His work is considered decisive in defending Finnish independence and increasing trust in the reliability of domestic weapons produced there.

Lahti was fascinated by the rifle’s mechanism and visited local gunsmith Säteri with whom he examined the weapon closely.

[6] After the prototypes were made, he was ordered to work under the control of the Ministry of Defence and to design a light machine gun, which eventually would be the Lahti-Saloranta M/26.

He then improved the Mosin–Nagant rifle by designing the M/27 "Pystykorva" "Spitz", named for its foresight guards' resemblance to the dog breed's ears.

He was offered a check for 3 million marks and a five percent commission on the weapons that would have been produced in the United States.

Lahti received more benefits and rights to his inventions and therefore did not feel that moving to the United States was a better offer.