Swedish Ljungman AG42-B

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cainesy

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Hello folks. Does anybody on the forum have experience with this Swede? I've heard horror-stories about this series of rifle discharging out of battery and peppering the shooter with nasty stuff!!! Is it b.s or fact, did anyone have a similar experience? Is the AG42 worth 400 bucks, or is it best too steer clear altogether? Any and all thoughts and experiences appreciated. Cheers.
 
The AG42B likely is the single most accurate semi-auto rifle ever constructed.

There ARE issues with the things ejecting with much too much oomph, but that is a port pressure issue and it CAN be dealt with, very effectively, for about 20 cents and an hour of your time.

As far as firing out of battery is concerned, this is a complaint I have never heard of and I have been messing with these things for over 35 years. The rifle action itself is inherently safe.

Anything I can do to help, get back to me by PM; I have an article here on port pressures which might help.

Take care.... and enjoy.

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As mentionned, accurate.
Ammunition sensitive.
The Swedes sold them off surplus early on for a reason.
 
Back in the '70's when these things were $49.95 in new condition I bought one. Used to slam fire with alarming regularity. I didn't know enough then about guns to fix it so I sold it for $50.00 and laughed all the way to the bank.
Now I wish I had it back. It was deadly accurate but VERY front heavy.
 
Ag 42

I've had an AG42 and Hakim over the years, shot the hakim more but never had any issues with either. My 6.5 rounds were always good Privi , but the Hakim was subjected to some pretty crappy 8mm and did pretty good.
Everyone has to experience a little thumb jamming with these actions at the first, but you soon learn to keep them out of the way !
J5 Muskeg
 
You definitely want to watch which powder you use... I have never personally reloaded for one but its a timing/pressure issue worth noting again. I have also fired a Hakim, which has got to be one of the loudest rifles around... same issues and a real brass destroyer thanks to the case deflector they added. I don't believe the swede has a tunable gas port like the 8mm egyptian counterpart. I would definitely pick one up if you can get a decent one for that price. Thousand times better than any sks etc. Not a light rifle though....
 
I've had a couple of them. I bought my first one back around 30 years ago when you could get them for cheap. Never had a problem with slam fire or was bothered by the fact it chucked the brass to the front right around 10 yards. I had one with a bad bore, and it shot poorly. The other had a pristine bore and shot really well. When I first got it, the hunting ammo was expensive, Norma cost a lot. Then Prvi came out with ammo for it and it was cheap again to shoot. If its in good shape, its a worthwhile purchase.
 
After these were sold off, the first affordable ammunition to appear was Swedish surplus practice ammunition. Came packed in brown 20 round boxes. The rifles didn't work well with this issue ball. Port pressure was too high, the extractor would rip through the rim. Open the bolt, the case would fall out. Wasn't hard extraction, it was trying to open too soon. The "cure" was to lube the cartridges.(!) Apparently this is in the manual for the rifles. There was a spare extractor in the little parts kit that accompanied the rifles for a reason.
The ones I had worked fine with Dominion softpoint, and my handloads. Not a good handloaders rifle, though, because of the way they joyfully fling the brass all over the countryside. Never tried one with the Prvi ammunition.
 
I had one in pristine shape and for some reason $75 sticks in my mind for price.
I only tried it with "Imperial" ammo and it split cases and pulled the extractor through the rims on most shots. I suspect the fault lay with the fixed gas bleed.
The guy who bought it knew about my problems but I never heard him talk about his experience and I never thought to ask.
 
Thanks for the replies people, its appreciated. Just to give y'all a heads up, P&S Militaria in Quebec are selling AG42's for 395+ shipping. Cheers.
 
you can put a allen head set screw in the gasblock on the barrel , and use that to adjust the gas pressure used to open the action .

if you reload imr 4064 is a very good powder to use , but don't go to anything slower burning unless you do the set screw mod , as it will create too much pressure going back to the action and fire your bass as far sideways as the bullet is going forwards :D

also think in terms as a 140grain bullet as the heaviest you want to go , leave the 160 grain bullets for the bolt actions .

i've got 2 of them , and they work flawlessly , but when you cycle ammo through them , the firing pin does mark the primer , so military spec primers may be in order if your nervous about a out of battery firing .

