POTD: The AK's Almost Forgotten Replacement
The AN-94 was developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s to replace the AK-74M. Like all contenders for Russia’s next-generation assault rifle it has faded into obscurity. It features a novel delayed recoil mechanism called “blowback shifted pulse.”. I have never read a satisfactory explanation of how the “blowback shifted pulse” works, but from what I understand the entire barrel action moves inside the stock and somehow a pulley system is employed during recoil. In the photo you can see the barreled action and pulley.
Kalashnikov still exhibits the AN-94. The above photo from taken by Giorgio last week at IDEX. But to my knowledge no country has ever adopted it.
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If a DI AR "s***s where it eats" then the AN-94 "steps on its own d***".
IMHO here are the reasons:
too complicated to maintain and clear in case of a jam
completely wrong muzzle break makes the barrel wobble horribly as it has an AKM like effect of pushing the barrel down, multiplied by 10.
Awkward layout with the slightely sideways canted mag, and the archaic handguard
2 shot burst not such a big deal vs the complexity, and does not help much against full auto shake
I think the balanced mechanics systems are way more promising, much less complex, and actually offer a clear and undeniable benefit of mitigating absolutely all impulses except for actual recoil. Now that's a system to capitalize on, especially in the LMG replacement role for RPK and the like.
Is the AN-94's strange-looking muzzle configuration actually effective at making a substantial amount of the rifle's firing sound inaudible? I would think that if it was, it would have been replicated on later models of Russian rifles. It looks to me like it would keep a user from mounting a suppressor on the rifle as well.
Also, if the supposedly-enhanced armour-piercing ability of the AN-94's "hyperburst" function worked as advertised, then why have the Russians developed the 9x39mm armour-piercing round and a few weapons for it already instead of rolling out more "hyperburst" weapons in 5.45x39mm?