Carl Gustaf: Recoilless Rifle | Anti-Tank Chats
2024 ж. 19 Мам.
524 196 Рет қаралды
From The Falklands to Ukraine; the Carl Gustaf recoilless rifle was introduced in 1948 and is still used by armies around the world today.
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00:00 | Intro
01:11 | Weapon Origin
03:45 | Features & Operation
06:45 | Ammunition
09:46 | Loading & Firing
10:33 | Weapon Service
#CarlGustaf #CarlGustav #ukrainewar
Hi Tank Nuts, we hope you enjoyed this episode of Anti-Tank Chats. Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Ignoring the haha comments below, why *does* the loader put his head to it as if he is aiming as well? Is it simply to make sure he is in a safe position away from the back blast or is there a really obvious thing that I'm going to feel daft for missing?
Yes that was good to see and learn from thank you.
@@grindelston5968 To escape the blast at the back. The body contact informs the firer his buddys head and body is in a safe space. Military doctrine on exactly how the contact is made has varied over the years, and between militaries in various nations using the Gustav. A pat on the shoulder or back was used in Sweden when I served, then it changed to this as it ensures even more safety. How it has to be used in the heat of battle may differ.
If I call myself a museum can I own gear like this as well;). I had to lug one of the full metal versions in the Canadian Forces for over a year and only got one shot. Sadly missed;(.
Your Swedish pronounciations are really bad, can you add a line of subtitles for when you do foreign names and words? Otherwise the video is fantastic, I really enjoyed it.
The real secret to it's effectiveness is the pre-firing side hug issued by the loader.
The loader: *hug* "You're gunna do great"
It’s okay if you miss, it’s about taking part that counts. We will have another hug and try again. Now obliterate that tank.
The positive psychological effect of the side-hug is immense.
"You smell good."
Moral is key
We were learned (Swedish infantry in mid 80's) that the GRG (GRANATGEVÄR) aka. Carl Gustav will continue to be operated until there are no one left in the platoon. Most important weapon for us. Great fun to fire, but a beast to carry.
Well luckily for the new guys, the M4 is only half the weight of the M2 you had.
I had someone argue you needed two guys to load this but, using inert rounds, I showed that you could do it by yourself. It was weird working the locking levers backwards though and it would have given a safety officer a heart attack if I'd done it on a range;).
@@concinnus Don't worry about it, they made up for the difference with other stuff to carry ;)
It was a pig, yes. That and the FN MAG. However, I wouldn't have gone into battle without neither of them.
@@silverjohn6037 Was your firing rate any worse than compared to two operators?
My training officer in the Swedish army had participated in one of the submarine hunts in the early 1980s. He was posted on a small island in the southeastern archipleago, equipped with a Carl Gustaf, when he saw the conning tower of a submarine break the surface. He had received any ammo yet, and could just watch in frustration when it disappeared. Later, he got some HEAT rounds, and had to be dragged off the island when the hunt was called off. He really wanted to kill a Soviet sub with his Carl Gustaf!
This was back in the 1970's and a Canadian destroyer was being sunk off the coast of British Columbia to make an artificial reef. The navy decided to let the army take some pot shots at it with their infantry support weapons but they didn't expect them to do much damage as they had some divers on standby with explosives. It was apparently a surprise for them as the Carl G did enough damage to start it sinking slowly. But then they brought in one of the old 106 mm recoilless rifles and a few shots and a few minutes later the destroyer was under the waves.
If that guy had sent a Soviet sub to the bottom with Carl G he would have been eligible for free beer no matter which military "watering hole" he went to for the rest of his life.
@@bikenavbm1229 Stop being an idiot. Russia routinely violated our national borders, up until the collapse of the Soviet union, and they categorically denied it, even when presented with bloody photos/radar readouts/sonic detections/whatever of the vessels entire journey from start to finish.
@@bikenavbm1229ost certainly was. The Soviets (and the RuZZians now aswell) didn't respect our borders at all. The whisky on the rocks incident is clear proof of that
News 🤡 the Conning tower is EMPTY and not water tight like your head
You know the fun is about to begin when you hear someone call out "Bring up the Carl G" or "Get me the Gustaf"
idk about that. When i am in an armored vehicle with the hatch open I might actually have to disagree.
@@ttaibe I think that's a wee bit different
Chazzy Gee !
@@admiraltiberius1989 just a smidge.
Like in War of the worlds, 2005.
In Australian service in the 80s , it was known (unofficially) as the Charlie Guts Ache.
Understandable, since firing it was like getting hit in the head with a baseball bat (Canada) or in your case, a cricket bat. It was always the “Carl G” to us Canucks.
For me it was more like being punched in the face and kicked in the testicles at the same time@@MelioraCogito
In Sweden it's called grg, GRanat Gevär. In English it thet would be Grande Rifel.
Earlier than 1980's mate. I fired one at Puka range in 1968. And Swedish Government stance on Viet Nam war threatened ammo supply. Swedes did not like the thought of the AP round being used on the VC/NVA.
The marvel of this tool is that it was on its way to becoming obsolete. In the last decade, it made its way back, and now it is in high demand.
It was never obsolete with US Spec Ops...lol
@@Jreb1865 Considering you Americans never adopted the thing until 1989, I'd argue otherwise. As a Canadian infanteer, I was trained on the M2 ‘Carl G’ in 1978 (it had already been in Canadian service for about 15-years), along with the M40 106RR and TOW. In Germany, we had a Carl G in every rifle-section (‘squad’ to you) M113. Back home in Canada, there would be only one (1) per platoon (platoon support weapons section), with at least 1/2-dozen in the battalion anti-tank platoon. I've carried it through thick mud and waist deep snow, over the mountainous terrain of Vancouver Island (and Bavaria) and the (relatively) flat prairie landscape BATUS and Wainwright, Alta. When fired, it delivers one hell of a kick to the head if you're not prepared for it (unlike the 106, which, despite being a larger 105 mm round that is almost as long as the Carl G itself, has a slower burning propellant).
@@MelioraCogito And I'd opine that you are clueless in understanding what my comment was even referring to. Some components of U.S. spec op forces are quite fond of it, and still use it. You are proving you were never prepared for that kick to the head...
