By Lynndon Schooler

Peter Andreevich Tkachev was a small arms engineer for TsNIITochMash, the Central Scientific Research Institute for Precision Machine Engineering, located in Klimovsk about 50 miles to the South of Moscow. A recipient of the Hero of Socialist Labor medal, he is the designer best known for creating the “BARS” Balanced Automatic Recoil System on the prototype AO-38 construction, which is his most enduring design still used today in mainstream Russian small arms production; most famously in the AK-107 and civilian Saiga MK107/SR-1.

AO-63 History

The city of Klimovsk is a small urban center. For much of its Soviet history, and to a lesser extent today, the military and engineering sites of Klimovsk were “closed” installations. Soldiers and scientists lived in on-property dormitories, concrete apartment blocks if married, or if they were lucky and in a position of command, they commuted from Moscow by an electric olive drab commuter transport train. The highest-ranking KGB and authorities naturally had a driver bring them to TsNIITochMash. Either way, work materials were never allowed to leave grounds, and the men and women who worked there for the progress and mutual defense of their country saw virtually no international recognition for their labors as seen by the hotshots in Tula or Izhevsk. Partially because of the cloak and dagger secrecy and partially because of a lack of widespread success, little is known about the designer Peter Andreevich Tkachev working alongside Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov, designer of the SKS. Before Simonov’s death in 1986, the pair finished constructing the AO-63 prototype—one of the most creative but ill-fated small arms never put into production during the Cold War.

In 1981, the Ministers of the Soviet Union called for a program to build a replacement for the AK-74. It would seek a new assault rifle with increased effectiveness in automatic and burst fire. The objective was to create a lightweight design that would increase hit probability by 1.5 to 2.0 times. The project was code-named “Abakan” after a river in the Republic of Khakassia. The program was nearly identical to sporadic U.S. efforts since WWII and later the U.S. Advanced Combat Rifle Program. Eventually, it would reach the same conclusion—“what we have is good enough, and only marginal improvement is not worth the production cost.” But at the time, it was an engineering challenge, if not a mandate, to be addressed by virtually every design shop across the USSR, including Tkachev at TsNIITochMash.

In 1984, the AO-63 development began. Tkachev answered the need for increased hit probability in a burst with a brutally simple answer. In the absence of new ammunition with duplex rounds, he would make a double-barrel rifle that could fire two rounds almost simultaneously. The most striking feature visually is its two barrels in a side-by-side configuration. Out of necessity, both barrels had their own gas system. The gun operated with two pistons, two bolts, two hammers, a dual recoil spring assembly and essentially two of everything in the core function of a rifle. Coming in at almost 8 pounds, the gun is remarkably light when its construction concept is kept in mind.

The rifle has a unique fire control group with the selector on the right side, capable of safe, semi, burst and automatic fire. In burst mode, the rifle fires the first two shots at one of the fastest rates of fire ever documented in an assault rifle—6000 rpm or one millisecond between shots. Potentially, the gun could fire simultaneously, but the delay in fire is deliberate to counteract any negative effect on ballistics and a near constant recoil impulse. When on automatic fire, the gun has a short “fast-auto” and long “slow-auto,” meaning that the first two shots will be both barrels at the near instant rate of fire, but continued trigger pressure will switch fire to only the right barrel, which will shoot at 850 rpms in continuous fire. This makes the right side the predominant barrel.

The fire control group has, interestingly, no hammer springs but rather strut springs and strut arms that are connected to the hammers. Each bolt operates independently. The charging handle is attached to the primary right carrier. There is a short linkage bar connecting each carrier at the rear, and a sleeve on the right carrier supporting the left carrier rod allows for reciprocating movement. Each carrier has a “stem” that each bolt rotates over on a cam pin. The right carrier has a separate rod which is attached to the charging handle. The spring on the charging handle rod appears to be a “momentum spring,” allowing for rearward movement of the handle before the bolts start to unlock. It likely assists in reliability and ensures equal force distributed across both bolts. When pulling back on the bolt, the linkage bar pulls the left carrier rearward unlocking the left bolt. Each piston has a support guide behind the piston head to support reciprocating movement in the gas tubes. The locking lugs are 1 inch back from the bolt face. The trigger is a double hook to grab both hammers. Note there are only one sear trip and two disconnectors. When disassembled, the selector mechanism is difficult to see because it is covered by a housing.

The magazine is always a critical part, if not the most critical part, in a firearm’s reliability. Despite the redundancy of the gun, the AO-63 fires from technically a single magazine but keeps up with the impressive rate of fire. The prototype magazine appears to be a rough steel fabrication with two chambers. The left action feeds from one 15-round stack, while the right feeds from a 30-round stack. The magazine is technically a quad-stack, with a 45-round capacity.

