In recent years, the popularity of AK magazine collecting increased dramatically. Every week you can see rare Soviet prototype magazines selling for anything from $300 to $4,000 a piece.

Surprisingly, very little information is available about history, development and identification of those magazines. There are no reputable sources, let alone collectors’ guides, that can serve as a foundation for research and be used for the correct appraisal of the magazines.
Naturally, there is a lot of confusion and misinformation, which allows some sellers to take advantage of the collectors who do not really understand what exactly they are buying.

While this author does not claim to be an expert in the history of Kalashnikov magazines, he was lucky to see with his own eyes the development and testing process of nearly all modern Russian magazines: AK-12 mags, 5.45 round drum, 7.62×39 quad-stacks as well as the weapons that use those magazines.

This article is dedicated to the history of the AK-12 magazine, since now it seems to be the most common modern collectable AK mag sold at social media groups and auctions.

The year was 2012. The world famous Izh-mash factory, which produced AKs since 1949, is the largest Russian manufacturer of small arms and was going through a tough bankruptcy. Just a year before that, the Russian Ministry of Defense declared that they are not going to buy any more AKs, since they “already had enough of them.”

While the Russian Ministry of Defense did not really buy a significant number of small arms from Izhmash since the early 1990s, the psychological consequences of this statement were devastating. It was clear that the Ministry of Defense was, for once, disappointed in Izhmash and not willing to bail it out with new orders.
The new generation weapon and gear program called “Ratnik” that was made public in 2011 also did not look very promising. It included a submission from Izhmash, but an early AK-12 had a lot of teething problems, and balanced recoil A-545 and A-762 assault rifles had an early lead in a competition for the next service rifle of the Russian Armed Forces.

The future looked grim, and it seemed like Izhmash was going down, despite having over 200 years of history and the fact that it was producing the most popular rifle in the world. In a situation like that, the best way to get out of crisis is to negotiate a large order from the Armed Forces.

In 2012, during an annual defense exhibition, the Russian Minister of Defense had a quick visit to an Izhmash booth. After a short presentation, he said: “Okay, listen, we need a transparent magazine, so the soldier can see how much ammo is left.” Everyone agreed, but as the development process started, the factory was a bit reluctant to demonstrate the prototypes before preliminary testing was complete.

A year after, in 2013, when the Minister of Defense showed up at the Izhmash booth again and did not find any transparent magazines, things turned from bad to worse. “You can’t even make a transparent magazine, what are you good for, I wonder?” That is not something you ever want to hear from the biggest poten-tial customer.

At this point, something had to be done, and by Summer 2014, several 3D-printed proto-types of transparent magazines were ready for demonstration. At that time, the author just started working on some projects at the factory, and it was well understood that fulfilling the request for transparent magazines might change the future of the company.

The big day came on August 4, 2014, when the Minister of Defense was visiting Kalashnikov Concern booth during an annual “The Day of Innovation 2014” exhibition. This exhibition was generally closed to the public and gave industry professionals an opportunity to check out some of the newest small arms developed for the Russian military and law enforcement.

As everyone prepared for the visit, mag-azines were placed right at the entrance of the booth, so the Minister of Defense would not miss them. However, at the very last moment, the minister and his entourage suddenly came in from the other side. He briefly looked at the guns, shook his head and qui-etly said, preparing to leave: “And once again, no transparent magazines.”

The author rushed to the other side of the booth, grabbed the magazines and rammed through the entourage, screaming: “There you go, Sir, here are two prototypes, ready for testing.” The ice was broken, the minister and generals looked at the magazines, discussed technical features and were clearly happy that their request was finally fulfilled. Eventually, transparent magazines were included into the standard AK-12 kit.

The first prototypes of transparent magazines were rather primitive, but as we know, “it’s the thought that counts.” The next day the author did a weapons demonstration, and the prototype magazine worked flawlessly on an AK-107 rifle.

By the end of August, prototypes of AK-12 magazines were in the final stages of development, and on August 26, 2014, Vladimir Zlobin, who at the time was the chief design engineer of Kalashnikov Concern, filed a request for a patent for his AK-12 magazine.

Early Features

This early magazine had so many features that later, some of them were deemed unnecessary. For example, the first prototypes had a special bracket system that would allow connecting magazines side-by-side, much like G36 mags.

