Carl Gustav M/45

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Kulsprutepistol m/45 (Kpist m/45)
An American soldier firing a Carl Gustav M/45 sub-machine gun.
Type	submachine gun
Place of origin	Sweden
Service history
In service	1945 to present
Used by	Sweden, United States, Egypt, Chile, Indonesia, Republic of Ireland, South Vietnam, Estonia
Wars	Vietnam War Congo Crisis Israeli-Arab conflict
Production history
Designed	1944
Produced	1945 to 1964 (Sweden) ~1965 - ~1970 (Egypt)
Number built	approx. 300,000
Variants	m/45, m/45B, m/45C, m/45BE, m/45 BET, Swedish K (with silencer), Port Said, Akaba
Specifications
Weight	3.35 kg without magazine
Length	550/808 mm
Barrel length	212 mm

Cartridge	9mm Parabellum
Caliber	9mm
Action	blowback
Rate of fire	600 round/min
Muzzle velocity	420 m/s
Effective range	200m
Feed system	36, 50 rounds

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 9mm Swedish submachine gun developed in 1945 (hence the designation m/45) at the Carl Gustav 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.

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.

The original version of the m/45 used the 50-round box magazine developed for the m/37-39. Later versions were redesigned to use only the m/45 36-round magazine. This magazine is also used in the Czech model 23 and 25 submachine guns. A six-magazine shoulder bag was issued with these variants of the m/45.

The m/45B redesign in 1954 produced the gun's final variant. The circumferance of the holes in the cooling jacket was reduced and the rear buffer of the bolt was improved. The m/45C is the same weapon with the addition of a special mount for the m/14 bayonet. The m/45BE was a version for the Swedish police that had a selector for automatic or semiautomatic fire and the m/45BET was the same weapon used to launch tear-gas canisters.

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.

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

It is a robust and simple design still in use in the Swedish defence forces by specialist and naval personnel. 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 S&W model 76. 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.