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All Kalashnikov assault rifles and their performance characteristics. Video: Modernized Kalashnikov assault rifle - AKM Kalashnikov assault rifle definition

Rate of fire, shots / min: 600 Muzzle velocity, m/s: 710 ,
715 (AKM) Target range : 800 m (AKM 1000 m) Type of ammunition: 30-round box magazine Sight : sector

7.62 mm Kalashnikov assault rifle(AK, Also known as AK-47, GAU Index - 56-A-212) - an assault rifle developed by M. Kalashnikov in 1947, is the most common small arms in the world. Differs in extremely high reliability and simplicity of service.

History of creation

However, it is worth noting that the similar outlines of the barrel, front sight and gas outlet tube are due to the use of a similar gas outlet engine, which Kalashnikov could not have borrowed from Schmeiser, since it was invented long before that. The structural differences are quite large and consist in the device for locking the barrel (rotary bolt for AK and skewed bolt for MP-43), trigger mechanism, differences in weapon disassembly (for a Kalashnikov assault rifle, for this you need to remove the receiver cover, and for StG- 44 - fold the trigger box down on the pin along with the fire control handle). It is also worth noting that the AK is lighter than it was to develop the cold-forged technology, which he did until 1952, which played a role in the appearance of the AKM stamped magazine and receiver (since 1959). Meanwhile, similar technologies were used before Schmeiser, including in the USSR in the manufacture of PPSh and PPS-43 submachine guns, which had a predominantly stamped design before the advent of StG-44, that is, the Soviet side by that time already had some experience in manufacture of small arms parts by stamping. However, it should be noted that Hugo Schmeisser did not leave any memoirs about his time in the USSR, so any other information about the participation of Schmeisser and others German specialists in the development of the Kalashnikov assault rifle is not currently available.

It is also worth adding that the design of the AK used elements of an experimental automatic carbine created by Kalashnikov back in 1944, and experimental samples of the new machine for field testing were ready before the appearance of German specialists in Izhevsk.

Thus, it can be concluded with great certainty that the AK is Mikhail Kalashnikov's own development.

Design

First combat use

The first use of AK on the world stage occurred in 1956, during the suppression of the uprising in Hungary. The AK proved itself well in urban combat, due to its power, which is not characteristic of submachine guns, and its compactness, it was often able to do what tanks could not do.

AK after the collapse of the USSR

Despite the existing opinion that the collapse of the USSR led to a sharp increase in sales of Kalashnikov assault rifles and a drop in prices for them, serious studies refute this. Both the prices themselves and the tendencies of their change coincide before and after the collapse of the USSR.

AKM series

AKMSU- a shortened version of the AKM with a folding butt, designed for special forces and airborne troops. It was released in very small quantities and did not receive wide distribution among the troops. It did not officially enter service.

AKMN (6P1N) - a variant with a night sight.
- AKMSN (6P4N) - modification of AKMN with a folding metal butt.

Models with balanced automatics

The next fundamental step in the development of the AK lineup was the AK-107 and AK-108 assault rifles. They used a modified automatic reloading scheme - shockless with separated masses. In this scheme, the machine has two gas pistons with rods moving towards each other. The main piston drives the automatics, the additional one moves the massive compensator, the movements of which compensate for the momentum of the shutter mechanism. This allows you to eliminate the shaking of the machine from the movement of the shutter, which increases the accuracy of automatic fire, especially from unstable positions, by 1.5-2 times. Machine guns built according to this scheme can successfully compete with the structurally more complex AN-94 (yielding, however, in accuracy of firing bursts of 2 shots) and very close to the AK in design AEK-971.

Table of characteristics of automatic machines of the AK series and their domestic competitors

Name	The country	Caliber x sleeve length, mm	Length, mm with butt / without butt	Barrel length, mm	Weight, kg (without cartridges)	Magazine capacity	Rate of fire, rounds per minute	Sighting range, m	Muzzle velocity, m/s
AK	the USSR	7.62x39	870	415	4,3	30	600	800	710
AKM	USSR, Russia	7.62x39	870	415	3,14	30	600	1000	715
AK-74	USSR, Russia	5.45x39	940	415	3,3	30	600-650	1000	900
AK-101	Russia	5.56x45	943/700	415	3,4	30	600	1000	910
AK-102	Russia	5.56x45	824/586	314	3	30	-	500	-
AK-107	Russia	5.45x39	943/700	415	3,8	30	850	1000	910
AEK-971	Russia	5.45x39	965/720	420	3,3	30	800-900	1000	900
AN-94	Russia	5.45x39	943/728	405	3.85	30	1800/600	1000	-

Civil variants

In addition to modifications for military purposes, several models of hunting smooth-bore weapons of the 12th, 20th and .410th calibers, rifled for cartridges of 7.62 × 39 mm, 7.62 × 51 mm, 5.45 × 39, were created on the basis of the AK mm, as well as (for export sales) 5.56 × 45 mm:

Saiga hunting carbines are the most famous weapons of this type, appearing in the 1970s. The impetus for its creation was the appeal of the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU of Kazakhstan personally to Brezhnev with a request to create a weapon with which it would be possible to shoot saigas (migratory saigas ate and trampled large crops, and groups of hunters armed with smooth-bore hunting rifles were not able to fight against animals). Then the Izhmash designers began the creation of Saiga hunting carbines. For four years, the designers and testers of Izhmash, together with representatives of the Glavokhota and local game managers, tested carbines and brought them to perfection, mainly in Kazakhstan. After the development of new weapons was completed, about three hundred carbines of the Saiga model were manufactured chambered for 5.6 × 39 mm. And although in the 70s the initial industrial batch of self-loading hunting carbines chambered for 5.6 × 39 was made, the carbine remained unclaimed for many years. Also, based on the design of the AKM assault rifle, the Saiga hunting self-loading carbine chambered for 7.62 × 39 mm was released. From military weapons The carbine differs primarily in that it is impossible to conduct automatic fire from it, for which some details have been changed. In addition, the attachment point of the magazine to the weapon has been changed so that it is impossible to insert a magazine from a combat machine into a carbine. The stock and forend of the carbine are made in the style of classic hunting rifles, the parts are made of both plastic and (mostly) wood. Since the carbine does not have a pistol grip for controlling fire, and the trigger and its safety guard are shifted closer to the neck of the hunting type butt, it was necessary to introduce a special trigger pull in the trigger mechanism. There are two types of magazines - with a capacity of five and ten rounds. There are also modifications of this carbine chambered for 5.45x39 and 5.56x45 mm cartridges.

hunting carbines Vepr - products of the Molot plant, OJSC Vyatsko-Polyansky Machine-Building Plant;
AKMS-MF and AKM-MFA - products of the Vinnitsa arms factory "FORT";
Volcano - hunting carbines of the Kharkov SOBR LLC.

Patent Status

There are no foreign patents for the design of the AK and its modifications. However, the production of counterfeit AKs is very common and is encouraged by the US Department of Defense through purchases, in particular for the Iraqi army.

Production and use of AK outside Russia

Modern Polish version (Karabinek szturmowy wz.1996 "Beryl")

In the 1950s, licenses for the production of AKs were transferred by the USSR to eighteen countries (mainly the Warsaw Pact allies). At the same time, eleven more states launched the production of AKs without a license. The number of countries in which AK was produced without a license in small batches, and even more so handicraft, cannot be counted. To date, according to Rosoboronexport, the licenses of all states that previously received them have already expired, however, production continues. The Polish company Bumark and the Bulgarian company Arsenal, which has now opened a branch in the United States and launched the production of assault rifles, are especially active in producing counterfeit Kalashnikov assault rifles. The production of AK clones is deployed in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe. According to very rough estimates, there are from 70 to 105 million copies of various modifications of Kalashnikov assault rifles in the world. They are adopted by the armies of 55 countries of the world.

In 2004, Rosoboronexport and personally Mikhail Kalashnikov accused the United States of supporting the distribution of pirated copies of the AK. Thus, the fact that the United States supplies the ruling regimes of Afghanistan and Iraq brought to power with Kalashnikov assault rifles produced in Eastern Europe is commented on. Regarding this statement, weapons proliferation expert Professor Aaron Karp remarked: “It is as if the Chinese demanded payment for every firearms on the grounds that they were the ones who invented gunpowder 700 years ago.” Such a statement best demonstrates that the Kalashnikov assault rifle has become not just a weapon, but an element of human culture. However, it does not justify gross violation copyright and illegal use of intellectual property.

foreign samples

PRC

Hungary

NGM-81 - a copy of the AK-74 assault rifle.
DKM-63 - automatic machine, first introduced in 1963, was produced until the end of the 80s. It had a wooden butt, a metal forearm, made as a single unit with the receiver. An additional pistol grip was also installed.
AMD - a shortened modification of the DKM-63 assault rifle, the AMD assault rifle has a simple tubular stock with a steel heel covered with rubber. The barrel is shorter than that of the DKM-63, at the end there is a muzzle compensator.

Israel

Automatic machine "Galil"

Poland

Polish PNG 60

KA-88, KA-89, KA-90 - Polish version of the AK-74 assault rifle. Machine guns are produced with a wooden or corrugated plastic handguard. Used 5.56 mm cartridge.
PNG 60

Romania

Romanian AIM assault rifle with 10-round magazine

AI-74 - Variant of the AK-74 assault rifle. It has an additional pistol grip and a fixed stock.

Croatia

Finland

The Valmet Rk 62 is an assault rifle built under license from the Kalashnikov assault rifle in the 1950s. The external difference from the prototype is the shape of the forearm, stock and flame arrester. On its basis, also created

It is the most popular and sought after firearm in the world. It is in service in 50 countries around the world, has an estimated 70 million copies. For comparison, its closest competitor, the American one, has only 8 million copies and is in service in only 27 states. The popularity of the machine is ensured by its reliability, ease of maintenance, as well as firepower, which, for example, the AK-47 possesses. is about 715 m / s, which ensures such a high penetrating ability.

Muzzle velocity of the bullet

Certainly one of the most important characteristics firearms is the initial speed of the bullet - an indicator of movement at the muzzle of the barrel. It is determined empirically and occupies an intermediate value between the speed inside the barrel and the maximum. This indicator affects such characteristics of the machine as:

bullet range;
the maximum possible direct shot distance;
lethal effect;
bullet penetration;
compensation for the influence of external factors on the flight path and performance characteristics.

In this regard, the engineer M. T. Kalashnikov was faced with the task of creating a high-quality AK-47, the bullet speed of which would reach the maximum possible values. To solve this problem, it was necessary to minimize the factors affecting the movement of the projectile inside the barrel and beyond.

The dependence of bullet speed on various factors

The muzzle velocity of the AK-47, like any other assault rifle, depends on three main factors:

Bullet characteristics.
stem indicators.
Powder charge properties.

A bullet is a projectile of small arms, the striking factor and the flight range of which depend on the inertial characteristics of the body. In accordance with this, in order to increase the performance characteristics of an element, designers first of all seek to reduce its weight. This allows us to solve two problems: to minimize the effect of gravity and to maintain a more or less direct flight path, to increase the accuracy of the shot.

But you can increase the speed of the AK-47 bullet and any other weapon not only by increasing the mass of the projectile, but also by lengthening the barrel. The longer the channel, the more time the combustible powder gases act on the projectile, which accelerate it.

Powder charge characteristics

The characteristics of the powder charge have a decisive influence on the speed of the AK-47 bullet. The first thing to do to increase the penetration ability of the projectile is to increase the volume of the powder charge. The larger it is, the more gases are formed during combustion, which increases the compression inside the barrel. At the same time, one should not overdo it so that the powder, when ignited, does not blow up the machine gun.

In the AK-47, the speed of the bullet also depends on the size and shape of the powder grains. powder is selected accordingly. Also, in order to increase the performance characteristics of firearms, it is necessary to take into account environmental factors when firing:

Humidity. The higher it is, the "wetter" the gunpowder, which causes it to flare up more time, reducing the pressure in the barrel.
Temperature. With an increase in temperature, the ignition period of the charge decreases, which increases the compression properties of gases and the range / speed of the bullet.

The length of the barrel and the weight of the powder charge are selected in the Kalashnikov assault rifle so that they provide the maximum penetration ability of the projectile and its other performance characteristics.

Principle of operation

No one will be surprised if he learns that the speed of the AK-47 bullet also depends on the machine itself. To start shooting, you need to get the projectile into the chamber. To do this, the bolt mechanism is pulled back, which hooks the cartridge on the way back and sends it to the place intended for it.

