we sure this guy was human?
@@---mr5iu To be fair, from what I heard, it wasn't a direct hit. That being said... taking an explosion to the face is pretty badass.
This farmer was a Suojeluskunta (Finnish paramilitary organization) member since 1922 and served in army in 1925-1927. By the time the war began, he was an excellently trained shooter.
In the old days most soldiers were farmers.
no no you are wrong, they bombarded Finns only with "bread baskets" (if you not familiar it is russian propaganda)
Had heard of Simo but not the full story. When you got to the part where he was shot I was so glad to hear he survived, and to see the picture of him with his dog. After what he did for his nation and its people including trying to re-enlist after being horribly hurt, the guy deserved a break. I hope he lived to a ripe old age.... looked it up confirmed he passed away in 2002 he lived to 96.
Surviving an explosive bullet to the face is unbelievably hardcore.
Great video! As a Finn, already quite deep into history of Simo, learned many new things about the rifle. You did his memory a fair justice!
Fun fact: SAKO arms manufacturer was established after Finnish Independence and Civil war on 1919, and its business started with modernizing the Russian rifles just like this one seen in the video. SAKO = Suojeluskuntain Ase- ja Konepaja Oy = Civil Guard Gun and Machining Works Ltd. However it was part of Civil Guard not more than two years, and eventually rebranded as SAKO in 1930s.
Simo Hahya was a legend. When asked how he could perform such amazing and seemingly impossible feats of accuracy, his reply was to just practice shooting.
I don't think I could come up with a more finnish answer.
Continuation War: (begins)
Simo: You guys DO know I can crank up those numbers even higher, don't you?
Everyone else: Please, don't...
Simo noooo
everyone else: Simo OP, pls nerf ;)
Aw, that helpless little whimper is such an invitation to crank up a killcount...
Really good info here. Finnish winter has some details that makes scope reflection big issue, sun shines from really low reflecting every shiny thing miles away and below zero temperature seems to give it away even more. Guess Simo learned this by hunting.
It would be pretty easy to fashion an objective lens shade to reduce the reflection of the sun. This would not do anything for the other supposed shortcomings of scope use mentioned, but it would solve that problem.
He said he would have used a scope, but just didn't have access to one. This was from Finnish Sniper instructors interviewing him before he passed.
I have one of his spent cases from one of his firing positions from the Battle of Kollaa, mounted on a Plaque.
There is a dedicated museum for Simo Häyhä and the Battles of Kollaa in Southeast Finland near a place called Simpele. IIRC, some of his personal post-war guns are on display there. The museum curators know A LOT of him and the place is definitely worth a visit. Went there last summer and it was an astonishing place.
"Finland, over the course of a couple of years would gain it's independence." A very nice diplomatic explanation of 1917-1920.
Just like his mention of the Russian revolution. Slightly... turbulent... times.
Ian doesn't like talking about war.
@@SecondMoopzoo Especially if there are politics involved (there always is) and I respect him for it.
Do not mention the Social Democrats starting a civil war.
@@SecondMoopzoo Few people do that understand it.
Simo Häyhä was such a legend, we even lerned in german history class about him.
Dann ist euer Geschichtslehrer definitiv motivierter als unserer
Dann hat dein Geschichtslehrer coolere Interessen, als meiner
*Häyhä. I saw the thumbnail had the same misspelling...
Ummm what? What um what you guys sayin?
Lol J/K guys.
@@nickivonderdurrenlache6909 wir haben mehr die militärischen als die politischen aspekte durchgenommen.
Sowas wie: Fall weiß, Der winterkrieg, Stalingrad, Kursk, Bagraton und noch viele andere schlachten im Westen und in Italien/Afrika. War geil 😂
Remember that an important part of sniping is the tactics. The best rifle in the world is useless in the hands of someone who doesn't know how to approach a target and how to retreat unseen. It is these sorts of skills in combination with his outstanding marksmanship that made Simo such an amazing sniper. He was deadly accurate while also being nearly invisible to his foe.
The free floating barrel is genius level simplicity.Somehow, it's always surprising and refreshing to see practical ,field ,design issues translated to production weapons.