The Abakan Trials

Though this is only speculation, the gun was likely dropped for its high production cost and for a lack of practicality. The Abakan trials were won in 1994 by Gennadiy Nikonov at Izhmash, with his AN-94—a less accurate, heavier and more complex design. In a side-by-side comparison of examples that I have personally examined, the AO-63 is easier to clear malfunctions and maintain than the AN-94. The AN-94’s victory was underwhelming. Rather than replacing the AK-74, as was the intention of the Abakan trials, the AN-94 saw extremely limited use under the GRAU adoption designation 6P33. The collapse of the Soviet Union was likely the last nail in the coffin of the Abakan’s success, because it essentially froze military industries as the country weathered economic and social collapse. But just as likely, the culprit was the hard truth that the AN-94’s complexity and expense outweighed any advantage that its high rate of fire offered. Russian operators in highly specialized tasks are still effective with simpler Kalashnikov-based designs. Though failing to be a firearms technology breakthrough, the AN-94 carries the title of “the last Soviet designed assault rifle.”

I would like to thank the Kalashnikov Museum in Izhevsk Udmurtia for letting me inspect, disassemble and document this rifle in 2017; I regret not getting more quality detailed photographs to publish.

Needless to say, authenticity has its down side. One does not wish to appear in public with this rifle in hand, unless one wishes to attract a great deal of unwanted attention from the local gendarmerie. In fact, the police have shot people for a lot less, so caveat emptor if you buy one of these Kalashnikov souvenirs. The owner’s manual that accompanies the rifle even has a warning statement, as follows: “IMPORTANT. EXPOSED CARRYING AND IMITATIONS OF USING THIS RIFLE AS A COMBAT WEAPON MAY DELUDE OFFICIALS OF THE LAW-ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES OR CIVILIANS AND GIVE THEM REASON TO USE A FIREARM OR OTHER MEANS OF SELF DEFENCE AGAINST YOU.” (The caps are theirs, not ours.) At any rate, Izhmash came up with an ideal souvenir that violates no laws, yet actually shoots after a fashion (see below) and has the authentic Kalashnikov imprimatur.

How authentic is the Junkers? It is so authentic that a Russian friend tells us that the Junkers is used for training older schoolchildren in the basics of the AK. Look at the close up photos of the receiver. The Junkers has the full Izhmash factory markings, except that the right side of the receiver it is marked “Junker – Kalashnikov USA -Port St. Lucie, FL, USA.” The rifle even has a nonfunctioning magazine that can be inserted and removed exactly as with the original. The likewise nonfunctioning selector moves to its appropriate positions on the receiver. In fact, the receiver cover, “recoil spring,” “bolt carrier,” and “gas tube” are disassembled exactly as with the real rifle. In fact, these components must be removed to load the magazine with BBs. The Junker even weighs seven pounds — about the same as an actual AK-74. Once the receiver cover, recoil spring and bolt carrier are removed, however, things are quite different. Nestled inside the receiver is a pistol, which can be removed and fired independently of the rifle. The muzzle of the pistol interfaces with a BB “Guide Tube” beneath the “barrel” in the same location as the actual rifle’s cleaning rod. What appears to be the barrel seems to be an actual 5.45mm barrel that has no chamber and has had three large holes drilled horizontally near the breech end to ensure that the air rifle is not somehow transformed into a real rifle. The “barrel” is actually rifled and one can only hope that the barrels used to fabricate “Junkers” air rifles are rejects. The muzzle brake is removable as with the actual rifle. The guide tube, however, has no rifling at all. It is merely a steel tube with a boss at the muzzle end for attaching it to the sight base. Fit and finish of components is typical Kalashnikov, rough but serviceable.

The Junkers/MP651K pistol/revolver is supplied with two eight shot cylinders, one for use with BBs and one for 4.5mm lead pellets. The BB cylinder, installed at the factory, has a small ledge in each chamber to prevent BBs from double feeding and causing a stoppage. The cylinder for 4.5mm pellets is bored straight through. If one removes the pistol, uses it for pellets and then forgets and replaces it into the rifle with the pellet cylinder in place, BBs from the tubular magazine will “double feed,” causing a stoppage that requires the pistol to be again removed from the rifle to clear. The Junkers is also provided with a comprehensive accessory kit that includes a cleaning rod, tools, a rear sight for the pistol and spare “O” rings and gaskets for the gas system. A small tubular container that fits inside the buttstock receptacle houses a screwdriver and punch. These are inserted into slots in the tube’s side for use.