After pressing the trigger, the drummer pierces the primer - a small cap with a flammable substance that ignites the gunpowder. The resulting gases begin to put pressure on the cartridge, moving it along the barrel. The sleeve occupies the entire diameter of the channel, preventing the pressure from dropping.

Almost at the very end of the barrel channel there is a gas outlet. As soon as the bullet passes it, the gas through a special tube begins to put pressure on the piston, thereby retracting the shutter, which sends the next projectile into the chamber. Thus, a continuous circulation of powder gases in the machine is achieved. This ensures the maximum initial speed of the bullet and the rate of fire of the weapon.

Summing up

Thus, in the AK-47, the speed of a bullet depends on several components: the length of the barrel, the parameters of the cartridge, the indicators of the powder charge and the mechanism that fires. Only M. T. Kalashnikov managed to achieve a rational combination of these characteristics in his creation, thanks to which his brainchild became the most popular, reliable and sought-after firearms in the world.

AK-47 - a 7.62-mm Kalashnikov assault rifle adopted by the USSR in 1949; GRAU index - 56-A-212. It was designed in 1947 by M. T. Kalashnikov. AK and its modifications are the most common small arms in the world.

AK-47 assault rifle - video

According to available estimates, up to 1/5 of all small arms on Earth belong to this type (including licensed and unlicensed copies, as well as third-party developments based on AK). Over 60 years, more than 70 million Kalashnikov assault rifles of various modifications have been produced. They are in service with 50 foreign armies. The main competitor of Kalashnikov assault rifles - the American M16 assault rifle - was produced in the amount of approximately 8 million pieces and is in service with 27 armies of the world.

Based on the 7.62-mm Kalashnikov assault rifle, a family of military and civilian small arms of various calibers was created, including AKM and AK-74 assault rifles and their modifications, a Kalashnikov light machine gun, Saiga carbines and smoothbore guns and others, including those abroad of the USSR .

Development and production

The starting point of work on the creation of a machine gun for the Soviet armed forces was the meeting of the Technical Council under the People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSR on July 15, 1943, at which, following the results of studying the trophy german machine gun MKb.42 (H) (prototype of the future StG-44) chambered for the world's first mass-produced intermediate cartridge 7.92 mm Kurz in caliber 7.92 × 33 mm, as well as the American light self-loading carbine M1 Carbine supplied under Lend-Lease chambered for .30 Carbine caliber 7.62 × 33 mm, the great importance of the new direction in weapons thought was noted and the question was raised about the need to urgently develop their “reduced” cartridge, similar to the German one, as well as weapons for it.

The first samples of the new cartridge were created by OKB-44 within one month after the meeting, and its pilot production began in March 1944. It is noteworthy that neither domestic nor Western researchers found any real confirmation of the version that was in circulation at one time, stating that this cartridge was completely or partially copied from earlier German experimental developments (in particular, the Geco cartridge of caliber 7.62 ×38.5 mm). It is not even known whether the Soviet side was aware of such developments or not.

In November 1943, drawings and specifications for a new 7.62-mm intermediate cartridge designed by N. M. Elizarov and B. V. Semin were sent to all organizations involved in the development of a new weapons complex. At this stage, it had a caliber of 7.62x41 mm, but was subsequently redesigned, and quite significantly, during which the caliber was changed to 7.62x39 mm. A new set of weapons under a single intermediate cartridge was supposed to include a machine gun, as well as self-loading and non-self-loading magazine carbines and a light machine gun.

The developed weapon was supposed to provide the infantry with the possibility of effective firing at a range of about 400 m, which exceeded the corresponding indicator of submachine guns and was not much inferior to weapons for excessively heavy, powerful and expensive rifle and machine gun ammunition. This allowed him to successfully replace the entire arsenal of individual small arms in service with the Red Army, which used pistol and rifle cartridges and included Shpagin and Sudaev submachine guns, a Mosin magazine non-self-loading rifle and several models of magazine carbines based on it, a Tokarev self-loading rifle, and also machine guns of various systems.

Kalashnikov assault rifle Folding

Subsequently, the development of a magazine carbine was discontinued due to the obvious obsolescence of the concept; however, the SKS self-loading carbine was not produced for long (until the beginning of the 1950s) due to the relatively low manufacturability with lower combat qualities than the machine gun, and the Degtyarev RPD machine gun was subsequently (1961) replaced by a model widely unified with automatic - RPK.

As for the development of the machine itself, it went through several stages and included a number of competitions in which a large number of systems of various designers. In 1944, according to the test results, the AS-44 assault rifle designed by A. I. Sudayev was selected for further development. It was finalized and released in a small series, military tests of which were carried out in the spring and summer of next year at the GSVG, as well as in a number of units on the territory of the USSR. Despite positive reviews, the army leadership demanded a reduction in the mass of weapons.

The sudden death of Sudayev interrupted the further progress of work on this model of the machine gun, so in 1946 another round of tests was carried out, which included Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov, who by that time had already created several rather interesting weapon designs, in particular, two submachine guns , one of which had a very original semi-free shutter braking system, a light machine gun and a self-loading carbine powered by cartridge packs, which lost the Simonov carbine in the competition. In November of the same year, his project of the assault rifle was approved for the manufacture of a prototype, and a month later, the first version of the experimental Kalashnikov assault rifle, sometimes conventionally referred to as the AK-46, was made at an arms factory in the city of Kovrov, along with the samples of Bulkin and Dementiev, was submitted for testing.

It is curious that the model developed in 1946 did not have many features of the future AK, which in our time are often criticized. His cocking handle was located on the left, not on the right, instead of the fuse-translator located on the right, there were separate flag fuses and a translator of types of fire, and the body of the firing mechanism was made folding down and forward on a hairpin.

However, the military from the selection committee demanded that the cocking handle be placed on the right, since, located on the left, when carrying a weapon or moving around the battlefield, it crawled against the body of the shooter. and also combine the fuse with the fire type translator into a single unit and place it on the right to completely save left side receiver from any tangible protrusions.

According to the results of the second round of the competition, the first Kalashnikov assault rifle was declared unsuitable for further development. However, Kalashnikov managed to challenge this decision, obtaining permission to further refine his model, in which he was helped by acquaintance with a number of commission members with whom he had served since 1943, and to obtain permission to refine the machine gun.

Returning to Kovrov, M. Kalashnikov, together with the designer of the Kovrov Plant No. 2, A. Zaitsev, as soon as possible actually developed a new machine gun, and for a number of reasons it can be concluded that its design widely used elements (including the arrangement of key nodes) borrowed from other submitted for the competition or simply pre-existing samples.

So, the design of the bolt frame with a rigidly attached gas piston, the general layout of the receiver and the placement of the return spring with the guide, the protrusion of which was used to lock the receiver cover, were copied from Bulkin's experimental machine gun that also participated in the competition; USM, judging by the design, could be "peeped" at the Holek rifle (according to another version, it goes back to the development of John Browning, which was used in the M1 Garand rifle); the lever of the fuse-translator of fire modes, which also acts as a dust cover for the shutter window, was very reminiscent of that of the Remington 8 rifle, and a similar “hanging out” of the bolt group inside the receiver with minimal friction areas and large gaps was typical for the Sudayev machine gun.

Although formally the conditions of the competition did not allow the authors of the systems to familiarize themselves with the designs of competitors participating in it and make significant changes to the design of the submitted samples (that is, theoretically, the commission could not allow the new Kalashnikov prototype to further participate in the competition), it still cannot be considered something outside the norms.

Firstly, when creating new weapon systems, “quotes” from other samples are not at all uncommon, and secondly, such borrowings in the USSR at that time were not only generally not forbidden, but even encouraged, which is explained not only by the presence of a specific ( "socialist") patent legislation, but also by quite pragmatic considerations - to adopt the best model, even if copied, in conditions of constant lack of time with a real military threat.

In addition, most of the changes were due to TTT (tactical and technical requirements) for new weapons based on the results of earlier stages of the competition, that is, in fact, they were imposed as the most acceptable from the point of view of the military, which partly confirms the fact that the samples of Kalashnikov’s competitors in their final versions used similar design solutions. It should be noted that the borrowing of successful solutions in itself cannot guarantee the success of the design as a whole. Kalashnikov and Zaitsev managed to create such a design, and in the shortest possible time, which cannot be achieved by compiling ready-made units and design solutions. Moreover, there is an opinion that copying successful and well-proven technical solutions is one of the conditions for creating any successful weapon model, allowing the designer not to “reinvent the wheel”.

According to some sources, the head of the GAU small arms and mortar research range, where the AK-46 was “rejected”, V. F. Lyuty, who later became the head of the 1947 range tests, took an active part in the development of the machine gun. One way or another, in the winter of 1946-1947, for the next round of the competition, along with the improved, but not radically changed, Dementiev (KBP-520) and Bulkin (TKB-415) assault rifles, Kalashnikov presented an actually new assault rifle (KBP-580), little in common had with the previous version.

As a result of the tests, it was found that not a single sample meets the tactical and technical requirements in full: the Kalashnikov assault rifle turned out to be the most reliable, but at the same time it had unsatisfactory accuracy of fire, and the TKB-415, on the contrary, met the requirements for accuracy, but had problems with reliability. As a result, the choice of the commission was made in favor of the Kalashnikov sample, and it was decided to postpone bringing its accuracy to the required values. This decision allowed the army to re-equip itself with modern and reliable, although not the most accurate, weapons in real time.

At the end of 1947, Mikhail Timofeevich was seconded to Izhevsk, where it was decided to begin production of the machine gun.

Kalashnikov assault rifle AK-47 1st and 2nd models with attached bayonet 6X2

In mid-1949, according to the results of military tests of the first batches of assault rifles produced in mid-1948, two versions of the Kalashnikov assault rifle were adopted under the designations "7.62-mm Kalashnikov assault rifle" (AK) and "7.62-mm Kalashnikov assault rifle with a folding butt" (AKS). In 1949, M. T. Kalashnikov received the Stalin Prize of the 1st degree for the creation of the machine gun. The first releases had a receiver made of sheet forgings and parts milled from forgings. One of the main problems was the stamping technology used to manufacture the receiver.

In 1953, a high rejection rate forced a switch to milling technology. At the same time, a number of measures made it possible to reduce its mass relative to samples with a stamped receiver. New sample was designated as "Lightweight 7.62-mm Kalashnikov assault rifle" (AK). The lighter machine gun was distinguished by the presence of stiffeners on lighter magazines (early magazines had smooth walls), the possibility of adjoining a bayonet (an early version of the weapon was adopted without a bayonet). In subsequent years, the development team sought to improve the design, they noted "low reliability, weapon failures when used in extreme climatic and extreme conditions, low accuracy of fire, insufficiently high operational characteristics "of serial samples of early models.

The appearance in the early 1950s of the TKB-517 machine gun designed by German Korobov, which had a lower mass, better accuracy, and also cheaper, led to the development of tactical and technical requirements for a new machine gun and a light machine gun that was as unified as possible with it. The corresponding competitive tests, for which Mikhail Timofeevich presented a modernized model of his machine gun and a machine gun based on it, took place in 1957-1958. As a result, the commission gave its preference to the Kalashnikov models, as they had greater reliability, as well as mastered by the arms industry and the troops. In 1959, the "7.62-mm modernized Kalashnikov assault rifle" (AKM) was put into service.

In the 1970s, following the NATO countries, the USSR followed the path of transferring small arms to low-pulse cartridges with reduced caliber bullets to facilitate portable ammunition (for 8 magazines, a 5.45 mm caliber cartridge saves 1.4 kg in weight) and reduce , as it was believed, "excessive" power of the 7.62-mm cartridge. In 1974, a weapon complex chambered for 5.45 × 39 mm was adopted, consisting of an AK74 assault rifle (AKS74) and an RPK74 light machine gun, and later (1979) supplemented by a small-sized AKS74U assault rifle, designed for use in a niche that is in Western armies were occupied by submachine guns, and in recent years - the so-called PDW. The production of AKM in the USSR was curtailed, but this machine gun remains in service to this day.

AK-47 assault rifle 3rd model

Comparison with the design of other samples

You can often find the opinion that the TKB-415 designer Bulkin, ABC-31 designer Simonov, StG-44 German designer Schmeisser and some other samples of small arms served as a prototype for full or partial copying in the development of AK. The rational grain of such opinions lies in the fact that the Kalashnikov assault rifle, indeed, has absorbed best ideas from all given (and other) developments; in particular, from StG-44 - the use of an intermediate cartridge, from TKB-415 - some features of the design and technological design of many nodes, with the exception of the shutter device.

