Pelo PGS
- Category
- Submachine Gun
- Barrel
- Not recorded
- Weight, empty
- 3.00 kg
- Introduced
- 1955
About
What it is, and why it matters
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.
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.
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.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- Sako Ltd.
- Category
- Submachine Gun
- Country
- Finland
- Status
- Prototype
- Produced
- 1955 to 1956
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Weight, empty
- 3.00 kg
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Blowback
- Firing mechanism
- Open bolt
- Capacity
- 30
- Magazine
- Fixed box
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Steel
- Barrel
- Steel
- Finish
- Blued
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Effective range
- 150 m
Trajectory
What the round does downrange
Solved from the muzzle figures and the bullet. The dashed rule is the effective range on the record, and the crosses are the steps the solver returned.
No load solved for this record yetThe flight path is computed from a cartridge and a bullet. This record has no ammunition filed against its chambering, so there is nothing to solve.
Features
What it has
What the record lists as fitted, drawn from the catalogue.
Wrap around bolt
Folding magazine housing
Clip loaded fixed magazine
Compact receiver
Standing
How it compares
Each figure against the firearms of the same type and cartridge that record it, or of the same type where that cartridge has too few. Positions are read to the nearest tenth.
| Measurement | This firearm | Median | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empty weightAmong 201 9x19mm Parabellum submachine guns | 3.00 kg | 3.18 kg | Lighter than about 60% |
| Magazine capacityAmong 204 9x19mm Parabellum submachine guns | 30 | 32 | Holds fewer rounds than about 70% |
Answers
Questions about the Pelo PGS
How much does the Pelo PGS weigh?
The Pelo PGS weighs 3.00 kg (6.61 lb) empty.
What caliber is the Pelo PGS?
The Pelo PGS is chambered in 9x19mm Parabellum.
How many rounds does the Pelo PGS hold?
The Pelo PGS holds 30 rounds, fed from a fixed box magazine.
Who makes the Pelo PGS?
The Pelo PGS is made by Sako Ltd. (Finland). It was designed by Carl Pelo.
When was the Pelo PGS introduced?
The Pelo PGS was introduced in 1955 and discontinued in 1956.
How does the Pelo PGS operate?
The Pelo PGS uses a blowback action, and its firing mechanism is open bolt.
Compatibility
Which parts fit this firearm
Studio
Every part that mounts on this, resolved
Not a list the maker typed out: the answer comes from the mounts this firearm exposes and the interface each part needs, so it stays right when either one changes.
- Every part that mounts on any firearm in the catalogue
- Interface standards, platforms and fit overrides
- The same answers through the API and the MCP server
Requires a signed-in GunSpec account on the Studio plan. The answer is computed per part, so it is not part of the public record.
Provenance
What the record holds
Every figure above was taken from one of these pages. The confidence reflects how much of the record came from a page a claim can be checked against.
In service
- Finnish Defence Forces
- Finland
Provenance
Confidence in this record
55%
Stockists
Where to buy
Offers link straight to the shop. GunSpec never takes the order.
No shop has listed this firearm yet
Stock and prices come from the shops themselves. If you sell this firearm, you can list it and it appears here.
List a firearmMCP
Ask an assistant about it
The same record, reached the way a person asks for it rather than the way a program does.
Ask GunSpec
Works with
Point an MCP client at GunSpec and it answers from the catalogue rather than from memory. A free key covers the read tools.
API
The call that returns this record
The same fields, in the same units, from the same endpoint the page reads.
curl --request GET \ --url 'https://api.gunspec.io/v1/firearms/rk-pgs' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "rk-pgs", "name": "Pelo PGS", "manufacturer": { "id": "sako", "name": "Sako Ltd.", "countryCode": "FI", "foundedYear": 1921, "website": "https://www.sako.global", "logoUrl": null, "description": null, "status": null, "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": null, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-02-11 23:44:40", "updatedAt": "2026-02-18 03:40:48", "version": "171342bbd9b9b1a2d608848b324bb265c7de880b1a6a9b63c8b1531c9b87d6a4" }, "category": { "id": "submachine-gun", "name": "Submachine Gun", "description": "Automatic firearms chambered in pistol calibers" }, "country_of_origin": "FI", "year_introduced": 1955, "barrel_length_mm": null, "weight_empty_g": 3000, "action_type": "blowback"}