In the new millennium, the young Russian state needed a main sidearm—something modern, hearty and comparable in size and function to NATO pistols. Paramount to the modern Russian fighting pistol, codenamed “Grach,” within the Russian Army trail program, was the newly adopted 9x21mm armor piercing SP-10 ammunition. This new “wonder round” was developed by the famous Central Research and Development Institute of Precision Machine Building, known by its Russian acronym TsNIITochMash, to be used in their “snub-nosed viper” pistol, the Gyurza, aka the SR-1. Pyotr Serdyukov, lead designer of the pistol, resolved to develop a submachine gun to accommodate the new round. 

Ammo 

The 9x21mm SP-10 special cartridge uses a 103-grain projectile and has a muzzle velocity of 1245 feet per second from the SR-1 pistol. Per Russian naming standards from the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate, it is recognized by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation as the 7N29, “7N” noting ammunition. Another 9x21mm cartridge, the SP-11, is designated as 7N28 and uses a full-metal jacket ball round. This makes it ideal for use on unprotected personnel and as a training round due to its lower cost and reduced ricochet. The SP-11 has a 121-grain projectile and a muzzle velocity of 1279 feet per second from an SR-1 pistol. The Russians also provide the SP-12, a 9x21mm jacketed hollow-point cartridge when expanding ammunition is needed. To date, the SP-10 armor piercing round is the most commonly fielded round from the SP family. 

Purpose 

The FSB (Federal Security Service) was the first organization to vocalize interest in a potential submachine gun chambered for the potent SP-10 cartridge. They communicated their desire to Serdyukov in the mid-1990s to create such a special purpose weapon. The result was the SR-2 (Spetsialnaya Razrabotka–Special Development), named Veresk, after the Eurasian flower, heather. In the early 2000s, the SR-2 entered service in the hands of FSB Spetsnaz and other special units such as OMON (Special Purpose Mobile Unit) of Russian law enforcement and SOBR (Special Rapid Response Unit) under the Russian National Guard. In practice, the SR-2 provides good armor penetration characteristics up to 40 meters and an effective range of 150–200 meters, with significant stopping power. The Veresk is exceptionally compact for its class, lightweight and concealable. As such, it is a favorite of special unit entry shield men, who may use the weapon with one hand, without sacrificing stopping power and ergonomics. 

Differing from most submachine guns, the Veresk is gas-operated with a rotating bolt, using a striker-fired floating hammer. This allows the receiver to be even more compact. An ergonomic fire control layout allows for a right-handed shooter to operate the safety with his index finger on the right side of the weapon and the selector switch with his thumb on the left. An ambidextrous magazine release is placed behind the trigger group, and a folding charging handle protrudes on the right side from the ejection port. A vertical foregrip is located just below the muzzle behind the removable hand stop. The hand stop may be removed to accommodate attaching a suppressor. 

TsNIITochMash designed the KP-SR-2 collimator sight specifically for the SR-2M to mount on top of the weapon, while simultaneously accommodating the top folding stock without interference. This feature required a stock redesign SR-2 to the SR-2M to allow this feature. To unfold the stock, the buttplate is pulled rearward, unlocking from the front sight. To fold the stock, a button on the bottom of the receiver is depressed and the stock can be folded over the top of the receiver. A special additional stock may be used to clear helmet face shields and is attached using a bracket securing to the original stock’s release button. Engaging this button will allow the face-shield stock to be completely removed from the weapon. 

The stock is a simple wire, swooping down to clear a helmet face shield, and a simple rubber butt pad covers the back. The Veresk is fed from a 20- or 30-round, double-stack, double-feed magazine, that inserts into the pistol grip/ magazine well. At 900 rounds per second, the weapon is surprisingly controllable based on its size and weight. 

After years of use, Special Force operators have noted some needed improvements to the design. Specifically, the folding charging handle and the folding vertical foregrip present some issues. The folding charging handle may be accidentally bumped closed. In the folded position, this adds an inconvenient step to reloading the weapon, especially under pressure as the weapon does not have a last round hold-open or a bolt release. One operator recalled striking a combatant in the face with the weapon and breaking off the foregrip as it was deployed in the down position. However, this move may have been outside the weapon’s design parameters but was nonetheless a need that arose in a life or death situation. 

An Upgrade 

The SR-2 was later upgraded to the SR-2M, swapping the screwed-in vertical grip to a folding vertical grip. The removable hand stop was added just rearward of the muzzle. The stock was redesigned to be folded and extended with a reflex sight in place. Coming to a total weight of 3.6 pounds, the SR-2M is a light submachine gun package providing sufficient fire and stopping power. The original SR-2 can still be found in units using older weapons or, as one Special Forces instructor said, those units with reduced budgets. The latest SR-2MP includes additional M1913 accessory rails on the left and right side of the handguard and on the top of the receiver in the place of sights. The SR-2MP remains available for export to partner nations and has shown its ability to modernize alongside contemporary force multipliers. 