That system was eliminated on the first production run, but other features remained for some time, such as M4-style mag catch holes. The idea was that the new generation of AKs would have a magwell, but that never happened.

M4-style mag catch holes were present on the first mass-produced batch of magazines but disappeared in later generations. The same happened with the drawing of the round on the feed lips, which reads: “5.45×39.” So if you ever see one of the early ones for sale, make sure you will not let it get away; collecting value of AK-12 mags with M4-style mag catch holes will only increase in the future.

Some other features remained unchanged in later generations. The main features of the AK-12 mag are the transparent windows that allow you to see the amount of ammunition left in the magazine. Another distinct feature is the new floorplate and the shape of the bottom of the magazine that allows using it as a monopod.
There is also a special full mag indicator: when the magazine is fully loaded, the indicator protrudes out of a floorplate, which gives the shooter the opportunity to check magazines in low-light conditions without actually looking at them.

One of the problems I encountered with early mags was that the carbon building up in a magazine turned the transparent windows to trans-lucent and eventually just made the windows completely useless. I talked about this issue with Vladimir Zlobin, and he addressed the problem; now the transparent insert in a magazine is removable, and you can easily clean it.

Some of the first generation mags did not have the cutouts for stripper clips; later gen magazines have them. The magazines without stripper clip cutouts are quite rare.

In 2018, similar magazines were introduced for the AK-15, which is chambered for 7.62×39. Those magazines had a more conventional shape, without a “monopod” feature, but other than that were identical to 5.45 mags.

Additionally, several 5.56×45 magazines of the same type were showcased at the Russian “Army-2018” exhibition with AK-201 and AK-202 assault rifles.
The same 5.45×39 AK-12 magazine is sold with “TR3,” a sporting variant of the AK-12 assault rifle. Every TR3 comes with one magazine that contains a piece of steel wire, which limits the capacity of the magazine to 10 rounds. The wire is easily removable.

Same magazines are sold with an AK-12 MMG (deactivated non-firing gun). Unfortunately, following an ancient tradition, the fac-tory deactivates those magazines, cutting off the feed lips—a barbaric tradition. When you are buying a magazine, make sure you will not get one of those deactivated ones.

There were other variants of the AK-12 magazine, including a completely transparent one. Unfortunately, so far, no magazine completely made of transparent plastic survived Russian military technical trials. They all eventually break during the testing, and so far, small transparent windows seem like an ideal compromise between visibility of the rounds and durability of the magazine.

However, completely transparent magazines are produced by Kalashnikov Concern but strictly for the civilian market. Some of those transparent 7.62×39 magazines are being sold in the U.S. right now. Their collecting value is minimal—plenty of those magazines will be available in the near future.

The prices of AK-12 mags will likely go down in the next few years. Recently, the Russian military ordered over 130,000 AK-12s, and in a few years the market will have a steady supply of magazines. However, if you can grab a rare, earlier version with M4-style cutouts, its price will only go up every year.

Final Thoughts

When you are collecting something, you are not just collecting items; you are collecting stories, preserving history and information. The transparent AK-12 magazine is a simple item, but as you can see, there is a lot of history that goes with it.

In the next articles, we will look at the history of modern Russian high capacity magazines, particularly drums and 5.45 quad stacks, which seem to be the rarest and most expensive AK magazines in existence.

The author would like to thank friend and fellow researcher Pavel Pticin for the photos and information provided for the article.

On November 10, 2019, Russia celebrated the 100-year anniversary of the birth of Mikhail Kalashnikov, one of the most famous firearms designers who ever lived. 

From Indonesia to Uruguay, from South Africa to Sweden, it is hard to find someone who does not know this name or has never heard of the AK-47. This rifle was used in every major conflict since the 1950s and remains to be the most prolific automatic weapon in the history of mankind.

Kalashnikov died at the age of 94 on December 23, 2013, but even now, there seem to be a lot of controversies that surround the history of the AK-47 and Kalashnikov himself. 

How did a young, uneducated farm boy manage to design this weapon? Were German engineers involved at any point? Maybe Kalashnikov was just a poster boy, appointed by the Communist Party, and the real inventor of the venerable weapon perished somewhere in the GULAG?

