The FFV 890 was a
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
assault rifle manufactured and designed by
Försvarets Fabriksverk. The FFV 890 was based on the
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i
IMI Galil
The IMI Galil ( he, גליל) is a family of Israeli-made automatic rifles chambered for the 5.56×45mm NATO and 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges. Originally designed by Yisrael Galili and Yakov Lior in the late 1960s, the Galil was first produced ...
through a manufacturing licence, which in turn was based on the
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
Valmet
Valmet Oyj is a Finnish company and a developer and supplier of technologies, automation systems and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries.
Valmet has over 200 years of history as an industrial operator. Formerly owned by the S ...
RK 62
The RK 62 (from Finnish , 'assault rifle 62'), officially 7.62 RK 62 and commercially M62, is an assault rifle manufactured by Valmet and Sako. It is the standard issue infantry weapon of the Finnish Defence Forces.
The RK 62 was designed in 196 ...
and ultimately the
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
AK-47
The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms d ...
. The FFV 890 was designed between 1975 and 1980, and its final iteration, FFV 890C, competed in the
Swedish Armed Forces
The Swedish Armed Forces ( sv, Försvarsmakten, "the Defense Force") is the government agency that forms the armed forces of Sweden, tasked with the defense of the country as well as with promoting Sweden's wider interests, supporting internati ...
trials for the new
5.56×45mm NATO
The 5.56×45mm NATO (official NATO nomenclature 5.56 NATO, but often pronounced "five-five-six") is a rimless bottlenecked intermediate cartridge family developed in the late 1970s in Belgium by FN Herstal. It consists of the SS109, L110, an ...
assault rifle, where it ended up as a runner-up to the
FN FNC
The FNC (french: Fabrique Nationale Carabine) is a 5.56×45mm NATO assault rifle developed by the Belgian arms manufacturer FN Herstal and introduced in the late 1970s.
Development
The FNC was developed between 1975–1977 for NATO standardiza ...
, which was then chosen as the
Ak 5
The Ak 5 or ''Automatkarbin 5'' ("automatic carbine 5", "automatic carbine" being the Swedish term for assault rifle) is the Swedish version of the FN FNC assault rifle with certain modifications, mostly to adapt the weapon to the partially sub ...
.
The FFV 890C was never widely adopted by any service, though some rifles were used by the Swedish police.
History
The FFV 890 was initially based on the ARM variant of the
IMI Galil
The IMI Galil ( he, גליל) is a family of Israeli-made automatic rifles chambered for the 5.56×45mm NATO and 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges. Originally designed by Yisrael Galili and Yakov Lior in the late 1960s, the Galil was first produced ...
, and the earliest rifles were indeed just plain Galil ARMs manufactured by
Israel Military Industries (nowadays
Israel Weapon Industries
Israel Weapon Industries (IWI), formerly the Magen division of the Israel Military Industries Ltd. (IMI), is an Israeli firearms manufacturer.
It was founded in 1933. Formerly owned by the State of Israel, the Small Arms Division of IMI was pr ...
) in Israel.
Over the course of the development FFV decided to move to the Galil SAR as a base design, and after some
IMI manufactured FFV 890 rifles FFV started licence manufacturing in the
Eskilstuna
Eskilstuna () is a city and the seat of Eskilstuna Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden. The city of Eskilstuna had 67,359 inhabitants in 2015, with a total population of 100,092 inhabitants in Eskilstuna municipality (2014). Eskilstuna h ...
Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori
FFV-Carl Gustaf was a Swedish armaments firm, bought up and merged on several occasions.
History
''Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori'' ("Rifle Factory of Carl Gustaf's Town") was founded in 1812 as a state arsenal. The name "Carl Gustaf's To ...
for the FFV 890C. It is unclear whether complete rifles ever had all of their parts manufactured by FFV.
Both IMI and the Finnish state firearms company
Valmet
Valmet Oyj is a Finnish company and a developer and supplier of technologies, automation systems and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries.
Valmet has over 200 years of history as an industrial operator. Formerly owned by the S ...
(Valmet firearms division was later merged to
Sako Sako or SAKO may refer to:
People with the surname
* Bakary Sako (born 1988), French-born Malian footballer
* Hygerta Sako, Albanian beauty pageant contestant
* Louis Raphaël I Sako (born 1948), Iraqi cleric, head of the Chaldean Catholic Church
* ...