Could turn into the M2 Browning for AT (yes I know the .50 was originally supposed to be AT but I'm referring to longevity of service;).
@@Jreb1865 Give yourself a thumbs up there more-on. My point was merely, we Canadians had been using the Carl G for almost 25-years, before your “special” op artists thought it was a worthy tool. Fun fact: _54% of American adults possess the literacy skills of 6th-graders (juvenile prepubescent 11-year-olds)._ (Source: 2020 US Dept. of _‘Edu-muh-cation’_ report.)
I was able to get qualified on this weapon while in the Canadian Forces in the 80's. It was a "blast".
qualified? In the swedish homeguard everyone get to train on it.
When it was time for my service in Finland, I wasn't quite mature enough and couldn't handle it. I kept putting it off out of laziness until life happened and I wasn't eligible anymore. Which sucks because I was supposed to be an Anti-Tank trooper, which was my second wish after Tanker. Missed my opportunity to play with the CG (and humping 40kg worth of AT mines).
@@Revener666If infantry in Canada, then yes more then likely you will receive training with Carl. If your combat arms i.e. armour, artillery, engineers etc. You might have a chance to train with the weapon system, but its not guaranteed when, or even if.
@@Revener666 As far as I recall, all Canadian infantry were trained on it and had to fire it regularly to ensure we were practiced. I certainly fired it on a number of occasions. People around the Carly G or just Carl G (what we called it) would be brutalized a bit. For the number one (the one aiming and firing), it wasn't bad. The number two, and anyone within 10 to 20 metres got a beating. I saw guys get bleeding noses and one guy had the crystal on his watch pop off from the pressure wave. I think in some places you are only allowed so many peacetime rounds per year because of possible head trauma from the overpressure. But they sure work golden.
@billrosmus6734 You only get affected from the blast if you're in the forbidden sector. Otherwise, near the weapon, you'll only get minor pressure "sensations"
Carried one of these as a reservist in the 80`s. The experience of firing it cannot be described politely.
I still have ringing in my right ear, from pressing the trigger enough times. That thing brings the noise of thunder.
could it be described crudely?
@@TheGM-20XX F*ck!ng loud. I know because I had one and fired it during my time in the Dutch army, 1987-1988.
@@TheGM-20XXEver had your eyes pressed into their sockets? :) Being INSIDE an explosion is sort of describing it.
@@TheGM-20XX After firing your balls would still be swinging from side to side for a week afterwards from the shock...
I'm disappointed that you didn't mention that a Carl Gustav, operated by a small group of Royal Marine Commandos, severely damaged the Argentinian corvette ARA Guerrico, during the invasion of South Georgia at the start of the Falklands war. There can't be many infantry anti-tank weapons that have severely damaged a warship.
"Opening fire on the ship, the Royal Marines riddled the bridge with gunfire and killed a sailor trying to get the 40 mm back into action. They also hit the vessel with a LAW and two Carl Gustav rounds for good measure, inflicting more damage and knocking out the ships Exocet anti-ship missiles. Additionally, a Royal Marine sergeant armed with an L42 sniper rifle kept up accurate fire on the bridge which forced the crew there into cover as they attempted to extricate the corvette from the fight." From the Military Matters article
English lads: "Oi! If it can bloody punch through a tank, then it makes sense that it would punch through a ship, too. Innit?"
I can imagine Argentina's ships were much more well maintained than what Russians currently have.
That's the bit of it's history i'm thinking about. If i remember rightly, one of the Carl Gustaf rounds fell just short but with it's speed, bounced on and found its mark. Barnes Wallace would have been proud. Separately, despite the casualties the Royal Marine detachment had inflicted on the Argentine forces at South Georgia, the Argentinians accepted the timely surrender of the Royal Marine detachment, held them and then later released them unharmed.
The Brit soldier has a penchant for instant ingenuity against odds that is seldom matched. Mind you, I am an Argie. But you gotta give them that. Some solutions they've come up with are, indeed, "very british". Cheers.
I trained on the Carl G in the Canadian Army way back in 1982. I think there is the potential for a misunderstanding in this video. As is the case with all shaped charges, penetration is unaffected by range. However as it is a relatively slow projectile, reduced engagement ranges for moving targets is advised for reasons of accuracy.
good points!
Indeed. Against a moving target, as far as I recall, we never fired beyond 300m. In anger of course that could have changed, but in training, no.
If anything, wouldn’t it (the penetration) get *better* with range as the spin slowly reduces? (minimally, of course, but still present)
@@Suppagappa No. The engagement range is much to short.
@@Lord.Kiltridge …Please explain.
You have to be next to one yourself to truly understand how violent the firing of this weapon is. When you pull the trigger you can feel the air being sucked away. We had a firing drill and the instructor didn't feel like going through returning the spare rounds that we hadn't used so he told us to shoot as many as we wanted. I fired some 8 in rapid succession after which I got a nose bleed. They are better today, but the main draw back was the weight.
I remember being a loader under similar circumstances, and we attempted a 6 rounds in one minute-thing, using live rounds. We had drilled on this with empty shells in the barracks, but I can attest to that you're quite dizzy after that 6 rounds in one minute! Once, the filter on my gasmask was torn off the gasmask, when being loader :D
haha yes if you got a cold the snot would squirt out of your nose 😂 I remember one particularly painful moment firing. I had not noticed that my right ear plug had dropped out and was loose inside the ear muffs. That pain and shock were the worst I experienced in my entire 40+ year life, was just rolling around on the ground screaming in panic. Amazingly and by pure luck it did not or has not at least so far affected my hearing in any way.
😂😂I remember that feeling too! There was almost a vacuum between the venturi and the business end! I'm sure that's why I've got no hair now! 😂😂
I've read/heard somewhere there is a maximum of 6 live rounds fired per day for operator/loader in Sweden when not in War time. To minimize risks for internal/brain damage due to the shockwave.. I have a buddy who was operating one of these in the late 90's and reading upon the operator damages, it kinda explains how he is such wildfire..
