UUkraine

Sweden’s 1940s answer to the British Sten gun spotted in Ukraine

  • June 28, 2024



Sweden’s 1940s answer to the British Sten gun spotted in Ukraine

this is a Swedish take on the St gun or the Greece gun it’s a sheet metal and and steel bar derived design It’s relatively short in use you have this very robust folding stock you can shoot it with the stock folded very conveniently grasp the magazine around the magazine well um and just shoot it uh offhand freehand the stock deploys very very quickly and easily but is and once deployed is incredibly solid it’s never going to fold up on you it doesn’t wobble like the MP 40 stock famously does it’s cost effective but it is reliable it’s accurate enough and that all came together to to mean that the various American elements uh favored it not just the Swedish Armed Forces um and they then crop out elsewhere as we’ve seen in Ukraine this is something that um soldiers these days relatively rarely run into and it’s a much simpler system than what the they’ll be used to do from their service weapon which is a some sort of locking bolt system and a gas system to then unlock that bolt and operate the weapon cycle the working parts you don’t have any of that with a a weapon like this you know for Brits the iconic equivalent is the Sten or the Sterling they they both work the same way and it is this heavy Mass here that’s keeping the bolt shut but it starts from back here so you you’ll here or see the expression open bolt along with blowback now blowback doesn’t have to be open bolt but in the case of this thing they are synonymous same with the Sten so you literally have well it’s more of an open ejection opening let me see what I mean but the bolt is to the rear on a simple sear a shelf that holds it back you pull the trigger the bolt flies forward picks up a round from the magazine and Chambers it normally obviously you do that when you make ready this makes itself ready and then fires on at the point of closure and then literally the bolt blows back to that starting position and if you’re on semi-automatic or you’ve let go of the trigger this doesn’t have a semi-auto function or you let go of the trigger the bolt gets hung up back here again so it’s about the simplest automatic firearm you can make uh which is why they proliferated pretty much during and after the second world war where where cost became an issue and then they proved themselves throughout the second world war as a viable design and so people kept designing them and making them which is what this represents so normally a firearm is designed for a particular cartridge type um they may well be adapted to different cartridge types later in their development they may even these days be developed with different calibers in mind from the outset at this time that was pretty unusual you’d Pick N 9 mil Parabellum 45 ACP they’re the two main ones and you’d go from there well the Swedish K is kind of fascinating for and this is to do with a the swedes had large stocks of these that the prior generation submachine gun magazines called the coffin or colloquially in English at least called the coffin magazine because you have multiple Stacks coming down to one feed point up here potentially these are not the most reliable although I gather they’re very good for such a high-capacity magazine 50 rounds this lets you cram in 50 rounds but the slight issue is that they all it’s a bit like when no one will merge on on your on the motorway in that all the rounds are trying to get to this one point to feed you’re able to just slot that in to this open magazine uh it’s not really a well the magazine opening no problem at all but what they did was design an even better magazine it is double stack double feed quite quite a lot like the Thompson magazine so it’s open at the top no one has to merge um the bolt will just strip off one round from one side the next round from the next side for that to function uh properly and reliably what they came up with was a kind of an early modular idea so this magazine well is a separate piece and it has this bizarre looking double pin so you slot on you convert this thing between the two types of magazines by inserting that and then inserting this on the other side so in seconds you have switched from the very good high capacity but you know getting older as they they’re no longer being made then they become obsolete later on um to this arguably even better because with fast magazine changes the high capacity becomes less of an issue reliability is King when it comes to these this type of subm machine gun and that will now fit in [Music] there it’s a straightforward adaptation of the name um so forgive my accent but um kpra pistol is machine pistol or submachine gun in Swedish it’s a Swedish gun so just drop the rest of the word off because we can’t pronounce it K it’s the Swedish k um because you can’t just call it k no one would know what you’re talking about um and that does reflect this fondness that uh American particularly the the Navy Seals who got hold of these things I believe other units as well and most infamously CIA uh operators would carry this thing by preference and we’re talking about 1950s and by this point 60s into the 70s this is the era of the submachine gun so a capable submachine gun is going to be well liked this was capable um reliable that’s very important as well the the the mark the sten gun even showed up in Vietnam in American use so to some extent it’s what was available now that’s because they came with suppressors um so but there’s certainly a personal preference being expressed for this [Music] thing we are seeing actual Trench fighting we are seeing fighting from armored vehicles extensively in Ukraine so it’s not that this couldn’t be a capable Weapon It’s that there are just more capable weapons out there in quantity actually uh so Western supplied short barreled automatic or semi-automatic rifles assault rifles especially those with folding stocks you know you can Stow that in a vehicle jump out and use it as and when yes this is going to be even shorter perhaps than some but bearing in mind that you know the Soviet sphere the the presence of the aks74u for example that’s a superior vehicle crew weapon you can do more infantry fighting with that than you can with this thing and certainly the ak74 the the aks74 with the folding stock the ak74m captured ak2s CZ Bren 2os the bull Pops that they have all of these are superior by virtue of a rifle cartridge it might be a small rifle cartridge but you can just do a lot more with it most of what we’re seeing here are look at this cool old gun pictures maybe some of the vehicle crew members we see with them are carrying them as a as a personal weapon but I don’t think it’s that significant they have them so they’re carrying them and using them for