In 1990, the Soviet Ministry of Defense was facing considerable economic strain. It nonetheless was confronted with the fact that its mainline sidearm, the Makarov PM pistol, was an aging, heavy hunk of steel that looked more at home in a 1960’s spy movie, than a pistol of the upcoming new century. The ministry put out a request to replace the Makarov PM, but before substantial development could get underway, the Soviet Union collapsed under the weight of failed political and social policy and a heavy military spending burden.

The ministry’s successor, the Ministry of Defense of the newly formed Russian Federation, was in no better economic position and was left with an even worse geopolitical and regional security disaster. The idea of a modern pistol to replace the PM design was one of the few projects not to be placed on the economic chopping block, and so a competition was put forth to bring Russia’s main sidearm into the new millennium.

The Russian Army trial program for the pistol, codenamed “Grach,” attracted the attention of the design team at the well-established цнииточмаш (aka “TsNIITOChMASh” in English, the Russian Central Research Institute for Precision Machine Building) which developed the “snub nosed viper”—the Gyurza. This dramatic name was visually fitting for the 1990s-designed SPS (Serdyukov self-loading pistol), which was created at the initial Soviet request in the years prior and was an early contender in the ill-fated attempt to unseat the prolific PM. In 1993, Piotr Serdyukov’s design would eventually be renamed the “Vektor,” as part of Russia’s introduction to the attractive naming conventions in a capitalistic state.

Yet, in the sunset of the Soviet Union, when the Gyurza round was not yet in the Vektor days, two men and one woman went to work on the future cartridge with which all Soviet soldiers (at least those outfitted with a pistol) were intended to be equipped. E.S. Kornilova, A.B. Yuryev and I.P. Kasyanov at TsNIITOCh-MASh had to create a bespoke and enhanced cartridge to meet the initial state requirements. The pistol would have to be more powerful than the PM, with an effective range no less than 50 meters, with the ability to defeat body armor at 100 meters. This was a tall order. Their answer was the 9×21. However, when the cartridge was modernized after the state’s collapse and thousands of former Soviet citizens found themselves without work, only Yuryev remained on the design team.

The cartridge was intended to be standard issue, but in practice the 9×21 cartridge was built from the ground up to be special purpose ammunition. As a result, it was and remains comparatively expensive compared to standard 9×19 and 9×18 cartridges. Immediately, this created a shortage in availability, precluding intensive training from anyone apart from special forces units and spooky agencies. The round had an armor piercing variant, the SP-10, a full metal jacket ball round, the SP-11, a reduced ricochet variant, the SP-12, and a tracer, the SP-13. The SP-10 armor-piercing round is a 103-grain projectile with a muzzle velocity of 1,300 feet per second. It carries 563 Joules or 415 foot pounds of muzzle energy. Per the state requirement, the SP-10 armor-piercing round is capable of defeating class IIIA at 50 meters.

Despite the new and improved cartridge and the slick name “Vektor,” the pistol was rejected by the Russian Army. Instead, the Izh-mash entry won the competition, called the MP-443 “Grach” (named for the competition itself) in 9×19, designed by Vladimir Yarygin. Soldiers called it the “PYa,” an abbreviation of “P,” for “pistol” and “Ya,” for “Yarygin.” Their Grach pistol entered production in 2003. While the Russian army was against the Vektor design, it attracted the attention of other Russian authorities and saw a second chance at life in the hands of Russian law enforcement and intelligence services. It was expeditiously put into production in 1996 and adopted by the FSB in the same year. The name “Vektor” was dropped in favor of the stoic SR-1, the “SR” meaning “special development” in Russian. Russian armament authorities, the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate, designate it with the less slick name “GRAU 6P53.”

In function, the Vektor is a short, recoil-operated, locked-breech pistol, with an 18-round, double-stack magazine. The barrel locking is achieved by a tilting locking block, located under the barrel. A polymer frame houses the double-action trigger, which features a trigger safety similar to that on the Glock. The pistol features a grip safety and finally a firing pin safety in the slide. The double-action mode of fire will work only if the hammer is in the half-cocked position.

In 2003, the design was modernized to the SR-1M, with a strengthened polymer frame and improved ergonomics. Another modernized variant is the SR-3MP, which features an M1913 rail adapter and threaded barrel for a sound suppressor. Recently, this author had the opportunity to inspect an SR-1M in late 2018 while visiting Chechnya. Unfortunately, he was not able to shoot it, due to the pistol’s infamous ammunition unavailability; the author was later told that if this were an FSB (Federal Security Service) unit there would be no issue with ammunition availability. A Special Forces instructor presented his pistol to me, and at his request, I was not able to photograph the weapon with the serial number visible. This is why the photo has it obstructed from view. In the hand, the pistol feels and handles well with ease of manipulation and fire control access. Coming in line with the eye, it has standard low-profile sights, and the crisp trigger is complimented by a short trigger pull and clean reset.

