My good friend and Marine brother, Andy, has a literal ton of rare guns and old relics. Every so often, he lets me come over to his place and drool just a bit. Sadly, he never lets me shoot anything. Maybe I'll have to re-work our arrangement. He was nice enough to let me come on down to his shop one day and take some awesome pictures of this semi-automatic MK Arms 760.
The neat thing about the MK 760, is that it came in both semi-automatic and select fire. That day, he had one of each. Sadly, both models he had on hand were illegal, and I only took pictures of the one. I was told that they were both illegal because they weren't registered by the time they had to be (the semi-auto was an open bolt design). Both models had to be reported to everyone's favorite federal agency—the BATFE, and were later destroyed.
These weapons were licensed production clones of the Smith & Wesson SW76. What a lot of people don't realize, however, is that the S&W model, was actually a copy of a sub machine gun straight out of Sweden, called the M/45, which was in production during WWII. All three guns, from all three manufacturers are relatively rare, but every so often you'll find one. If you're lucky, you may even talk to a Vietnam vet who carried one of these bad-boys around for protection.
Anyway, Sweden decided that they would stop exporting firearms to the United States when we entered Vietnam, leaving us high and dry. America's Navy relied on the Swedish SMG, so Smith & Wesson stepped up to the plate to begin making them.
Their guns would eventually be found in the Navy and law enforcement agencies around the country.
These guns fire 9X19 Parabellum, and are fed through one of three different sized detachable box magazines with the largest one containing 36 rounds. The fully auto guns are capable of firing over 700 rounds per minute and weigh in at just over seven pounds, while empty.
Sadly, these ones had to be destroyed because they weren't documented properly. Thankfully, they are available on the market in other shops, and are rather affordable—at least as far as machine guns are concerned. In fact, the select fire MKA 760s are the most affordable machine guns currently available on the market. But, you have to find them.
What do you think about this gun that my buddy had the decency to let me take pictures of before it was destroyed? Let us know in the comments below. Here are some more pictures for your viewing pleasures. My goal was to get up close and personal, so you can have an intimate look at this awesome gun.
Here's the gun porn:
Barrel threads
Trigger and grip.
Folding stock and sling loop.
Ain't she purdy?!
Rear Sight.
Designation. Look at that! Made in California!
Empty chamber, top of empty magazine.
Empty chamber, front sight.
Charging handle.
Muzzle.
Barrel threaded on.
Side folder in open position.
Barrel and shield.
The MK 760:s original, the Swedish K aka m/45 was the weapon issued to me when I did my military service in ’89, that’s 1989 for all you jokers out there 😉
I use to fire it one handed, like a pistol. Guess what, IT WAS AWESOME!!!
We were issued three or four magazines for 36 rounds, sh*t loads of 36 round clips and a speed loader (in swedish called a “rasp”) capable of filling a mag in six swift compressions or just under 3 sec.
Clips and a “rasp”
http://img.tradera.net/images/718/223749718_a33c3dc4-7308-4b90-8ad7-dd4f7a741cc1.jpg
It chambered a special ammo produced just for the m/45 (But it was also used for semi-automatic pistol m/40, which litteraly smashed the weapon because of its ballistic properties. The ammunition is almost always forbiden to use at pistol shooting galleries just because of the extreme damage it causes on targets and inventory. It can penetrate body armour up to type IIIA.
There’s a myth in Sweden that If you just put on a thicker coat it will withstand a body center mass hit at 100 meters. I usually reply “fine, let’s do it, I can make a head shot at 300 meters”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/9%C3%9719mm_Parabellum#Swedish_m.2F39
I wish I had a picture of me in my winter fatigue and my m/45 to show y’all.
It look’s A lot like S&W model 76 I shot back 70’s . I could have bought one for $86.00.
I agree with Jorge, reminds me of the old 45 that I trained with we called them “grease guns”.
I think the photos are of two different guns. Look closely.