Certainly earned his place in history.
It's funny how the sniper with the most amount of kills happens to be the master of no scopes too...
Accidentally no scoped the soviet army... sounds legit
@@gearloose703 I mean with the number of troops they were literally throwing at their enemies, It's kind of hard to miss.
@@bluedracolich13 I mean the Finnish had to cycle there MG crews because they could have them on the gun for to long or they would get paralysed by PDSD from all the soviets they killed in such a short order.
even some soviet officer noted that. after wining some land in a battle where the fins had next to no loses or there corps was removed by finish operatives.
won enough land to bury our dead.
A Chinese sniper in Korean War was also no scope, 214 kills in 32 days, and he was also using Mosin Nagant
Forest land, forest distances.
What a superb video this is, an absolute goldmine of factual and historical information, a masterclass in what made the rifle so well suited to the task of sniping using iron sights, and an introduction to another highly recommendable presenter and channel.
The details of the book was the icing on the cake (or, given the topic, the snow on the upper handguard!).
Oh great idea Ian. I'd like to see more videos like this about snipers and the rifles they used.
Billy Sing is one worth looking into. His story hasn't been covered much.
Remember this next time you keep missing: Nope it is not the rifle - it is you!
depends on the gun. some guns are just plain awful.
or the gun was not taken care of before you got it and now will forever be crap (presuming your not interesting in going over each and every part and replacing it).
Unless your gun in a Soviet Made Mosin Nagant ... those are pure shit.
@toeff7852 the assertion stands today. Mosins are garbage, and Russian soldiers didn't have any other choice for a rifle. Your argument is lame.
Its that age old thing, as much as you can only be as accurate as the rifle mechanically is, the rifle can only be as accurate as your marksmanship is
@@HGrey-et4vl Russian sniper rifles were half way decient, normally. Everything else had garbage QC
4 A.M, the perfect time to watch this
2 AM for pacific time 🙂 but anytime is a good time to watch his vids
This comment hit way too close
11:01 am central europe
Hahaha, 05 here
8 p m guam
man I'm happy 9-hole reviews is getting recognition! Such a massively underrated channel!
It's nice that Forgotten Weapons showcasing 9 Hole Reviews. It's always a pleasure to see fav hosts appear in others fav projects. :)
It also was a blast to watch Ian join 9 Hole Reviews Pick One series.
There's a long gun and then there's a L O N G gun.
And the bayonet is ridiculously long too, assuming they use the same one as the Soviets. It's a nearly 2' long spike.
@@graham1034 4 foot rifle..... 6 foot with bayonet
.
also, because of the extra length..... x54r hits WAY harder than a 308 or 30-06 from a ~22 inch barrel.....
found on most hunting rifles and stuff like a 98 kurtz
.
longer barrels dont mean more accurate
but they CAN mean a few 100 more FPS
Long gun is looooooong
@@kainhall Higher velocity means flatter trajectory, so more accurate. No?
When asked: "What did you Simo feel when shooting the Russians?" He replied: "Recoil".
This made me laugh.
That is actually a true story
That is very Finnish
There's another one when he was asked how he got so good with a rifle: "Practice."
The quote is more on the lines of "I did my duty and fulfilled my orders as well as I could. There would be no Finland if not we had all done so."
- Vladimir
- Yes, Dimitri.
- Have you ever heard of a Finnish sniper?
- The "White Death"?
- Yeah, do you think we'll find him?
- I think this is a legend that the Finns invented.
- Is it, Dimitri? Dimitri? DIMITRI!!
Russians don't even know about the Winter War. They are taught that fascist Finns invaded poor Russia. There are maps of this in the Central Red Army Museum in Moscow, with huge blue arrows coming from Finland down into Russia.
The soviets send a vastly numerically superior force to Finland.
Simo: "Perkele! The Soviets saw fit to grace us with a target rich enviroment!"
@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine Makes no difference, you have that many enemy on the front they have a much better chance of overruning you than you do of killing them first.
