If they look like guns from a Cold War espionage-action-adventure flick, they kind of are. They're the Valmet M76 and M82 variants of the AK-47, from Finland - and Brownells Gun Techs™ Caleb and Keith are at Rock Island Auction Co. to give us the skinny on these two rifles. In 1962, the Finnish Defense Forces worked with Sako and Valmet to develop an up-to-date battle rifle based on a Polish version of the Russian "Avtomat Kalashnikova" or AK-47. The resulting rifle was the Valmet RK 62. The semi-auto civilian variant of the RK 62 is the M76, and Rock Island's M76 was imported into the U.S. before 1989. It has a simple tubular stock that folds to the left side of the receiver, a funky 3-prong flash hider, a flip-up Tritium post on the front sight, and a rear sight mounted on the rear of the receiver cover so it has much longer sight radius than an AK. Many M76s were chambered in 7.62x39 but some, like Rock Island's, were also in 5.56 NATO. The 5.56 uses a unique magazine, so no substituting cheap AR-15 mags! If the rifle looks familiar, that's because the Israeli Galil is an updated copy of the Valmet RK 62 / M76.
In 1982, the Finnish army wanted a compact bullpup rifle for paratroopers, and the Valmet M82 was the result. The M82 is the M76 redesigned in bullpup configuration with a sturdy polymer chassis. It looks futuristic and cool.... Keith explains why only about 2,000 M82s were made.