Ever heard of the Swedish K? Well just after the Second World War ended Carl Gustaf developed Sweden’s answer to the British Sten submachine gun – the Kpist m/45.

It’s a simple and well-designed weapon that became known for being durable and reliable.

Initially used by the Swedish armed forces, it later became a favourite with the Americans.

More: https://www.forces.net/technology/weapons-and-kit/swedens-answer-sten-found-favour-cia-and-ukraine

#forcesnews #military #ukraine #sweden #army

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50 comments

  1. I have fired thousands of cartriges with that gun. I used it when i did my military service in 1974 – 1975. I also joined a schooting club and competed with it in the end of the nineteenseventies. But in 1981 i started with pistol shooting, and then there whas no time for the K-pist. I met it again in Latvia shooting Oskar Kalpaks Memorial many times, last time in 2019. Almost all of those guns, who where in good conditions, where donated to the Baltic states after it went out of service here in Sweden. I think some of these guns where given to Ukraine from the Baltic states.

  5. They are useful though… And a trusted weapon, just like most of the Swedish firearms. It gets used, way beyond what's supposed to it's lifetime, and it still works.

  6. No mention of why the UK got rid of the Sterling, same issue with all of the other grease guns. The advent of Body Armour meant that the lethality was almost non existent!

  8. Pros & cons, range is limited but you can carry more rounds. In trenches would think range isn't an issue, also a pistol cartridge isn't such a liability clearing rooms (won't go through walls).

    What the guy in photo was carrying was personally owned, not issued maybe?

  9. We all carried those around when I did my service in 1968. Very convenient to carry on the back to keep your hands free. You could fasten the leather strip around your upper arm to hold it down when firing bursts. Only once did I see a guy having trouble with his m45. It had been run over by a truck. Unfortunately, they were exchanged against a NATO type 7,62 mm which was very sensitive to dirt and always got in the way.

  11. You didn't mention the speed loader. This device fit onto the 36 mag top, you inserted a frame holding 6×6 rounds of m39/B ammo and just pumped the 36 rounds into the magazine. Refill was done in a few seconds. Wonderful device issued one per rifle squad. Definitely something to get.

  13. About those ruSSian ships going to Cuba. Perhaps someone should start a go fund me account for Ukraine to purchase fishing boats and/or seaplane(s) so Ukraine can sit in waiting for the ruSSian ships to enter/leave Cuba into international waters. I imagine the fishing boats/seaplanes acting like the mother ship for a bunch or rubber boats. Once Ukraine gets word the ruSSian ships are approaching international waters, Ukraine launches a bunch of manned rubber boats (to lower radar footprint) with several of those wonderfully effective Ukrainian sea drones in various strategic places to discreetly sit and wait. When the ruSSian ships are in range, the rubber boats launch the swarms of sea drones and…

  16. In the Swedish Army the "K" was gradually more and more used by support personell, like cooks, meachanics etc. I was a staff sergeant
    im a signal company of an armoured brigade when I did my military service in the late 70s (and a lot of refreasher courses in the 80s) and was issued the "K". Whereas the infantry quys used the AK4 and later the AK5. When i reached the age of 30 in the late 80s I was transferred to an independent company under the command of a "blocking battallion" whose task was to fight a delaying action against an invading enemy in order for an armoured brigade to launch an attack through our ranks. So in my last refresher course I was issued an "automatkarbin", an assualt rifle instead of a "K".

  17. This was my weapon when I did my military service in Sweden 45 years ago. It was quite accurate. I could easily hit a tea cup at 100 meters. Extremely easy to clean was nice.

  18. I don't know if it goes for every 9mm SMG, but I do believe the m/45 was designed to use overcharged bullets (m/39b) to be able to reach further and penetrate armor. Might be useful trivia to share in this case.

  19. Main advantage of the gun (compared to other submachineguns) was that it handled +P+ (overpressure) rounds easily and that it handled water and mud really well (even if you lifted it up out of water it could fire almost instantly).