For example, you can compare the designs of the Kalashnikov assault rifle and the StG-44. Using general scheme operation of automation - a gas engine with a long piston stroke - they differ in the most important feature for automatic weapons - the method of locking the barrel bore: in the AK, the barrel is locked by turning the bolt around the longitudinal axis, in the StG-44 - by tilting the bolt in a vertical plane. The layout also differs, which can be seen in the order of disassembly of these machines: in the StG-44, for disassembly, it is necessary to disconnect the butt, while the trigger mechanism is also separated; in AK, the trigger mechanism is not detachable, but the return mechanism is completely located in the receiver. To disassemble the AK, it is not necessary to detach the stock.

The design of the receiver is also different for these samples: for the Kalashnikov assault rifle, it consists of the actual receiver with a cross section in the form of an inverted letter P with bends in the upper part along which the bolt group moves, and its cover attached to the top, which must be removed for disassembly; the StG-44 has a tubular receiver, has upper part with a closed section in the form of the number 8, inside which the bolt group is mounted, and the lower one, which serves as the USM box, the latter for disassembling the weapon after separating the butt must be folded down on the pin along with the fire control handle.

When using the general trigger principle of the trigger mechanism, its specific implementations are completely different; the magazine mount is different: StG has a rather long receiving neck, in AK the magazine is simply inserted into the receiver window; fire interpreter and safety device: StG has a separate double-sided push-button type fire interpreter and a flag-shaped fuse located on the left, AK - a fuse interpreter located on the right.

Design and principle of operation

The machine consists of the following main parts and mechanisms:

Barrel with receiver, sights and stock;
- detachable receiver cover;
- bolt carrier with gas piston;
- shutter;
- return mechanism;
- gas tube with a handguard;
- trigger mechanism;
- forearm;
- score;
- bayonet.

There are approximately 95 parts in the AK.

It is possible to distinguish an AK manufactured before 1959 by the rear part of the buttstock, which is lowered relative to the line of fire (according to a certain “humpback” of the weapon), which was typical only for the earliest automatic rifles, since such an arrangement reduces the stability of the weapon when firing bursts.

In addition, the AK magazine for 7.62 mm cartridges is distinguished by excessive curvature due to the large taper of the sleeves. For example, the taper of the 7.62×39 mm cartridge case is 1.5 times higher than the case taper of the German 7.92×33 mm cartridge. This means that the flanges of the AK cases, when packed tightly, should be located in the magazine along an arc of a circle, the radius of which is 1.5 times less than the radius of the arc of the magazine for the German cartridge.

Dismantled assault rifles: top - M16, bottom - AKMS

Barrel and receiver

The barrel of a rifled assault rifle (4 grooves, winding from left-up-to-right), made of weapon steel. In the upper part of the barrel wall, closer to the muzzle, there is a gas outlet. Near the muzzle, the base of the front sight is fixed on the barrel, and on the side of the breech it has a chamber with smooth walls, into which the cartridge is sent before firing. The muzzle of the barrel has a left-hand thread for screwing the sleeve when firing blanks. The barrel is attached to the receiver motionless, without the possibility of a quick change in field conditions. The receiver is used to connect the parts and mechanisms of the machine into a single structure, to place the bolt group and set the nature of its movement, to ensure that the barrel bore is locked with a bolt; also inside it is placed the trigger mechanism.

The receiver consists of two parts: the receiver itself and a detachable cover located on top, which protects the mechanism from damage and contamination. Inside the receiver has four guides ("rails"; rails), which set the movement of the bolt group - two upper and two lower. The left lower guide has a reflective ledge. In front of the receiver there are cutouts, the rear walls of which are lugs, with which the bolt closes the bore. The right combat stop also serves to direct the movement of the cartridge fed from the right row of the magazine. On the left is a ledge that guides the cartridge from the left row.

The first batches of AKs had a stamped receiver with a forged barrel. However, the available technology did not allow then to achieve the required rigidity, the rejection rate was unacceptably high. As a result, in mass production, cold stamping was replaced by milling a box from a solid forging, which caused an increase in the cost of production of weapons. Subsequently, during the production of AKM, technological issues were resolved, and the receiver again acquired a mixed design. The massive all-steel receiver gives the weapon high (especially in the early milled version) strength and reliability, especially in comparison with the fragile light-alloy receivers of weapons like the American M16 rifle, but at the same time makes the weapon heavier and also makes it difficult to change the design.

View of the open stamped receiver AK-47

bolt group

It consists of a bolt carrier with a gas piston, the bolt itself, an ejector and a striker. The bolt group is located in the receiver "posted", moving along the guides in its upper part as if on rails. Such a “hung” position of moving parts in the receiver with relatively large gaps ensures reliable operation of the system even with heavy contamination. The bolt frame serves to actuate the bolt and trigger mechanism. It is rigidly connected to the gas piston rod, which is directly affected by the pressure of the powder gases removed from the barrel, which ensures the operation of the weapon's automation. The weapon reload handle is located on the right and is integral with the bolt carrier.

The shutter has a close to cylindrical shape and two massive lugs, which, when the shutter is turned clockwise, enter into special cutouts in the receiver, which locks the bore before firing. In addition, the shutter, with its longitudinal movement, feeds the next cartridge from the magazine before firing, for which there is a protrusion of the rammer in its lower part. Also, an ejector mechanism is attached to the bolt, designed to remove a spent cartridge case or cartridge from the chamber in the event of a misfire. It consists of an ejector, its axis, a spring and a limiter pin.

To return the bolt group to the extreme forward position, a return mechanism is used, consisting of a return spring (often incorrectly referred to as "return-combat", apparently by analogy with submachine guns, which actually had one; in fact, the AK has a separate mainspring, setting the trigger in motion, and it is located in the trigger of the weapon) and the guide, which in turn consists of a guide tube, a guide rod included in it and a coupling. The rear stop of the guide rod of the return spring enters the groove of the receiver and serves as a latch for the stamped receiver cover. The mass of moving parts of the AK is about 520 grams. Thanks to a powerful gas engine, they come to the extreme rear position at a high speed of the order of 3.5-4 m / s, which in many respects ensures the high reliability of the weapon, but reduces the accuracy of the battle due to the strong shaking of the weapon and powerful impacts of moving parts in the extreme provisions.

The moving parts of the AK74 are lighter - the bolt carrier and bolt assembly weighs 477 grams, of which 405 grams are for the bolt carrier and 72 grams for the bolt. The lightest moving parts in the AK family are in the shortened AKS74U: its bolt carrier weighs about 370 grams (due to the shortening of the gas piston rod), and their combined mass with the bolt is about 440 grams.

Thick folds at the top of the magazine keep cartridges from falling out.

trigger mechanism

Hammer type, with a hammer rotating on the axis and a U-shaped mainspring made of triple twisted wire. The trigger mechanism allows continuous and single fire. A single rotary part performs the functions of a fire mode switch (translator) and a double-acting safety lever: in the safety position, it locks the trigger, the sear of single and continuous fire and prevents the bolt frame from moving backwards, partially blocking the longitudinal groove between the receiver and its cover. In this case, the moving parts can be pulled back to check the chamber, but their movement is not enough to send the next cartridge into the chamber.

All parts of the automation and trigger mechanism are compactly assembled inside the receiver, thus playing the role of both the receiver and the trigger housing. The "classic" USM AK-shaped weapon has three axes - for the self-timer, for the trigger and for the trigger. Civilian variants that do not fire bursts usually do not have a self-timer axis.

Score

Shop - box-shaped, sector type, two-row, 30 rounds. It consists of a body, a locking plate, a cover, a spring and a feeder. AK and AKM had magazines with stamped steel cases. There were also plastic ones. Large taper of the 7.62 mm cartridge case mod. 1943 led to their unusually large bend, which became feature weapon shape. For the AK74 family, a plastic magazine was introduced (originally polycarbonate, then glass-filled polyamide), only the folds ("sponges") in its upper part remained metal. AK magazines are distinguished by high reliability of feeding cartridges, even when they are filled to the maximum. Thick metal "sponges" at the top of even plastic magazines provide reliable feeding and are very tenacious with rough handling - a design subsequently copied by a number of foreign firms for their products.

It should be noted that the above description applies only to the case of using military cartridges with bullets having a pointed nose and an all-metal jacket, for which the weapon was originally designed; when using soft hunting semi-shell bullets with a rounded toe in civilian versions of the Kalashnikov system, sticking sometimes occurs. In addition to the regular 30-round magazines for an assault rifle, there are also machine-gun magazines, which, if necessary, can also be used for firing from a machine gun: for 40 (sector) or 75 (drum-type) rounds of 7.62 mm caliber and for 45 rounds of 5.45 caliber mm. If we also take into account foreign-made stores created for various options Kalashnikov systems (including for the civilian weapons market), then the number of different options will be at least several dozen, with a capacity of 10 to 100 rounds. The magazine attachment point is characterized by the absence of a developed neck - the magazine is simply inserted into the receiver window, catching on the protrusion on its front edge, and fixed with a latch.

Sight AK-47 (or one of the foreign copies)

sighting device

The AK sighting device consists of a sight and a front sight. Sight - sector type, with the location of the aiming block in the middle of the weapon. The sight is calibrated up to 800 m (starting with AKM - up to 1000 m) in increments of 100 m, in addition, it has a division marked with the letter "P", indicating a direct shot and corresponding to a range of 350 m. The rear sight is located on the neck of the sight and has a rectangular slot forms. The front sight is located at the muzzle of the barrel, on a massive triangular base, with the “wings” of which it is covered from the sides. While bringing the machine to normal combat, the front sight can be screwed in / out to raise / lower the mid point of impact, and also moved left / right to deviate the mid point of impact horizontally. On some modifications of the AK, if necessary, it is possible to install an optical or night sight on the side bracket.

Bayonet knife

The bayonet-knife is designed to defeat the enemy in close combat, for which it can be attached to the machine gun, or used as a knife. The bayonet-knife is put on with a ring on the barrel sleeve, fastened with protrusions on the gas chamber, and with a latch it engages with the ramrod stop. Being unlocked from the machine gun, the bayonet-knife is worn in a sheath on a waist belt. Initially, a relatively long (200 mm blade) detachable blade-type bayonet-knife with two blades and a fuller was adopted for the AK. When the AKM was adopted, a short (150 mm blade) detachable bayonet-knife (type 1) was introduced, which had expanded functionality in terms of household use. Instead of a second blade, he received a saw, and in combination with a scabbard, he could be used to cut barbed wire obstacles, including those under tension. Also, the upper part of the handle is made of metal. The bayonet can be inserted into the sheath and used as a hammer. There are two variants of this bayonet that differ mainly in the device. A late version of the same bayonet (type 2) is also used on weapons of the AK74 family. The quality of the metal used in the bayonet is somewhat inferior foreign analogues such well-known American companies as SOG, Cold Steel, Gerber. Of the foreign variants, the Chinese clone of the AK - Type 56 - is notable for the use of a non-removable folding needle bayonet.

Blade bayonet-knife 6X2 for AK-47 and AKM

Belonging to the machine

Designed for disassembly, assembly, cleaning and lubrication of the machine. Consists of a ramrod, wiping, a brush, a screwdriver with a punch, a storage case and an oil can. The body and cover of the case are used as auxiliary tools for cleaning and lubricating the weapon. It is stored in a special cavity inside the butt, with the exception of models with a folding frame shoulder rest, in which it is worn in a bag for magazines.

Operating principle

The principle of operation of AK automation is based on the use of the energy of powder gases discharged through the upper hole in the barrel wall. Before firing, it is necessary to feed the cartridge into the chamber of the barrel and bring the mechanism of the weapon into a state of readiness for firing. This is done by the shooter manually by pulling the bolt frame back by the reload handle mounted on it (“jerking the bolt”). After the bolt frame moves back to the length of the free stroke, the figured groove on it begins to interact with the leading lug of the bolt, turning it counterclockwise, while its lugs come out from behind the lugs of the receiver, which ensures the unlocking of the barrel bore . After that, the bolt carrier and the bolt begin to move together. When moving back under the action of the hand of the arrow, the bolt frame acts on the rotary trigger, placing it on the self-timer sear. The trigger is held on it until the bolt frame arrives in its extreme forward position, where the frame, acting on the self-timer pen, separates the trigger from the self-timer. Next, the trigger gets on the front sear (with manual "shutter jerking"). At the same time, the return spring is compressed, accumulating energy, and when the shooter releases the handle, it pushes the bolt group forward. When the bolt group moves forward under the influence of a spring, a protrusion at the bottom of the bolt pushes the upper cartridge in the magazine over the top of the bottom of the sleeve, sending it into the chamber of the barrel.