In the end, Grach was adopted as the standard issue Russian service pistol and for the last two decades as well; however, the PM is still in wide use in conflict zones around the world. Despite their best efforts, the world of Russian combat pistols remains a mixed bag—the SR-1M alongside the PM on the same fighting team. The Spetsnaz instructors, with whom this author spoke, indicated that the idea of a pistol with increased armor-defeating capability is very useful for their applications, but limited ammo had negatively affected their ability to train as rigorously as they demand. As for this author, all I could attest to was the feel of the gun. It was well-machined with a slick action. It was a typical TsNIITOChMAsh product. Someday, the author hopes to get his hands on that precious ammunition and put some rounds downrange.

In Chechnya, the Stechkin Automatic Pistol (APS) is considered a badge of honor. Like the AKS-74U in the mountains of Afghanistan, the APS carries with it a social weight in the Caucasus that denotes command, courage and longevity in service to the state. It is also considerably a rarer sight among local combat arms in the region, adding to its intrigue. Despite being a 60-year-old design and having cultural reverence just as long, the sturdy long slide pistol is still fulfilling the role of a personal defense weapon among Russian special operations groups and air crews currently serving in Syria. 

The pistol began development in 1948 in the hands of the young engineer Igor Yakovlevich Stechkin, the newly appointed 26-year-old designer and Tula native, at the Tula Central Design Bureau No. 14. This same bureau would become the famous Tula Instrument Design Bureau after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but before experienced more humble stats as one of the dozens of “central design teams” across the Union. In 1949, Stechkin had his first shop floor prototype of the APS (or Automatic Pistol of Stechkin in its native Russian), and after trials and series of improvements, it was adopted into Soviet service in 1951. This was a breakneck pace from concept, development and adoption, by any standard. The weapon was fielded simultaneously alongside the smaller and far more common Makarov Pistol PM (Pistolet Makarova) and was intended for soldiers with unique specialties, where wielding a Kalashnikov would not be reflective of their primary role. Armored crews, pilots, RPG-7 gunners and PK/M machine gunners were a few of the approved users. These soldiers would be exposed to more severe combat conditions in which a PM would not be sufficient for self-defense, but the APS, with its 20 rounds of double-stacked 9×18 Makarov and select-fire capability, would possibly close the gap. 

Much like the PM, the APS features a fixed barrel. This feature improves grouping consistency and accuracy for single fire. The weapon’s accuracy in burst, when in the hands of a trained shooter, is more or less controllable when compared to other weapons of its type. This is due to the rate reducer located in the grip, which moderates the rate of fire. However, at the height of the Cold War and the further development of the USSR’s compact weapons program, the little APS soon lost its commission in 1958 and was placed in arsenal storage. 

A Second Chance 

In the criminal chaos of the 1990s, the APS saw a second life. Russian law enforcement agencies needed greater firepower over the PM, and full-sized Kalashnikov assault rifles over-penetrated in urban and pastoral criminal 

situations. The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs looked to submachine guns, but none, including the AKS-74U, were in sufficient production to arm both the armed services and the police force. Russia’s police special tactics groups, such as OMON, SOBR and others, began to purchase the moth-balled crates from Soviet warehouses and found, to their delight, the little APS. 

These units had to overcome some minor inconveniences. The large shoulder stock, which doubled as a holster was too large to be comfortably carried on the belt by most officers. Many APS users also lacked the trigger time to fire the weapon on automatic with any practical effect. The weapon was not the choice for everyday use. Quickly, the agencies realized why the weapon was retired in the first place. However, the pistol excelled in accuracy and lower recoil over the PM, with an accelerated muzzle velocity. The agencies looked to the experience of the KGB, which never fully handed in their APS pistols, and in the 1970s alongside military intelligence, the GRU, encouraged the development of the APB, a silenced variant. A.S. Neugodov’s design, developed at the Vyatskie Polyany Machine-Building Plant, was essentially a converted APS. It was formally adopted in 197 and given the GRAU index of 6P13. It was produced by the venerable TsNIITOCHMASH, a key design bureau for various Spetsnaz equipment and modernizer of the APS. 