) participated in the production of parts and assisting FFV in the production of the 890.
The chief firearms designer of Valmet,
Timo Hyytinen, described working with FFV as easy and unproblematic, but that the
Swedish Armed Forces
The Swedish Armed Forces ( sv, Försvarsmakten, "the Defense Force") is the government agency that forms the armed forces of Sweden, tasked with the defense of the country as well as with promoting Sweden's wider interests, supporting internati ...
had resentment towards cooperation with Valmet.
FFV entered the FFV 890 into the Swedish Armed Forces trials for the new 5.56 mm assault rifle. The initial trials took place in 1974-1976, with the FFV 890 (both the ARM and SAR) competing against the
Heckler & Koch HK33
The Heckler & Koch HK33 is a 5.56mm assault rifle developed in the 1960s by West German armament manufacturer Heckler & Koch GmbH (H&K), primarily for export.
Building on the success of their G3 design, the company developed a family of smal ...
,
FN FNC
The FNC (french: Fabrique Nationale Carabine) is a 5.56×45mm NATO assault rifle developed by the Belgian arms manufacturer FN Herstal and introduced in the late 1970s.
Development
The FNC was developed between 1975–1977 for NATO standardiza ...
,
FN CAL
The CAL (''Carabine Automatique Légère'') was a Belgian weapon manufactured by Fabrique Nationale. It was the first 5.56 mm rifle produced by the Fabrique Nationale. It resembled the company's highly successful FN FAL, but was an origina ...
,
Colt M16A1,
Steyr AUG,
Beretta AR70
The Beretta AR70/90 is a gas operated assault rifle chambered for the 5.56×45 mm NATO cartridge, and is the standard issue service rifle of the Italian Armed Forces. The weapon is also designed to be fitted with a rifle grenade, and has ...
,
ArmaLite AR-18
The ArmaLite AR-18 is a gas-operated assault rifle chambered for 5.56×45mm NATO ammunition. The AR-18 was designed at ArmaLite in California by Arthur Miller, Eugene Stoner, George Sullivan, and Charles Dorchester in 1963 as an alternative t ...
,
SIG SG 540
Sig used as a name may refer to:
*Sig (given name)
* Sig, Algeria, a city on the banks of the Sig River
*Sig Alert, an alert for traffic congestion in California, named after Loyd Sigmon
*Sig River, a river of Algeria also known as Mekerra
sig (l ...
and
Stoner 63
The Stoner 63 is a 5.56×45mm NATO modular weapon system. Using a variety of modular components, it can be configured as an assault rifle, carbine, top-fed light machine gun, belt-fed squad automatic weapon, or as a vehicle mounted weapon. Also ...
.
The FFV 890 and FN FNC turned out superior over the other competitors, especially in regard to reliability in winter conditions, which led to the disqualification of the other competitors (although FN CAL was disqualified due to production being shut down).
Between 1975 and 1979 FFV dropped the ARM variant and continued development with only the SAR variant. This development finally led to the FFV 890C, which was different to the Galil SAR in some aspects: it had a shorter gas system (shorter gas tube and piston), two-piece clamshell front handguard similar to FN FNC and Valmet RK 62 76, redesigned and larger magazine release lever, larger right side selector, larger trigger guard, shorter barrel (348 mm
), case deflector attached to the receiver cover, OD green paint, rubber recoil buffer and Swedish-based markings for the selector positions.
After some trials, the Swedish Armed Forces requested some changes to the FFV 890C. FFV incorporated the following changes: horizontally oriented charging handle (similar to the AK) instead of the vertically oriented charging handle of the Galil, return to the standard Galil trigger guard and magazine release lever, additional notch to the right side selector lever, additional cross bar safety similar to the
FN MAG, and the rear sight was changed to similar to the rear sight in the
FN Minimi
The FN Minimi (short for french: Mini Mitrailleuse; "mini machine gun") is a Belgian 5.56mm light machine gun/squad automatic weapon developed by Ernest Vervier for FN Herstal. First introduced in the late 1970s, it is now in service in more tha ...
. The stock was also painted green.
After the 1979-1980 trials in the
11th Infantry Regiment at
Växjö
Växjö ( ) is a city and the seat of Växjö Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden. It had 70,489 inhabitants (2019) out of a municipal population of 95,995 (2021). It is the administrative, cultural, and industrial centre of Kronoberg County ...