When the shutter comes to its extreme forward position, it rests against the protrusion of the shutter liner and preliminarily rotates through a small angle in order to get out of interaction with the special area of the figured groove. The bolt carrier at this time still continues its movement under the action of the spring and the force of inertia, while it, by the action of the figured groove on the leading ledge of the bolt, turns the bolt clockwise to an angle of 37 °, which achieves locking the barrel with the bolt. During its remaining free play after locking the barrel to the extreme forward position, the bolt frame deflects the self-timer lever forward and down, which disengages the self-timer sear from the trigger, after which it is held in the cocked state only by the main sear, made as a single unit with the trigger. The weapon is now ready to fire. When the trigger is pulled, its sear holding the trigger releases it. The trigger, under the action of the mainspring, rotates around the transverse axis, hitting the striker with force, which transmits the blow to the cartridge primer, breaking it and thereby initiating the combustion of the powder composition in the sleeve.

At the time of the shot in the bore is quickly created high pressure powder gases. They press simultaneously on the bullet and on the bottom of the sleeve, and through it - on the bolt. But the shutter is locked, that is, it is motionlessly connected to the receiver, so it remains motionless, but they come into motion: the bullet - on the one hand, the weapon as a whole - on the other. Since the mass of the weapon as a whole and the bullet differ many times over, the bullet moves much faster, moving in the direction of the muzzle of the barrel and, due to the presence of rifling in its channel, acquiring a right rotational motion to stabilize in flight. The movement of the weapon is perceived by the shooter as its return (one of its components). When the bullet passes the gas outlet, powder gases under high pressure rush through it into the gas chamber. They put pressure on the piston on the rod, rigidly connected to the bolt carrier, pushing it back. After the piston travels a certain distance (about 25 mm), it passes through special holes in the gas outlet tube through which powder gases are vented into the atmosphere (part of the gases are vented, the rest enter the receiver or flow through the barrel).

The bolt carrier, as with manual reloading, moves back with the piston by the amount of free play, after which it turns the bolt, which unlocks the barrel. By the time the barrel is unlocked, the bullet has already left the barrel, and the pressure in its bore is low enough that unlocking the bore is safe for the gun and the shooter. When the barrel is unlocked by the rear-moving bolt frame, a preliminary displacement (“breaking off”) of the cartridge case located in the chamber occurs, which contributes to ensuring the non-failure operation of the weapon’s automation. After unlocking the barrel, the bolt together with the bolt frame vigorously begin to move back under the influence of two forces: the residual pressure in the bore (close to atmospheric), acting on the bottom of the sleeve until it leaves the chamber, and through it - on the bolt, and the inertia of the bolt frame and a gas piston connected to it. In this case, the spent cartridge case is removed from the weapon due to the energetic impact of its bottom on the protrusion of the reflector, which is rigidly fixed on the receiver, which informs it of a rapid movement to the right, up, and forward.

After that, the bolt carrier with the bolt continues to move back to the extreme rear position, after which, under the action of the return spring, they return to the extreme forward position. At the same time, in the same way as with manual reloading (depending on whether single shooting or burst shooting is being carried out - there are features in the sear), the hammer is cocked and the next cartridge is sent from the magazine to the chamber, and after that the bore is locked . Subsequent events depend on the position of the fire translator and whether the trigger is pressed. If the trigger is released, the moving parts of the weapon stop in the forwardmost position; the weapon is reloaded, cocked and ready for a new shot. If the trigger is pressed and the translator is in the AB (automatic shooting) position, at the moment the moving parts of the weapon come to the extreme forward position, the self-timer will release the trigger, and then everything happens in exactly the same way as described above for one shot, until the shooter does not remove his finger from the trigger, or the magazine runs out of ammo.

If the trigger is pressed, and the translator is in the OD position (single shooting), then after the moving parts of the weapon come to the extreme forward position and the self-timer is triggered, the trigger will remain cocked, held by the sear of a single fire, and will remain on it until the shooter releases and will not pull the trigger again. When firing from a machine gun, especially when using low-quality cartridges and heavily contaminated weapons, delays are possible due to misfires (lack of energy to prick the primer - “not capping the primer”) or a violation of the supply of cartridges (sticking and distortions - most often malfunctions of the magazine edges). They are eliminated by the shooter by manually reloading the weapon by the handle, which in most cases allows you to remove a misfired or skewed cartridge from the weapon. More serious causes of delay in firing, such as non-removal of the cartridge case or its rupture, are more difficult to eliminate, but are extremely rare and only when using low-quality, defective or damaged cartridges during storage.

The accuracy of the battle and the effectiveness of fire

The accuracy of the battle was not originally strong point AK. Already during the military tests of its prototypes, it was noted that with the greatest of the reliability systems submitted for the competition, the required accuracy conditions, the Kalashnikov design did not provide (like all the presented designs to one degree or another). Thus, according to this parameter, even by the standards of the mid-1940s, the AK was clearly not an outstanding model. Nevertheless, reliability (in general, reliability here is a set of operational characteristics: failure-free operation, shot to failure, guaranteed resource, actual resource, resource of individual parts and assemblies, persistence, mechanical strength, etc., according to which the machine, by the way, is the best and now) was recognized at that time as paramount, and it was decided to postpone the fine-tuning of accuracy to the required parameters for the future.

Further weapon upgrades, such as the introduction of various muzzle compensators and the transition to a low-impulse cartridge, really had a positive effect on the accuracy (and accuracy) of firing from a machine gun. So, for AKM, the total median deviation at a distance of 800 m is already 64 cm (vertical) and 90 cm (in width), and for AK74 - 48 cm (vertical) and 64 cm (in width). The next step in improving this indicator was the development of the AK-107 / AK-108 models with balanced automatics (see below), however, the fate of this version of the AK is still not clear.

The range of a direct shot at the chest figure is 350 m.

AK allows you to hit the following targets with one bullet (for the best shooters, lying down with a single fire):

Head figure - 100 m;
- waist figure and running figure - 300 m;

To hit a target of the “running figure” type at a distance of 800 m under the same conditions, 4 rounds are required when firing with a single fire, and 9 rounds when firing in short bursts. Naturally, these results were obtained during firing at the range, under conditions very different from real combat (however, the test methodology was created by professional military people, which implies confidence in their conclusions).

Assembly and disassembly

Partial disassembly of the machine is carried out for cleaning, lubrication and inspection in the following order:

Store separation and checking the absence of a cartridge in the chamber;
- removal of a pencil case with accessories (for AK - from the butt, for AKS - from the pocket of a shopping bag);
- office ramrod;
- separation of the cover of the receiver;
- extraction of the return mechanism;
- separation of the shutter frame with the shutter;
- separation of the bolt from the bolt carrier;
- separation of the gas tube with a handguard.

Assembly after incomplete disassembly done in reverse order.
Assembly / disassembly of the mass-dimensional layout of the AK is included in the school course of NVP (initial military training), and later OBZH, while disassembly and assembly are assigned, respectively:

Rating "excellent" - 18 and 30 seconds,
- "good" - 30 and 35 seconds,
- "satisfactory" - 35 and 40 seconds.
The army standard is 15 and 25 seconds, respectively.

Patent Status

Izhmash calls all AK-like models produced outside of Russia counterfeit, however, there is no evidence that Kalashnikov registered copyright certificates for his machine gun: some certificates are exhibited at the M. T. Kalashnikov Museum and Exhibition Complex of Small Arms (Izhevsk) issued to him in different years with the wording "for an invention in the field of military equipment" without any accompanying documents to establish the presence or absence of their connection with the AK. Even if the author's certificate for AK exists and was issued to Kalashnikov, it is worth noting that the terms of patent protection for the original design developed in the forties have long expired.
Some of the improvements introduced in the AK74 and Kalashnikov assault rifles of the "hundredth series" are protected by a Eurasian patent from 1997, owned by the Izhmash company.

Differences from the basic AK described in the patent include:

Folding buttstock with locks for combat and traveling position;
- a gas piston rod installed in the hole of the bolt carrier using a thread with a gap;
- a pocket for a pencil case with accessories, formed by stiffening ribs inside the butt and closed with a spring-loaded swivel lid;
- a gas tube spring-loaded relative to the sight block in the direction of the muzzle;
- changed geometry of the transition from the field to the bottom of the rifling in the rifled part of the trunk.

Production and use of AK outside Russia

In the 1950s, licenses for the production of AK were transferred to the USSR to 18 countries (mainly allies in Warsaw Pact). At the same time, twelve more states launched the production of AK without a license. The number of countries in which AK was produced without a license in small batches, and even more so handicraft, cannot be counted. To date, according to Rosoboronexport, the licenses of all states that previously received them have already expired, however, production continues. Particularly active in producing clones of the Kalashnikov assault rifle are the Polish company Bumar and the Bulgarian company Arsenal, which has now opened a branch in the United States and launched the production of assault rifles there. The production of AK clones is deployed in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe. According to very rough estimates, there are from 70 to 105 million copies of various modifications of Kalashnikov assault rifles in the world. They are adopted by the armies of 55 countries of the world.

In 2004, Rosoboronexport and personally Mikhail Kalashnikov accused the United States of supporting the distribution of counterfeit copies of the AK. Thus, the fact that the United States supplies the ruling regimes of Afghanistan and Iraq brought to power with Kalashnikov assault rifles produced in China and Eastern Europe is commented on. Of this claim, weapons proliferation expert Professor Aaron Karp remarked, "It's as if the Chinese are demanding payment for every firearm they make, on the grounds that they were the ones who invented gunpowder 700 years ago." Despite these accusations, there is no information about lawsuits or other official steps aimed at stopping the production of AK-like weapons.

In some of the states that had previously received licenses for the production of AK, it was manufactured in a slightly modified form. So, in the modification of the AK, produced in Yugoslavia, Romania and some other countries, there was an additional pistol-type grip under the forearm to hold the weapon. Other minor changes were also made - the bayonet mounts, the materials of the forearm and butt, and the finish were changed. There are cases when two machine guns were connected on a special home-made mount, and an installation similar to double-barreled air defense machine guns was obtained. In the GDR, a training modification of the AK chambered for .22LR was produced. In addition, many models of military weapons have been created on the basis of AK - from carbines to sniper rifles. Some of these designs are factory conversions of original AKs. Many of the copies of the AK are in turn also copied (with or without the purchase of a license) with some modifications by other manufacturers, resulting in quite different assault rifles from the original sample, for example, the Vektor CR-21, a South African bullpup assault rifle based on the Vektor R4 , which is a copy of the Israeli Galil assault rifle - a licensed copy of the Finnish Valmet Rk 62 assault rifle, which in turn is a licensed version of the AK.

AK-47 with a fully milled receiver. Called AK-47 Type II in the West

Application in the world

The government of the USSR willingly supplied machine guns to everyone who, at least in words, declared their commitment to the "cause of socialism." As a result, in some third world countries, AK is cheaper than live chicken. It can be seen in reports from almost any hot spot in the world. AK is in service with the regular armies of more than fifty countries of the world, as well as many informal groups, including terrorist ones. In addition, "fraternal countries" received licenses for the production of AK free of charge, for example, Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany, China, Poland, North Korea and Yugoslavia. You don’t have to learn how to handle AK for a long time (a full army training course on how to use a machine gun is only 10 hours).

First combat use

The first case of mass combat use of AK on the world stage occurred on November 1, 1956, during the suppression of the uprising in Hungary.

Vietnam War

AK also became one of the symbols of the Vietnam War, during which it was widely used by soldiers of the North Vietnamese army and guerrillas of the NLF. In the unfavorable conditions of the jungle, the "black rifles" M16 quickly failed, and their repair was difficult, so American soldiers often replaced them with captured AKs.

