Kalashnikov Concern has been hard at work improving the AK-12 rifle, which – although its status has waffled between “adopted” and “not” – is expected to be adopted and standardized by the Russian armed forces. The YouTube channel of [Read More…]
The AK-12 rifle, slated to be adopted by the Russian Army in some capacity late this year, has been delayed in production until 2016. According to Russian news media sources, the rifle will undergo a series of improvements of an unspecified type. From [Read More…]
There has been a lot of news about the Russian AK-12 rifle to come out this past Winter, and we at TFB have stayed on top of our coverage of the design’s evolution. However, since late January, there are a few things we have learned, so now it’s about [Read More…]
The Russian Ministry of Defense has selected Kalashnikov Concern’s AK-12 rifle to be the next standard-issue service weapon. Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov says that up to 70,000 AK-12s are expected to be delivered in 2015, Vestifinance.ru reports: [Read More…]
The AK-12 has just been approved for use in the Russian Army, but what else do we know about the weapon? TV Zvezda has released a helpful video describing the rifle to the public: The problem for monolingual English-speakers such as myself being that we cannot [Read More…]
Coming on the heels of (and surely related to) news that Kalashnikov Concern has decided to launch the AK-12 on the open market, the Russian Army has announced today that both the AK-12 and the A545 (improved AEK-971 variant) have passed state trials and will be [Read More…]
Russian news media today reports that, one year after Mikhail Kalashnikov’s death, the company that bears his name has officially launched the AK-12 rifle on the open market. Russia Today reports: Концерн «Калашников» планирует в [Read More…]
Will the AK-12 be produced in 6.5 Grendel? It certainly seems that way, based on this graphic at RIA.ru. It’s possible their information comes from Wikipedia, the English version of which cites a broken link (Russian Wikipedia makes the same claim, with no [Read More…]
Konstantin Lazarev has some excellent photos on his Facebook page of an AK-12 undergoing testing. The rifle has been painted in earth tones, and has clearly already seen fairly heavy use, judging by all the wear. These photos also offer a look inside the receiver of the [Read More…]
Many gun owners had high hopes that the consolidation of Russia’s firearm industry, which lead to the creation of the Kalashnikov Group, along with Russian WTO membership would result in Russia putting pressure on the State Department to allow a wider range of [Read More…]
The AK-12 and the Russian Military are in Ross/Rachel will-they-or-won’t-they relationship. The Kalashnikov Group claimed the gun will be adopted by the Russian military in 2014, but the Russian government has denied this, saying it would not even be tested by [Read More…]
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Kalashnikov factory and inspected the new AK-12, AS-1 and the latest version of the AK-74M. What is really interesting is that Kalashnikov appear to be making transparent magazines. Many thanks to Александр for [Read More…]
The Russian government will adopt the 5.45mm and 7.62mm (not sure if that is 7.62x51mm, 7.62x54mm or 7.62x39mm) version of the Kalashnikov AK-12 rifle. Google translate says … Kalashnikovs new generation of caliber 5.45 and 7.62 millimeters, as well as a long [Read More…]
The hottest gun of 2013 could be the Izhmash AK-12. The company is planning on delivering a semiautomatic version in 2013 chambered for .223 Remington and 12 Gauge. The drawings of the proposed sporting models are below. This is exciting news. Gun enthusiasts around the [Read More…]
Lionel attended TVM 2012 in Russia and took these photos of the new AK-12 fitted out with a red dot sight, flashlight, foregrip and laser/target designator. Is it my imagintion, or does the stock looks really low compared to the optic? The distance is similar to an [Read More…]
[ Many thanks to Halfbear for emailing us the link. ]
More photos of new Izhmash AK-12, and the first video I have seen, have been published by Russia Today. Russia Today is calling the AK-12 the Kalashnikov 5.0. I declared it the 5th generation AK back in November and so am very pleased to see I counted up the AK [Read More…]
Izhmash has officially unveiled the first working prototype of the AK-12 Assault Rifle. According to Max Popenker there will be two models, a Light model (5.45x39mm, 5.56x45mm and 7.62x39mm) that accepts all magazines that work with existing AK rifles, as well as a new [Read More…]
The next-generation AK rifle, formally referred to as the AK-200, has been named the AK-12. Its name refers to 2012, the year it will go into production. Izhmash is referring to it as the fifth generation Kalashnikov rifle1 . The controls have been modified so that they [Read More…]
Kalashnikov Concern and Tula Cartridge Plant have developed a new intermediate cartridge called 6.02×41 and two rifles chambered in it – Mini SVCh and AK-22. The 6.02×41 is designed to replace both the 7.62×39 and 5.45×39 cartridges in the [Read More…]
Kalashnikov Concern first introduced the AK-19 rifle, the version of AK-12 chambered in 5.56x45mm NATO, during the ARMY 2020 exhibition. Three armies later, at ARMY 2023, the company revealed the shortened AK-19 Compact carbine. This version of the AK-19 was designed [Read More…]
AK-74 magazines have become increasingly expensive over the last few years. These days, surplus Bulgarian mags often retail for more than $50. Thankfully, the commercial market is stepping up to the plate with new options. This article is an examination of three of [Read More…]
Many people in Africa, the Middle East, and the US would have a hard time finding Romania on the map. But there are at least two products originating from Romania that have worldwide acclaim – the stories about Count Dracula from Transilvania and Romanian AKs. AK [Read More…]
This article is the final chapter of a 4-part series. In Part 1 I talk about how the production of AK began in China, Part 2 was dedicated to the “golden age” of Chinese AKs, and Part 3 was about the gradual decline in quality and the underlying reasons for [Read More…]
In Part 1 of this article, I wrote about the early days of AK production in China, Part 2 was dedicated to the “golden years” of Type 56 history when it was exported to the US and produced in multiple countries. But the world changes. The fall of communism [Read More…]
In Part 1 of this article, I talked about early Chinese AKs and the humble beginnings of Kalashnikov rifle manufacturing in China. By 1956, China was building new factories and improving old ones with the help of Soviet engineers, and it seemed like nothing can break [Read More…]
It is hard to find a place on Earth where people wouldn’t know what Kalashnikov is. Some know it through movies, some through video games, but a good portion of the world’s population have some firsthand experience with this rifle, since a Soviet, East European, or [Read More…]
AR pattern rifles are relatively new on the Russian market but are already presented in a wide variety of configurations, from pistol caliber carbines to AR-10 style rifles and everything inbetween. Most of them are largely just ARs, nothing special. However, one [Read More…]
In this article from the coverage of the ARMY 2022 exhibition, we’ll take a look at four new civilian AKs released by the Kalashnikov Concern. The new models include the completely smoothbore TG2S and TR9S, the pistol caliber carbine version of PPK20 SMG dubbed [Read More…]
Continuing the coverage of new firearms released at the ARMY 2022 exhibition, today we’ll take a look at the new SV-21 bolt action rifle introduced by the Kalashnikov Concern. The SV-21 is offered in 7.62x54mmR and .308 Winchester calibers and its main feature is [Read More…]
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