@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine The issue was Stalin's hubris, his utter refusal to be outdone by Hitler had him force his general to copy blitzkrieg instead of a simple invasion straight to the capital. Blitzkrieg does not work with slow tanks in the meter deep snow of the Finnish forest. Still doesn't excuse close to a million well-equipped soviets with thousands of tanks and a large air force losing against a country with no actual mobilized army, the Soviets were simply outmatched against the willpower, bravery, and strategic genius of the Finns.
@Seven Proxies Translate / explain ? "Perkele" = I am unfamiliar with Finnish ...
@@davidm.4670 it's pretty much a universal swearword. It probably comes from the old name of the most powerful pagan god and is considered the most "powerful" swearword in the Finnish language.
@@leopolderhardsberger2727 AH! Thanks ! 'Most powerful pagan god' however leaves me a little uncertain as to which pantheon or' rater' ( my ignorance...) I would guess Finnish - but know not name...
Corrections and info by a Finnish history enthusiastic:
Häyhä was promoted to Vänrikki so a second lieutenant not a lieutenant, you can see his rank on that photo.
Häyhä also had an impressive kill count with a Suomi KP submachine gun, I guess the exact number of kills is disputed but it was around 200, so he did kill over 700 people, not just over 500.
What can be said for certain is that he had plugged 150 ivans before christmas -39
A true Patriot.
@Jani Cavèn no they arent, 542 with rifle + 200 with Suomi KP/m31 when he was squad leader
Alright, that just makes him sound like some sort of "Legendary Character" from a videogame, where any weapon in his hands gains a +20 to accuracy or some nonsense, so you give him a machine gun to game the system.
YOU'RE IN THE SNIPERS SIGHT
The first kill tonight
Ahh
It takes no time for Sabaton to show up
TIME TO DIE!!!
@@msbae YOU'RE IN THE BULLET'S WAY
SAY GOODBYE
He didn’t have a scoped rifle but his field craft was as good as his marksmanship allowing him a situational advantage over his enemy.
You know your terrain and can estimate range as good as he seems to have, you don't need a scope.
@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine Sigh - now US current Govt wants to ban firearms fools ...
I've rewatched this 3x, absolutely great content, thanks Ian!
"Something like that" is about as close as most non Fins will come to pronouncing Finnish names if we're just reading them, so good job Ian. While we can joke about the language there is nothing to joke about when you look at their war against the Soviet Union in the Winter War or during the Continuation War. Simo wasn't the only hero who stepped up in those wars...
That’s true.
We had many legendary men.
For example Aarne Juurilainen who was valled The horror of Marocco
Lauri Törni who later mover to US and served in Vietnam under a name Larry Thorne.
And many more. Including both of my grandfathers.
@@Jannem *Aarne Juutilainen
@@yanzaloon4246
Jep. Juutilainen. 😊
The Finns are a tough people. Love that they stood up to a much larger, overwhelming enemy. Badass as fuck. Love Finland! 🇫🇮
So glad he didn't pronounce Simo name as haaaaayhaaa like weird history
5 kills PER DAY!!!!
Simo Hayha waking up every morning, "There I go, killing again"
Only because Mosin had 5-round magazine. Imagine what he could do with a 30-rounder in AR15 against De... oops.
@@PaulVerhoeven2 hahaha that's so funny. Fantasizing about murdering people of the opposition party TOTALLY doesn't make you look like fash even more and and it ABSOLUTELY doesn't further the narrative that gun culture is massively toxic and dangerous to democracy......he said very sarcastically
@@animalxINSTINCT89 Was 1861-1865 murder? I am afraid you are pushing, again. And keep your murder fantasies to yourself.
@@animalxINSTINCT89 A racist, anti-freedom, pro-government-control of everything, statist party accuses others to be fascists, what else is new?
@@PaulVerhoeven2 keep telling yourself that when the FBI comes knocking at your door for posting about your online murder fantasies. Please keep that energy
Very interesting. Cleared up a few historical questions. You have made so many great and very interesting videos. Thanks from the UK for taking the time to make such interesting and high quality content.
I wonder how much Simo’s actual rifle is worth. However, with such a extensive kill record I get a feeling that it may be haunted
It is lost, no one knows where it is. I think some1 Russian took it, maybe...
