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The first Swedish BARs were made by Colt between July 1921 and
August of 1922. These guns were all of the
commercial Model 1919 with a few modifications required by Sweden. They
where chambered for the Swedish m/94 6.5mm cartridge (known as the
6.5X55 Swedish Mauser in the US), had the straight pistol grip, a
partially curved magazine, hooded front sight, and a folding bipod
attached to the gas tube. Total number of m/21 guns produced by Colt was
703. The Swedish BAR was then produced under license by Carl Gustafs
Stad Gevars Faktori. Carl Gustafs produced 7,489 more Kg m/21 (Kulsprute Gevar;
literally "bullet spraying rifle") guns before changing over to the
later Kg m/37 variant. In 1935 the Swedes came up with a clever solution
to modify the BAR for quick change barrels. The Swedes added a quick
change mechanism on to the front of the receiver that utilized the
existing receiver barrel threads. The new quick change barrel would
slide inside the new mechanism and would lock into place via and
interrupted thread. The cleverness of the design allowed existing m/21
BARs to be converted to the new quick change arrangement. The change was
officially adopted as the Kg m/37 and Carl Gustafs began production of
this type. Many of the existing Kg m/21 BARs were converted to m/37 (as
was mine). Production of Kg m/37 BARs totaled 15,398 when production
ceased in 1944. After WW2, the Swedes created an experimental
belt fed version of the m/37 but it was
never fielded and only one was produced. The FN MAG58 replaced the m/37
in Swedish military service (which happens to have a toggle action
derived from the BAR). Sweden kept the m/37 in service until the 1980s
when it was fazed out and scrapped. Sarco bought up some of the m/37
scrap and sold it on the US market. Several m/37 style of BARs have been
built on US made receivers. |
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