The Finns had no established "sniper" programme as such, nor any early war sniper rifle as we'd know it (rifle & scope)Chuck wrote:Shows just how much damage a determined man with a rifle can do..was he always a sniper or was he from a hunting / target shoot background?
The regular army were not given a huge amount of marksmanship training past normal engagement distances
Simo was not regular army - he was Civil Guard - as these units WERE given more extensive marksmanship training and also practiced shooting at longer ranges. All with the standard Finnish M39 Mosin Nagant carbine fitted with standard open sights. They were very keen on target shooting practice, more so than normal army units; proof that marksmanship practice DOES make a contribution toward national defense!!
LOTS of Russian sniper rifles with PE scopes were captured by Finnish soldiers in the war. Many hundreds of them...and were promptly taken back home with the soldier the first chance he had to take some leave. Of all the captured Soviet rifles about 7 were actually handed in for integration into the Finnish issue system
Scoped sniper rifles, or the lack of them, was a continous issue with the Finns - as the Soviet ones were a highly prized souvenir for soldiers with a strong hunting/farming background - & even by the end of 1945 the number of captured rifles handed in (as per standing orders) was 100 or so !