@@Tompii It wasn't the case in the British army. As a weapons instructor I would spend a whole day on the range as either No 1, No 2 on the Charlie G or safety supervisor. As safety supervisor you stood between the business end and the venturi, facing opposite to the No2...it was like having your pants being ripped off every time they fired not to mention the constant ringing in the ears for hours afterwards sometimes! 😂😂
A friend of mine was part of a CG crew back in the day. Probably around 1980 or so. He was told his crew had fired the most live rounds of any crew ever. And they were good. Good enough to make a couple of live round firings during a show where the king of Sweden was present. Unfortunately, the gunner had the wrong distance dialed in on his sights, so instead of hitting the target, he hit a fir tree behind the target and cut that tree off. Leaving a five meters high tree trunk. He didn't recognize what the problem was, and fired another shot, hitting the top of the tree trunk. Still not the intended target. The officers told my buddy afterwards that the king, Carl XVI, realized what had happened. And that he was impressed by the precision of the weapon, and the gunner, who managed to hit the top of the tree trunk in his second shot. He, and his weapon, were obviously able to hit the same spot again and again. So he was totally okay with the show.
Sounds more like your friend missed the target... Twice.
@@TheJazsa80Two accurate misses.
@@TheJazsa80 thats shooting for groups, not for scores
@@vksasdgaming9472 Wouldn't that be "precise"?
@@blechtic Hard to say. Missed target and hit exactly same spot twice in a row is both impressive performance and horrid failure.
I did an uphill assault through a maize field in germany carrying this thing at its original 14kg weight. By the time i broke cover of the maize i was too jelly legged to make it to the treeline and just faceplanted. Brought a tear to my eye remembering the joy of youth.
🤣
I never marveled at the sheer destructive effectiveness of a weapon until I was trained on the gustav. In the hands of an experienced crew, it is the most lethal thing on the battlefield.
As a 155mm artilleryman I beg to differ. But I also understand that we can't serve everyone instantly all the time, so if "hell from above" is not available as fast as the infantry would ideally prefer someone has to fill the need. And that someone is, as we call it in the Danish army, The Swedish King.
Career prospects in a mech inf role gona be short going up against a few of those in a defensive line.
Try Russian ATK weapons this is a Toy in comparison. Kornet the world's most powerful not only a shaped charge a Thermobaric chaser NOTHING SURVIVES.
There’s 150 burnt out pieces of armour in and around rabotino, maybe it’s the rpg 30 that should be getting praised
@@yfelwulf Keep huffing that copium.
I was trained on this when I joined the Royal Marines back in 1964! LOTS of fun seeing how accurate it was/is still to this day..
I was trained on this weapon in the Swedish army back in 1989, but specialized in its bigger brother the 9cm recoilless cannon. What's said here apply to use within the British army. In Sweden we do it slightly different. The loader doesn't check the rear at the time of loading, but do so when the gunner calls out "skott kommer" (shot coming). Then the loader checks the rear, and if clear calls out "klart bakåt" (clear rearwards). Also the ranges given are not universal. In the '80ies we were taught to fire HEAT at up to 300m on moving targets and 400m on stationary. 25 years later those distances had been halved. (I have no clue why. While training we had no problems hitting the targets.) Smoke and HE rounds could be used at ranges up to >800m.
I know nothing. But I assume the British procedure was described, not the Swedish one..
It did feel very wrong for the loader to not look behind them as they fired.
When I serve the army I was GRG shooter. (Grenade launcher Carl Gustaf 84mm) then it was 14,3 plus grenade 3,5 = 17,8 kg fully loaded. Today less than 7 kg plus cartridge weigh 3,1 to 4 kg so around 10 kg fully loaded. Effective firing range : 150 m to 2100 m using rocket-boosted laser guided ammunition. Very fun to shoot. I had 95% accuracy of all my shoots if I may bragg. Also we use 9mm tracer rounds ammo. But at max 100 distant in to paper targets. And also 20 mm trainings rounds in to paper / metal targets, but at max 350 distant. SWEDISH Carl Gustav 84mm first fielded 1948 GRG is an abbreviation of Swedish word GRanatGevär (GRenade Rifle).
The ranges were halved because modern armored vehicles got faster, with better suspension, more powerful engines and more dangerous with stabilised guns/sights and thermal sensors which mean that you can't sit in a bush and take your sweet time aiming and tracking before firing anymore. You need to wait in hard cover with the right ammo loaded until the enemy vehicle is close enough for pretty much a one shot kill, then pop up at the squads observers notice, find the target, aim, fire and hopefully hit good in 2-4seconds. If the hit is only a mobility kill and doesn't make the crew bail out, you better have squad mates with Pskott or be quick enough to hit it better with a second shot before they slew that turret or pintle mount around to return fire, or you need to be already gone to somewhere else before the enemy crew figures out the direction you fired from.
In 1976, my (infantry) soldiers fired off a Cav Regiment's entire annual allocation of 'Charlie Swede' Illumination rounds in one night, supporting that Cav Regiment's night firing shoot. The back blast succeeded in excavating a small trench.
Remember doing the final stalk at sennelager, 500mtr in wet slushy snow, one shot one kill. Loved firing it but carrying the fkr was a pain as we didn't get 9mm smg, we still had to carry our SLR 's.
A SLR whith ammo AND the 84. Was this a penalcompany?
@@ronaldandersen1422 1 sqn RAF Regiment ( now I think of it most of us had been in nick, so yes) 🤣
What a weapon. I still remember the metallic ringing of the fillings in my teeth, and the weird effect of the bang being loudest in my left ear (now stone deaf). Charlie G is the only weapon that made me flinch when firing it. I was very glad that I never had to carry the sod in the field.
One thing that isnt mentioned is that the HEAT round itself has been improved in that the explosives in the round now explodes faster so that the HEAT can penetrate many ERA plates in that they dont have time to explode before the HEAT round has "passed". Same thing has been done to the more modern AT-4s. There are also rounds that can be fired from within buildings, just like some AT-4s
The rounds that can be fired indoors use a counter shot. The AT-4 soft launch and NLAW use a salt water counter shot. The German MBB Armbrust (crossbow) was interesting in that the propellant charge was contained between pistons in a tube. When shot one piston would push the HEAT projectile out one end of the tube and a polymer flake counter shot out the other. The gases were retained entirely within the tube retaining rings trapped the pistons. This class of weapon evolved into the current MATADOR RGW60, RGW90 and RGW120. The German Panzerfaust 3 is re-loadable and uses polymer flake counter-shot. I think Panzerfaust is the only reloadable soft launch weapon.
