Carl Gustav M/45

''This article is about the submachinegun. For information on the electronic band, see Kpist (band)''

Kulsprutepistol m/45 (Kpist m/45) also known as the Carl Gustav M/45 or the Swedish K SMG, is a 9 mm Swedish submachine gun developed in 1945 (hence the designation m/45) at the Carl Gustaf factory by Swedish weapons designer Gunnar Johnsson. The m/45 was the official submachine gun of the Swedish Army after World War II. The m/45 was also used by American Special Forces in the Vietnam War. In the US Army it was known as "K-Rifle" or "Swedish-K".

It is a fully automatic weapon developed in 1945 from an earlier German submachine gun, the Bergmann MP35, itself developed from the first submachine gun, the Bergmann MP18.

Features
The m/45 weighs 3.9 kilograms and is 810 millimeters in length. It fires from an open bolt. Its relatively slow cyclic rate of fire and low recoil make it easy to handle during full automatic fire. It is accurate to 200 meters.

A special barrel for firing blank cartridges is available for the m/45. It should only be used with blanks and lower powered indoor (black bullet) ammunition. When firing blanks, a bullet trap should be attached to the barrel. Other extras include an addition to catch the spent cartridges for recycling and a speed loader that can load a magazine in about six seconds.

The magazine is wider in the rear than the front; this allows the cartridges to move despite dust and sub-zero temperature conditions, making it very reliable. Magazines that have parallel sides are much more likely to jam under cold conditions. The same type of magazine is used by the Czech model 23 and model 25 and the French MAS.

An interesting difference between the m/45 and most modern self loading pistols and rifles is that it is carried with the bolt in a retracted position and an empty chamber. When the trigger is pulled, the bolt charges forward, pulls a cartridge from the magazine, chambers and fires it. This results in a lock time so long that the shooter actually notices the split second between the release of the sear and the discharge of the bullet.

Variants

 * M/45B - Basic gun
 * M/45C - Used for parades
 * M/45D - Used by police forces with provisions for semi and full automatic
 * M/45S - Had been equipped with magazine support which could be removed by removing a clip. Can use the m/37-39 50-round magazine and the 36-round magazine.

Users
It is a robust and simple design still in use in the Swedish defence forces by specialist personnel in the Home Guard. The navy used them just unitil recently when they instead adopted the Ak5. It has also been manufactured under license in Indonesia and Egypt as the Port Said. Smith & Wesson in the USA also made a copy of the gun under the name Smith & Wesson M76. It was also manufactured by the MK Arms company as the Mk-760. The m/45 was also used as a base for the Intratec TEC-DC9. In Japan, it was made under license as the SCK 65 and SCK 66 (SCK - Shin Chuo Kogyo) for use by the Japanese Self-Defense Forces. It had the additional features of the Madsen M-50 safeties, the pistol grip of the Sten Mark IV with the ejection port and cocking lever based on the M3A1 submachine gun . The difference between the two is that the SCK 65 fires at 550 RPM with the SCK 66 at 465 RPM.

The Irish Army used the M/45 during the Congo Crisis, the Lebanon Conflict and during the Troubles. It was popular in service, and was removed from service with the introduction of the Steyr AUG, which was short enough to perform the submachine gun role.

The m/45 was used in combat, like in Irish service, by Swedish UN troops during the Congo Crisis.

During the Vietnam War, the M/45 was used extensively by the US Navy SEALs, as it was very reliable and could fire close to immediately out of the water. The Navy grew so fond of the weapon, that so when Sweden halted weapons export to the United States in 1966, the American arms manufacturer Smith & Wesson were tasked with producing a near-identical copy of the M/45, designated the M76. Though by the time the M76 was ready for combat, most Navy direct-action missions had ceased in Asia