In the first years of the Civil Guard organization, arms were varied in style and few in number. The scarcity of weapons and rounds meant small local forces were passing one or two guns between multiple men. Old Russian soldier rifles (Mosin-Nagant M91) were refurbished to create a Finnish version with a thicker barrel, which further modifications shaped into the M27.
Both the Guards and the Finnish Army were developing their own versions of the Russian rifle. The Army model suffered from structural problems that eventually led to the production being discontinued. The Civil Guard design, called the M28, was more reliable but still needed adjustments to the rear sight. Improvements resulted in the M28/30, which stayed in the catalogue of the defence forces until 1986.
The Army refused to use a rifle designed by the Guard. It started developing another new model, and disputes over an acceptable nationwide weapon led to a ban on the production of the M28. At the outbreak of the Winter War, the Army and the Guards finally agreed to cooperate on creating a rifle titled the M39.
In the summer of 1927, the Supreme Headquarters established three companies dedicated to producing and selling the equipment needed in the Guards. A local factory eliminated the need to ship rifle parts from overseas, a store in Helsinki sold them, and a new publisher kept related magazines in circulation. After the organization was abolished, the sales and production companies continued their operations under the Red Cross.