The Automatkarbin 4 ( automatic-carbine 4 ) or AK4, was the first
battle rifle in the
Swedish military arsenal, chambering the
7.62x51mm NATO round.
In the beginning of the 60s, the Swedish soldier carried either the submachine gun m/45, the automatic rifle AG m/42, or the
Mauser m/96 while the rest of the world had largely replaced submachineguns and rifles with the newly invented
battle rifle.
The
battle rifle was a weapon allowing the combination of high fire rate as the submachine gun and the power and accuracy of the rifle.
In Sweden, the military started to look around for a
battle rifle to supply their soldiers. The weapons tried out were:
The American
M 14
The Swiss
SIG
The German
H&K G3
The Belgian
FN FAL
And the Swedish Gram.
The demands of functionality, accuracy and reliability from the Swedish military were extremely strict and only the
G3 and the
FN FAL passed the exhaustive tests.
By the final-exams in the end of the 60s, the
G3 had been modified in over 30 areas and was now outperforming the
FN FAL in terms of resilience and lower price. The
G3 won, and was bought and produced in Sweden under the new name Automatkarbin 4.
The AK4 was finally replaced in the 80s by the more modern
AK5, using the smaller
5.56x45mm caliber.
Today, the AK4 is used primarily in military units where the weapon/ammunition weight does not play a prominent role, such as garrisons and units on guard duty. Combined with a new Swedish-developed
armor piercing ammunition, the weapon will serve the Swedish military long into the 21st century.
Specs:
Weight: 5300 gr - full magazine: 800 gr.
Caliber:
7.62x51mm NATO
Clip: 20 rounds.
Mechanical Rate of Fire: 8-11 rounds per second.
Muzzle Velocity: 790 meters/second.
Action: Select-fire: Single-shot or Automatic. Gas operated.