Afghanistan

The war in Afghanistan accelerated the spread of AK around the world. Now they were armed with rebels and terrorists. The CIA generously provided the Mujahideen with Kalashnikovs, mainly Chinese made(in China, AK under the designation Type 56 was produced in huge quantities under license), through Pakistan. The AK was a cheap and reliable weapon, so the US preferred it. Even before the withdrawal of Soviet troops, the Western media paid attention to the large number of AKs in the region, and the concept of “Kalashnikov culture” entered the lexicon. After the last Soviet units withdrew from Afghanistan on February 15, 1989, the developed weapons infrastructure of the Mujahideen did not disappear anywhere, but, on the contrary, was integrated into the economy and culture of the region. It should be noted that the leader of the Afghan Mujahideen and the sworn enemy of the Soviet troops, Ahmad Shah Masud, to the question: “What kind of weapon do you prefer?”, He answered: “Kalashnikov, of course.” After the introduction of NATO troops into Afghanistan, the Americans were forced to face the same AKs that the CIA purchased for the Mujahideen. According to The Washington Post, Sergeant 1st Class Nathan Ross Chapman, who was shot dead by an Afghan teenager with a Kalashnikov, became the first American to die in this war from enemy fire (according to the independent website iCasualties.org, the first American to die in Afghanistan from enemy fire was Johnny Spann).

War in Iraq

To the surprise of the coalition forces, the soldiers of the newly created Iraqi army abandoned the American M16 and M4, demanding AKs. According to Walter B. Slocombe, senior adviser to the interim coalition administration, “every Iraqi over the age of 12 can take it apart and reassemble it with eyes closed and a pretty good shot."

After the collapse of the USSR

After the collapse of the USSR, many ATS countries began to sell their arsenals, but this did not lead to a collapse in prices for AKs. A noticeable decrease in the cost of the machine from about $ 1100 to $ 800 at the turn of the 1980-1990s occurred only in the Middle East, in Asia and America prices even increased (from about $ 500 to $ 700), and in Eastern Europe and Africa remained virtually unchanged (about $200-300).

Venezuela

In 2005, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez decided to sign a contract with Russia for the supply of 100,000 AK-103 assault rifles. The contract was signed in 2006, and later Hugo Chavez spoke of his readiness to purchase another 920,000 assault rifles and negotiated the establishment of licensed production of AK-103 in the country. Hugo Chavez called the "threat of an American military invasion" the main reason for increasing arms purchases.

Estimates and prospects

The Kalashnikov assault rifle has found a wide variety of ratings throughout its long service life.

At the time of creation and the next two or three decades

At the time of its birth, the AK was an effective weapon, far surpassing in all the main indicators available at that time in armed forces world models of submachine guns for pistol cartridges, and at the same time not inferior to automatic rifles for rifle and machine gun ammunition, having an advantage over them in compactness, weight and automatic fire efficiency. The cost of an AK with a milled receiver and wooden parts made of birch plywood for 1954 was 676 rubles. Fedor Tokarev once described the AK as distinguished by "reliability in operation, high accuracy and accuracy of fire, and relatively low weight." The high combat effectiveness of the weapon was confirmed during the local conflicts of the post-war decades, including the Vietnam War. The reliability and non-failure operation of the weapon, due to a whole range of technical solutions adopted in it, as well as, to a large extent, the high quality of workmanship, are almost a benchmark for its class. There are suggestions that the AK is the most reliable military weapon since the Mauser 98 rifle. Moreover, it is provided even with the most careless and unskilled care, in the most difficult conditions.

At this moment

As the weapon became obsolete, its shortcomings began to appear more and more, both characteristic of it and identified over time due to changes in the requirements for small arms and a change in the nature of hostilities. Even the latest modifications of the AK are generally outdated weapons, with virtually no reserves for significant modernization. The general obsolescence of weapons determines many significant shortcomings. First of all, a significant mass of weapons by modern standards, due to the widespread use of steel parts in its design. At the same time, the AK itself cannot be called unnecessarily heavy, however, any attempts to significantly modernize it - for example, lengthening and weighting the barrel to increase the accuracy of fire, not to mention the installation of additional sights - inevitably take its mass beyond the limits acceptable for army weapons, which is well shown by the experience of creating and operating the Saiga and Vepr hunting carbines, as well as RPK machine guns. Attempts to lighten the weapon while maintaining an all-steel structure (that is, the existing production technology) lead to an unacceptable decrease in its service life, which partly proves the negative experience of operating early batches of AK74, the rigidity of the receivers of which turned out to be insufficient and required strengthening of the structure - that is, here is the limit has already been reached and there are no reserves for modernization. In addition, in AK, the barrel is locked by the shutter through the cutouts of the receiver liner, and not the barrel process, as in more modern models, which does not allow the receiver to be made of lighter and more technologically advanced, although less durable, materials. Two lugs are also a simple, but not optimal solution - even the bolt of an SVD rifle has three lugs, which provide more uniform locking of the bore and a smaller angle of rotation of the bolt, not to mention modern Western models, in relation to which we are usually talking about at least about six bolt lugs.

A significant disadvantage in modern conditions is a collapsible receiver with a detachable lid. This design makes it impossible to mount modern types sights (collimator, optical, night) using Weaver or Picatinny rails: placing a heavy sight on a removable receiver cover is useless due to its significant structural play. As a result, AK-like weapons for the most part allow the installation of only a limited number of models of sights that use a dovetail-type side bracket, which also shifts the center of gravity of the weapon to the left and does not allow the stock to be folded on those models where this is provided for by the design. The only exceptions are rare variants such as the Polish Beryl assault rifle, which has a separate pedestal for the aiming bar, which is fixedly attached to the bottom of the receiver, or the South African Vektor CR21 assault rifle made according to the bullpup scheme, which has a collimator sight located on a bar attached to the base of the sight, standard for AK - with this arrangement, it turns out to be just in the area of \u200b\u200bthe shooter's eyes. The first solution is rather palliative, significantly complicates the assembly and disassembly of weapons, and also increases their bulkiness and weight; the second is only suitable for weapons made according to the bullpup scheme. On the other hand, it is precisely due to the presence of a removable receiver cover that the assembly and disassembly of the AK is carried out quickly and conveniently, and this also provides excellent access to the details of the weapon when cleaning it.

At present, there are other, more successful solutions to this problem. So, on the AK-12, as well as on the Saiga hunting carbines, the receiver cover is hinged up and down, which allows the installation of modern sighting bars (on the AK-12 and "tactical" versions of the Saiga, this solution is already applied) without compromising access to weapon mechanisms. All parts of the trigger mechanism are compactly assembled inside the receiver, thus playing the role of both the bolt box and the trigger housing (USM; trigger box). By modern standards, this is a drawback of the weapon, since in more modern systems (and even in the relatively old Soviet SVD and the American M16), the USM is usually performed in the form of a separate easily removable unit that can be quickly replaced to obtain various modifications (self-loading, with the ability to fire in bursts fixed length, and so on), and in the case of the M16 platform, and upgrading weapons by installing a new receiver unit on the existing USM unit (for example, to switch to a new caliber of ammunition), which is a very economical solution. To speak of a deeper degree of modularity characteristic of many modern small arms systems - for example, the use of quick-change barrels of various lengths - in relation to the AK, including even its most recent modifications, all the more so.

The high reliability of the AK family, or rather, the methods used in its design to achieve it, is at the same time the cause of its significant drawbacks. The increased momentum of the gas exhaust mechanism, coupled with the gas piston fixed to the bolt frame and large gaps between all parts, on the one hand, leads to the fact that the automatic weapons work flawlessly even with heavy pollution (contamination is literally "blown" out of the receiver when fired), - on the other hand, large gaps during the movement of the bolt group lead to the appearance of multidirectional lateral impulses that displace the machine from the aiming line in transverse directions, while the bolt frame, which comes to the extreme rear position at a speed of the order of 5 m / s (for comparison, for systems with a “softer” operation of the automation, even at the initial stage of the shutter retract, this speed usually does not exceed 4 m / s), guarantees a strong shaking of the weapon during firing, which significantly reduces the effectiveness of automatic fire. According to some of the available estimates, the weapons of the AK family are generally not suitable for effective aimed fire in bursts. This is also the reason for the relatively large slide overrun, and, consequently, the greater length of the receiver, to the detriment of the length of the barrel while maintaining the overall dimensions of the weapon. On the other hand, the AK bolt run-out occurs completely inside the receiver, without using the butt cavity, which allows the latter to be folded, reducing the dimensions of the weapon when carried. Other shortcomings are less radical, and can be characterized more as individual features of the sample.

As one of the shortcomings of the AK associated with the design of its USM, the inconvenient location of the translator-fuse is often called (on the right side of the receiver, under the cutout for the cocking handle) and a clear click when the weapon is removed from the protection, supposedly unmasking the shooter before opening fire. However, it is noted that in combat conditions, if there is at least some probability of opening fire, there is no need to put the weapon on the fuse at all - even in the cocked state, the probability of an accidental shot, for example, when the weapon is dropped, is practically zero. However, the safety must be located separately, operate independently of the set fire mode and be available to turn on while holding the weapon by the pistol grip. On many foreign versions ("Tantalum", "Valmet", "Galil") and on the AEK-971 assault rifle, the translator-fuse is duplicated by a lever conveniently located on the left, which can significantly improve the ergonomics of the weapon, however, the ability to quickly open fire and select the fire mode (especially if there are three modes) - different functions. The solution may be as follows: the fuse is closer to the handle, the fire mode translator is further. The fuse is duplicated on both sides. The AK release is considered to be quite tight, but it is noted that this is completely corrected by a simple skill.

The cocking handle located on the right is often attributed to the shortcomings of the AK family; it should be noted, however, that such an arrangement was at one time taken on the basis of quite practical considerations: the handle located on the left, when carrying a weapon “on the chest” and crawling, would rest against the body of the shooter, giving him significant discomfort. This was just typical, for example, for the German MP40 submachine gun. The experimental Kalashnikov assault rifle of 1946 also had a handle located on the left, but the military commission considered it necessary to move it, like the fuse-translator of types of fire, to the right. For example, on the foreign version of "Galil", for the convenience of cocking with the left hand, the handle is bent up. An AK magazine receiver without a developed neck has also often been criticized as not ergonomic - sometimes there are claims that it increases the magazine change time by almost 2-3 times compared to a system with a neck. However, it is noted that the AK magazine adjoins, although not in the most convenient way, but in any conditions, unlike, for example, the M16 rifle, in which dirt is often stuffed into the receiving neck in extreme conditions, after which the installation of the magazine into it becomes very problematic. In addition, in combat conditions, the practical rate of fire of weapons in more is determined by the design of the pouch for magazines than by the speed of its change. It is also worth noting that the magazine can be replaced with an AK both left and right. right hand in contrast to rifles with a neck, where a button located on only one side is usually used to change the magazine.

The ergonomics of all variants of the AK has often been criticized. The stock of the AK is considered to be too short, and the fore-end is too “elegant”, however, it must be borne in mind that this weapon was created for the relatively undersized military personnel of the 1940s, as well as taking into account its use in winter clothes and gloves. The situation could be partially corrected by a removable rubber butt pad, variants of which are widely offered on the civilian market. In Russian special forces units and on the civilian market, the use of non-serial versions of butts, pistol grips, and so on on various AKs is very common, which increases the usability of weapons, although it does not solve the problem in itself and leads to a significant increase in its cost. Versions with a folding buttstock are not convenient for wearing in a folded position on the chest and on the back, and for shooting too, since the buttstock folds to the left, unlike, for example, the Israeli Galil, which comes from the AK. The shutter lever and the cartridge case ejection window in the case of a butt folded to the right should be free for firing, as well as a fuse. For the AK this proved to be a problem due to the fuse on the right side.

From a modern point of view, AK factory sights should be recognized as rather rough, and a short sighting line (the distance between the front sight and the rear sight slot) does not contribute to high accuracy. Most of the significantly reworked foreign variants based on the AK in the first place received just more advanced sights, and in most cases - with an entirely diopter-type shooter located close to the eye (for example, see the photo of the sight of the Finnish Valmet machine gun). On the other hand, compared to the diopter, which has real advantages only when firing at medium-long ranges, the “open” AK sight provides a faster transfer of fire from one target to another and is more convenient when conducting automatic fire, as it covers the target less. It is worth noting that the first versions of the Kalashnikov assault rifle did not have rails for mounting optical sights. The ability to install a bar for mounting optical sights appeared only on the AK-74M modification. The installed bar increases the time for assembling and disassembling the weapon and makes it impossible to fold the butt to the left.