@@qFamop As they all are one shot disposable weapons, the answer is no ;)
@@johanmetreus1268 I Am Dumb Don't Mind Me
The cost and mobility of the weapon is amazing vs the cost per vehicle or tank removed from the battlefield. Great video.
That's the thing about Western weapons, we don't have to worry about quality vs quantity, we can have both.
Quality has its own quantity……
@@sam8404depends on the weapon. Carl Gustav is a LOT cheaper and easier to get than something like a Javelin. As the Tank Museum says, the Carl Gustav is more akin to the Russian RPG-7 than the high-end Western rocketlaunchers. Also if you look at high-end weapons the West, minus the US, tends to have relatively few of them. The amount of cruise missiles for example isn’t very high, despite how important they are for strategic and operational capabilities. Similarly the HIMARS isn’t as available as you might want, which means that you target specific high-value targets with it and rarely “just” for battlefield uses.
@@sam8404so why dont you have both? Ukraine is struggling because of this approach
@@TheDemigans if you take sweden for exemple we have chosen to use archer whit excalibur instead of himars like systems for cost per shot and accuracy and if we need to hit bigger targets like bridges or bunkers that is what the Airforce is for or one of the coastal misslie like RB15 if anti-air is thick in the area, like most nato countries we are to small to fling tomahawk missiles around like US can it would eat all of our defense budget very fast.
I love HEAT. And that's not just because I live in Australia. It's a real multipurpose round because the blast effect is also considerable.
People who have not been near a Carl Gustaf have precisely ZERO idea how ungodly loud it is, and how ungodly much ruckus is kicked up, when "the Swedish King commands his will". Everyone in your postal code knows your exact location. And whatever it was that you didn't like is confetti spread over the adjacent three postal codes. An absolutely fair trade-off if you ask me.
It is a cannon of respectable caliber and cannons tend to be loud. As in way louder than personal weapons.
Great weapon. In the Norwegian army we attached them to rucksack frames so that we could carry them easily on our backs.
A clever idea for long marches on foot or skis.
@@herptek another Norwegian army trick is to tie a snow shoe under the bipod of an MG3. The simplest solutions are often the best ones.
@@magnuslauglo5356 Perhaps. Our standard equipment included neither MG3 nor snow shoes, but at least MG3 sounds like a good idea if we are to change into weapons chambered in NATO standard calibers. I never appreciated the appeal of snow shoes over skis for mobility purposes, but I guess there is a role for them too in uneven ground.
@@magnuslauglo5356We slipped the caps of the grenade storage tubes upside-down on the "feet" of the bipod to stop the gun from sinking in the snow when firing prone. Worked great.
That’s actually swedish practice as well.
I might've guessed Bofors could be a bit of a mouthful for a Brit to pronounce correctly , but I had absolutely no idea Eskilstuna would be THAT troublesome... 😂
Never had more fun firing a weapon. In Canada it was known as the Karl G. I is quite the experience to fire. We were taught to leave the mouth slightly open so that the air pressure on the eardrums would be equalised inside and outside. When firing Heat-T it look so surreal as it arced it's way down range. In combat you wouldn't be watching but bugging out. Fires in the back blast area were common depending on the weather.
We'd rip the bark of the (knee high) mountain birches behind us and started one or two fires in the dry grass during one spring shooting (in the very north of Sweden). The force of the back blast really needs to be experienced.
I was a C-2 gunner and loved it and was usually providing security for the Carl-G team. On the anti-armour course it was my time to play! 17-20 year olds blowing sh#! Up! Carl-G or Eryx, I would still pick Carl. Good times! Good times.
I shot the Carl G back in the 80s as I was in active service at the Danish Air Force. We had Mk2 and the Mk3 was just being issued in 1985. We referred to them as "Dysekanon". As the war in Ukraine started I advocated for NATO and Allied to send them as much of them as possible. Many people don't believe they can crack "modern" Russian tanks open like the T80 and T90, but they can! They're also highly effective against buildings and personnel. They're cheap, reliable, and versatile. The only drawback it has is one cannot fire them in confined spaces like from inside a building due to the back blast.
We had to wear double hearing protection when firing this thing in training, it was so loud. It's a fearsome weapon, but a really heavy beast to carry on a long infantry march; only the strongest guys could do it.
We did it on "rotation", every 10th minute on march you just passed it down the column to the person behind you :) When you got it you just counted "One thousand, two thousand, three thousand..." up to sixty and did it ten times then you passed it backwards. That was what we where told to do but everyone just set a vibrator timer on their phones. No one cheated, ever. You can carry that damn thing for ten minutes. If you can't you shouldn't even be here.
As a swede, this makes me proud.
@@tafdizI'm pretty sure the Gustaf has greater armor penetration. The RPG is a bit lighter and only needs one user though.
@tristantully1592 well the new carl Gustaf the m4 can be loaded and then walk around with so you could be 1 person that's shoots and reloads.
Hope, Sweden will also provide Ukraine with Jas 39 Gripens. You will be even more proud!
Many of us Swedes have personal experience from these... Back in my days, live firing was called using 'fullbumpa', mostly when officers where not around and otherwise grg. Love how Britts used a grg in the Falklands war as a mobile coastal artillery against a Argentian warship. It always felt you got some serious punch with the team when having the grg around, also could put smoke where and when you needed it. Having some more freedom on what to bring, we could bring up to 4 grg in a platoon, but mostly having 3. With a mine or two, a bunch of pansarskott and 2-3 rounds of fullbumpa (grg) you could deliver a decent suprise punch in an ambush to an armorued column. Some guys were extra good on grg and did very well on moving targets without the aiming stuff of todays, but we all got training on it. Had a very good rate of fire when having a good 2 man team..."skott kommer", "klart bakåt!", "boom" The safety zone backwards was different in war. ..As I remembers it some of the over 6 000 Swedes fighting in Congo did have grg, so yes, it was used in war by Swedes back in the days. grg was used for odd things when there were no other alternatives: some Swedes knocked out mortars with their grg... Very heavy fighting at times. Some Swedes saw horrible things there, but some also brough back photos and memories of smiling pretty local women.
'fullbumpa' is my new favourite word Also: >Congo >pretty women implying
Exactly, first we used a 9mm training pipe inside Carl G and then we could fire fullbumpas, i think it was made of concrete...