Last year, the author was offered a position of technical advisor for the major Russian motion picture “Kalashnikov,” a biopic dedicated to life of the famous firearms designer and history of the AK-47’s creation. While filmmakers were reluctant to take any advice, working on a film allowed the author to get access to many previously unavailable sources and collect a lot of fascinating information that perhaps can shed light on some of the above-mentioned controversies.

Let us start with the most obvious question. When you read the “official” biography of Kalashnikov, it looks like the whole story is awfully convenient for a Soviet propaganda machine. A young soldier who came from a poor peasant family became an inventor and with help from the Army and the Communist Party turned into a distinguished weapon design engineer. 

The story looks so perfect that it seems fake—because it is. 

Kalashnikov’s Truth

Kalashnikov was, in fact, a farm boy. And his family was, in fact, poor, really poor, but simply not poor enough by Soviet standards. With hard work, the Kalashnikovs managed to rise out of poverty, but because they lived in a socialist state, in 1930, their entire family was arrested and exiled to Siberia simply because they were just a bit wealthier than some other people in their village were. 

It was a nationwide campaign, and if you were a successful farmer you were declared “an enemy of the people.” All your property was confiscated, your house was repossessed by the state, and the entire family was sent to exile. Millions of families lost everything they had, and Kalashnikov’s family was one of them. This campaign led to a disastrous famine also known as Holodomor, which killed millions of people all across the Soviet Union.

Kalashnikov’s brother, Victor, was hiding from authorities only to be arrested a few months later. He was sentenced to several years in labor camp just for his refusal to be exiled. He escaped the labor camp three times, was arrested while on the run, and each time had a year added to his sentence. 

One more year was added when Victor was about to be released, and during his prerelease interview, he simply asked the authorities: “What was my crime to begin with?”

Kalashnikov’s father died soon after exile, and for several days the family couldn’t bury the body because of a terrible snowstorm. The kids had to live under the same roof with a decaying corpse in the middle of Siberia, stripped of all their rights, property and any hopes for the future. 

Years later, Kalashnikov managed to escape exile, faking a letter and stamps from a local police station. To raise money for his escape, Kalashnikov and his friend sold other exiles fake police letters that would increase their chances of getting a proper passport in a different region after they escaped. 

With this kind of past, Kalashnikov was perhaps the worst candidate to be a “poster boy” for the Communist Party. If any part of his family history became public, the propaganda image of “devoted communist from a poor family” would fall apart. 

In other words, people claiming that Kalashnikov was a “communism poster boy” know nothing about Kalashnikov’s family history and the country he lived in. Kalashnikov was hiding his real family history until 1997, long after the Soviet Union collapsed.

Another Myth Busted

Now let’s talk about a different misconception: Was Kalashnikov the sole creator of the AK-47? Obviously not.

Actually, one of the main reasons Kalashnikov became so successful was the fact that unlike many other design engineers, he was willing to listen to suggestions, accept criticism and seek advice when in doubt. Kalashnikov was never shy about the fact that many helped him along the way and even dedicated an entire book called I Walked Along the Same Road as You Did to the people he worked with.

Who were those people, and how much did they really influence the design of the AK-47? 

There is one name that comes up very often—Hugo Schmeisser. Schmeisser designed several prolific German weapons such as the MP18i submachine gun and StG44 assault rifle and without any doubt was a talented engineer. 

In 1946, he was forced to move to the Soviet Union and worked at the factory #74, also known as Izhmash, in the city of Izhevsk. He was a part of a group of German engineers: Werner Gruner, designer of the MG42 machine gun, Kurt Horn, Karl Barnitzke and others worked with him in Izhevsk. 

That definitely looks very suspicious, a group of successful German engineers working in the birthplace of the AK. Surely they were involved with the design, some might say.

Only there is one little nuance. Izhevsk was not the birthplace of the AK. In fact, it had absolutely nothing to do with the development of the AK-47, which now is a symbol of the city and essentially put the city of Izhevsk on the map for the entire world.

Development of the AK-47 is very well-documented and took place in two different places—a town of Kovrov, 600 miles from Izhevsk and the Shurovski testing ground, 750 miles from Izhevsk, factory #74 and all the German engineers.

Kalashnikov only came to Izhevsk when the design of his weapon was complete, already tested and accepted by the military for field trials. And even when he came to Izhevsk, he first started working at the factory #524, commonly called “motorcycle plant” that manufactured Maxim machine guns during the war. 