Accuracy of weapon fire was not its strong point from the very moment it was put into service, and, despite the constant increase in this characteristic during upgrades, remained at a lower level than that of similar foreign models. However, in general, it can be considered acceptable for military weapons chambered for such a cartridge. For example, according to data obtained abroad, AKs with a milled receiver (that is, an early modification of 7.62 mm) with single shots regularly showed groups of hits with a diameter of 2-3.5 inches (~ 5-9 cm) at 100 yards (90 m ). The effective range in the hands of an experienced shooter was up to 400 yards (approximately 350 m), and at this distance the dispersion diameter was approximately 7 inches (~ 18 cm), that is, a value quite acceptable for hitting a single person. Weapons for low-impulse cartridges have even better characteristics. In general, although AK certainly has numerous positive traits and will be suitable for arming the countries in which they are accustomed to it for a long time, there is an obvious need to replace it with more modern models, moreover, having radical differences in design that would allow not to repeat the fundamental shortcomings of the outdated system described above.

Kalashnikov assault rifle in popular culture

The Kalashnikov assault rifle, back in the 1970s, entered the popular culture individual regions of the planet, in particular - the culture of the Middle East. According to the international research organization Small Arms Survey, headquartered in Geneva, "Kalashnikov Culture" (eng. Kalashnikov Culture) and "Kalashnikovization" (eng. Kalashnikovization) have become common terms describing the weapon traditions of many countries of the Caucasus, the Middle East, Central Asia, Africa.

The Kalashnikov assault rifle is also popular in other countries. For example, in some American sources, the Kalashnikov assault rifle is called only with the prefix "legendary".

The Kalashnikov assault rifle is depicted on the coats of arms of East Timor, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, as well as on the coin of the Cook Islands.

The performance characteristics of the AK-47

Adopted: 1949
- Designer: Mikhail Kalashnikov (1919-2013)
- Designed: 1947
- Manufacturer: Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant. Tula arms factory

AK-47 weight

Without cartridges / equipped without a bayonet, kg: first issue 4.3 / 4.8; - 0.43 / 0.92 - empty / equipped store
- without cartridges / equipped without a bayonet, kg: late release 3.8 / 4.3; - 0.33 / 0.82 - empty / equipped magazine
- 0.27 / 0.37 - bayonet without scabbard / with scabbard

AK-47 Dimensions

Length, mm: 870 / 1070 (with bayonet); 645 (AKC with stock folded)
- Barrel length, mm: 415; 369 (threaded part)

For almost 70 years, several dozen modifications, prototypes and concepts of the most popular small arms in the world, the Kalashnikov assault rifle, have been developed in the USSR and Russia. The universal base allows you to design "guns" for almost every taste: folding, shortened, with a bayonet, optics or underbarrel grenade launcher, for special services or individual branches of the military.

In this article, we will tell you how to learn to distinguish between the main AK models and what are their unique features.

The classic, very first adopted AK-47 is difficult to confuse with something. Made of iron and wood, without any "bells and whistles", it has long become a symbol of reliability and ease of use in any conditions. At the same time, it did not take long for the machine gun to become such: it took Mikhail Kalashnikov several years to bring his creation to perfection.

In 1946, the military leadership of the USSR announced a competition for the creation of an assault rifle for an intermediate (in terms of lethal force - between a pistol and a rifle) cartridge. The new weapon had to be maneuverable, fast-firing, have sufficient lethal effect of a bullet and shooting accuracy. The competition was held in several stages, extended more than once, since none of the gunsmiths could give the required result. In particular, the commission sent the AK-46 models No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 (with a folding metal butt) for revision.

The improved Kalashnikov assault rifle, which was assigned the AK-47 index, as Sergei Monetchikov writes in the book "The History of the Russian Automaton", was almost completely redesigned. From the designs of weapons of competitors, the best ideas were borrowed, implemented in individual parts and entire assemblies.

The machine did not have a classic solid stock. Taking into account the solid receiver, the separate wooden butt and forearm contributed to the retention of the weapon during firing. The design of the receiver was redesigned, it was fundamentally different from the previous ones by a special insert rigidly fixed on it, connecting it to the barrel. On the liner, in particular, a reflector of spent cartridges was attached.

The reloading handle, made integral with the bolt carrier, was moved to the right side. This was required by the test soldiers, they noted: the left-hand position of the handle interferes with firing on the move without stopping, touching the stomach. In the same position, it is inconvenient to reload weapons.

The transfer of controls to the right side of the receiver made it possible to create a successful fire switch (from single to automatic), which is also a fuse, made in the form of a single rotary part.

The large mass of the bolt carrier and a powerful return spring ensured reliable operation of the mechanisms, including in adverse conditions: dusty, dirty, thickened grease. The weapon turned out to be adapted for trouble-free operation in the range of air temperature changes up to 100 degrees Celsius.

The wooden parts of the new weapon - the butt, forearm and handguard, as well as the pistol grip, made from birch blanks - were covered with three layers of varnish, which ensured their sufficient resistance to swelling in damp conditions.

AKS-47

Simultaneously with the AK-47, a model with the letter "C", meaning "folding", was adopted. This version of the machine was intended for special forces and the Airborne Forces, its difference was in a metal, not a wooden butt, which, moreover, could be folded under the receiver.

“Such a butt, consisting of two stamp-welded rods, a shoulder rest and a locking mechanism, ensured the convenience of handling weapons - in the stowed position, when moving on skis, parachuting, as well as using it for firing from tanks, armored personnel carriers, etc. .,” writes Sergey Monetchikov.

Shooting from a machine gun was supposed to be carried out with a folded butt, however, if it was impossible, it was possible to shoot from a weapon with a folded butt. True, it was not very convenient: the butt rods had insufficient rigidity and strength, and the wide shoulder rest did not fit into the hollow of the shoulder and therefore strove to move from there when firing bursts.

AKM and AKMS

The modernized Kalashnikov assault rifle (AKM) was put into service 10 years after the AK-47 - in 1959. It turned out to be lighter, longer-range and more convenient to use.

“The accuracy did not satisfy us, and especially the main customer, when firing from stable positions, lying down, standing upright. They found a way out by introducing a trigger retarder, which increased the cycle time, Kalashnikov wrote in the book Notes of a Gunsmith Designer. “Later, a muzzle compensator was developed, which made it possible to improve the accuracy of combat during automatic firing from unstable positions, standing, kneeling, lying on the arm.”

The retarder allowed the bolt carrier to stabilize in the extreme forward position before the next shot, which affected the accuracy of fire. The muzzle compensator in the form of a petal was installed on the barrel thread, and was one of the clear distinguishing features of the AKM. Due to the compensator, the barrel cut was not vertical, but diagonal. By the way, mufflers could be attached to the same thread.

Improving the accuracy of fire made it possible to increase its aiming range to 1000 meters, as a result, the aiming bar also changed, the range scale consisted of numbers from 1 to 10 (up to 8 on the AK-47).

The butt was made raised up, which brought the stop point closer to the firing line. have changed external forms wooden forearm. On the sides, it received stops for the fingers. Phosphate-lacquer coating, which replaced the oxide one, increased the anti-corrosion resistance tenfold. Monetchikov notes that the store, made not of steel sheet, but of light alloys, has also undergone fundamental changes. To increase reliability and protect against deformation, the side walls of its body were reinforced with stiffeners.

The design of the bayonet-knife, which was attached under the barrel, was also new. A sheath with a rubber tip for electrical insulation made it possible to use a knife for cutting barbed wire and live wires. The combat power of the AKM increased significantly due to the possibility of installing a GP-25 "Koster" underbarrel grenade launcher. Like its predecessor, the AKM was also developed in a folding version with the letter "C" in the title.

AK-74

In the 1960s, the Soviet military leadership decided to develop small arms chambered for a low-impulse 5.45 mm cartridge. The fact is that in AKM it was not possible to achieve high accuracy of fire. The reason was that the cartridge was too powerful, which gave a strong impulse.

In addition, according to Monetchikov, in the hands of Soviet military experts were military trophies from South Vietnam - American AR-15 rifles, the automatic version of which was later adopted by the US Army under the designation M-16. Even then, the AKM was inferior in many respects to the AR-15, in particular, in terms of the accuracy of the battle and the probability of hits.

“Due to the difficulty of development, in the search for approaches, the design of an assault rifle chambered for 5.45-mm caliber can be compared, perhaps, only with the time of the birth of the AK-47, the father of the entire family of our system. At first, when we decided to take the AKM automation scheme as a basis, one of the factory managers suggested that there was no need to look for something here and invent it, they say, a simple rearrangement would be enough. I marveled in my soul at the naivete of such a judgment, - Mikhail Kalashnikov recalled that period. - Of course, changing the barrel of a larger caliber to a smaller one is a simple matter. Then, by the way, the conventional wisdom began to circulate that we just changed the number "47" to "74".

The main feature of the new assault rifle was a two-chamber muzzle brake, which, when fired, absorbed about half of the recoil energy. On the left side of the receiver, a bar was mounted for night sights. The new rubber-metal design of the nape of the buttstock with transverse grooves reduced its sliding over the shoulder when conducting aimed fire.

The handguard and buttstock were first made of wood, but switched to black plastic in the 1980s. The external feature of the butt was the grooves on both sides, they were made to lighten the overall weight of the machine. Shops were also made of plastic.

AKS-74

For the Airborne Forces, a modification was traditionally made with a folding butt, although this time it retracted to the left along the receiver. It is believed that such a decision was not very successful: when folded, the machine turned out to be wide and rubbed the skin when worn on the back. When worn on the chest, there was an inconvenience if it was necessary to fold back the butt without removing the weapon.

A leather cheek sleeve appeared on the upper side of the buttstock; it protected the shooter's cheek from freezing to a metal part in winter conditions.

AKS-74U

Following the world fashion of the 1960s and 70s, the USSR decided to develop a small-sized machine gun that could be used in cramped combat conditions, mainly when firing at close and medium distances. Another announced competition among designers was won by Mikhail Kalashnikov.

Compared to the AKS-74, the barrel was shortened from 415 to 206.5 millimeters, because of which the gas chamber had to be carried back. This, writes Sergei Monetchikov, led to a change in the design of the front sight. Its base was made together with the gas chamber. This design also led to the transfer of the sight closer to the shooter's eye, otherwise the aiming line turned out to be very short. Concluding the topic of the sight, we note that the machine guns of this model were equipped with self-luminous nozzles for shooting at night and in conditions of limited visibility.

The higher pressure of powder gases required the installation of a reinforced flame arrester. It was a cylindrical chamber with a bell (expansion in the form of a funnel) in front. The flame arrester was attached to the muzzle of the barrel, on a threaded fit.

The shortened machine gun was equipped with a more massive wooden forearm and a gas tube handguard, it could use both standard magazines for 30 rounds and shortened magazines for 20 rounds.

For a more complete unification of the shortened machine gun with the AKS-74, it was decided to use the same stock, which leans back to the left side of the receiver.

AK-74M

This machine gun is a deep modernization of the weapon, which was put into service in 1974. Having retained all the best qualities inherent in Kalashnikov assault rifles, the AK-74M acquired a number of new ones that significantly improved its combat and operational characteristics.

The main feature of the new model was a folding plastic stock, which replaced the metal one. It was lighter than its predecessors and similar in design to the permanent plastic AK-74 stock produced in the late 1980s. When worn, it clings to clothing less, does not cause discomfort when shooting at low or high temperatures.

The handguard and handguard of the gas tube of the machine were made of glass-filled polyamide. In terms of heat transfer, the new material almost did not differ from wood, which excluded hand burns during prolonged shooting. Longitudinal ribs on the forearm made it easier and stronger to hold the weapon during aimed fire.

"Hundredth Series" (AK 101-109)

These modifications of Kalashnikov, developed in the 1990s on the basis of the AK-74M, are called the first domestic family of commercial weapons, since they were intended more for export than for domestic consumption. In particular, they were designed for a NATO cartridge of 5.56 by 45 millimeters.

AK-102

AK-107

From the designs of automatic machines of the "100th" series (similar to best model 5.45-mm Kalashnikov assault rifle - AK74M), wooden parts are completely excluded. The buttstock and forearm of all are made of impact-resistant glass-filled black polyamide, for which this weapon, according to Monetchikov, received the name "Black Kalashnikov" from the Americans. All models have plastic stocks that fold to the left along the receiver and a rail for mounting sights.

The most original in the "hundredth" series were the AK-102, AK-104 and AK-105 assault rifles. In their design, a breakthrough was made in increasing the level of unification between standard machines and their shortened versions. Due small increase total length (by 100 millimeters compared to the AKS-74U) it became possible to leave the gas chamber in the same place as in the AK-74, thus allowing the use of a unified movable system and sights on all machines of the series.

Machine guns of the "hundredth" series differ from each other mainly in caliber, barrel length (314 - 415 millimeters), sector sights designed for different ranges (from 500 to 1000 meters).

