Though not common today, the 5.45x39mm AR-15 was popular for a time. There are still a fair number of these guns in circulation but they are something of a novelty today. Why the 5.45x39mm? The USSR issued the 7.62×39 round in the AK-47, AKM, RPK, and others, but [Read More…]
Magpul keeps up the excellence with the PMag 30 AK74 MOE Ever since I picked up a pair of Arsenal’s Legion Izhevsk Saiga 5.45’s, I’ve quite enjoyed the 5.45×39 AK74 platform. I’ve found my particular examples to be soft-shooting and [Read More…]
During the ARMY 2020 exhibition, Kalashnikov Concern has revealed the prototype of a new belt-fed 5.45x39mm light machine gun called RPL-20. Earlier, in an interview given to RIA Novosti news agency, Dmitry Tarasov, the CEO of Kalashnikov Concern, said that that [Read More…]
Welcome to another edition of TFB’s Field Strip series, in which we’ll look at the simplistic field strip AK rifles and pistols adhere to. Mikhail Kalashnikov‘s AK47 has become one of the most recognizable and iconic rifles and fielded by many nations, [Read More…]
![[SHOT 2020] Century Arms WASR-M, Micro VSKA, VSKA-DG and Prototype 5.45 AK (1)](https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/SHOT-2020-Century-Arms-WASR-M-Micro-VSKA-VSKA-DG-and-Prototype-5.45-AK-1-660x260.jpg)
During the SHOT Show 2020, Century Arms has introduced a number of new AK variations that will be added to their product line in the foreseeable future. These guns include a couple of new iterations of the VSKA rifle, a 9mm WASR and a prototype of a 5.45x39mm AK that is [Read More…]
![[SHOT 2020] Arsenal's New AK-20 Series of Rifles (1)](https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/SHOT-2020-Arsenals-New-AK-20-Series-of-Rifles-1-660x260.jpg)
On the pre-range day of SHOT Show 2020, I had a chance to visit the Arsenal booth and take a look at their new AK-20 series of rifles. Retaining the good ol’ time-proven AK mechanism, these rifles offer a lot of improvements that are added to make them capable of [Read More…]
“PAPER BOOKS ARE DYING” – I keep hearing that over and over again. In a way it makes sense, but in the last few years, when I started doing more serious research about small arms (serious meaning just one level above articles like “The Deadliest [Read More…]
Behold the Death, the fourth and last horseman of the Apocalypse. Meridian Defense Corporation has released the last rifle in their special project themed after the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse. MDC launched the Apocalypse series of AK rifles back in November 2018 with [Read More…]
Kalashnikov Media, apparently inspired by IV8888, conducted a meltdown test of AK-12, the latest iteration of Kalashnikov rifle that was recently adopted by the Russian military. They fired this 5.45x39mm rifle in full-auto rapidly changing the magazines until the [Read More…]
At the beginning of the current year, during the SHOT Show 2019, Winchester introduced a new cartridge – the .350 Legend. This cartridge has a straight walled case and it is primarily marketed to hunters who live in areas where hunting certain species is allowed [Read More…]
Earlier this week news began to filter onto English language defence news sites from Russian media sources that the Russian Military may be considering a move away from 5.45×39 back to 7.62×39. This is not the case. The story stems from a short passage in an [Read More…]
About a week ago, JMac Customs has published a video where they were shooting a suppressed AK chambered in 5.45x39mm. The standard supersonic ammunition performed as expected, decreasing the sound to a hearing safe level. However, they were also shooting Detroit Ammo [Read More…]
If we can make a round that is significantly better than the existing 5.56mm or 7.62mm ammunition, shouldn’t the military just bite the bullet and switch, to the benefit of the servicemen and women in harm’s way? What’s stopping the powers that be from [Read More…]
Although the Russian Kalashnikov assault rifle is the one that is most famous, it is arguably the Chinese Type 56 AK that made the bigger impression on the world in the 1960s and 70s. This rifle was initially developed with Russian technical assistance just before the [Read More…]