Only after military trials were completed, the blueprints of the AK-47 were transferred to Izhmash for serial production, and at that time, in 1949, Kalashnikov finally could have a chance to work with the Germans. However, by that time, the AK-47 already was a weapon that we all know, with its stamped steel receiver, rotating bolt with two locking lugs and long-stroke gas system. 

Soon, in 1951, the stamped receiver of the AK-47 was replaced by a milled one, which goes against every principle German engineers implemented during the war with the MG42 and MP40, when they always moved in the opposite direction, getting rid of milled parts and replacing them with stamped ones. In other words, there is nothing in the AK-47 design that would indicate that Germans had any influence on it in the late 40s and early 50s.

And there is a question that I always hear: But if Germans did not design the AK-47, what were they doing in Izhevsk until 1952 when they were finally sent home?

In fact, that is not a secret. Thanks to Russian firearms historian Andrei Kulikov we now have access to many documents that outline the work of Germans in Izhevsk. The documents are in Russian and describe the projects that German designers worked on, how they behaved and how they felt about being forced to work for a former enemy. 

And while most German engineers sucked it up and carried on, Schmeisser was the biggest troublemaker of them all. He simply did not want to work with the Soviets, and his profile (translated from Russian) really shows it:

PROFILE

Of German specialist Schmeisser, Hugo Schmeisser, Hugo – born in 1884 in the city of born [sic] in Jena (Thuringia), German by nationality. Has no specialised education.

Schmeisser works at the factory from November 5, 1946. During this time, he worked on the following projects:

A. Consultations regarding the development of infantry small arms.

B. Developed a project of the box magazine for 1941 submachine gun (P.P.Sh.).

C. Developed a project of a magazine for 1891 rifle (Mosin-Nagant).

D. Developed a sketch project of an assault rifle chambered for German 0,8 round (7,92×57 Mauser).

Since Schmeisser has a very narrow specialty and only used from time to time, his work at the moment is not classified.

From 1925 to 1945 he worked as the factory director and co-owner. Because of lack of technical education, he is unable to do any work. Did nothing useful during his stay. Has a capitalist mindset. Corrupts other German specialists. 

Not familiar with factory’s classified projects, but we can’t guarantee that he does not know current product line.

Director of the factory 

Secretary of factory’s Communist Party cell

September 1951

German Influence?

With all that facts I think we can finally answer the question: Did Germans influence the design of AK-47?

The answer is yes, they did. After Red Army troops captured their first Sturmgewehrs, the Soviet government decided to develop an assault rifle and an intermediate round of its own, issued a request for proposal for a round and assault rifle and started trials that ended up with the AK-47 becoming a new standard weapon of the Soviet infantry. But that is about it for German involvement. There is no way Schmeisser or any other German engineer could have influenced the design of AK-47 being so far away and lacking a necessary security clearance.

There were other people who really influenced Kalashnikov a lot, and I believe that every serious Kalashnikov enthusiast should know their names. 

The three most important names every AK enthusiast should know are Vasily Lyuty, Vladimir Deikin and Alexander Zaitsev.

Let’s start with Vasily Lyuty, military engineer, who was one of the most distinguished experts of his time when it came to testing and evaluation of firearms. 

His surname means “ruthless” in Russian, and in a way, he was ruthless—to unreliable firearms and their creators. Lyuty ’s resume was very impressive—after graduating from an Artillery academy in Moscow, he, Vladimir Deikin and another engineer, Afanasiev, designed “LAD,” a lightweight and reliable belt-fed pistol caliber machine gun. 

But creation of the Russian intermediate 7.62×39 round made the idea of a pistol-caliber machine gun obsolete, and on top of that, Soviet Army leadership decided to bar military engineers who tested weapons from designing firearms to keep trials fair and objective. 

That deprived Lyuty of his passion, and the only chance for him to design a weapon now was to advise someone else, put the right ideas in his head and make sure the final product would survive the most rigorous testing possible.

And Lyuty knew a lot about rigorous testing. When he was in charge of trials for the SG-43 Goryunov machine gun, the final stage was conducted in the frontline. For three months in 1943, Lyuty tested new machine guns right in the heat of battle to liberate Southern Ukraine from Nazi invaders. He analyzed feedback from the troops, made changes and redesigned certain parts of the machine gun based on actual combat experience. 