I want to believe it’s still out there in those fields
It's legendary level weapon
i have no idea about colder than -10C weather, but i imagine losing that shit in a foot of snow while it's snowing seems like a pretty good way for something to be lost forever.
It has +100% more dmg to commies and +5 to sneak
Ian's grandsons will be so lucky, they're gonna have and entire library's worth of interesting stories to listen to
I dont think he has kids
He has to have a woman first...lol
@@Ylinatsiperkele yeah but that would be awesome.
@@Ylinatsiperkele thanks for a nice song!
He's dead now.
I watched the m39 review by Henry and Josh. Henry is a beast at the range
Thank you Ian for the video. Very well and accurately told story of Simo Häyhä and his service rifle. Learned a lot. Thanks again.
My Grandfather or Tuffa fought in the winter and continuation wars and was severely injured by a shell in 1944 which ended his military career . Thank you for such a good review!
Finland through Sissu was kept free !
I just imagine the guy waking up and yelling NOT EVEN CLOSE BABY!
SIMO HÄYHÄ NEVER DIES!
More like:"....ow."
Finns being stoic and all that.
Dude was like "LOL nice try"
See, that is not in the Finnish national character. He'd wake up, have a coffee, and ask the staff when he could return to duty. After all, you can't let an explosive bullet to the face keep you away from work.
Very cool. Thank for the history lesson.
Thanks to Henry from 9 Hole.
That was a well informed presented presentation. Look forward to seeing more collaborations.
This is video of the month for Jan 2021 easily. Really great work Ian Henry and team!
Excellent quality clip. Really well researched and so well delivered! Well done!!
Very cool history, love when you get some input from Henry as well!
My grandfather was a counter sniper in the Winter War,also from the White Guard.(we have speculated if he was maybe one of the guys who was protecting Simo against Russian snipers who were aggressively hunting him.)He was one of three out of five brothers that fought the Russians and the only one to come back alive.His younger brother was killed at Tali-Ihantala,the older we have no idea what happened to him.They were inspired by their uncle who was a Civil guard cavalry officer who had fought Cossack`s on Finnish soil two decades prior(not sure the exact year,maybe 1919).They were all fighting communism before it was a thing.
As old sentence says - Only nazi/fascists fights against communists.
@@sargatanas91 as old sentence says only evil dictatorships fight agains Finland
@@sargatanas91 All the sane people fight against communists.
He had the most impressive K/D ratio of all snipers. Hot damn.
I read from one of the last interviews made from Häyhä in mid 90s that even nearly 90 years of age he had very accurate eyesight. Everyone can only imagine what it was during the war..
Thank you for the videos
Greetings from Finland
nice to hear about this legendary sniper's rifles, thanks
Waking up to this video is fantastic! Thanks, Ian!
Thank you Ian for another bout of probably lots of (10000000.1 hours of) research, into a man of such tenacity.
When the camera focused on the sights, my memories went into overdrive.
Thanks again for all your awesome research and presentations!
He did have a few... hundred... confirmed kills with SMG's as well.
Pretty clever sight design on that 28-30 by the way, nice to see.
It was around 700-800 kills, when you combine the rifle and smg kills. I wonder how many kills average soldier had in the WW2. Machinegunners and artillery had probably the most, but they didn't count those.
@@juhokuusisto9339 I think he's only outscored by a very specific subset of B-29 aircrews.
@@GaldirEonai ‘Bockscar’ is always forgotten because ‘Enola Gay’ had the funnier name
@@GaldirEonai Oh right, there were those two big booms.
Episode on Häyhä? Katos perkele!
Edit: Your pronunciation of Tapio Saarelainen was very good! Häyhä is a different story, it's nigh impossible for English-speakers to get right.
Hey -Ha?
@@dscrappygolani7981 Ha as in Haddock, Y as in a sound that doesn't really exist in English unfortunately and another Ha as in Haddock.
not only for English-speakers)
@@dscrappygolani7981 Nope. The *ä* is pronounced like the a in hang, but I can't even explain how to pronounce the y.
