Many teams up-gunned to the more robust 7.62x39 mm, Chinese Type 56 AKM with a fixed or folding stock. That may seem like a lot, but SOG teams often fought all-day, running gunfights against untold enemy pursuers.Įventually the Swedish K’s 9 mm ball cartridge was found inadequate for knocking enemies down and keeping them down. The typical combat load was 13 magazines-one in the gun and 12 more in pouches-for some 468 rounds. Initially, SOG’s primary weapon was the 9 mm Luger Karl Gustav Model 1945 submachine gun, nicknamed the “Swedish K.” Obtained through the Central Intelligence Agency, these untraceable guns sported a pale green enamel finish, a side-folding stock and a 36-round magazine.

Thus, SOG’s armory stocked many foreign firearms with which a team leader armed his men according to how he saw fit to accomplish each mission.

To support this deniability, recon teams were required to go “sterile”-meaning no ID or dog tags, unmarked or non-U.S. Since Hanoi insisted it had no troops in “neutral” Laos or Cambodia, the United States, too, denied that SOG operations were underway. I had clipped this off 'American Rifleman' I wanted to post this a couple of weeks ago, but I got squirreled chasing a shiny, LOL It took me a long time but I finally built my own Version.before I lost it in that tragic Kayak accident.*Sniff*Sniff* Remember 'Google' didn't exist in the mid 80's. I remembered the armorer Sgt Lamb at my unit asking me 'Where did I hear of that Rifle?, and he never heard of it.' I replied 'It also was called the XM177E2' then pulled out some pictures I had scrounged up from some old magazines I had. I tried to procure through channels CAR-15's for us when I was in Germany, I thought it would be better for us because we operated out of tracked vehicles, with the more compact shape vs the M16A1 then the M16A2 we were issued. I remember reading about this group when I was in Middle school and in High School and was fascinated by the array of weapons that they had, it was the first time I heard of the 'Swedish K' and then the 'CAR-15' and I always thought the CAR 15 was badass.

Behind enemy lines lol