The bloke firing the 84 thought he`d fell short as the round impacted below the waterline and there was no visible external explosion. The bridge and gun had been struck with 66mm rounds, all on the bridge were BLR`ed (Beyond Local Repair) and the gun was able to traverse but not depress so it continued firing harmlessly into the Fortuna Glacier. Tussen takk ghanaboyz !
@@stefanlangheden early 80s the hottest round was the smoke round about 700m in range, laying on grass that was wet from the rain a couple of hours ago, setting one of these of made wet grass and residual water lift up and cover all of yourself including face. Or another time being dug down under some big trees with heavy snow on them, after one shot you all knew were the snow went, instant camouflage!
@@dmg4415 not really, the hottest load has always been the illumination/starshell, which has so much power that the regulation demands it's fired standing from high on a hill/ridge, over the top, as to have a larger, solid object free backblast zone... The training of the Swedish army also includes that loaders/no2s are supposed to have a ready round in a "baby cradle" grip, indexed to the alignement cut in the casing rim with the middle finger, so that the venturi can be slammed open with the left hand only, forcefully enough to eject the spent casing and then shove the fresh one autoindexed into the breech with the right and close the venturi with the left while shouting the ammo type loaded to the no1. Enabling an average firing rate of around 10-15 well aimed shots per minute, up to 20 rounds per minute if the no1 is quick and accurate with the aiming😊
Used this weapon for 3 years in Sweden. None of the videos available online show a proper set-up and reload of the Carl G. Left hand is the only hand that touches the rifle (the handle, the back piece, and the empty shells). The right hand holds your next shell with your fingers in the gap of the shell (the opening that allows the shell to enter the rifle) and the point of the shell pointing to your right shoulder.
I know the heavy tank fist "Carl Gustaf" very well from my time in the German army. We didn't use it to fire at tanks, but we used it to illuminate the battlefield. During our stay at the Canadian Force Base Shilo in 1996, we had turned the night into day on the training ground with the "Carl Gustaf".
one shoot whit illumination lights up the whole forest, still remember waking up to FN mag fire and 3-5 explosions and then 2 bright spots in the sky like 2 mini suns, can't exactly remember what exercise but it was in the early 2000.
@@samolofsson2401 I still remember a comrade hanging on one of my feet so that you wouldn't take off. It was shock-free, but it was like a rocket propulsion that could lift you off the ground because you had to shoot at a 45° angle.
@@karstendoerr5378 i never fired illum my self only heat and I did it when I had a heavy cold let's leave it at i got a mouth full of mucas and nose bleed and a tremendeous head ache.
In the 1974-75, I carried the M67 Recoilless Rifle. A great AT weapon, much longer and heavier. Pretty much the same function. For field training we carried a sub caliber ‘round’ that fired the 7.62 NATO round. Blanks for training and tracers on the range It weighs about 46 pounds loaded and was supposed to be able to penetrate 350mm of armor. It was about 53 or so inches in length. It is amazing what a guy remember after almost 50 years 🤓🇺🇸
2nd Ranger was using the 90 in the mid 80s.
@lawrencelaird2919 Repetition tends to get that effect on your memory. 😁🇸🇪
The attention to detail and quality of these videos is the best I’ve ever seen. Love the Swedish Strv.81 in the back!
Looks more like an IKV 91 to me with that pike nose
The Carl Gustav is a terrifying weapon it's incredibly accurate it doesn't have a computer targeting system to lock on before firing so as long as you can see any piece of the target you'll be able to send one through their steel also it doesn't misfire either.
@ruvanefriebus-cv6td Actualy the latest version of sights is a kind of computer sight that can caculate everything you need to get a shure hit. I think there is a video about it here on youtube.
@@dennistofvesson6351 Provides you with a laser rangefinder that's about it
I was an antitank commander during my military service, and used the Carl Gustav as the bigger PV (pansar värns pjäs in Swedish) and I can tell you.. LOOK out for the back blast! Or it will kill you. But a formiddable veapon I was impressed by the exact precision expecially with the Junghans sight. It was exakt and hit the target every time!
Excellent video. Thank you. The Backblast Danger Area-BBDA- is the part that many people fail to understand. I love the depiction in the training video.
There's been a few videos from the Russia Ukraine war that have demonstrated what happens when you don't account for back blast, it's not pretty
@@NexusReload I've caught my own foot with the edge of it once, no damage as it was a 20mm training round insert, but the boot felt distinctly warmer and my foot felt as if someone had kicked the instep hard enough to make the foot feel a bit numb....
This was an amazingly educational look at the Carl Gustav. What a treat to watch!
I carried the charlie G 84mm with the british marines in the 70s, a very effective weapon but it was the most uncomfortable thing i ever had to carry over long distances for days on end along with my SLR. the projectiles were less annoying as they came in a plastic carrier of two or three. i was normally the GPMG gunner and i was used to carrying that, it was also heavy but it was easier to carry compared to the charlie g.
On my command post RA in the 70’s, it was an essential piece of kit. Since all we had to defend ourselves was a few SLR’s and SMG’s. It was comforting to know we had this to combat Soviet APC’s. So it amazing to know it’s still in service.
Oh, it would always had been effective against IFVs and such and obviously now the scope is even bigger with HE rounds e t c. However, against a T-80 you would have gone for a mobility kill since you couldn't really hope of penetrating it. A T-72 would have been on the fence.
The latest titanium M4 version weighs only 6kg which is less than a RPG-7. The preceding version were 10kg and 15kg.
@@azynkron In think weapons like RGW110 and Panzefaust 3 with 110mm tandem warheads are the only non guided weapons that could handle these tanks from the front.
@@williamzk9083 there are tandem warhead rounds for the CG too. If you have the chance in summer, I'd recomend a visit to a small, volounteer operated Swedish military history museum in Delary, a few miles south west of Älmhult (Where the first IKEA factory and store was built) They have an almost complete collection of display rounds for the CG, covering both domestic issue, exported and experimental variants, iirc, it's over 50 different rounds, though some are almost duplicates, only different to the others of their respective function in the fuse design, propellant type or explosive type.