The APB 

The APB served in the hands of the Soviet armed forces, reconnaissance groups and the special tactics divisions of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. The APB was used widely during the Afghanistan conflict from 1979 to 1989 and saw great effect among the Spetsnaz. It proved to be resilient in the harshest of environments and benefited from an upgraded stock. The lower profile wire design was more comfortable to stow and folded to attach to the suppressor. The bore of the suppressor was not centered but indexed higher to be closer to the standard sights. Its construction reduced the initial bullet velocity and reduced the report signature as designed. The barrel is fixed with two sets of ports, one near the chamber and one near the muzzle. This allows the expanding gasses to pass into the sound suppressing expansion chamber from the barrel sleeve. It is one of the earlier suppressors put into standard production within the Soviet Union, with a set of bent washers consisting of three baffles. Surprisingly, the APB is reported to have reduced shot dispersion over the original APS. 

Test Results 

Having personally tested the APS in Chechnya, with no stock attached, this author can testify that it is an outstandingly accurate pistol. At close range, the weapon maintains its accuracy even in short bursts. The weapon does feel heavy in the hand, being of all steel construction; however, it is manageable and contributes to lower felt recoil. Nonetheless, the APB and APS failed in their goals to be a PDW and a silenced submachine gun. Better designs fill this role and are currently deployed by the Russian forces. Still, these pistols have found a niche market and are still used by some of the most proficient fighters in the Russian military and intelligence services. Despite their shortcomings, this last of the machine pistols seems adamant to continue fighting for years to come. 

In the late 1970s, the Soviet Union had begun construction of sports facilities for the upcoming 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics. However, the Munich Summer Olympics massacre in 1972 paired with growing instability in the Middle East raised major security concerns for the Kremlin. The Soviet Union was to be on the world stage, and the KGB (the Committee for State Security) was tasked with personally guarding (and spying on) high ranking officials and foreign dignitaries. To address this need, the intelligence agency put out a request to its engineering department to produce a low-profile, discreet-carry, micro-caliber select-fire weapon, to be deployed rapidly when necessary and to be disguised as a common accessory so frequently seen that it disappears in plain sight. 

History had proven that KGB agents needed to be armed with something more substantial than a pistol, as terrorist groups often used full-sized small arms abroad. However, the Soviets had strict size parameters to fit that something in an “Operational Briefcase.” The recently adopted AKS-74U was the natural answer, which, when folded, manages to just fit into what looks like an inconspicuous attaché case. 

Several years prior, in 1973, the Ministry of Defense put out a solicitation for this compact assault rifle. Kalashnikov design’s bureau entry at the Izhevsk Arms Factory had won, and the rifle was officially adopted as the AKS-74U (folding AK-74 shortened) in 1979. The handy little rifle weighed in at less than 6 pounds with a rate of fire of 650 rounds per minute. The barrel extends slightly over 8 inches with an overall length of 19.29 inches, with the stock folded and 28.93 inches with the stock extended. 

Recent Revival 

Production started in Izhevsk and was moved in 1981-1982 to the Tula Arms Plant before production ended in 1993. The AKS-74U was first fielded in Afghanistan by Soviet Spetsnaz operators, who did not favor the compact weapon in the extended ranges and open mountainous area of operation, instead preferring the AKS-74. The AKS-74U saw greater success with pilots and vehicle crews. Pashtun Mujahideen gave the name “Krinkov” to 

the compact assault rifle, and the West got their first look outside of Langley in the July 1984 issue of Soldier Of Fortune Magazine. Although the AKS-74U was not appreciated upon first issue to Special Forces, it has seen a recent revival, being pulled from security and police arsenals and given to modern special operations to use. The AKS-74U has decent ballistic performance and maintains a convenient length when suppressed. In personal interviews, several Russian soldiers with combat experience in Syria commented that they would have preferred using an AKS-74U instead of their AK-74Ms and AK-105s, despite a full suite of rails and upgrades. 

Unlike the rugged and scaled-down AKS- 74U, its crafty case had to be of a more clever construction, offering concealed carry and a unique and rapid deployment method. 

Concealed Carry Case 

The case utilizes a cradle within the inner frame, which secures the weapon in place. The AKS-74U is connected to the case handle, which is detachable from the briefcase. The briefcase itself acts as a clamshell around the weapon. There is a safety and trigger on the handle to deploy the weapon from the case. When the safety is switched down and the trigger is depressed, the briefcase siding jettisons from the weapon, leaving the AKS-74U in the operator’s hand attached to the cradle. The operator can then employ the weapon effectively while unfolding the triangle stock to the deployed position and may engage the threat. The carrying handle does not obstruct the line of sight and can be removed if necessary when time allows by simply pulling back in the handle. A lever sets the tension to engage under the rear sight assembly. 

The escort briefcase cannot shoot from inside the case. Instead, the weapon must be removed and deployed from the case to effectively employ the weapon to its full potential. The briefcase also allows two 30-round magazines to be taped together in the case and inserted into the weapon. 