AK-9

This assault rifle was also developed on the basis of the AK-74M, and the developments of the "hundredth" series were also used in it. The same black color, the same polymer folding stock. The main difference from the classic Kalashnikovs can be considered a shortened barrel and a vapor mechanism. Experts call a new pistol grip with better ergonomics an important improvement.

The machine gun was created as a silent, flameless rifle complex for covert shooting. It uses subsonic 9×39 mm rounds, which, together with a silencer, make the shot almost inaudible. Magazine capacity - 20 rounds.

On the forearm there is a special bar for various removable equipment - flashlights, laser pointers.

AK-12

The most modern assault rifle of the Kalashnikov family, the tests of which have not yet been completed. From external changes the use of Picatinny rails for attaching attachments is striking. Unlike the AK-9, they are on the forearm and on top of the receiver. At the same time, the lower bar does not interfere with the installation of underbarrel grenade launchers - this option is preserved. The AK-12 also has two short rails on the sides of the forearm and one on top of the gas chamber.

In addition, the butt of the machine is easily removed and can be folded in both directions. On top of that, it is telescopic, the cheek and butt plate are adjustable in height. There is a version of the machine and with a stationary lighter plastic butt.

The flag of the fuse-translator of fire is duplicated on the left side, the machine can fire single, short series of three shots, and in automatic mode. And in general, all the controls of the machine gun are made in such a way that the soldier can use them with one hand, including changing the store and distorting the shutter. By the way, a variety of magazines can be used, up to an experimental drum for 95 rounds

The table above shows data on a modern AK74M assault rifle in a plastic stock with a folding butt, without an underbarrel grenade launcher, without additional sights and without a bayonet. The data correspond to firing from an AK74M automatic rifle with general-purpose cartridges with a PS bullet (GRAU index - 7N6)

Immediately before starting to write this article, I will specify some details so that they do not consider me an amateur and an absolutely incompetent author who, for some reason, undertook to write articles about weapons. The facts below can be substantiated more deeply in our forum, at your first request. Name this weapon most often written in three versions: AK74, AK-74 and AK 74. The differences are minor, but they are. The correct name for the new weapon that replaced the AKM is AK74. And nothing else.

In fact, the AK74 "machine guns" have both adherents and opponents. And there are a lot of arguments for this, both from the side of the first and from the side of the second. Consider the typical misconceptions regarding this weapon.

The Kalashnikov assault rifle is known to everyone, the AK47 and AKM variants have conquered the world, this weapon is considered the best, due to its unprecedented reliability and unpretentiousness, as well as the number of 7.62 mm AKs produced. Various modifications of the AK were produced in different countries, in which in most cases the equipment and production lines were provided by the USSR. But the lion's share of the glory of the Kalashnikov assault rifle was created by samples of the AK47 and AKM, made in the USSR. This weapon was designed for a 7.62 mm cartridge, which was designed on the basis of the 1943 wartime cartridge of the year. Although that initial sample of the cartridge does not even outwardly resemble the cartridge that was used in the AK47 and AKM. Nevertheless, for some reason, this ammunition is usually called the 7.62x39 cartridge of the 1943 model, and this terminology is still used.

The AK74 weapon itself chambered for 5.45x39 mm was developed on the basis of AKM, repeating all its design solutions. As you know, AKM was designed for a cartridge of 7.62x39, and this cartridge justified itself as an ammunition for the main army automatic weapons, one hundred percent. The main disadvantage of 7.62 mm Kalashnikov assault rifles was the unsatisfactory accuracy of the battle when firing bursts. Western counterparts gave out much greater performance in terms of accuracy and efficiency of firing bursts at medium distances, while the Kalashnikov assault rifle of 7.62 mm caliber (AKM and AK47) was not even close in these parameters, but these assault rifles were very reliable. Yes, and the production of AK at the IZHMASH plant in the city of Izhevsk was delivered on a large scale, and the leadership of the country and the defense department did not want to change it to a new one.

The new mass army automatic weapon under the index GRAU 6P20 and under the name "AK74" was adopted by the Soviet Army in 1974, which was not surprising. All competitors of the new Kalashnikov assault rifle lost even before they applied for participation in the competition. The proven production technology of AK, together with its reliability in any conditions of use, decided everything even before the start of the competition.

AK74 of the first years of release. With a wooden butt, wooden forearm and gas tube overlay. A bayonet-knife with a scabbard is shown separately, in the lower right corner the barrel of an assault rifle with an attached bayonet-knife is shown.

Due to the lightening of the ammunition load, which we will discuss later, and also due to the significant difference in the ballistics of a 5.45 mm bullet and the old cartridge with a 7.62 mm caliber bullet, the military department proceeded from the following decisions:

1. A significant difference in the accuracy of hits when firing, especially when firing in automatic firing mode, was on the side of 5.45 caliber bullets due to the higher bullet speed, which did not require large lead times when aiming while firing at a moving target. Cartridges 7.62 mm lost in this regard.

2. The range of a direct shot of a 5.45 mm caliber cartridge almost doubled, because the bullet was lighter, and the powder charge and the volume of the sleeve (chambers of the initial expansion of powder gases) remained the same, as in a 7.62 mm caliber cartridge. As a result, a 5.45 mm caliber bullet acquired a higher muzzle velocity.

3. With an equal mass of ammunition, the number of 7.62x39 cartridges was significantly less than the number of new 5.45x39 caliber cartridges.

The doctrine of facilitating a fighter by reducing the mass of ammunition carried out in the USA also had an impact on military officials of the USSR, which was the main reason for replacing the 7.62x39 combined arms ammunition with a lighter 5.45x39 cartridge, created by re-crimping the muzzle of the old 7.62x39 cartridge case to bullets caliber 5.45 mm. The parameters of a higher accuracy of battle and the efficiency of automatic fire of the domestic machine, as always, faded into the background, but, nevertheless, were the second most important reason that influenced the decision-makers.

Ammunition for AK74

The result was the fact that the 5.45x39 cartridges of the first series were not able to penetrate even an insignificant obstacle with their bullets, and if they nailed it, they sharply changed the trajectory. As a result of a direct hit on the human body, these bullets inflicted damage exceeding the damage caused by a 7.62x39 cartridge bullet. In addition, the bullets of 7N6 cartridges were extremely unstable, both in the human body and when passing through various obstacles. This initially did not meet the requirements for a military cartridge.

One of the obligatory factors necessary for the adoption of a general-purpose cartridge by the army was piercing a log (most often the parapet was reinforced with logs) followed by piercing an army steel helmet and after all these manipulations to save energy of at least 250 J. Cartridge 5,45x39 (7Н6 ) did not cope with this task. In addition, the army cartridge had to remain stable in the wound channel, the length of the wound channel with a steady passage of the bullet should have been at least 140 mm. That is, when it hit the human body, the bullet had to go 14 cm nose forward, and only after that the bullet was allowed to tip over. But the bullets fired from the AK74 unfolded in the human body almost immediately, which increased the damage.

According to the calculations of military experts and doctors, to defeat the enemy, it is enough for the bullet to leave 250 J of its energy in it. The 7.62 mm caliber cartridge retained this energy after penetrating relatively weak obstacles (logs, army helmets, anti-fragmentation bulletproof vests, etc.). Also prerequisite there was a preservation of the trajectory when breaking through obstacles. If a 7.62 mm caliber bullet hit an unprotected enemy, it unconditionally pierced the body through and through, spending energy within 300 J for the damaging effect, after which the soldier who received such a wound would fail and cease to be a combat unit. He could be put on his feet by military doctors, and according to the global rules of warfare, it should have been that way. Respect and humane attitude towards the enemy should have been present at least to some extent.

A 5.45 mm caliber bullet left almost all the energy in the first obstacle. That is, when it hit the body, this bullet turned sideways, which put more pressure on it from the pierced tissues of the human body, as a result of which the energy costs of the bullet in the body of the enemy were an order of magnitude higher than that of a 7.62 mm caliber bullet.

Due to unsatisfactory armor penetration, the 7N6 cartridge was modernized by thermal hardening of the steel core, which made it possible to penetrate obstacles from the AK74 that were not accessible to the bullet of the 7N6 cartridge of the first series.

Subsequently, more adequate cartridges for the army were created, which received the GRAU 7N10 index. These were increased penetration bullet (PP) cartridges in which the cavity in the tip was slightly more filled with lead, and the steel core was more pointed and made of hardened steel. A few years later, this cartridge was modernized, and, retaining the name (7H10), increased the penetration ability of the bullet by 50-70% due to the complete filling of the cavity with lead. From this, the steel core entered the barrier “like clockwork”, and the lead in the head part also ensured the flattening of the shell at the tip of the bullet, which was immediately pierced by the core. The first versions of the 7H10 cartridge had a cavity inside the tip of the bullet, and, as it were, “chewed” the elements of the shell when breaking through the barrier, from which the friction force increased and the core could not go deep enough, it was slowed down by the shell of the bullet surrounding the core during penetration. The 5.45x39 PP cartridges were distinguished by the purple color of the sealant varnish covering the junction of the bullet and the cartridge case.

Also for the AK74, cartridges were created with a tracer bullet, the tip of which was painted in green color. Cartridges with an armor-piercing bullet of caliber 5.45 had a sharp hardened core made of high-carbon tool steel grade U12A (GRAU index 7N22), the tip of the bullet of armor-piercing cartridges was painted black.

Later, 7N24 cartridges were created with an armor-piercing bullet containing a sharp core made of a tungsten alloy. It should be mentioned that such cartridges did not have a special color marking on the bullet tip. To use the silent and flameless firing device (PBS) from AK47, cartridges with a reduced weight of gunpowder (7U1) were developed, which ensured a subsonic muzzle velocity when leaving the PBS (silencer). The bullet had black and green markings on the tip.

Blank cartridges for AK74 had a hollow plastic bullet inside, which collapsed immediately upon departure from the barrel, which made it possible to fire blank cartridges in automatic mode without the use of additional nozzles that had previously been installed on AKM when firing blanks, because blank cartridges for AKM were simply rolled sleeve, and when fired, the automatic weapons did not work, because all the powder gases immediately flew out of the barrel.

Cartridges were also produced with an increased powder charge, with an armor-piercing tracer bullet, with a lead core (in order to reduce the risk of ricochets), "reference" cartridges, the bullets of which were made under the closer attention of the technical control department. If you do not take into account the Hague Convention, which prohibits the use of such bullets, the 5.45 mm bullet was good at hitting the enemy without first breaking through obstacles. But if there were such obstacles, then the new Soviet cartridge 5.45x39 was practically powerless.

From the point of view of the maximum destruction of the enemy, the AK74 looks much better than the AKM, because the 5.45 mm bullet

Cartridges for "automatic" Kalashnikov.

From left to right: a cartridge with an armor-piercing bullet 7.62x39 (the tip of the bullet is painted black); a cartridge with an ordinary bullet with a steel core of 7.62 mm caliber (PS), a cartridge with a bullet with a heat-strengthened core of 7.62 mm caliber (also PS); cartridge with an ordinary PS bullet with a steel core of caliber 5.45 mm (7N6); cartridge with a bullet of increased penetration (PP) with a hardened and pointed core (differs in purple varnish that seals the bullet at the junction with the sleeve); blank cartridge caliber 5.45 mm.

Among other things, reducing the caliber while maintaining the volume of the sleeve and powder charge, gave significant advantages in terms of shooting accuracy, since the range of a direct shot of a lighter and high-speed sharp bullet of 5.45 mm caliber was greater than the range of a direct shot from a 7.62x39 caliber machine gun . Here it is worth making a few explanations based on numbers. A 7.62 x39 cartridge bullet flew out of the AKM barrel at a speed. As a result, the Soviet military leadership decided to switch to a smaller caliber, in order to reduce the mass of ammunition while maintaining the number of cartridges, as well as to reduce the mass of the weapon itself, because a decrease in caliber also implies a decrease in the weight of the “machine gun”. This factor was also fundamental in the competition process.

We must pay tribute to Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov himself - he was categorically against remaking the AKM chambered for 5.45x39. Here Kalashnikov was certainly right, and his protest was supported by the country's leading weapons experts. But this did not affect the orders of the officials of the top leadership of the army, from which the AK74 under the new "low-pulse" cartridge went into mass production and replaced the AKM in the troops. It is worth mentioning that the protest of Mikhail Kalashnikov in this matter was one of the few of his sole decisions taken in the course of the evolution of the AK and played in favor of the weapon. Most of the ideas and prohibitions of M.T. Kalashnikov were absurd, both at that time and now. And now, various idiotic "vetos" coming from the "great gunsmith" who does not have any specialized education look both funny and scary at the same time. But disagreement with the transfer of AK to the 5.45x39 cartridge is adequate persistence, but, unfortunately, M.T. Kalashnikov did not have such an influence in those years on the production processes of hand-held army firearms.