, the military and soldiers having participated in the trials described the FFV 890C as superior to the FN FNC,
but the FN FNC was described as better in the official documents;
officially neither rifle passed the trials.
The FNC was cheaper and employed more modern manufacturing methods over the 890C,
namely stamping instead of milling. FFV attempted to convert the manufacturing process of the 890C to stamped receivers similar to the
AKM
The AKM () is an assault rifle designed by Soviet small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov in 1959. It is the most ubiquitous rifle of the Kalashnikov rifles. It was developed as a replacement to the AK-47 introduced a decade prior.
Introduc ...
, but was unsuccessful in doing so.
There were political difficulties between Israel and Sweden at the time, with the Swedish government not having high regard for Israel, which may also have played part in the decision. The adoption of an initially Soviet design would possibly also have been problematic to the neutral non-alignment policy of Sweden at the time.
The Swedish Armed Forces were also unwilling towards any deeper cooperation with the Finnish state company Valmet, which was assisting FFV in the production of the parts of the 890C, and they sought a solution which wouldn't have included cooperation with Valmet.
The
FMV (Swedish Defence Materiel Administration) officially declared the FN FNC as the winner after the trials had ended.
Over the course of the development of the FFV 890C, less than 1000 rifles were manufactured.
FFV later sold all of the blueprints and development work to
Valmet
Valmet Oyj is a Finnish company and a developer and supplier of technologies, automation systems and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries.
Valmet has over 200 years of history as an industrial operator. Formerly owned by the S ...
,
which presumably incorporated some features into its rifle development.
Design
The FFV 890 is based on the Kalashnikov gas operation with a long-stroke piston, and a rotating bolt which locks to the receiver, to which (the receiver) the barrel is threaded in as in the
IMI Galil
The IMI Galil ( he, גליל) is a family of Israeli-made automatic rifles chambered for the 5.56×45mm NATO and 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges. Originally designed by Yisrael Galili and Yakov Lior in the late 1960s, the Galil was first produced ...
and
Valmet
Valmet Oyj is a Finnish company and a developer and supplier of technologies, automation systems and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries.
Valmet has over 200 years of history as an industrial operator. Formerly owned by the S ...
RK 62
The RK 62 (from Finnish , 'assault rifle 62'), officially 7.62 RK 62 and commercially M62, is an assault rifle manufactured by Valmet and Sako. It is the standard issue infantry weapon of the Finnish Defence Forces.
The RK 62 was designed in 196 ...
. The main control interface is very similar to that of the Galil and RK 62, with some minor differences, which vary between the initial and later FFV 890C versions.
Compared to the Galil and RK 62, the FFV 890C also has some unique features. The rifle is painted in OD green, and mounts a green clamshell front handguard. Some later versions incorporating features requested by the Swedish Armed Forces have such unique features as a cross bar safety,
Ak 4 trigger groups, selectors and such.
The rifle also lacks any bayonet mount.
The sights are identical to the Galil SAR, a two position rear aperture sight with trajectory for 300 and 500 metres, an open flip-up night sight and full circle hooded front sight with a flip up night sight post.
The rifle has a 22 mm flash hider which can be used to fire rifle grenades.
Variants
*FFV 890 type ARM:
IMI manufactured
Galil ARM renamed by FFV.
*FFV 890 type SAR: IMI manufactured
Galil SAR renamed by FFV, with a brass plate affixed to cover IMI markings with FFV markings.
*FFV 890C: Main FFV manufactured variant for the Swedish Armed Forces trials, based on the FFV 890 SAR/Galil SAR. At least two different main subvariants exist, model 1 is the initial FFV variant sent to the 1979 trials, and model 2 incorporates the changes requested by the Swedish Armed Forces.
Users
*: Tested by Swedish Armed Forces, some used by the Swedish police.
See also
*
IMI Galil
The IMI Galil ( he, גליל) is a family of Israeli-made automatic rifles chambered for the 5.56×45mm NATO and 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges. Originally designed by Yisrael Galili and Yakov Lior in the late 1960s, the Galil was first produced ...
References
External links
Forgotten Weapons: FFV-890C: The Swedish Service Rifle That Never Was
{{AK47 derivatives
5.56×45mm NATO assault rifles
Rifles of the Cold War
Infantry weapons of the Cold War
Assault rifles of Sweden
Kalashnikov derivatives