The production of the M24 Civil Guard Rifle was initiated as there was a need to replace the deteriorated barrels of the Russian M91's in Civil Guard armories. Manufacture was undertaken at the Civil Guard renovated SAT works, which was later moved and renamed SAKO.

The M24 is in very basic terms a M91 that has been upgraded with a new barrel, a slight alteration of the stock, an adjustment to the rear sight, and a new front sight added. In the production run from 1923-1927 there were approximately 25,000 of these rifles manufactured, although there is at least one reference that places this total higher I believe the 25,000 is the best reference to use.

In the well-known Finnish tradition these rifles were given a nickname, with the nickname of the M24 being the "Lotta-Kivääri" or Lotta Rifle. This nickname was given as the initial lot of barrels were purchased from funds raised by the women's auxiliary of the Civil Guard, the Lotta Svärd.

M24 LOTTA RIFLE