A slight diversion from the topic: a proposal to combine the recoil force vector transmitted to the butt with center line bore, M.T.K. categorically rejected (probably also splashed with saliva). Such an elementary solution could increase the accuracy of the battle with AK bursts by one and a half to two times. The stubbornness of the “Great” was argued by him that raising the butt would make the soldier less protected, because the fighter would have to raise his head higher to aim, because if the butt was higher, then the aiming line would be higher, and as a result, the rise of the soldier’s helmet. This may be correct, but when shooting prone, not from a trench and not from behind a shelter, the machine shop rests on the ground, which, of course, makes the soldier’s helmet rise if he wants to aim.

Such a decision of the “Chief Gunsmith of the Country” had only one positive moment - suppression fire, when they shoot practically without aiming and without lifting the “helmets” from cover. By the way, this is how the AK is used by NATO troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, because it’s a pity for a normal weapon, so suppression fire was often fired from captured AKs. From these facts, such a folk tale has developed - "Americans are changing their automatic rifles to Kalash." And raising the helmet from the trench for 2-3 seconds for aimed two short bursts is not critical, compared with the impossibility of conducting aimed fire with bursts from AK. But the last statement is a lyric, this “Armorer” was discussed many times, and experts spoke about it, in the full sense of the word, and gave a lot of arguments, from the most detailed drawings and diagrams to a visual comparison.

Consider in more detail all the prerequisites and results of such a replacement of the used cartridge, the reasons for replacing the "automatic" and other absurdities.

As always, a small-caliber cartridge was first developed for the new "machine gun", because the design of the weapon comes from the cartridge used in it. And it is the cartridge that has the greatest effect on combat characteristics weapons.

Western policy influenced the military leaders of the USSR, where, in order to lighten the ammunition load, the 5.56x45 cartridge was adopted, instead of the previously used cartridge 7.62x51 or .30-06. New American automatic rifles of that time - AR15 and M16 used a 5.56 mm caliber cartridge, which made it possible to significantly increase the number of cartridges while maintaining the total weight of the ammunition carried by the fighter. The Soviet cartridge for AKM caliber 7.62x39 weighed 16.3 grams, and the new cartridge caliber 5.45x39 weighed 10.2 grams. As a result, for example, 180 rounds of 7.62 caliber for the old AKM (6 magazines) weighed 2.9 kg, and 180 rounds of 5.45 mm caliber (the same 6 magazines) weighed 1.8 kg. At first glance, this fact carries solid pluses, but bullets of 5.45 mm caliber cartridges had no penetrating ability compared to 7.62 mm bullets for AKM. American bullets of 5.56x45 cartridges were heavier, from which they retained high flight speed for longer and were not so afraid of bushes and grass, while 5.45x39 literally swept away from the trajectory after the bullet passed even the most insignificant obstacle. The first 5.45x39 cartridges received the GRAU 7N6 index. The bullet consisted of a shell, a lead jacket and a steel core in the middle. The head of the 7N6 cartridge bullet was empty from the inside, that is, the lead did not completely fill the entire volume of the bullet. From this, the center of gravity of the bullet shifted significantly to its tail, the bullet in flight was on the verge of stability, and when it hit the human body, it caused more serious damage due to the fact that the center of gravity shifted to the bottom of the bullet made the bullet tumble and change trajectory, expanding wound channel. But these bullets were not capable of fulfilling the norms of a cartridge for army weapons. These bullets did not penetrate more or less serious obstacles, and if they did, they flew out along a different trajectory in a deformed form. The bullet of the old 7.62x39 cartridge pierced parapets and logs that protected the trenches, and retained its trajectory after penetration, and was also able to hit the target after passing through obstacles. The bullets of the 7.62x39 cartridge were much more stable and stable than the new ones, and also had an incomparably greater penetrating power. A 7.62 mm caliber bullet, when it hit the enemy, did not cause excessive damage compared to a 5.45 mm caliber bullet, but it disabled the enemy, which was more humane in relation to the soldiers of the opposing side. The main task of an army cartridge bullet is to disable the enemy, and to do this even after breaking through protective barriers and light body armor.

I will allow myself one more remark, which will explain the fact that the word "automatic", in relation to the AK74, is sometimes taken by me in quotation marks. The crux of the problem is that according to GOST of the Russian Federation, which regulates all types of small arms, which, among other things, includes the AK74, this weapon is an automatic rifle. Otherwise, using a more complete name, AK74 can be dubbed as "semi-automatic (self-loading) rifle with the ability to fire in continuous automatic mode." This statement of mine is not a quibble. The definition of the concept of "rifle" and the concept of "carbine" differ in the ratio of caliber and working length of the barrel. This thesis defines such a scheme: if the barrel length is approximately 50 calibers or less, this is a carbine. If the barrel length is 70 calibers and above - this is a rifle. In the event that the value of dividing the length of the barrel by the caliber is between these two fundamental figures, the decision on the name of the weapon is made according to the closest proximity to a particular barrel length. The AK74 had a barrel length of 415 mm. Caliber - 5.45 mm. As a result, it turns out that when dividing the barrel length by the caliber value, we get the number 76. That is, the length of the AK74 barrel is approximately 76 calibers of this weapon. It follows that the AK74 is an automatic rifle. This is a fact, and an irrefutable one. That is, the designers, creating the 5.45x39 cartridge, first of all created it for the new "automatic" AK74, it cannot be otherwise. As a result, we have such an interesting fact - the 5.45x39 cartridge is a rifle cartridge. According to the GOST classification of small arms, the concept of "automatic" is unequivocally interpreted as an automatic carbine (which is what the AK47 and AKM were with a barrel length of 420 mm and a caliber of 7.62 mm). But it is incorrect to call the AK74 an automatic machine. AK74 is not an automatic carbine because it is automatic rifle. And the cartridge for this weapon is rifle. Consequently, the designers, when developing the 5.45x39 cartridge, proceeded from the acceleration of a bullet along a rifled barrel with a length of more than 70 calibers, that is, they initially relied on a rifle cartridge and a rifle barrel. From all this it follows that the AK74 is an automatic rifle, despite the fact that the abbreviation AK carries the meaning of "Kalashnikov assault rifle." In short, another technical illiteracy of husbands from the arms industry and from other husbands who sign documents without being competent in the matter even at the level of a third-year student at the weapons department of a technical university of a certain orientation.

The new Kalashnikov assault rifle was a very bad idea, many experts in the field of weapons consider such a total replacement in the army of AKMs with AK74 almost like treason. And they are partly right.

The 5.45x39 cartridge for the AK74 is often called low-pulse, meaning a significant reduction in recoil and more confident weapon control in automatic mode when using this cartridge, in comparison with the 7.62 mm AKM. Such opinions are misleading, since the recoil momentum remained practically unchanged. The heavy AK74 bolt group, when fired, moves backward at about the same speed as the AKM bolt group. So the statements about the “low-impulse” of the 5.45x39 cartridge are nothing more than fairy tales based on the assumptions of amateurs who believe that since the bullet is smaller, then the cartridge has a lower recoil momentum.

The machine itself, after being transferred to a new ammunition, did not become lighter, on the contrary, it became heavier. This was due to the fact that the outer diameter of the barrel remained the same, as on 7.62 mm caliber submachine guns, and the diameter of the barrel bore decreased, as a result of which the barrel walls became thicker, and, accordingly, the weight increased. It is worth noting the muzzle brake compensator designed for the AK74. If the AKM had a short compensator, which was a cylinder cut diagonally, then the AK74 had a long steel cylinder with windows for the exit of powder gases, which reduced the barrel toss when firing in bursts. This muzzle brake was much more massive than the old short AKM compensator, which also affected the increase in the weight of the new machine gun.

Work of parts and mechanisms

The operation of the AK74 automation and its layout are no different from the AKM. Automation is based on a gas engine. Powder gases are discharged through a hole in the barrel into a gas outlet pipe located above the barrel. The tube contains a gas piston, which is integral with the bolt carrier. When fired and the removal of powder gases, the latter act on the gas piston and through it on the bolt carrier. The frame rolls back and removes a spent cartridge case from the chamber, which it held with the ejector hook. After passing the bolt frame of the window for ejection of cartridge cases located on the right side of the receiver, the reflector ejects the cartridge case into this window. The bolt group continues to move back, cocks the trigger and stops, hitting the rear wall of the receiver. During the rollback of the bolt, the return spring is compressed, and after the bolt carrier stops, it pushes it forward. When moving forward, the bolt frame pushes the next cartridge in the bottom of the sleeve located in the magazine, from which it exits the magazine and is sent by the bolt frame into the chamber. The last step The work of automation is the locking of the bore with a bolt.

The bolt locks the barrel by rotating along its axis, when the two projections on the bolt go beyond the two lugs, which are located near the chamber on the receiver. This rotation of the bolt is provided by a diagonal groove on the bolt carrier, which includes a lug of the bolt, and when the bolt carrier moves back or forth, this protrusion, passing through the groove, causes the bolt to rotate.

The fuse, which is also a fire translator, has three positions - a fuse, automatic mode (AB) and a single fire mode (OD). When the machine is on the safety lock, that is, the fuse translator is in its highest position, the fuse itself closes the slot in the receiver, designed to move the shutter handle, which reduces the likelihood of dust and dirt getting into the mechanism, and also blocks the bolt handle, not allowing her to move back, and whispered. The middle position of the translator is automatic fire, the lower one is single mode. It would seem that it should be the other way around, but this is clearly done on purpose. For example, in battle, on adrenaline, an inexperienced fighter will intuitively lower the translator-fuse “down to the stop” (as in the song), and will be able to shoot only single shots. If, in this case, the lower position is "AB", then the soldier can simply release the entire store on the nerve without any result. And so, if he switched to a single mode, the fighter can already consciously put the fire translator in automatic mode and shoot accurately, in short bursts. In any case, it is not easy to find another explanation for such positions of the translator of fire.

That is, everything works the same as in AKM.

AK74 modifications

At first, AK74 assault rifles were made with a wooden butt and handguard, magazines were made either from orange plastic or stamped from a steel sheet. Due to the increase in the mass of the machine due to the thicker walls of the barrel and the muzzle brake compensator, the design team was tasked with minimizing the weight of the new machine. This process even touched the wooden buttstock, on which grooves were made on the sides, in order to gain at least a few more grams. These grooves are visible on the AK74 wooden stock shown in the photo above.

There was also a variant with a frame steel folding stock on the left side - AKS74.

AKS74 with attached bayonet and unfolded stock.

Subsequently, starting in 1986, the buttstock, fore-end, overlay on the gas outlet tube and the pistol grip were made of high-strength black polymer (glass-filled polyamide), magazines were also made of black plastic.

Top AK74 with attached bayonet, bottom AKS74 with unfolded butt.

More modern AK74M models (modernized AK74 model), produced since the mid-90s of the last century, have a polymer stock that folds to the left side, in which a case with weapons care devices is placed, as in all previous versions of the AK, except for models with folding metal butts, where there is simply nowhere to place the pencil case. Also, on the left side of the receiver, a mount for a bracket for optical, night and collimator sights was provided, on the left side of the butt there is a special recess, which includes mounting brackets, for a snug fit of the folded butt to the receiver.

The advantage of the AK74, like its older brother AKM, was reliability and ease of maintenance. The new 5.45x39 cartridge allows for more accurate fire than the 7.62mm AKM. A faster bullet has better flatness, allowing you to practically ignore the lead when firing.

The disadvantages of the AK74 are, first of all, a very significant spread of bullets when firing in bursts, which is explained by the buildup of the machine gun when the heavy bolt group hits the rear wall of the receiver and into the breech when locking. Also, the reason for this disadvantage is the line of the butt, located below the line of the axis of the barrel and the location of the middle line of the butt, coinciding with the vector of the recoil force, at an angle to the axis of the barrel. For the sake of reliability, the gaps between the moving parts of the structure have been increased on the weapon, which also reduces the accuracy of the battle. The new 5.45x39 cartridge is not suitable for combat operations, since the bullet is too light and unstable in flight and is affected by small obstacles and crosswinds. In addition, a general purpose cartridge bullet has a very low penetrating power.

The article is not finished, some more details will be added.