The Kg m/40 was an
automatic rifle
An automatic rifle is a type of autoloading rifle that is capable of fully automatic fire. Automatic rifles are generally select-fire weapons capable of firing in semi-automatic and automatic firing modes (some automatic rifles are capable of ...
used by the
Swedish Army during the 1940s. A small number were also manufactured in Germany by
Knorr-Bremse
Knorr-Bremse AG is a German manufacturer of braking systems for rail and commercial vehicles that has operated in the field for over 110 years. Other products in Group's portfolio include intelligent door systems, control components, air c ...
for the ''
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...
'' and ''
Waffen-SS
The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscripts from both occup ...
'', under the name MG35/36A, though they were mostly nicknamed "the Knorr-Bremse". The German models were chambered for the higher pressure
7.92×57mm Mauser and weighed 10 kg.
The Swedish Kg m/1940 loaded its
magazine from the side, similar to the
FG 42. It also had the ability to use 20 round magazines from Swedish type
M1918 BARs. In 1940 there was a desperate need for machine guns in Sweden. The production rate of Kg m/37 (Swedish BAR variant) was rather slow and not suitable for modern production.
In 1940, a LMG was accepted called system SAV (''Svenska Automat Vapen'' = Swedish Automatic Weapons). The design was made by a German called Hans Lauf at ''Magdeburg Maschinenfabrik'' AG. However the patent starts out from 22 November 1933 in Sweden. He had two fellow applicants from Sweden: Ivar Staeck and Torsten Lindfors.
Staeck and Lindfors got the patent for the double gas canal system and the double trigger construction. This prototype was called LH33 and it later became Kg m/40. 1935 Hans Lauf became manager for the AG Knorr-Bremse, Berlin-Lichtenberg. There he got a patent on September 19, 1935 for a similar weapon called LH35 which is modified to LH36 and this prototype was later accepted as the German MG 35/36.
Wendelin Przykalla at Knorr-Bremse AG made some further improvements 1939. The weapon was most likely only designed at Knorr-Bremse but manufactured in ''Waffenfabrik Steyr''.
Users
* Used some small numbers during World War II
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See also
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Huot automatic rifle
The Huot Automatic Rifle was a Canadian World War I era light machine gun project.
Design and development
In 1916, the Canadian Expeditionary Force was desperately short of light machine guns. Since the Ross rifle had finally been taken out of s ...
*
Bren light machine gun
The Bren gun was a series of light machine guns (LMG) made by Britain in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1992. While best known for its role as the British and Commonwealth forces' primary infantry LMG in World War II, it was also used ...
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Lahti-Saloranta M/26
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FG-42
The FG 42 (German: ''Fallschirmjägergewehr'' 42, "paratrooper rifle 42") is a selective-fire 7.92×57mm Mauser automatic rifle produced in Nazi Germany during World War II. The weapon was developed specifically for the use of the ''Fallschirmj ...
*
FM-24/29
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M1941 Johnson machine gun
The M1941 Johnson Light Machine Gun, also known as the ''Johnson'' and the ''Johnny gun'', was an American recoil-operated light machine gun designed in the late 1930s by Melvin Johnson. It shared the same operating principle and many parts with ...
*
MG 30
The ''Maschinengewehr'' 30, or MG 30 was a German-designed machine gun that saw some service with various armed forces in the 1930s. It was also modified to become the standard German aircraft gun as the MG 15 and MG 17. It is most notable as th ...
*
SVT-40
References
Light machine guns
Machine guns of Sweden
World War II machine guns
Military equipment introduced in the 1930s
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