Posted on 11/23/2015 9:41:34 AM PST by C19fan
The nine-millimeter Carl Gustav M/45 submachine gun occupies a unique place in United States Special Forces history for, during the Vietnam War, it was often chosen over the then troublesome M-16 series by members looking for a reliable, controllable and reasonably accurate weapon at short ranges.
(Excerpt) Read more at warisboring.com ...
I had one when I was in RVN. “Reasonably accurate” is a stretch. I found the rate of fire rather slow, but the things are about as complex as a claw hammer and almost as reliable.
I thought the grease gun was the US M3.
http://www.militaryfactory.com/smallarms/detail.asp?smallarms_id=65
You have nailed it. The Swedish K pegged the coolness factor which why it was popular. Especially when you were visiting
places that did not experience much combat. All of the rest was run of the mill.
There’s a line in “The Best and The Brightest” (1973) about LBJ & McNamara sending their `whiz kids’ to RVN to “really get to know the situation on the ground”. These `experts’ were easily recognized by their safari jackets & Swedish K submachine guns slung in front.
Seldom seen outside of Saigon.
;^)
Yes, Happy Hour on the Rex rooftop in Saigon was the perfect venue for exactly this outfit.
I had a raging desire to get hold of an M-1 Thompson while I was in Vietnam but I never did. I did get my hands on an M3A1 Grease Gun and proudly carried it on local security patrols, magazines taped end to end like Steve McQueen. It was heavy - well over 10 pounds with two loaded magazines and since it was a slow-firing pistol caliber weapon, useless at anything past 50 meters.
I retrieved my M14: same weight and so much more capable!
Sweet combo, Kristen and this Swedish K!
bttt
You’re right, t. It was the M3. I didn’t recall the barrel being slotted, so looked it up.
And C, the M-14 was the best rifle I ever handled, though never did get to fire an AK-47.
Man, that thing is homely :)
Must work pretty good though, huh?
Thanks for the ping Slim...... Those were in our armory yet I was in love with the Hk MP5SDA3 .... SW76’S were also the hot ticket as well as the Ingram MAC10 and the Madson 50. ....... Ahhh the days when ammo and toys were free !!.....:o)
Seldom seen outside of Saigon.<<<
LMAO...if only all of this could be explained...But they did serve!!!..give em credit for that..but not much..../s
I would have loved to have a S&W 76, ever since I saw Charlton Heston mowing down mutants in “The Omega Man”.
Was shooting an elderly Cobray Mac 10 semiauto once when it decided to go class 3 on me. The first two were in the target but the rest went into the range ceiling. Lucky I was down to the last 5 round.
My uncle had a SW76 when I was about 13 .... thought it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen....or fired. Forget the Omega Man using one..... that was a great movie.
What was the one the fresh prince was in recently as a omega man remake ??
I had a 1911 do that on me once. I immediately put it away and took it to a gunsmith. Still have it, and still works fine.
The ‘14 is solid, accurate and lethal. It was a bear to control in full auto but with practice it could be controlled.
The AK is short, handy, and very dependable but it has a short sight radius and the safety lever stops first on full auto - which means that if they don’t hit you with the first round, the rest go right over you.
There were some of our guys that thought that carrying an AK would be a good idea. It wasn’t: it makes a very distinctive “champagne cork pop” and people in combat tend to shoot at sounds - so carrying an enemy weapon rarely works out well.
Nonetheless, Sergei Kalashnikov’s creation is far and away better than any pistol caliber submachinegun.
I was a tank commander on an M48A3 tank in Vietnam. As part of the OEM equipment, every tank had 2 M-3A1 SMG’s on board. It was VERY controllable on full auto. (due to the slow cyclic rate of 450 rpm) I could easily keep a 30 round burst on a man sized target at 50 yards. The thing would shoot after dropping it in mud, scooping out the excess mud with your little finger from the chamber so a round could enter, (it fired from the open bolt) and the mud would be ejected along with the empty casings as it fired.
Good point. The AK had too distinctive a “crack” to it.
The distinct cones at the end of the barrel is classic Bofors.
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