Today, the Royal Swedish Army has anti-tank grenade launchers both disposable and reusable. The most effective weapon belonging to the first type is the AT-4 model, to the second - a Carl Gustaf hand-held grenade launcher of 1948. In the technical documentation, it is listed as M / 48 Granatgevar Carl Gustaf. Abbreviated as Grg m / 48. You will learn about the history of the Carl Gustaf m / 48 grenade launcher, its device and performance characteristics from this article.
Acquaintance with the gun
M / 48 Granatgevar Carl Gustaf is a Swedish hand-held anti-tank dynamo-reactive (recoilless) grenade launcher, which involves multiple use. Grenade launcher "Karl Gustav" in service from 1948 to the present.
About destination
With the help of the Karl Gustav grenade launcher (photo of this weapon below), armored targets, fortifications, and equipped and not equipped firing positions of the enemy are destroyed. In addition, with the help of Grg m / 48 they put smoke screens and highlight the terrain. Also, the Karl Gustav grenade launcher is used in cases where it is necessary to eliminate large accumulations of enemy manpower.
About the history of creation
The base for the Carl Gustaf grenade launcher was the Pvg m / 42 Carl Gustaf anti-tank rifle, widely used by the soldiers of the Royal Army in World War II. The first development had a caliber of 20 mm. As shells used armor-piercing blanks.
However, it soon turned out that such ammunition had low efficiency. Therefore, the Swedes focused on the recoilless system, in which it would be possible to use caliber armor-piercing shells with cumulative warheads. The design engineers of the new tool were the Swedish design engineers Herald Jentzen and Hugo Abrams. Like the m / 42, work on the new grenade launcher was carried out at the Stads Gevarsfaktori Carl Gustaf factory. In 1948, the first model of the anti-tank gun Carl Gustaf M1 was launched. In the same year, the Swedish army was armed with it.
About device
The Karl Gustav grenade launcher is a single-shot dynamo-reactive anti-tank gun, with minimal recoil during firing. Grg m / 48 has a rifled barrel, a mechanical trigger mechanism for which a manual fuse is provided. In order to ensure convenience during firing, the Swedish gunsmiths introduced two pistol grip into the design of the grenade launcher. Through the front grenade launcher is held by a fighter. Using the rear handle control the fire. In addition, the design of the anti-tank guns includes a shoulder rest, a two-legged bipod and a special handle, for which the Grg m / 48 is carried. The location of the trigger was the right side of the grenade launcher, folding mechanical sights - the left. The grenade launcher on the left is equipped with a special bracket, through which the gun can be equipped with an optical sight using a laser rangefinder. In a regular combat crew, two people: a shooter and a loader.
If you need to fire one shot, then one fighter can do it. Loading a grenade launcher begins with the reclining of his breech. To do this, they lift it and lead it to the left side. In order to prevent unplanned shooting, the Swedish designers installed a special fuse in the anti-tank gun. If the bolt is not completely closed after loading the ammunition, then the shot will not work.
About the effectiveness of Grg m / 48
According to experts, using a Karl Gustav grenade launcher, you can hit a tank if it is located at a distance of up to 150 m. The rate of aimed fire for a stationary target is increased to 700 m. A stationary enemy object using rocket ammunition from Grg m / 48 destroyed from a distance of 1 thousand m
About application
Since 1970 the armies of many countries are armed with advanced modifications of the Grg m / 48. These grenade launchers were widely used in several armed conflicts, namely in the war in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Fourth Islamic, as well as in civil wars in Libya and Syria.
What shoots a gun?
The defeat of the target from Grg m / 48 and its modifications is carried out by means of unitary ammunition, the design of which has a grenade and an aluminum sleeve. Its rear part is equipped with a plastic knock-out bottom, the task of which is to provide the projectile with the necessary pressure in the initial stage of the shot, and then release gases through the nozzle. At the bottom of the sleeve on the side there is a place for a flammable capsule. To combine the striking mechanism with the capsule, a special chamfer was placed at the edge of the liner, thanks to which the ammunition, falling into the barrel, occupies a single position. According to experts, a wide variety of ammunition has been created for the Grg m / 48 and its modifications.
As a result, this weapon is considered a multipurpose grenade launcher system, and not a purely anti-tank one. Due to this fact, “Carl Gustav” is very popular in the armies of many states. Due to the versatility of the grenade launcher with its help, infantrymen can solve a wide range of combat missions.
You can shoot from this gun anti-tank, multi-purpose, tactical, anti-personnel, auxiliary, staff training and ammunition ammunition. Cumulative, high-explosive, shrapnel, smoke, lighting and other types of grenades were developed for them. The countries producing such shells are Sweden, Belgium and India.
TTX "Karl Gustav"
The Grg m / 48 grenade launcher has the following performance characteristics:
- By type, this weapon belongs to a manual anti-tank grenade launcher.
- Country of origin - Sweden.
- The gun weighs 8.5 kg. If you install bipod to it, then the mass will increase to 9 kg. With an optical sight, a grenade launcher will weigh 16.35 kg.
- The total length of the 84 mm caliber grenade launcher is 106.5 cm.
- The battle crew consists of two soldiers.
- Within a minute, up to 5 shots can be fired from Grg m / 48.
- Front sight and rear sight open.
- The aiming range varies from 150 to 1 thousand m.
About modifications
The 1948 Carl Gustaf M1 grenade launcher is the base model. He served to design the following samples:
Carl Gustaf M2 is considered a more advanced model. Designed in 1964. Swedish designers managed to reduce the weight to 14 kg. The anti-tank hand gun is equipped with a double optical sight. In the technical documentation is listed under the index M2-550 or FFV 550.
- M3 (Grg m / 86) is the third model of 1991 release. Weapon engineers replaced the barrel of steel with a thin-walled liner (steel rifled liner), which was mounted in a fiberglass casing. Thanks to this design solution, the mass of the grenade launcher is reduced to 10 kg. Like the American automatic rifle M16, the Grg m / 86 was equipped with a special carrying handle. This sample has an improved triple optical sight.
- M4. Represents the fourth advanced model of 2014. The Carl Gustav M4 grenade launcher weighs no more than 6.8 kg. Unlike the previous version, the M4 uses a liner that is made of titanium. The material for the casing was carbon fiber.