The rifle obviously is not intended for use as such on a regular basis. Loading requires removal of the receiver cover, recoil spring and bolt carrier. This allows access to the pistol’s 23 shot tubular magazine that feeds BBs to an eight shot revolving cylinder. We found with our rifle that loading more than 18 BBs made the trigger mechanism very stiff to operate because of BB pressure against the pistol’s cylinder. Once the rifle is loaded, it may be fired without replacing the receiver components, but what fun is that? In practice, we always loaded the rifle with 18 rounds and kept a round count or waited until the slight difference in shot noise indicated that there was no BB exiting the guide tube. Accuracy? Not very good. Our Junkers consistently shot very low and to the left and our Daisy Red Ryder BB gun gets better shot groups. Our Junkers seemed unable to “print” any shot groups worthy of the name, shooting to a different point of impact with each shot. Adjusting the sight for elevation made little difference in the point of impact of the BBs. In fact, the rifle is pretty much useless as such; attributable to the interface of the MP651K pistol’s muzzle to the guide tube and the fact that the guide tube has a slight downward cant at the muzzle end. These could be corrected by some judicious machining, but unless one were to change the entire guide tube, it would make little difference. The most serious blow to Junkers accuracy is the guide tube’s inside diameter of approximately 0.275 inch, which ensures that the 0.17-inch BB will ricochet its way down the tube and exit the muzzle at a slightly different angle with each shot. It is abundantly clear that this rifle was not intended for competitive air rifle shooting. We were able to consistently hit a gallon milk jug at 25 feet with the rifle, but that is about as good as accuracy gets. In contrast, when backyard shooting with our Daisy, we can successfully engage bottle caps at the same range.

As mentioned, though, the Junkers can also be used as a pistol, so we were curious as to the pistol’s accuracy once it was separated from the rifle component of the system. Removing the pistol is a rather involved process, as follows:

• Engage the safety!
• Remove the receiver cover.
• Withdraw the recoil spring.
• Remove the bolt carrier and unload the magazine (The cylinder cannot be unloaded except by firing the pistol.)
• Remove the “gas tube.” (The takedown lever was very stiff and required pliers to rotate)
• Lift the forearm retaining lever, slide the clamp forward, and remove the forearm.
• Undo the retaining screw beneath the sight block and remove the guide tube.
• Remove the plastic pistol grip.
• Remove the buttstock screw and buttstock.
• Remove the “selector” by pivoting it vertically and then working it out to the right.
• Tilt the pistol back by pulling down on the grip frame so the muzzle is upward. Work the pistol out of the receiver from the top.
• Reassembly is the reverse of the foregoing, except that the magazine catch spring has to be pressed back out of the way with a small screwdriver or similar tool so the trigger guard will fit back in the housing. Also, the catch spring is guaranteed to scar the finish of the trigger guard! (There is nothing about this in the instructions.) Moreover, you have to hold your mouth just right to get the pistol positioned properly so the guide tube will interface.

Once the pistol has been removed from the rifle’s receiver, it can be fired accurately using BBs after installing the rear sight provided in the accessory kit. The sight simply slides into place and is fixed with a small lock screw. The MP651K has a rifled steel barrel nearly six inches in length. To change from BBs to pellets, the pellet cylinder must be inserted, a task which can be accomplished in a one or two seconds by simply pressing the release latch and lifting out the BB cylinder. The pellet cylinder is loaded from the rear and will not feed pellets from the pistol’s tubular BB magazine. Thus, the pellet cylinder must be removed for reloading after every eight shots. This is, as stated, not difficult. When used with 4.5mm lead pellets, the MP651K pistol is extremely accurate. We were able to achieve one inch groups from the offhand position with it at 15 feet in our informal evaluation. But of course, how often one will use the Junkers as a pistol is highly questionable, given that getting at the pistol requires nearly total disassembly of the rifle and about 10 minutes’ time. Moreover, the components do not separate or reassemble easily. Disassembly and reassembly resulted in several unavoidable scrapes and scratches on the surface of both the pistol and rifle in the receiver area. The owner of a Junkers will not use his air gun in the pistol role very often.

Based on the foregoing, one would logically conclude that we didn’t like the Junkers. WRONG! With this rifle, logic goes out the window! The Junkers is a real Kalashnikov, straight from Izhmash and we love it! We’d love it even if it didn’t shoot, because it is just SO damn politically incorrect! If Diane Feinslime, Teddy (the lecher blimp) Kennedy, Algore, HILLARY!, Traitor Bill, or Chuckie Schumer were to see this air rifle, they would all enter into apoplectic fits! (The CHILDREN, y’know!) In fact, we consider it to be only a matter of time before the Junkers is banned simply because of its appearance. The Junkers transcends being evaluated as an air rifle, or as anything other than what it is — a true Kalashnikov memento that happens to be a Kalashnikov memento that actually shoots, is legal to own (for now), and can be sent right to your door via UPS or FedEx. Moreover, the engineering that went into adapting the AK receiver so that an MP651K pistol would fit inside and work is fascinating in itself. In the final analysis, everyone who is enamored with the basic AK design should want a Junkers air rifle. Sure, you can have “the real thing, but the “real AKs” available in this country are not made by Izhmash. I’m personally not a great fan of AKs, and don’t own and have no desire to own any of “the real ones,” as I had enough of them in Vietnam. But the Junkers is different. I love it! Order yours from:

Kalashnikov USA
Department SAR
1019 Holbrook Ct, B-3
Port St Lucie, FL 34952
Tel: (561) 337-3398
Fax: (561) 337-0258
www.weapons-russian.com