With the recent push for small arms ammunition with increased range, power and capability, are military customers in danger of being taken for a ride by industry marketeers working to sell rifles in new calibers? Is the primary driving force behind new infantry [Read More…]
In one of its recent news releases, Kalashnikov Concern has announced that the Russian government will start testing the new AM-17 and AMB-17 compact assault rifles in 2018. Several Russian special service agencies including the Federal Protective Service (FSO) and [Read More…]
Kalashnikov Concern recently released a new English language video regarding their PL-15K compact pistol, MP-444 pistol, AM-17 and AMB-17 compact assault rifles, and SVCh semiautomatic sniper rifle. By way of a walkthrough from Kalashnikov Concern technical consultant [Read More…]
Within the last couple of months, Rifle Dynamics has been releasing short Q&A videos where Jim Fuller, the founder of RD, was answering to customers’ questions and showing some AK manipulation drills. I’ll post these videos in chronological order. In the [Read More…]
On display at the recent Russian Army 2017 expo was Kalashnikov’s new AM-17 and AMB-17 compact assault rifles. The AM-17 is a 5.45x39mm caliber improved version of the MA assault rifle introduced last year, designed to fill the same role as the AKS-74U compact [Read More…]
The elusive Tokar-2 5.45mm belt-fed machine gun made an appearance at the recent Rosgvardia Open House event late last month. The event demonstrated weapons and equipment being used by the Russian National Guard (Rosgvardia), and was open to the public. Russian media [Read More…]
The first practical shooting Rifle World Championship will take place in “Patriot” park in Russia from May 25 to June 11, 2017. It is going to be a pretty large event with 850 shooters from 45 countries participating. However, some shooters faced a problem [Read More…]
I was planning to write about this firearm in the near future but it always was the last one in the list of such firearms (rare, experimental Soviet/Russian guns) to write an in-depth article about. And the reason is the extremely scarce information available about this [Read More…]
When I started the Modern Intermediate Calibers series, I did not expect it to grow as large as it has. The initial plan was for 7 major calibers, which grew into well over 20, and the spinoff Modern Personal Defense Weapon Calibers, which itself will have at least 20 [Read More…]
I have no doubt that the majority of our readers know about SAAMI (Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute), which sets the ammunition standards, cartridge and chamber drawings etc. These standards are guidelines for manufacturers, but many [Read More…]
Back in September, TFB reader Brandon took us through the history and variations of Russian Kalashnikov magazine patterns in a two part article that’s well worth reading if you haven’t already. Having said that, if you don’t have the patience for [Read More…]
The Russian small arms firm Kalashnikov Concern has announced several new weapons during the International Military-Technical Forum “ARMY 2016” held by the Russian government in Moscow, the first of which is a new take on a promising 20th Century [Read More…]
The AK-12 is dead. Long live the AK-12! That’s the song Kalashnikov Concern is singing this week at the recent ARMY 2016 expo in Moscow, Russia. The radical AK-12 prototypes that have dominated Kalashnikov’s press over the past two years are gone, replaced [Read More…]
In the late 1950s, after the first public demonstrations of the AR-15 and its new small caliber, high velocity cartridge, the Soviet Union took notice of the radical developments in military .22 caliber rounds in the United States. By 1959, four years before the [Read More…]
Rumors of a new Magpul magazine for the AK-74 platform are confirmed: The company has just released the PMAG 30 AK74 MOE magazine, designed to hold 30 rounds of 5.45x39mm ammunition and compatible with all 5.45mm caliber AK rifles that take traditional AK-74 pattern [Read More…]
As part of the recent Russian re-armament program including the T-14 Armata man battle tank, the T-50 air superiority fighter, and the AK-12 and A545 rifles, the Federation has initiated a program for a new 5.45mm caliber squad support weapon, called [Read More…]