Two KGB Models 

Currently there are two known KGB briefcase models. The earlier production version has the weapon sit horizontally with the booster removed. The AKS-74U can operate flawlessly with the booster removed. The second known case allows room for the booster and has a redesigned cradle and case to put the weapon at a 45-degree angle. The carrying handle’s attachment point is also redesigned. This late production model provides an improved view down the sites and may also be removed rapidly. 

The general public first saw this type of operational briefcase in the famous Russian miniseries Brigada in 2002. The miniseries used the late production model with the AKS-74U at an angle in the briefcase. After a nearly 20-year service life, the briefcase had outlived the Soviet Union and swapped hands across multiple government law enforcement agencies, the KGB and the successor, the FSB. 

At the end of its service life, the KGB escort briefcase has been replaced by means of carrying a compact personal defensive weapon and other classified means. Acquired by Western intelligence, the KGB briefcase lost its cover years ago. Other nations have dabbled with briefcase-deployed weapons, but both the early and later versions of the Soviet model comparatively provided greater control and real-world utility by advantageously allowing the shooter to use the weapon’s sights, apply target discrimination and reload. In conclusion, the KGB operational briefcase was ingenious for its time, giving rapid reactive firepower in a turbulent era. While obsolete, it is a keen reminder that things are not always what they seem, inviting one to wonder what the Russians have possibly thought up since. 

The bloodiest conflict in human history brought unthinkable hardships and suffering to the Soviet peoples. The Eastern front of World War II, forever known as “The Great Patriotic War,” instilled a horrific lesson. Victory can be won with tragic heroism and sacrifice, but ultimately without technical and tactical innovation, it is a cruel waste of life. This lesson was already being learned partly through WWII and in command style and tactical abilities—the Red Army in 1945 was a far cry from the Red Army of 1941. Nonetheless, the war’s atrocities and the shock and awe of fighting a technologically and tactically superior force still haunt the region to this day. New developments were still needed in every aspect of modern warfighting, including small arms design, to offset loss of life in future conflicts and to prepare the Soviet Union for emerging threats in the new atomic age.

When Hitler’s fascist forces invaded the USSR in June 1941, the largest invasion in history, patriots came from all walks of life to do their part in answering the call to defend their motherland. One such patriot was a peasant from Kurya, in the Altai Krai region of Western Siberia. Born on November 10, 1919, Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov had a particular mechanical aptitude and was conscripted as a tanker into the Red Army in 1938. With the peace broken in 1941, Kalashnikov’s direct action was limited as a tank mechanic, but he was quickly elevated to command a T-34 tank in the following months.

In October 1941, Kalashnikov’s company came in contact with the flank of a German line near the Bryansk, a small town, as part of a greater Soviet counter offensive to slow the charge of the German Army Group Center’s blitz toward Moscow. Suddenly, his tank was struck with a loud blast, and a ringing echo shrieked in his ears paired with a dizzying flash of bright light. He fell unconscious, shell shocked and with lacerations from shrapnel across his body. His body was recovered from the knocked-out tank and transported east toward a field hospital.

“In the hospital, I seemed to re-live everything that happened during the months of my participation in the fighting. Again and again, I returned to the tragic days of getting out of that environment. The dead comrades rose before my eyes. At night, in a dream, automatic machine guns often occurred, and I woke up. There was silence in the ward, interrupted only by the groans of the wounded. I lay with my eyes open and thought: why do we have so few automatic weapons in our army, easy, quick-fire, trouble-free?” – Mikhail Kalashnikov

Motivated by a burning sense of purpose to equip Soviet soldiers with better firepower, he started designing small arms in 1942, once recovered from his wounds. In three months, working from a railway shop in Kazakhstan, he produced the PPK (pistolet-pulemyot Kalashnikova—machine pistol of Kalashnikov) as his first production sample, and in 1942 he submitted his design to a government trial. Although it did not progress, his skills as a weapons designer caught the eye of Soviet authorities, and they saw to it that he was placed where his talent would be demanded. Though never developed past prototype phase, by 1944 Kalashnikov had designed two self-loading carbines and a support machine gun.

In 1942-1943 the Red Army came in contact with a new German Machine Carbine, known as the MKb42h (H-Haenel/Schmeiiser), firing a unique 7.92×33 Kurz (short) intermediate cartridge. In the Eastern front, Germany was testing the weapon in small batches and later fielded the MP-43, an improved design off feedback from the test reports. Following the MKb42h were the MP-43/1, 43, & 44 (machine pistol) and final iteration, the Sturmgewehr StG44; although changes from the MP to the StG series (a name change requiring Hitler’s approval) were only minor, such as barrel diameter and a stock design. 

