The concept of balanced recoil has been around for a long time. The main idea of this design is pretty simple – to counter the impulse of the bolt carrier moving back, there is a special rod that moves forward at precisely the same time. Both counter balancing rod and bolt carrier are connected to the gas system and linked to each other via a gear. This mechanism considerably reduces felt recoil and muzzle rise, making burst and full auto fire much more controllable.

This concept was used on AL-6, AK-107 assault rifles, and SR-1 sporting rifle. If you want to know more, please check out this article: Balanced Recoil Sporting Rifles: A Brief History (SR-1, Saiga 107, AK15, AK 107).

But recently, Valention Vlasenko, founder of Sureshot Armament Group, Russian/Czech company specializing in high-end AK and SVD upgrades, published on his Facebook page a video of a completely new balanced recoil sporting rifle manufactured by Russian Degtyarov plant.

The quality of the video is poor, but you can see that rifle underwent significant modifications compared to its military version. It has a long handguard with M-Lock slots, folding front sight, similar to that find on an FN SCAR rifle, muzzle brake, QD sling mounts, ergonomic pistol grip, and M16/M4 style collapsible folding stock.

It still uses standard 5.45 AK magazines, but really nothing else about this rifle is standard. All those modifications look really unexpected for someone familiar with the military version, A-545, that has been undergoing trials since 2012.

Just one look at the original A-545 clearly indicates that design engineers who created it were inspired by German HK firearms: G3-style retractable stock, peep sight, and selector are reminiscent of HK family of weapons.

The author with the A-545 assault rifle at field trials

For now, no official information about the future of this project is available. According to rumors, a small batch of rifles was made for certification and mass production may start next year with a retail price of 150 000 roubles (approximately 2500$ US dollars).

The good news is – at the moment, Degtyarov plant IS NOT under any sanctions. So there a small chance that those rifles will eventually be available on the US civilian market.