Regrettably, the Soviet state did not appreciate the effort. Until the end of his life, Lyuty was not officially recognized as a combat veteran and had to fight for his rights and recognition with the bureaucratic system which declared “you were assigned to a testing ground, you can’t possibly be a combat veteran.” 

Later, in 1951, Vasily Lyuty, who had to leave the testing ground because of 80% hearing loss and start scientific work, was arrested and tortured by KGB based on made-up charges. He was sent to the GULAG for 25 years and had to survive life in the prison camps of Siberia until his case was dismissed 4 years later. 

He returned to work as a weapons design engineer and was behind the creation of the mobile, short-range, low altitude infra-red guided surface-to-air missile system 9K31 Strela-1, proving again that he was an immensely talented design engineer.

In 1946, when Kalashnikov entered the competition for the new assault rifle, Lyuty was a project manager for the trials. Lyuty and Kalashnikov became close friends and when the first prototype of the Kalashnikov rifle was rejected, it was Lyuty who convinced everyone to give Kalashnikov another chance.

Later on, Vladimir Deikin, another military engineer, joined the team. He was not just a brilliant designer but also a masterful facilitator. When Kalashnikov was sent to the factory in Kovrov to work on his gun, everyone knew the project would have no future. 

Kovrov was a “home” for at least two of Kalashnikov’s competitors; there was no way they would let Kalashnikov use the test-firing range and all the equipment. Somehow, Deikin convinced the factory to give Kalashnikov, an outsider, everything he needed so he could work on a new design and defeat Kovrov’s “home team.” 

He also introduced Kalashnikov to the third and last member of “Team Kalashnikov,” Alexander Zaitsev, design engineer from the Kovrov factory.

A young combat veteran, who spent the majority of his WWII service in recon units, Zaitsev was more educated than Kalashnikov and became another co-creator of the AK-47, helping with drawings and blueprints. He was the one who suggested that the prototype AK-46 should be redesigned to increase reliability—a bold but ingenious move that made AK-47 the top contender for the victory in a competition, since other designers were too afraid to make any significant changes at the last moment.

Final Thoughts

The contribution of Vasily Lyuty, Vladimir Deikin and Alexander Zaitsev does not diminish the work of Kalashnikov. He always told in his books that creation of the AK-47 was a team effort and never understated how much other people helped him.

Now, 70 years after it was officially accepted into service, the AK remains the most recognizable weapon in history. There are many things we can learn from Kalashnikov and his team, and hopefully this article will only be the beginning. 

•••

Editor’s note: At a dinner in Kragujevac, Serbia, many years ago, General Kalashnikov once again debunked the “MP-44 is father of the AK” connection and touching his eye, said, “Look to the Garand” when discussing the operating system – Dan Shea

By Vladimir Onokoy

Venerable Russian SVDM Sniper Rifle Nearing End of Service with Russian Forces

The semi-automatic Dragunov sniper rifle, originally called “SVD” (sniper rifle designed by Dragunov), is very well known all around the world. To this day, SVD remains the main DMR (Designated Marksman Rifle) in the Russian Army and in a number of ex-Soviet states.

Unfortunately, complete absence of imports to the U.S. and other Western countries created a certain information vacuum regarding new modifications of this venerable rifle, namely the SVDS and the latter Dragunov SVDM.

This article will try to showcase some of the features of the latest Dragunov variant, since, back in the day, this author was involved in some of the technical and military trials for this rifle.

The Original SVD Dragunov

The original SVD Dragunov is still in production in its original form; the only difference one can see right away is that the original wood stock and handguard are now made of black polymer.

The civilian version of SVD Dragunov is called “Tigr,” which means—you guessed it—”Tiger.” This rifle is in high demand and is very popular with Russian hunters and gun enthusiasts who want to own this piece of Soviet small arms history.

The main difference between the SVD and the Tigr is the barrel twist rate. The original twist rate of the SVD barrel is 1:12, which proved to be very effective with 7.62x54R sniper ammo but did not work well with tracers or armor-piercing rounds.