  20. Tet 1968 smg’s Uzi, Beretta 12/S etc too in pictures from Saigon.. no Thompson’s M3 Grease etc even at the US.Embassy ground’s😊

  21. I'm speculating to some extent but think it likely (based on old photos) that the CIA first started using the Swedish-K because of the Agency's late 1950's/early 1960's paramilitary operations in Laos. North Vietnam and the USA had signed an agreement to stay out of Laos, however, both sides soon secretly broke it. The CIA wanted its American paramilitary operators in Laos to wear uniforms and carry weapons that weren't obviously American, to help maintain deniablity if the US was accussed of breaking the agreement. They chose the Swedish-K because it was obtainable, a good weapon, and wasn't made by the US or an ally.

  22. It’s great to again see Jonathon Ferguson, keeper of Firearms and Artillery at the Royal Armouries Museum, which houses a collection of thousands of iconic weapons from throughout history

  23. Used it with the Irish army and on UN service in Lebanon.. What most people didn’t know is that loaded if you dropped the weapon on the stock the bolt would move to the rear and fire off a round. So when we’d be mounted with it we kept the full magazine in your magazine pouch. Other than that it was a nice weapon and VERY easy to use and maintain. Accuracy went wild after about 25 yards though

  24. Literal bullethose
    KPist kulspruttepistol. Or bulletspraygun..

    A machinegun

    Wonderfull weapon. Reliable, (contrary to what Mr Ferguson say), can hit things out to like 100m on singleshot and ofcus the large mag. Beautiful size when used to the g3, that btw share the same "issue". They have a hard time feeding the bullets if theres the slightest dents around the top hole where the bullet comes out
    – you really need to take care of your magazines, like not laying on them(how tf do a soldier avoid that?)

  25. Great description in english. Nifty item that came with the M45, was the speed loader which made the task of refilling the 36 rbd magazines a breeze. It has its own special ammo, similar in dimensions to 9mm parabellum but with much higher gas pressure called M39B. They are known to destroy a SIG Sauer P220 in around 200 rnds fired, as the legend goes. Only use M39B in the M45 submachine gun. It was my service arm many years ago. Please do not carry the M45 submachine gun with the transport safety for the bolt on top of a loaded magazine. The transport safety has been known to work itself loose and then a sudden jolt will fire the weapon…
    👀
    🐽

  26. We didn't call it K when I did my military service. It was called m/45 (from 1945). A nickname was "Gamla Bettan" ("old Bettan (Betsy)") taken from the Disney adaption of "Robin Hood" when a vulture taps his crossbow and says – she's safe old Betsy – and it suddenly fires. Not a problem in real life. We had to learn to disassemble it in all its parts in total darkness in under 20 s and then reassemble it in under 20 s. Sometimes it was also called the 'pea-shooter'. Rather nice weapon in close-combat, but the precision wasn't great over 25-30 m.

  28. If its black its probably from Egypt, they had license to produce it locally, and since the one shown had arabic on it -its from Egypt.
    Swedish police had black m/45 with a single shot selector switch.

  33. The early models and the "modified" version with removable magazine feeding, can take also the Finnish 71 round drum magazines uses with Suomi SMG m/31 as well.

  35. It's remarkably accurate. Once you master firing single shots, a competent operator will consistently hit a man-sized target at 200 yards.

  37. Counterpoint to the AKS-74U: while it is indeed a very handy weapon in comparison, it is reportedly an incredibly unpleasant weapon to shoot and to be around when it is shot, the short barrel and muzzle break create a huge amount of concussion, in confined spaces this is definitely not something to be discounted. I imagine vehicle crews would very much prefer a softer-firing SMG as opposed to having to lose their eardrums anytime they dare use the Krink.

  41. I didn’t know that Jonathan Ferguson keeper of Firearms and Artillery at the Royal Armouries Museum, which houses a collection of thousands of iconic weapons from throughout history would be in this video.

  45. One of the video clips in this piece shows Arabic markings. That is the Egyptian version of the "K", the Port Said. While Jonathan likes to compare the "K" with the Sten, in my experience there is no comparison. I own versions of both and the Sten is bouncy, rattling, sharp edged piece of sewer pipe compared to the "K". It is hard to hit targets without considerable training. The "K" (or at least mine) points easily, feels immensely solid, and will put rounds consecutively on target(s) with great ease. Back when I did competitive subgun shoots, "K"s, MP5s and MP40s came out on top at most matches…that was until Lage figured out how to make MACs run like the Swedish-K.

  46. Why not? It is a semi-reliable stamped out Gun! The ammo would be what ever you have in crates? 7.62mm or 5.56? Don't care. Just pick what ever diameter you want the Chamber and the Barrel to fire. It will have a 50mm length for the charge but out the Business End? Who cares.

  47. I had the Swedish K when i did my military services in the 80ies. We where trained to take it apart and assemble it in complete darkness.

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