Valmet Hunter M/83
- Category
- Rifle
- Barrel
- 521 mm
- Weight, empty
- Not recorded
- Introduced
- 1983
About
What it is, and why it matters
The Valmet Hunter M/83 is a Finnish gas-operated semi-automatic sporting rifle built on the Rk 62 (Kalashnikov-pattern) long-stroke piston action but fitted with a conventional wooden sporting stock and forend. Marketed for hunting and target use, it was offered in .308 Winchester, .243 Winchester, .30-06 Springfield and .223 Remington and fed from a detachable box magazine. Sold outside Finland as the Valmet Hunter and imported into the United States by Stoeger, it paired the rugged reliability of the Rk 62 mechanism with civilian-legal furniture.
Under the hood the genteel walnut-stocked Hunter is an Rk 62 assault rifle in a sport coat - it borrows the same Finnish Kalashnikov action that armed the Finnish Defence Forces, making it one of the few 'hunting' rifles that shares its guts with a frontline service weapon.
Domestically the same rifle was marketed under the Petra name. It reached the US civilian market through Stoeger Industries into the mid-1990s before Valmet's small-arms line was folded into Sako.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- Valmet
- Category
- Rifle
- Country
- Finland
- Status
- Discontinued
- Produced
- 1983 to 1994
- Variant of
- Civilian
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Barrel
- 521 mm
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Gas operated long stroke
- Firing mechanism
- Hammer fired
- Trigger
- Single stage
- Capacity
- 5
- Magazine
- Detachable box
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Steel
- Barrel
- Steel
- Stock
- Wood
- Finish
- Blued
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Effective range
- 300 m
Trajectory
What the round does downrange
Solved from the muzzle figures and the bullet. The dashed rule is the effective range on the record, and the crosses are the steps the solver returned.
Features
What it has
What the record lists as fitted, drawn from the catalogue.
- Rk 62 gas system
Sporting stock
Detachable box magazine
Hunting sights
Standing
How it compares
Each figure against the firearms of the same type and cartridge that record it, or of the same type where that cartridge has too few. Positions are read to the nearest tenth.
| Measurement | This firearm | Median | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barrel lengthAmong 166 .308 Winchester rifles | 521 mm | 559 mm | Shorter than about 70% |
| Magazine capacityAmong 162 .308 Winchester rifles | 5 | 5 | Holds more rounds than about 70% |
Answers
Questions about the Valmet Hunter M/83
What caliber is the Valmet Hunter M/83?
The Valmet Hunter M/83 is chambered in .308 Winchester, .223 Remington, .243 Winchester, and .30-06 Springfield.
How many rounds does the Valmet Hunter M/83 hold?
The Valmet Hunter M/83 holds 5 rounds, fed from a detachable box magazine.
How long is the Valmet Hunter M/83?
The Valmet Hunter M/83 has a 521 mm (20.5 in) barrel.
Who makes the Valmet Hunter M/83?
The Valmet Hunter M/83 is made by Valmet (Finland).
When was the Valmet Hunter M/83 introduced?
The Valmet Hunter M/83 was introduced in 1983 and discontinued in 1994.
How does the Valmet Hunter M/83 operate?
The Valmet Hunter M/83 uses a gas operated long stroke action, and its firing mechanism is hammer fired.
Compatibility
Which parts fit this firearm
Studio
Every part that mounts on this, resolved
Not a list the maker typed out: the answer comes from the mounts this firearm exposes and the interface each part needs, so it stays right when either one changes.
- Every part that mounts on any firearm in the catalogue
- Interface standards, platforms and fit overrides
- The same answers through the API and the MCP server
Requires a signed-in GunSpec account on the Studio plan. The answer is computed per part, so it is not part of the public record.
Provenance
What the record holds
Every figure above was taken from one of these pages. The confidence reflects how much of the record came from a page a claim can be checked against.
In service
- Civilian hunters and sport shooters
- United States
Provenance
Confidence in this record
62%
Stockists
Where to buy
Offers link straight to the shop. GunSpec never takes the order.
No shop has listed this firearm yet
Stock and prices come from the shops themselves. If you sell this firearm, you can list it and it appears here.
List a firearmMCP
Ask an assistant about it
The same record, reached the way a person asks for it rather than the way a program does.
Ask GunSpec
Works with
Point an MCP client at GunSpec and it answers from the catalogue rather than from memory. A free key covers the read tools.
API
The call that returns this record
The same fields, in the same units, from the same endpoint the page reads.
curl --request GET \ --url 'https://api.gunspec.io/v1/firearms/valmet-hunter-m-83' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "valmet-hunter-m-83", "name": "Valmet Hunter M/83", "manufacturer": { "id": "valmet", "name": "Valmet", "countryCode": "FI", "foundedYear": 1951, "website": null, "logoUrl": null, "description": null, "status": "defunct", "defunctYear": 1999, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": true, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-02-11 23:44:40", "updatedAt": "2026-09-15 07:19:19", "version": "30c3f593dc71e25d55a40fb967800b0d76b0243fa48d50babe9720bca6f180b7" }, "category": { "id": "rifle", "name": "Rifle", "description": "Long-barreled firearms designed for accurate shooting" }, "country_of_origin": "FI", "year_introduced": 1983, "barrel_length_mm": 521, "weight_empty_g": null, "action_type": "gas_operated_long_stroke"}