By 1943-1944 the MP and Sturmgewehr were in limited use due to production shortfalls. Germany equipped entire units with the rifle, rather than spreading several rifles to many units across the army. Combat reports from test units noted the drastic improvement in firepower over the K98k, reduced reload time, increased ease of firing while moving and increased range over the only comparable shoulder-fired automatic arms, the MP-38/MP-40 submachine guns. This gave the Germans an edge in highly mobile warfare across urban environments.

The first examples of the German automatic carbine MKb42h and ammunition were reported to have been captured near the Leningrad region in 1942. They were sent in secret to the Soviet Army small arms proving range at Shurovo outside Moscow for testing and evaluation. The results of the testing surpassed all Soviet expectations, and after studying captured 7.92×33 in 1942-1943 the Soviet Union requested their own intermediate cartridge.
Shortly thereafter, the Soviet high command requested its own intermediate cartridge comparable to the 7.92×33. In 1943, engineers produced 7.62×41, the first Soviet intermediate cartridge. It was adopted the same year as the M43 and entered production in March 1944. 

The Soviet Union began work on assault rifles capable of using the new intermediate round as early as November 1943. The research and development group was quickly issued an official state request to produce a rifle in the M43 round for the upcoming 1944 trials for a new general purpose service rifle. Designers Tokarev, Korovin, Degtyarev, Shpagin, Sudayev, Simonov, Aleksandrovich, Ivanov, Prilutsky all submitted designs for the new “Avtomat.”

Alexei Sudayev, designer of the famed PPS-43, led the initial competition with the AS-44 prototype. In 1944, the AS-44 (Avtomat Sudaeva) satisfied the specified tactical and technical requirements of the trials. A small batch was order at the Tula Arms Factory for further military testing in 1945 as part of state mandate (GAU No. 3131-45) to field a new assault rifle in the M43 caliber. Alexei Sudayev died in August 1946, and development of his prototype was halted.

The M43 intermediate cartridge was updated in 1946 at the Ulyanovsk machine building plant with a shorter casing by 2mm. The round was also modified from a flat backed lead core projectile to a boat tailed steel core projectile. The new 7.62×39 retained the M43 designation. 

In 1946, a second competition was launched with updated tactical and technical requirements (TTT) of the 1945 GAU No. 3131-45, and interested designers had to adjust their prototypes for the new caliber.

In October 1946, after reviewing design sketches of 16 present entries, the commission narrowed selection down to 10 designs, including Kalashnikov’s work, and requested revised drafts. That same month, the Ministry of Armaments of the USSR sent Kalashnikov to the Kovrov weapons plant to make his prototype with the assistance of a design team.

Kalashnikov’s first sample was the AK-46 No.1 with help from the Kovrov team. The AK-46 No.1 is a select fire, short-stroke, gas-operated system. The fire control group consisted of a safety lever and a separate semi- and full-auto selector lever on the left side of the receiver. More noticeable features are the left side charging handle and receiver construction. The receiver was manufactured in two sections, a lower and upper receiver very similar to the StG. The upper portion was removable via two non-captive pivot pins just rearward of the magwell and a pin securing the pieces together held at the upper rear of the receiver. The AK-46 had a small dust cover rearward of the bolt, and the bolt carrier charging handle was on the left side of the carrier. The bolt design carried over from his earlier semi-auto carbine from 1944.

In December 1946 the first round of tests commenced, conducted at the NIPSVO (scientific and test range of shooting and mortar weapons) with 5 samples of Rukavishnikov, Korobov, Bulkin, Dementyev and Kalashnikov rifles. By May 1947, new samples of the Kalashnikov assault rifle, named AK-46 No. 2 with fixed stock and AK-46 No. 3 with an under-folder stock were produced at the Kovrov factory. The AK-46 no.2 was the second iteration of Kalashnikov’s prototype. The upper receiver and lower receiver were redesigned. The upper receiver did away with the short removable dust cover, closing the excessive openings to eliminate ingress of foreign debris. An ejection port was added on the right side as well as a left-side charging handle with a cover tightening up openings for dirt to get in to the receiver. The upper receiver also had a magwell extension. The bolt did away with a directly attached charging handle; instead the upper has an attached left-side charging handle attached to a track with an arm that engages the bolt carrier. The lower safety and separate mode selector were made more ergonomic, making it easier to manipulate compared to the No.1 AK-46.

The AK-46 No. 2 was tested in August 1947 against Sudayev’s AS-44, Shpagin’s PPSh 41 and the StG44 as comparative controls. At the time, the AK-46 was not showing signs of promise. Kalashnikov along with the design team at Kovrov were redesigning the entire weapon both in construction and operation, borrowing ideas from his rival, Bulkin, to create a new prototype. Design aspects included gas piston/bolt carrier, recoil spring assembly, a long receiver dust cover, a rear trunnion attached using three rivets and possibly a modified selector/safety from the AS-44. By November 1947, the first three samples of Kalashnikov’s new design were made at the Kovrov factory, known under the factory index KB-P-580 and closely resembling what we know today as the AK. Final testing knocked out Bulkin’s and Dementyev’s prototypes, leaving Kalashnikov ultimately the last contender in the competition. Kalashnikov’s rifle also did not meet the requirements for full-auto accuracy but was chosen due to improving promise overall and was recommended for production.