@@azynkron Side shots or with the later rounds a T80 could be and have been destroyed in Ukraine by Charlie G - development never stopped - we changed ours for the Law 80 - 94mm one shot weapon with a 5 round spotting rifle attached - always thought getting the newer rounds and a variety would have been better though (along with a later version than the M2 we had
I’m somewhat surprised the Germans didn’t develop these in WW2 since they had a a recoilless gun called the 7.5 cm Leichtgeschütz 40 and had the PzGr 38 HEAT round. I believe the Carl Gustav had something in common with the Panzerfaust 100 which was a double propellant charge with an air space to delay ignition to keep peak barrel pressure down.
It would definitely have been an improvement over the Panzerschreck, but Germany seems to have gone all in on developing the Panzerfaust further instead.
@@alltatyeah, because the name is cooler
@@alltat It's clear they were attracted to the low cost of the Panzerfaust and Panzerschrek but their range and accuracy really wasn't up to the task expected. The New West German army was equiped with Super bazooka. When this weapon was retired they returned to the Panzerfaust. The Panzerfaust 44 used a lead grease counter shot to achieve a range of 400m. The current Panzerfaust 3 uses a polymer flake countershot and is much safer than Car Gustav and the old Panzerfaust 44.
@@williamzk9083 Safer? Safer for whom?
@@azynkron What sound does a pig make when it runs into a wall? Uffz! And that is who is protected by the modern Panzerfaust - the Uffz (Unteroffizier - Corporal). Who more often than not looses in a quiz show to said pig if you believe the average german soldier.
This weapon was standard training gear for me when I went through battle school in the Canadian Armed Forces in 1985. I only shot one round through it before I was transferred to an anti aircraft unit. Fantastic video on the 'Carl-G' as we called it.
The best "Anti Corvette" weapon........Ever.
Seeing a video of a Carl Gustaf knocking out a *T-80* in Ukraine was a sweet moment, indeed.
First trained on it in 1988, that exact model. Loved the lighter version that came out a few years later with a carry handle and severely reduced weight you run with it! I could still operate it today if I had to.
In Australian service as the "Gun Anti Tank 84mm, L14A1", the rubber band is pushed back to the largest diameter of the venturi (at the very back of the weapon) to reduce vibration / noise.
It would be pretty ironic if they end up killing some of the tanks originally intended to be killed with the carl gustav, like t62, t55 etc
Surely must have happened? I seem to remember reading Russia has been using those tanks.
The original targets were more like the T-34 and IS-series of tanks^^
@@lavrentivs9891 close enough
@@sam8404not directly on the frontline, as a backup for third line troops
Ahh, the Carl Gustav, 84mm of constitutional monarchy coming your way!
Love the Tank chats! Keep them coming please! As a turbo nerd, I find this information amazing.
The Carl Gustaf is a great design for its task...easy to use, unjammable, relatively inexpensive, upgradable ammunition, solid construction, able to operate without networking, and does the job well.
We were taught it had a ROF of one round then bugger off, cause after you fire it everyone knows where you are and if the first round missed you probably won’t get a second.
RoF not ROF, ROF stands for Royal Ordinance Factories. but I knew what you meant after reading it a second time
@@Duke_of_Petchington Rate Of Fire...............
@@thewomble1509 I know, but the Abbreviation of The Royal Ordinance Factory(ies) is ROF followed by the name of the factory's location e.g. ROF Nottingham. Rate of Fire is done RoF, the 'o' being not capped as "of" is not really a word of meaning or description. memory reaction from someone who likes to study the industry of The UK's history.
@@Duke_of_Petchington I know. I was pointing out that ,in this case ROF was an abbreviation of rate of fire. I won't say anymore as you are obviously incapable of holding a conversation.
@@thewomble1509 are you capable of the same? The comment you have just made, makes you sound like a stuck up snob who thinks they’re superior to everyone. All I was trying to do, was just explain why It took me a second read of the OPs comment to realise what they meant.
Australia had these on the books in the 60s but they weren't deployed to Vietnam because the Swedes 'apparently' threatened to withhold the ammo if we did.
1966 in Vietnam did a familiarisation course on the Charle Guts Ache only fired the HEAT round
1:25 The designer last names are switched places. It should be Harald Jentzen and Hugo Abramson.
I love The Tank Museum so much man, there are so many good people putting so much effort into restoring and retelling history in a modern and interactive manor, I really can't put into words how amazing something like that is for me :)
I am deliriously happy for todays troops that they get a Titanium Charlie G & don't have to carry the cast iron (well, it felt like it) Charlie G I was humping around in the 1980s! I wonder if you can fire all the new Gucci ammo through the old models? Come to think of it, can you mount the new ultra cool sights on the old ones? If you can, the old ones retain their utility on the modern battlefield, & that means _some_ poor sod is going to have to carry it. Unless the old ones all end up mounted on vehicles or on defensive positions...
All the old ones long gone...replaced by LAW80 years ago, that was then replaced by iLAW then the current NLAW. The old CG will have been disposed 20+ years ago. Probably melted down....at £15k a pop its better just to get new production...
@@dogsnads5634 It's the TA units & the stuff down the back of the armoury behind the box of LMG mags & the stack of Sterling SMG cleaning kits in regular units that I'm thinking of :-).
The Swedish army still uses the m/48 stovepipes... Mostly in the homeguard part time volounteer militia, where the personal issue small arm is a modified Hk G3...😅
@@dogsnads5634Here in Seden we still have them in storage, for bad times, they have quite a long storage life with nearly no maintinance needed.
It's a fantastic and very versatile weapon.
Wonderful talk-through as ever.. I think I'm quite up on my Military stuff and then these Vids by TTM come along and put me back in my place 😀
Very good video! I'm basic trained as a gunner at his weapon in the early 90's. We had one GPMG, one Carl Gustav and one ATGM-system per squad in the AT-platoon. Aditionally also 2-4 AT4 at the squad.
2:35 ”Äckelstuna” 😂 Well, that’s might be one way to describe Eskilstuna!😉 For non Swedish people “äckel” means creep in Swedish. Eskil was the name of a saint and tuna is an old word for place. So Eskil’s Place.
No, it's from Tuna Creep now. New canon.
Great video as always 👌😊👍
Great Anti Tank Chat! Please do more chats on the other equipment laying around the museum
The phosphorus round was amazing!
