Pelo PGS
Oy Sako Ab · Submachine Gun · Prototype · 1955
Also known as: Pelo SMG, Pelo konepistooli, PGS, Pelo submachine gun
Overview
The Pelo PGS is a Finnish prototype submachine gun developed in the early 1950s by Captain Carl Pelo, with examples built at the Sako factory in Riihimaki. It is a compact, blowback-operated weapon firing from an open bolt that uses a wrap-around bolt to shorten the receiver. Its defining feature is a fixed box magazine that hinges open at the side and is reloaded manually from disposable 30-round metal clips, eliminating the need to carry spare magazines. The magazine housing folds horizontally beneath the barrel when not in use. Tested by the Finnish Defence Forces in 1956, the project was cancelled when Finland chose to pursue an intermediate-caliber assault rifle instead.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 3000 g (105.8 oz) |
| Action Type | Blowback |
| Firing Mechanism | Open Bolt |
| Magazine Capacity | 30 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Fixed Box |
| Effective Range | 150 m (164 yd) |
| Barrel Rifling | Right Hand |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Finish | Blued |
Calibers
- 9x19mm Parabellum · primary · 9mm NATO — also known as 9mm Luger, 9mm NATO, 9x19mm
Features
- Firing modes: Full Automatic
- Feed systems: Fixed Clip Loaded Magazine
- Features: Wrap Around Bolt, Folding Magazine Housing, Clip Loaded Fixed Magazine, Compact Receiver
Service history
Operators
- Finnish Defence Forces
Production
Production years: 1955-1956
Prototype only; never entered series production. Only a small number of test examples are believed to have been built. Sources disagree on the maker: some cite the Sako factory in Riihimaki, while Finnish references (jaegerplatoon.net) credit assembly to the Repair Shop of Weapons Depot 1.
Origin
Country of origin: Finland
Designer: Carl Pelo
Discontinued: 1956
Notes
The wrap-around (telescoping) bolt was driven by a narrow guided return spring, shortening the receiver. Ammunition clips were intended to be delivered in boxes of 100 clips (3,000 rounds), packaged in sets of 10 (300 rounds each). The design aimed to dispense with reusable spare magazines entirely. Detailed dimensional data (overall length, barrel length, rate of fire, muzzle velocity) for the prototype is not documented in surviving public sources and is left null rather than estimated.
Background
Captain Carl Pelo was a retired Finnish Army officer and prolific small-arms inventor who spent some two to three decades designing weapons, and served as technical manager of the Sako factory during the 1930s. His signature idea was a fixed, side-hinged magazine reloaded from disposable metal clips, a concept he carried across his submachine gun, machine gun, and rifle designs to do away with reusable spare magazines. None of Pelo's weapons were adopted; the Finnish military moved toward intermediate-caliber assault rifles in the late 1950s, and the submachine gun programme was shelved after the 1956 trials.