In January 1948, the Kalashnikov assault rifle development package was sent to the Izhevsk plant along with the designer himself for initial production, changing the city forever.  Early AKs struggled with full-auto accuracy, not meeting the standards of the competition, so work was done to improve the production model’s accuracy without delaying the production date. There were a total of 228 changes to the design and another 214 changes to ease manufacturing for serial production. Serial production of the AK was finally mastered at the Izhevsk plant in early 1949, updating the manufacturing facility and processes to manufacture the new weapon. The Izhevsk machine-building plant’s priority was to develop the weapon with the simplest design, but with the most modern production techniques. The High Soviet Minister of the USSR finally adopted the “7.62-mm Kalashnikov assault rifle” on June 18, 1949—the work of many engineers, designers and gunsmiths over years of development, in the form of what is commonly called the Type 1

This article first appeared in Small Arms Review V22N10 (December 2018)

In typical paradoxical fashion, the Soviet Union’s greatest tragedy and greatest triumph were a singular event. The Soviet Union’s “Great Patriotic War” from 1941–1945 cost over 20 million Soviet lives by conservative estimates, but to Russia’s collective conscience still to this day, this sacrifice saved the world. The bloodied but empowered and battle-hardened nation then stood in Berlin at the precipice of new geopolitical greatness, but forever burned into the soul of the nation was the seething cruel waste of life due to a lack of strategic, technical and tactical innovation early in the War, compounded by logistical and ideological constraints. The national myth perpetuated the idea that victory could be achieved nonetheless on heroism alone, and the triumph in the mind of Soviet and modern Russian society is widely recounted not as what the Soviet soldiers accomplished with their equipment and circumstances, but what they did despite and in defiance of their equipment and circumstances. Innovation means both victory and saving lives.

The Soviet Union took this harsh lesson and resolved to master their equipment and circumstances for the next war and so began the 50-year arms race that has never truly ended. In a microcosm of this arms race, which spanned from belt-buckles to the highest levels of material and particle science, the rifle which the soldier held became a critical touch point that the common serviceman could relate to. Built directly to address the combat realities of the previous War, the Kalashnikov pattern rifle is easily the most recognized and most encountered small arm on the battlefield today.

The Kalashnikov has been in constant development over the last 50 years, and though some patterns have lasted in service for decades, the Kalashnikov concept remains fluid in some elements; others are resistant to change. Russia’s machine shops and design bureaus have never stopped working to create “the next AK.” To date, innovations have altered receiver construction, caliber and modularity in an effort to make the weapon lighter and more lethal to address emerging threats. These changes follow two tracks: changes to the gun’s core construction and function and alterations in the weapon’s modularity and furniture. Travel along these tracks has made the modern AK look far different from the first trial prototypes made at the Kovrov-based factory in 1947 and the 1948 work at factory No. 74 of the Izhevsk Machine Building Plant (aka Izhmash, now Kalashnikov Concern).

As is well-documented and discussed, the weapon began as an experimental stamp/welding construction and was further simplified into a milled design. As stamping technology improved, the weapon was refined further into the stamped AKM, whose receiver has resisted change for over half a century. The most modern AK-12 and the AKM, despite their beginning with different calibers and production by two different countries, are nearly identical. Moreover, despite all the changes from the Type 1 to the popular AK-103, such as rails, folding trunnions, boosters and more, the basic bolt and bolt carriers in all AK rifles have seen very little change from the original.

Naturally, the Soviet Union was very observant of the developments and trends in NATO countries. Western innovations have been constantly examined for usefulness in their application to Russian systems, addressing their advantages and then developing a counterpart. Apart from the weapon concept itself, which was innovative if not revolutionary for the Soviet state in its use of an intermediate cartridge, the first modular innovation was a request by the Soviet authorities to allow the AK to function as a grenadier. As part of a “combined arms” initiative, AK designers incorporated an underbarrel “accessory lug” under the cast gas block of the AKM and the AK-74 to allow the first attachment other than a bayonet to the weapon. In the late 1960s, the writing was on the wall for high-speed micro-calibers, punctuated by the success of the M16 and 5.56mm cartridge. As the U.S. invented the XM carbine series of rifles in their new lightweight, high-speed caliber, Soviet authorities also requested compactness (a perennial request for each iteration of the gun), which was not addressed until the late 1970s.

