Mike, the story you heard is correct. Petrik, an expatriate Czech gunmaker in France, was the first to come up with the OU design featuring the sliding breech hood. I've never seen a date for his first gun, but I know he beat Remington to the draw. The Petriks, unlike the Remingtons and Krieghoffs, tended to be light field guns rather than heavier target guns. But it's the same basic design.
The price on most Valmets is certainly right. The only negative comment I can make is that I've run into 2 or 3 with absolutely godawful triggers.
