AG-42

Ag m/42
6.5 mm Automatgevär m/1942B
Type	Semi-automatic rifle
Place of origin	Sweden
Service history
In service	1942 - 1960s (Sweden)
Used by	See Users
Production history
Designer	Erik Eklund
Designed	1941
Manufacturer	Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori
No. built	30,000
Variants	Ag m/42B
Specifications
Weight	4.71 kg (10.4 lb) unloaded & without bayonet
Length	1,214 mm (47.8 in)
Barrel length	622 mm (24.5 in)
Cartridge	6.5×55mm
Caliber	6.5 mm (0.256")
Action	Direct impingement gas operation
Rate of fire	40 (rd/min)
Effective firing range	500–800 m sight adjustments
Feed system	10-round box magazine

The Automatgevär m/42 (Ag m/42, outside of Sweden commonly known as the AG42, AG-42 or Ljungman) is a Swedish semi-automatic rifle which saw limited use by the Swedish Army from 1942 until the 1960s.

The Ag m/42 was designed by Erik Eklund of the AB C.J. Ljungmans Verkstäder company of Malmö 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. 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. Sweden sold the machinery to Egypt and the Hakim was therefore built with the same machine tools used for the Ag m/42B. Eventually, the Hakim was modified into a carbine using the intermediate-power 7.62×39mm Russian cartridge, called the Rasheed Carbine.

The Ag m/42 is operated by means of a direct impingement gas system, similar to that of the 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. 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.