Eckilstuna is the most original pronunciation of "Eskilstuna" I've ever heard :D Great episode though!
A bit funny and ironic that brits and americans tend to pronunce swedish words as if they were german^^
@@lavrentivs9891 Haha yeah, super common! In this case kind of odd though, seeing how both Eskil and Tuna are very easy to pronounce for native English speakers :D
In my (much) younger day I used to be a machinegunner, and when you found it heavy (MG3 11,3 kg + ammo) you could at least find comfort in not carrying the Carl Gustav or its ammo :-) Well anyway it gave a small infantry unit a huge firepower against most targets, even helicopters.
this. In my Recon Squadron I usually complained about the fact that my personal firearm was an LMG (MG3), and had to lug it around on runs, but in the field, when dismounted, the driver, who was the designated Carl Gustav user of our vehicle, definitely had it harder...
Fired this one a few times back in the early 80'ies. I still remember the ringing sound, when the rubber band at the end of the exhaust nozzle wasn't in place :)
I had a play date with Carl nearly 20 years ago, he's great fun on the playground.
Man, I learned how to use this beast in the Australian Army in 1992
Same Army, trained on it in '83 at LWC. Got fed up with the double tap on the head and having to yell "BBDA clear".
I shot one for the first time about the same time ARA 90-95
Best I ever saw was a (I think) minor round that was used for demo purposes. Sure wasn't the full version. We were still using the SLR and Greens lol.
@@dave1234aust Possibly The Sub Calibre Training Device (SCTD) originally consisted of a 6.5mm tracer bullet designed to match the ballistics of the HEAT round., you put a 6.5mm round into a special round, then loaded it and fired it as normal but a lot cheaper and quieter.
Anti-Armour Pl, 2/4 RAR, 1974 (including live firing in Mt Hummock Sector, Shoalwater Bay Training Area, in the lead-up to Exercise Kangaroo 1).
Ah.. The Charlie 'G' what a lovely light piece of hardware. easy to carry and loads of practice rounds fired through it.
😀 We had a sub-cal kit, so many a cardboard tank died to it!
Easy?!!!
@@johnfisk811..Sarcasm. 16 years, two practice rounds one of which misfired!
I used to be in DFSW (Direct Fire Support Weapons) where we used the MAG58 in the Sustained fire role and we could use the C2 sight and tripod to fire out to 2.4km. We also used the Carl Gustaf in the Anti Tank role. I was an awesome shot with it!!
I would love it if at the end, when you bring up costs you would give comparisons, and discuss other relevant things like cost of different types of ammo. Great video!
The Carl Gustav hasn’t changed that much other than the materials becoming lighter. You’ll probably see this weapon serve another 100 years.
the main thing that have changed is the shells, by all means the Carl is just a very angry tube not much you can do but make it lighter
The 84mm caliber comes from an old 84mm gun barrel from the Boden fortress that was milled down into the first prototype. I read this in "Artilleri Tidskrift" in the 80s which is a publication for the Swedish artillery and air defence. Dont remember which number it was in a a long article about Jentzen and his career. The Swedish army was unsure about it in the beginning and only ordered 1000 units while they ordered 3000 Super Bazookas. Needless to say the Bazookas did not compare well in service.
Finally someone correctly says what it is. It's not a "Swedish RPG", it's not a "rocket launcher". It's a "recoilless rifle". RIFLE! What's the difference? One is a "rocket" launcher, this is NOT a "rocket" launcher. It doesn't fire rockets! It's a portable artillery gun.
Shoulder fired 84mm/L10 cartridge loaded field piece equivalent to a 17th century 24pdr field howitzer...
"Charlie Guts-ache" in Australian parlance... My Troop often had the task of 84mm Illum Spt for the Tankies... where it's best fired, due to the high-angle and backblast, from the back deck of an M113. My ears are STILL ringing from ...the first HEAT Rd sucked the ear-plugs out, the 2nd round was "eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" for a few weeks. We kept firing! It wasn't often we got HEAT Rds... Awesome weapon!
10/10, every time. Thank you.
I've fire the Carl Gustav, both HEAT and illum. What a blast! Very satisfying. A big explosion pressed up against your head. It blew the hearing protection out of my left ear. Lol. Such fun. More impressive than the explosion down range.
First time I fired a full size round (TPTP) was when I was 16 at JLRRE. Lost my old tin lid (it was smoking a little as it landed in the back blast area), Amplivox hearing protection (still had the old mouse dildo rubber ones on we were issued though) and felt like I had been slapped in the face with a sandbag - never mind we were firing prone from a pine needle covered firing point
The Danish army used these a lot in Helmand. A true battle winner ✌️
What the hell where the Dane’s doing in Afghanistan? I hope they get stung for reparations and a war crime inquiry
@@chadclay1643 We're a NATO member.. War crimes.. wtf are you talking about?
@@heinedenmark oh you guys were handing out sweets over there not making life hell for the civilians, my bad
I know it's going to be interesting when I see Chris in the first minute. Thanks. A fascinatingly long lived weapon.
Loved this weapon back in the day. It is also useful for bunker busting.
Its a another part missing on that weapon apart from the handle, that is the rubber band on the venturi, you will miss it when firing a live one......
That was actually a formalised field modification. Swedish jaeger units quickly started to use cut up sections of car and bike tyre inner tubes and vulkanising electric insulation tape to sound proof and glint proof their equipment, including their CGs.
As my lieutenant during my military service used to say: a MG is a fun weapon, a CG is a manly weapon. (KSP är ett roligt vapen, GRG är ett manligt vapen.)
this channel goes from great to greatness all the time❤
I was taught it in the mid 70’s. A great bit of kit…🇬🇧
In the Canadian army reserve, we ended up drilling on this a lot. Firing it, on the other hand, was a novelty. I found it hard to aim, but for those who got to use it often, what did you think?
Very simple to aim and fire with. Swedish army. And I am very suprised of the effect of the gun. When training they said do not fire at tanks, fire at personel carriers. If you fire at a tank you will only make the crew angry on you. And in Ukraine they blew away one of Russias best tanks.
