Tikkakoski (company)

Oy Tikkakoski Ab
Osakeyhtiö
Industry Firearms, consumer durables
Fate Merged into SAKO
Founded 1893 (1893)
Defunct 1983 (1983)
Headquarters Tikkakoski, Jyväskylä, Finland
Tikkakoski factory in the early 1930s.
The Suomi KP/-31 submachine gun was produced by Tikkakoski.

Oy Tikkakoski Ab was a Finnish company producing firearms and different consumer durables, most notably sewing machines. It was named after the Tikkakoski district in Jyväskylä where their factory was located in. Their most known products were sold under the Tikka brand.

The company was founded by Martin Stenij as a metal workshop next to the Jyväsjoki mill and saw, but experienced several bankruptcies and changes in ownership as a result. In 1930, the company was purchased by a German armsdealer Willi Daugs and the next year the production of the Suomi KP/-31 submachine gun was started. After 1933, Tikkakoski also produced machine gun ammo belts and the Maxim M/09-21.[1] During World War II, they manufactured the aforementioned submachine and machine guns and gun barrels. After the war, Tikkakoski was considered to be a German-owned company and its assets were confiscated for the Soviet Union in 1947, discontinuing firearms production and focusing on sewing machines.[1] Finnish businessmen however bought the company from the Soviets in 1957.[2]

Tikkakoski was merged into the other Finnish firearms manufacturer SAKO in 1983 to form Oy Sako-Tikka Ab.[3] Later, Tikkakoski was omitted from the company name but SAKO continues to use the Tikka brand for a series of rifles.

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