Carl Gustaf 20mm recoilless rifle

Pansarvärnsgevär m/42
Pansarvärnsgevär m/42
Type	Recoilless rifle
Place of origin	Sweden
Service history
In service	1942–???
Used by	See Users
Wars	The Troubles
Production history
Designed	M1: 1940-1942 [1]
Unit cost	US$??? Ammo cost= US$???
Produced	1942-1944[2]
No. built	1000[1]
Specifications
Mass	11 kg (24 lb)[1]
Length	1,450 mm (57 in)[1]
Crew	Two (gunner and loader), could be used by a single operator[3]
Cartridge	20×180mm rimmed
Caliber	20mm
Muzzle velocity	950 m/s (3,100 ft/s)[3]
Effective firing range	iron sights are calibrated to 300 meters
Feed system	Hinged breech[3]
Sights	Open (iron) sights; Meopta ZF-4 optical sight[3]

Gustaf 20mm recoilless rifle, formal name Pansarvärnsgevär m/42 or Pvg m/42 ("Antitank rifle model 1942"), was the first recoilless rifle produced by Carl Gustaf Stads.

Design[]

The Carl Gustaf Pvg m/42 fired the 20×180mm rimmed cartridge which had two cutouts in the bottom of the casing. A seal covered these cutouts and when the cartridge was discharged, this seal was blown out the back of the weapon, expelling some of the propellant gases rearward and counteracting the effects of recoil produced by the projectile accelerating down the barrel.^[1][4][3] The breech plate had to be replaced after firing twenty rounds of armor-piercing ammunition or after forty rounds of practice or high-explosive.^[3]

Unlike comparable anti-tank rifles of the era the Pvg m/42 was shipped with both high-explosive and armor-piercing projectiles.^[3] The AP round was tungsten-cored^[3] and had a tracer variant known as the slpprj m/42. The impact-fuzed HE projectile was known as the sgr m/43.^[2] The Pvg m/42 being a recoilless rifle was also much lighter and more portable than contemporary 20mm anti-tank rifles.^[3] The Pvg m/42 was equipped with iron sights ranged to 300 metres and a detachable Meopta ZF-4 optical sight.^[3]

The Pvg m/42 was the world's first shoulder-fired recoil-less weapon, and laid the ground work for the development of the more well-known Carl Gustaf 8.4cm recoilless rifle, which continues to see widespread military service.^[1]

Service History[]

By 1942 the armor penetration of the Pvg m/42 and anti-tank rifles generally wasn't enough to counter current armor. Despite this, orders for 3,219 ATRs were placed, with deliveries between August 1942 and July 1944. The first 500 were faulty, and used only for training until they were repaired. By the end of World War II only 1,000 had been delivered.^[2]

The Provisional Irish Republican Army acquired at least one Pvg m/42 recoilless rifle in the early 1980s and first used the weapon in the summer of 1983, carrying out a number of attacks on British Army and Royal Ulster Constabulary fortified observation posts and armored vehicles in Belfast.^[5][6]

Users[]

•  Sweden^[1]
• Provisional Irish Republican Army^[5][6]

References[]

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