Birth of the AKS-74U

The AKS-74U was the first mass-produced shortened AK, seeing service among Russian vehicle operators and aviators in Afghanistan and in Syria. One design requirement from its trials was that it should not exceed the width of a soldier’s shoulders, a feature once thought needed for everyday operation of the weapon; the distinct booster is needed for proper functioning in extreme cold temperatures only. The AK-74 and the 5.45mm cartridge were evolutionary steps to competing on par with peer and near-peer threats. To this day, the AK-74-style booster, when paired with the 5.45mm projectile, is one of the most controllable setups designed to date.

The relationship between Russia and the U.S. in Kalashnikov innovation is symbiotic. The U.S. market was able to identify the needs of the AK rifle in both modularity and core design, either simultaneously or perhaps earlier than the Russian establishment. While unsuccessful for decades in constructing a viable “all-American AK,” U.S. innovators were able to create revolutionary accessories that were imported and deployed by Russian servicemen, before Russia’s arms producers made their own analogues. Nonetheless, U.S. companies are fascinated, perhaps correctly, with tackling domestic production of the AK by following Russian methods as closely as possible. This is partly to collect on Russia’s mystique and cultural cache tied to the Kalashnikov, but more likely to follow good construction practices learned through experience. Kalashnikov U.S.A. famously purchased the technical package of the Vityaz from Izhmash to reproduce the weapon as closely as possible without the need for reverse engineering.

U.S. Innovations

However, even with the newest AKs from Russia, U.S. innovators still have worthwhile additions to the design that have yet to be incorporated by Kalashnikov Concern. I recently have admired the Occam Defense rail system which I’m in the process of testing to see the possible benefit of adding AR-15 iron sights, force multiplying accessories, including red dot, white light and infrared laser mounting solutions. From a manufacturing standpoint, the use of the rail noticeably speeds up production. The use of an adjustable gas block allows the user to tune the weapon’s performance to different ammunition, cold temperatures or suppressor use. The results are a design-expedient reproduction of the recoil impulse of balanced and recoil-tuned automatics such as the Russian Sport Rifle SR-1. Other U.S. designers have played with the idea of converting the rifle to operate using a short-stroke gas system. I have recently tested this concept (which happened to be a 1940s AK concept as well) and noted that it aided greatly in suppressor use, reducing excessive gas exiting into the operator’s face.

The U.S. AK industry continues to dominate in trigger advancements from competition semiauto triggers from ALG Defense®. Although Russian AK weapons, even for civilian use, use three fire control group pins instead of two (in compliance with U.S. law on machine guns), U.S. triggers have not infiltrated the Russian market, despite their superior performance.

Firing mode selection and accuracy remain at the core of next-generation Kalashnikov development. The most modern Avtomat has burst mechanisms, reportedly new barrel tolerances and rifling, increasing accuracy to 2 MOA. Through testing in Orenburg, I confirmed the successful deployment of these features in the AK-203 and AK-12. Other recent adaptations to the system are ambidextrous selectors and an aperture rear sight.

Radical innovation with a greater potential to surpass western designs in modularity and performance, as in the first iteration of Vladimir Zlobin’s AK-12, were met with resistance due to manufacturing and economic constraints. As the modern AK-12 and its derivatives incorporated rail systems to allow for the mounting of accessories, the weapon platform has effectively been playing catch-up with the success of its NATO counterpart. These innovations, while formally constructed, eventually were applied originally to less modular platforms in the consumer secondary market and adopted by special operators with the flexibility to considerably alter their rifles. The Texas Weapon Systems and M1913 rail gas tube by UltiMAK™ come to mind. Likely, the AK is disadvantaged in modularity based on its construction. Without a monolithic “receiver top,” all modular top rail accessories are imperfect solutions that cannot have the accuracy performance and reliability of alternative designs. However, as the rifle was designed without the foresight of future advanced accessories, it must endeavor to adapt within the constraints of its elemental construction, or alternatively, abandon the removable/hinged top cover design altogether.

The Future of the Kalashnikov

Despite these challenges, there is still a place for the Kalashnikov on the battlefield, as innovation continues to keep the design well alive. However, existing and future innovation will need to be bolder and more creative to meet the challenges of tomorrow. The U.S., for better or worse from the Russian perspective, will have a major role in this. We have the AK-hungry market, the design shops and the entrepreneurial freedom to explore AK innovation with greater agility than the Russian state. As new production technologies, such as 3-D printing become more accessible, this trend will only grow. The Kalashnikov has yet met its peak of perfection and is far from the end of the line. Just as the AK of today in form and function is a far cry from the personal work of Mikhail Kalashnikov, so too shall the AK of the 21st century continue to evolve on the back of innovation.

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.