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What is the correct original finish on a Carl Gustav M/45?


DZelenka
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I have a presample M/45 (not an M/45b) that needs some work. It needs the stock latch replaced and the current stock does not have the rubber cheek piece. I have a stock latch, spare stock and a bunch of original rivets. The gun is a painted on grey finish that is kind of spotty. Since changing the stock and/or repairing the stock latch will require removing and replacing some rivets, I was thinking about restoring the gun to its original finish. My only issue is that I do not know definitively what that finish was. I am fairly certain that it was not the green lacquer finish of the M/45b model. Does anyone have a clue?

 

Dan

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Original finish was blued. The funky green color did not come until the later models.

I know that the funky green lacquer didn't come out until later production M/45b models. The only reference to finish for the M/45 was on Wikipedia which calls it "gunmetal." I thought that might be blue but was confused by my Swedish friend. Do you have any reference material that indicates a blue finish or have you personally seen original condition guns? Is it a hot blue? Could it be a black oxide like a Thompson receiver? Just trying to get it correct.

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I have heard they were originally blue, but I don't have an authoritative source for it.

 

If yours was parkerized and then painted, wouldn't you see parkerizing under the paint? Of course whoever painted it COULD have removed the original park first, but would they?

 

In your second post, with the two dark parkerized guns, any idea if that is the original finish? At least one of those is an M 45b, maybe both. I have heard that not all guns were painted, even after the b model started to be painted. The painted ones were for military use.

 

All I know for certain though, is that I like the green color. If I was going to refinish one, I think that is what I would do.

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I have heard they were originally blue, but I don't have an authoritative source for it.

 

If yours was parkerized and then painted, wouldn't you see parkerizing under the paint? Of course whoever painted it COULD have removed the original park first, but would they?

 

In your second post, with the two dark parkerized guns, any idea if that is the original finish? At least one of those is an M 45b, maybe both. I have heard that not all guns were painted, even after the b model started to be painted. The painted ones were for military use.

 

All I know for certain though, is that I like the green color. If I was going to refinish one, I think that is what I would do.

I’m not positive that the finish in the picture with two guns is park. It could be a matte blue. It is supposed to be original. There is an M/45 and a M/45b in the picture. I assume that the M/45b is early as its not painted.

 

I don’t see anything under the paint on mine.

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I just realized that your M45 # is less than 200 higher than mine which was imported by Interamerican.

 

Looks like mine was refinished after the import info was added, but I dont think it is paint. The stock hinge is a different finish than the stock and receiver.

 

I dug out an extra painted shroud and it looks like it was blued before being painted.

 

What importer markings does yours have?

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I just realized that your M45 # is less than 200 higher than mine which was imported by Interamerican.

 

Looks like mine was refinished after the import info was added, but I dont think it is paint. The stock hinge is a different finish than the stock and receiver.

 

I dug out an extra painted shroud and it looks like it was blued before being painted.

 

What importer markings does yours have?

Mine is an Interamerican also. However, it is marked in front of the magazine well. I am looking at a blow up of a poor picture but I think it says M/45 9MM SWEDEN, INTERAMERICAN SACTO., CA CARL GUSTAV. The commas indicate a different line on the stamping. I also believe that it was finished after the stamp, but there is pretty much no finish under the paint(?). Can you post a picture of your whole gun? Does the stock have the rubber cheekpiece? Is it matching numbers?

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Yes, mine came with the cheekpiece. The numbers are matching on the receiver and the shroud.

Do numbers appear anywhere else?

Possibly the barrel. My receiver and shroud do not match but they are only a few digits off. I traded my barrel for a newish one out of a kit. For some reason I thought it was numbered, but I don't recall for sure. I must say that yours looks much better than mine. This may give me the impetus to do the necessary work. It would be easy to just cerakote it a nice dark grey, but I am not sure how that would affect value if at all. It is just a pre-May shooter, but it is ashamed to leave it in its current state.

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