Around 1975, the Soviet military demanded that Dragunov rifles should be able to be effectively used with all types of ammo, and after some additional testing, the twist rate was changed to 1:9. It made overall accuracy slightly worse (some claim 25% worse), but hooray, now you can accurately shoot tracers out of your sniper rifle. Isn’t that what a sniper needs the most?
It should probably come as no surprise that some veteran Russian snipers prefer Dragunovs made before 1975. The good news is that civilian “Tigers” remained at the original 1:12 twist and can often be more accurate than military SVDs.

The SVDS

The next big thing was the SVDS, DMR rifle with a folding stock designed for Airborne troops.

SVDS, designed in 1991 and accepted into service in 1995, features a folding stock that folds to the right side of the weapon (and no, you cannot shoot with a folded stock) and a shorter barrel (22.2 inches) instead of 24.4 inches with the original SVD.

Everything else remained the same. On both the SVD and SVDM scopes are mounted via a side mount, and there is no easy way to use modern front-mounted night vision and thermal devices in conjunction with a day optic.

A number of private companies offered modernization kits for the SVD, the most notable being Sureshot Armament Group (sureshot-armament.com). They offer kits for both SVD and SVDS, and recently, their products gained considerable popularity with both civilians and military snipers.

However, before those updates became available, both the Russian military and Izhmash factory came to the realization that SVD in its original configuration has certain shortcomings that should be addressed.

First, it is not easy to mount a bipod on a Dragunov. Over the years, a number of bipods were developed for the SVD, but unfortunately, none of them caught on.

By the end of 2010, modern scopes such as Nightforce, SWAROVSKI and Schmidt&Bender became very prolific in the Russian Special Forces, and SVD shortcomings designed for side-mounted scopes became very apparent.

New Generations

That is why the Izhmash factory decided to develop a new version of the SVD with integrated bipod and Picatinny rail. The first prototype was demonstrated in 2012.

The final version of the rifle was ready in 2014. It featured a quick-detachable bipod, similar to the one used in the new version of the SV98 rifle, with railed receiver cover, folding stock and a very thick and heavy barrel.

Unlike previous generations of the Dragunov, SVDM features a gasblock that is combined with a front sight, the receiver cover with the Picatinny rail is hinged, and to open it, you have to rotate the lever in the back of the receiver downward. SVDM uses standard 10-round Dragunov magazines.

There is no official information about the users of the rifle, but as always, you can get a lot of information from the open sources. For example, SVDM was demonstrated during the Open Day of the 4th Guards Kantemirovskaya Tank Division.

Another sighting of SVDM was rather unexpected. To put things into perspective, imagine the most iconic view of Russia—Red Square. After looking at the photos, we can say that the SVDM is definitely used by the unit of Federal Protection Service that is similar to U.S. Secret Service Counter-Assault teams.

As for my personal impressions, I would say that SVDM is in an entirely different class compared to the regular SVD. A much heavier barrel and heavy optics make the SVDM less maneuverable and better suited for shooting from a static, well-prepared position. It is certainly too heavy for a classic DMR used on the squad level.

During technical trials, one thing that definitely needed improvement was the optic that came with the SVDM—the 1P88-4 variable power scope. I remember once, before a demonstration shoot, I grabbed the scope to mount it on the rifle and get on with zeroing. I opened the caps and wanted to check the quality of the glass, but to my surprise, I could not see the reticle.

The Russian military industrial complex is a close-knit community, and in a minute, I was dialing on my cell phone the number of the senior design engineer from the factory that made the scope. The conversation was rather short:

“Hello, buddy! I’ve got your scope, and I can’t see the reticle. Anything you can recommend?”
“Yes, that is actually quite normal! Just play with the magnification knob; eventually the reticle will be seen.”
“Thanks pal!”

And he was right. When I got the scope to 12x magnification, the reticle suddenly appeared out of nowhere. “Well—I thought—it is true what they say, Russian scopes do actually have some very unique characteristics.” I am sure that since 2014, that scope has improved a lot.

SVDM’s Last Stand?

For now, it looks like the SVDM will be the last iteration of the famous rifle. Its potential successor is the SVCh, a semi-automatic DMR designed by design engineer Chukavin from the Kalashnikov group. The SVCh is meant to slowly replace Dragunovs, first in the Russian Special Forces and later in the “Big Army.”

However, without any doubt, even if it happens, Dragunovs will remain popular in the conflict zones such as the Middle East in Africa for many years to come.