Carl Gustafs stads gevärsfaktori (English: Rifle Factory of Carl Gustaf's Town) was a Swedish firearms manufacturer based in

Eskilstuna Eskilstuna () is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Eskilstuna Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden. The city of Eskilstuna had 69,948 inhabitants in 2020, with a total population of 107,806 inhabitants in Eskilstuna municipality ...

, Sweden.

History

Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori ("Rifle Factory of Carl Gustaf's Town") was founded in 1812 as a state-owned

arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. The name "Carl Gustaf's Town" was used intermittently for the town of

after King Karl X Gustav gave the town

city privileges Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

. Between 1943 and 1991, the factory was run by the state agency :sv:Försvarets Fabriksverk (FFV), and the whole complex was often referred to as FFV-Carl Gustaf. In 1970, the

Husqvarna Group The Husqvarna Group () is a Swedish manufacturer of outdoor power products including robotic lawn mowers, chainsaws, trimmers, brushcutters, cultivators, and garden tractors. Founded as a firearms manufacturer in 1689, it is one of the old ...

sold its firearms manufacturing division, Husqvarna Vapenfabriks Aktiebolag, to FFV. FFV-Carl Gustaf continued to manufacture the Husqvarna 1900 hunting rifle and also developed that firearm into the Carl Gustaf 2000 series. In 1999,

Saab AB Saab AB (originally , , acronym SAAB), with subsidiaries collectively known as the Saab Group (), is a Swedish aerospace and defense company, defence company primarily operating from Sweden. The company is headquartered in Stockholm, but its de ...

purchased the Celsius Group, the then parent company of FFV-Carl Gustaf. In September 2000,

United Defense Industries United Defense Industries (UDI) was an American defense contractor which became part of BAE Systems Land & Armaments after being acquired by BAE Systems in 2005. The company produced combat vehicles, artillery, naval guns, missile launchers and ...

(UDI) of the United States acquired Bofors Weapons Systems (the heavy weapons division), while Saab retained the missile interests.

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...

acquired UDI and its Bofors subsidiary in 2005, and BAE Systems Bofors is now a business unit of

BAE Systems AB BAE Systems AB is subsidiary holding company for the Swedish assets of BAE Systems Land & Armaments, whose ultimate parent is the British defence contractor BAE Systems. The portfolio in 2020 contained the companies ''Systems C-ITS'', involved ...

;

Saab Bofors Dynamics Saab Bofors Dynamics is a subsidiary of the Saab AB, Saab Group that specializes in military materiel such as missile systems and anti-tank systems. It is located in Karlskoga and Linköping, Sweden. Its corporate heritage goes back to Bofors, a ...

is a unit of Saab AB.

Products

Along with Husqvarna Vapenfabrik, Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori has provided the Swedish Army with small arms for over two centuries. There have been both foreign designs, such as the Remington M1867 rolling block and the Swedish Mauser rifles, as well as domestic designs such as the Ag m/42 semi-automatic rifle and the Kpist m/45 submachine gun. In addition Bofors Carl Gustaf have produced a number of other weapons such as the m/42 Carl Gustaf 20mm recoilless rifle, the 20 mm m/45 autocannon and the famed 84 mm Carl Gustaf 8.4cm recoilless rifle, still one of the most common anti-tank weapons in the world. The NIVA XM1970 (''Nytt Infanteri Vapen'', "New infantry Weapon") was an experimental combined 5.56mm automatic rifle / 45mm recoilless rifle concept by FFV-Carl Gustaf during the early 1970s. It failed to attract any buyers and was abandoned. The NIVA or ''Nytt infanterivapen'' (New Infantry Weapon) program was primarily intended to replace the

Ak 4 The Automatkarbin 4 (Ak 4; ) is a license-built Swedish version of the West German Heckler & Koch G3 battle rifle. It was adopted as the service rifle of the Swedish Armed Forces in 1965, replacing the bolt-action Swedish Mauser, m/96 Mauser, th ...

battle rifle that was then in service with the

Swedish Army The Swedish Army () is the army, land force of the Swedish Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. Beginning with its service in 1521, the Swedish Army has been active for more than 500 years. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1 ...

. It was apparently also simultaneously intended to act as a lower cost alternative to use of the Carl Gustaf 8.4cm recoilless rifle. The automatic rifle section was of bullpup configuration with the 45mm recoilless rifle overhead. At least two prototypes were built and tested.https://ndia.dtic.mil/2004/2004arms.html The Swedish Squad Support Weapon Program, Mr. Per G. Arvidsson (.pdf) (Presentation to NDIA 50th Joint Services Small Arms Symposium) - Slide 24 Ultimately however, the XM1970 was not adopted by the Swedish military. The company also produced the standard Swedish Army weapon, the

Ak 5 The Ak 5 (, English: Automatic Carbine 5) is a license-built Swedish version of the Belgian FN FNC assault rifle, with certain modifications, mostly to adapt the weapon to the partially subarctic, subarctic Swedish climate. The Ak 5 is the current ...

automatic rifle. The Ak 5 is a modified version of the

Fabrique Nationale , trading as FN Herstal and often referred to as Fabrique Nationale, or simply FN, is a leading firearms manufacturer based in Herstal, Belgium, and former vehicle manufacturer. It was the largest exporter of military small arms in Europe . FN ...

5.56 mm carbine

FN FNC The FN FNC () 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 and 1977 for NATO standardization trials, as a less expensive ...

, produced with a folding stock and an option to mount the

SUSAT The Sight Unit Small Arms, Trilux, or SUSAT, is a 4× telescopic sight, with Tritium illumination , tritium-powered illumination utilised at dusk or dawn. The full name of the current model is the SUSAT L9A1. The sight is not designed as a sniper ...

sight from the British

SA80 The SA80 (Small Arms for the 1980s) is a British family of 5.56×45mm NATO service weapons used by the British Army. The L85 Rifle variant has been the standard issue service rifle of the British Armed Forces since 1987, replacing the L1A1 Sel ...

References

{{Authority control Defence companies of Sweden Firearm manufacturers of Sweden Industrial history of Sweden 1812 establishments in Sweden Companies based in Södermanland County 19th-century establishments in Södermanland County 2005 disestablishments in Sweden 21st-century disestablishments in Södermanland County