@@Ironpine27 The y is a very quiet j is the best I can come up with
You omitted some very interesting things, including the fact that the Soviet soldier who took his jaw off, was then apparently killed by Hayha before he succumbed to his wound, and the figure of his kills with his other weapons, which takes his tally even higher into hard to believe territory.
Great to hear Henry’s expertise on here.
Very convincing argument for iron sights. Having been on a pop-up range with a 500m silhouette that had to be painted orange to even see, the dude must have had the eyes of a hawk.
@Luther Blissett And if my auntie had balls she'd be my uncle... so?
@@jansenart0 His point is that in the environment, with all the snow, the Russians in their darker uniforms generally stuck out like sore thumbs.
@@RaptorJesus Also, as per the Soviet doctrine, when one man goes down, another would be ordered to take his exact place, on pain of death. Perhaps even some times to save some rations, ammo and food for the rest of the company, perhaps blind, nonthinking dictatorial obedience. Either way, easy kills.
Very good storytelling and a lot of new facts about the White Death - the real legend of (almost) my neighbouring country (only Estonia sits between my country, Latvia, and the great sisu country).
Thanks Ian. Your videos always lead to other rabbit holes.
Definitely one of my favourite videos of yours! And I've watched a lot of your videos!
Ian your knowledge about weapons are just amazing.
I looked into Simo quite a bit when I was younger (because incredibly cool dude, awesome story!) and though I couldn't tell you which was the source, or even if it comes from a documentary or a book, I'm fairly sure I recall the story being that his rifle actually did have a mounted scope initially. Supposedly on one of the very first encounters with russian snipers, he noticed the lens glint and was able to quickly dispatch the enemy, subsequently removing his scope so he wouldn't die a similar death himself. Was I misinformed, perhaps, or can someone corroborate this? It is of course possible that my mind is playing tricks on me, it was probably around 20 years ago that I was heavily into this subject, but it did stick out in my mind as I watched this glorious video.
Thank you, Ian, for opening up the handguard of that Finnish Mosin. Some time ago I read about a Russian method for accurizing their Mosins. It involved cutting back the wood slightly under the receiver and handguard, and inserting two pieces of dense felt soaked in linseed oil. One went between the receiver and the stock, and the receiver was then screwed down hard. The other was wrapped around the barrel at a specific point where it would support the barrel, but not interfere with the harmonics. As the linseed oil dried, it polymerized and solidly bedded the receiver and barrel. I've always wanted to try that on a Mosin, and now have a little better idea of where on the barrel to wrap that felt.
That Henry was cool. Thanks for that segment.
Scopes are a pain in the ass in cold weather, open sights and the increased contrast from snow and 🌫 overcast helped me bag many a jackrabbit.
Finland in 1939:
Our nation is so small,
The enemy so much,
How can we ever,
Find space to bury them all.
How can we ever win? One Russian at a time.
Fascinating as always! Thank-you all at Forgotten Weapons! :)
Thank you for making this video. Love from Finland.
Wow, this was really interesting video! I’ve been inundated with facts of Häyhä all my life, but this was completely filled with new information. Thanks Ian!
So he manage to kill an entire battalion by himself. The true one man army. Respects from a fellow shooter. May he rest in peace now.
And that's not taking into account the couple hundred he killed with his Suomi submachine gun as well ..... He's in Valhalla
@su si ahh appologies
Thanks for posting this video. Very informative.
Greetings from the UK
John.
I really enjoy this guys style. Impressive with the facts, not too afraid to lean on someone else's knowledge in his clips. Outstanding work.
Its the man not the rifle. Courage, determination, and heart.
Can you possibly do a special on the rifles of Francis Pegamagahbow? He was a Canadian scout and the most successful sniper of the First World War. Like many other Canadian sharpshooters, he kept his Ross MkIII after the CEF switched to Enfields, as it was substantially more accurate. Any excuse to mess around with a Ross is worth it!
A great video from a great channel! Thank you!
I started collecting Mosin Nagants years and years ago. I have a 1891 , M9130, Westinghouse made hex and the Finnish M39 B Barrel which I was told the barrel was made at the FN factory before it was taken. I’ve had such love for these rifles and no one on CZcams years ago really talked about them except IraqVet. Great video!