Automatgevär m/42

The Automatgevär m/42[1] (Ag m/42,[2] outside of Sweden commonly known as the AG 42,[3] AG-42[4] or Ljungman) is a Swedish semi-automatic rifle which saw limited use by the Swedish Army from 1942 until the 1960s.

Ag m/42
6.5 mm Automatgevär m/1942B
TypeSemi-automatic rifle
Place of originSweden
Service history
In service1942–1960s (Sweden)
Used bySee Users
Production history
DesignerErik Eklund
Designed1941
ManufacturerCarl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori
No. built30,000
VariantsAg m/42B
Specifications
Mass4.71 kg (10.4 lb) unloaded & without bayonet
Length1,214 mm (47.8 in)
Barrel length622 mm (24.5 in)
Cartridge6.5×55mm
Caliber6.5 mm
Groove diameter: 6.71 mm (0.264")
ActionDirect impingement gas operation
Rate of fire40 (rd/min)
Effective firing range100–800 m sight adjustments
Feed system10-round box magazine
Top to bottom: Swedish Ag m/42B rifle, Egyptian Hakim rifle, Egyptian Rasheed carbine

History

During the Winter War, Finland captured a number of SVT-38 rifles, and at least one found its way to Sweden. The Ag m/42 was designed by Erik Eklund of the AB C.J. Ljungmans Verkstäder company of Malmö,[5] loosely following SVT mechanics around 1941, and entered production at the Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori in Eskilstuna in 1942. Some 30,000 rifles were manufactured in all for the Swedish Army.[2]

This was a relatively small number of weapons and the standard infantry rifle remained the 6.5 mm bolt-action m/96 Mauser.

Norwegian "police troops" trained in Sweden during World War II were issued a number of Ag m/42s and brought these rifles to Norway when the Germans surrendered in 1945. These rifles were never modified to the later Ag m/42B version.

After a number of issues had been discovered, including a serious problem with rusting gas tubes, the existing stocks of the rifle were modified between 1953 and 1956, and the reworked rifles were designated Ag m/42B. Modifications included a stainless-steel gas tube, two knobs on the breech cover, a new elevation knob for the rear sight, a rubber case-deflector, new magazines and new cleaning rod. The Ag m/42B was replaced in Swedish service in the mid 1960s by the Ak 4 (derived from the Heckler & Koch G3).

In the early 1950s, the Ag m/42B manufacture license was sold to Egypt resulting in the Hakim rifle, which uses the 7.92×57mm Mauser cartridge.[6] Sweden sold the machinery to Egypt and the Hakim was therefore built with the same machine tools used for the Ag m/42B.

After being re-chambered to 7.62 NATO and having its trajectory adjusted, the Ag m/42 was used as a ranging gun on the Swedish anti-tank gun Pansarvärnspjäs 1110 under the designation Inskjutningsgevär 5110.

Madsen tried to license the Ag m/42, but it never got beyond prototype stages.[6]

Swedish troops serving under UNFICYP have used the m/42.[2]

Design

The Ag m/42 is operated by means of a direct impingement gas system, similar to that of the later, French MAS-49 rifle. The Ag m/42 also uses a tilting breech block like the Tokarev SVT-38/SVT-40, the MAS-49 and FN FAL rifles.[6] The Ag m/42 is ammunition specific since it does not have an adjustable gas port or valve to adjust the rifle to various propellant and projectile specific pressure behavior.

The Ag m/42 rear sight has two bullet drop compensation options, one calibrated for spitzer m/41 ammunition and one for round-nose m/94 ammunition. Which one is installed can be seen between the sight screw and the range window. The bullet image (spitzer or round nose bullet) should match the ammunition used. With a hand adjustable elevation screw on the left side of the rear sight can be adjusted for bullet drop in 100 metres (109 yd) increments.

Ammo

The Ag m/42 uses the 6.5×55mm cartridge loaded into a removable 10-round box magazine.[6] In practice, however, the magazine usually remained attached to the rifle while it was loaded from the top with five-round stripper clips.[2] Like the British Lee–Enfield and Soviet SVT-40, the Ag m/42's magazine was intended to be removed only for cleaning.

The ammunition used by the Swedish military from 1894 was 6.5×55mm skarp patron m/94 projektil m/94 (live cartridge m/94 projectile m/94) service ammunition with a 10.1 grams (156 gr) long round-nosed m/94 (B-projectile) bullet.

From 1941 onwards Sweden, which remained neutral during World War II, adopted skarp patron m/94 prickskytte m/41 (live cartridge m/94 sniping m/41) ammunition loaded with a 9.1 grams (140 gr) spitzer bullet (D-projectile).[2] Besides a pointed nose the m/41 D-projectile also had a boat tail to further reduce aerodynamic drag and replaced the m/94 ammunition loaded with the m/94 projectile for general use.[7]

From 100 to 800 metres (109 to 875 yd) with m/41 spitzer ammunition, or 100 to 600 metres (109 to 656 yd) m with m/94 round-nose ammunition.[5]

Variants

Ag m/42B

The Ag m/42B is a variant of the m/42 with a stainless steel gas tube.[6]

Users
A map with AG-42 users in blue

Non-State Actors

See also

References
  1. "6.5 mm Automatgevär m/1942".
  2. "The Swedish Automatgevär m/42 Ljungman - Small Arms Review". 10 October 2022.
  3. "Automatgevär".
  4. "Ljungman AG42". 12 September 2011.
  5. Janson, Olof (18 April 2019). "The development of the Ljungman semi-automatic rifle Ag m/42". Gothia Arms Historical Society.
  6. "Modern Firearms - Ljungman AG-42 / AG-42B self-loading rifle". Archived from the original on 2004-10-12.
  7. van den Brink, D.L. (August 29, 2007). "6.5x55 Ammunition". House of Karlina 1894 & 1896 Swedish Mausers.
  8. Bardwell, James. "Ag 42 (Ljungman Semi-Auto Rifle)". Rec.guns. Archived from the original on 2005-04-15.
  9. Hanley, Brian & Millar, Scott (2009). The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers' Party. Dublin: Penguin Ireland. ISBN 978-1-84488-120-8.
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