KEEP YOUR THUMBS AND FINGERS OUT OF THE ACTION !!!!!!!

it hurts like hell if it bites you

sweet rifle besides that .
 
lubing the case can cause very dangerous pressures on the bolt from back thrust , i would not do this on ANY rifle . this is just asking for trouble .

what is lubing the case suposed to fixed on the ljungman ?
 
If the action starts to open when residual pressure is still too high, the case is still locked to the chamber walls. The extractor will rip through the rim. If the case is lubed, the case will slip and extract.
It is my understanding that the Swedish manual for these rifles does refer to lubing the ammunition.
There are designs which depended on lubricated cartridges.
You are correct; lubricated ammunition can increase backthrust against the bolt, and this can be a problem. When Lee Enfields were proofed, they were fired with both dry and oiled proof rounds. The oiled round was to test the action. When SMLE rifles were converted to 7.62x51, oiled proof rounds would bend the receiver.
 
Best thing to do with the AG42B is to mod the gas takeoff so that it uses less gas, then handload with a 140 bullet an a fast powder: exactly as posted above in several places.

Using a 160 bullet will give too much dwell on the gas: too drawn-out a push.

Using a slow powder will increase port pressure, which is the LAST thing this critter needs. The 140 or 139 is this rifle's bullet; it's what they were designed for. Ditto for fast powders. MAYBE the designer knew something about it.

Oiling your brass will ease extraction by making the case float in the chamber during firing. It will also put incredibly unsafe pressures on the bolt.

If you want reliable operation with zero problems, just mod the gas block for an adjusting set-screw: cheap, reliable, gets rid of all the problems.

Watch out for that Norwegian ammo the boys bring back from the ice: bullets are too heavy, too slow for this rifle. She'll wing her shucks about 20 fathom and they'll hurt when they hits. Mod the gas block and you can run even this stuff safely. It's really accurate, too!

Heavy, yes. Loud, yes. Accurate? Also a very big yes.

Complicated? Thing strips into frame, mag, bolt, carrier, recoil mech and safety block: 6 pieces. Compare that to a Kar 43 or a Gew41W or something.

I have one and I'm not selling it.
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One of the most accurate, low recoil, semi autos out there! After you figure out the aim point at 100 yds, yes i know that is a short shot but I got old eyes, i was able to deliver 5 rounds in to a 10 inch gong as fast as I could pull the trigger. Fun to shoot and yes a brass destroying mofo. In short a beautiful piece of history.
 
tiriaq said:
If the action starts to open when residual pressure is still too high, the case is still locked to the chamber walls. The extractor will rip through the rim. If the case is lubed, the case will slip and extract.
It is my understanding that the Swedish manual for these rifles does refer to lubing the ammunition.
There are designs which depended on lubricated cartridges.
You are correct; lubricated ammunition can increase backthrust against the bolt, and this can be a problem. When Lee Enfields were proofed, they were fired with both dry and oiled proof rounds. The oiled round was to test the action. When SMLE rifles were converted to 7.62x51, oiled proof rounds would bend the receiver.
Click to expand...

I have some Berdan primed Norma ammo that came from Sweden and the case material is some silver alloy that looks like aluminum. I think it is called TOMBAC. A hundred and fifty years ago when I was taught the characteristics of the 9mm SMG C1, we learned that a part of the blowback cycle was the brass cartridge case sticking to the steel chamber for a short amount of time while the barrel pressure was still high. Then that bimetal adhesion was overcome by other forces. Sounds like Tiriaq is describing a similar principle except in reverse.
 
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