@@peterjohannesson6671 Reason for the note is not shooting at the front of the Tank, Sides are still vulnerable for penetration, as shown in Ukraine with the T-90. but doctrin to shoot at a tank is a volley of 3-4 shots in a tank hunting unit from a ambush position. Single gun is not advised. Same doctrin is in use with single use weapons like the AT-4 or M72 LAW
Iron sights were often easier than the optics imo.
Was No. 2 on a Carl G gun during a nighttime live fire ambush patrol ex at BATUS with 3PPCLI (1981). My No. 1 did a ‘blimp-shot’ at a moving target (+30 km/h) coming down a forward slope, about 400 m out, with a single para flare illumination behind us. Aced the shot.
@@peterjohannesson6671indeed, it was a Canadian supplied Carl-G as well.
His name is Charlie Guts Ache. I was just about to comment that the weapon at 4:38 is unservicable as it is missing the broad rubber band that fits around the rear of the venturi. One of the most spectacular shows I saw was a static squadron night shoot using Charlie G parachute illumination rounds to light the shoot .30/.50 brownings and 76mm. IIRC each illum rounds could illuminate roughly a grid square. Note Viet Nam was not listed in the conflicts where Charlie was used even though it was in service at the time. It is said the Swedes refused to sell us ammunition due to our use of CS gas to clear tunnels - which the swedes considered chemical warfare.
That rubber band didn't even exist on the Swedish issued originals, it was provided on export weapons as a formalised version of a coscript jaeger field modification where they cut a section from the inner tube of a car tyre and pulled it over the venturi and secured it with vulcanising electric insulation tape, the vulcanising tape was also used on other parts of their gear that was prone to making metallic noises or getting paint shafed off to glinting bare metal, as blackening with oil/grease and fire (compromising durability of issued government equipment) was not allowed and punished.
As a former squad leader in the Swedish army, we were experts on winter tank/combat vehicles ambush and they always lost, “GRG” is an effective weapon.
I trained on the M48 variant now, in 2020, its still an amazing rifle and truly timeless. Altough a lil heavy in comparison to the newer M86 (M4) xD BEAST of an anti tank rifle and seriously incredible to shoot
He didn’t mention the bipod, which was generally fitted into the forward hand grip but I found it much better in the shoulder pad tube (you can just see this tube when he picks it up) as you could lock yourself around the bipod and then get a stable shot - yes I have fired the weapon, both indoor & outdoor sub-calibre rounds plus I had the pleasure (???) of firing a live round with a practice head. It is the loudest device I ever got to fire and the back blast felt like all the air was being sucked away from you - one guy I knew was acting as No.2 when his 1970’s style ear plug fell out & unfortunately the No.1 fired before he could shout “STOP” and he could hear anything in that ear for a few days!
not ( missing word in the last sentence). XD
The Danish Army had a tripod on the M3. Much superior to the wobbly spring bipod on the M2. Most of my training as a C-G gunner was based on shooting in the prone position or from a foxhole. We even had a special triangular plywood plate to place over our foxhole, so the C-G could be placed on the tripod over the foxhole. Made the gun much more stable. But I've never seen the tripod on other countries C-G.
I always heard this weapon was obsolete for killing tanks. It was now more of an anti-infantry and anti-bunker weapon, or maybe to clear a barricade or something. The fact that it can still defeat tanks, even if it isn’t from the front, shows its not obsolete. The cost per shot also makes this a far more available unit. Javelin and NLAW are far more expensive per missile fired. This makes training and arming groups with it far easier.
Anyone thinking that Carl Gustaf is obsolete anti-tank weapon must be thinking that every engagement with a tank is head on against the strongest armor. The truth that the war in Ukraine has shown is that tanks are far from invulnerable fortresses and even much less capable weapons like old RPG-7 rockets and RKG-3 grenades can still be very effective against the sides and the roof.
@@ChilionloppuAnd then there's the fact that not every vehicle on the battlefield is armoured, never mind an MBT. An RPG can be a devastating weapon against infantry fighting vehicles, armoured cars, APC's, troop and cargo trucks, signals outpost vehicles, fuel bowsers, field kitchens and what have you.
Proud of my country for providing this capability to defenders of democracy and freedom.
I remember firing those in the mid 1980's. The whack in the back was huge!
It is cheap to produce. It is deadly it has high accuracy and we have loads of ammo. therefore, Carl Gustav will continue to appear in all the world's conflicts. for a long time to come. especially in Ukraine. Slava Ukraine 🇧🇧🇸🇪
6:24 if this sight has 2 times magnification and the the other sight has twice as much, shouldent it be 4 times and therefor four times more than iron sights not 3? Or am i missing something?
Intrested to see the effect of the 84mm ADM round
Great weapon. Loved it back in the 80s with my unit.
Okay, first I need to specify that I'm going to talk crazy stuff about first gen Carl G launcher from 1946, not about modern fought gen. Second, if you want you can replace Carl G with RPG-2/7 if you want. Now, absolutely insane question. If equipped with VT fuzed airburst ammo(viable in 75mm caliber even during WWII), _how effective would it be at scaring off prop planes?_ You may think in context of late WWII or in context of post war use of IL-10, Skyraider and so on. Can such thing be called "Gen 0" MANPAD?
I dont think so, it would be useless. Late war planes were far too fast, without a laser rangefinder you wouldnt get an accurate distance, and the lack of minaturization wouldnt allow it.
@@phunkracy ehm, sorry to say it, but the point of MANPAD is to scare the plane away. No matter how fast it gets, without stand off precision guided weaponry plane has to line up for attack run be it with cannons, rockets, bombs or even torpedoes. And yes, MANPADs did a number on soviet helis in Afghanistan. But those were helis. And they were being shot down even with basic RPG-7. As were american ones in Somalia. That's part of what inspired the question, but as they're helis, I didn't mention them.
Only ~$20k for those capabilities? That is the bargain of a lifetime - the price of a sweet e-bike! (though, come to think of it, I bet the e-bike would still kill more people lol)
Thing is, e-bikes kills riders and bystanders, the C-G only kills targets and idiots that walk into the backblast zone.
I carried this in the 80’s, great weapon system
Very nice historic and technical background briefing. I miss firing it. It could pull the snot out of the gunners nose, set the grass on fire and sometimes even pull the lense off the gunners wrist watch. :-) I have seen that happen. We serched for it, but never found it. :-)