#5.45x39

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 based on the field testing of RPK-16, the Russian military formed new requirements for an LMG which were the base of starting the development of RPL-20. This new LMG is however significantly different from the RPK-16 and the ammunition is probably the only thing these two guns share.

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, freedom fighters, terrorists, as well as firearms enthusiasts.  There have been numerous variations on the AK platform since its adoption by the Soviet Union more than 70 years ago, some of which were dependant on which Warsaw Pact country it originated from.  According to Wikipedia, more than 100 million rifles based on Kalashnikov’s design have been produced, and around 90 countries have adopted them in some form or another.

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 currently in development. Let’s take a brief look at each of the new Century Arms AKs.

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 providing features that we demand from modern firearms.

“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 Nerf Gun On The Planet”), I realized that books still remain the best and most accurate source of information for a serious researcher. And books like “Vickers Guide: Kalashnikov (Volume 2)” add one more variable to the equation – high-quality pictures that you can’t really find anywhere else.

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 the introduction of the first rifle, Pestilence, followed by the War and Famine and finally about a year later from the launch of the series, the fourth rifle is announced. Let’s see what features Death comes with.

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 barrel ruptured right behind the gas block. The gun performed pretty well though firing 680 rounds of 7N6 ammunition before the failure which according to Kalashnikov Media is over three times the sustained fire requirement of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

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 only with straight-walled cartridges. Having a completely new cartridge case design, the .350 Legend has probably stimulated the imagination of those of you who are wildcat-minded. In this article, we’ll discuss the wildcatting potential of this new case. Let’s see what new cartridges can be created using the .350 Legend case.

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.

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 Co. subsonic 5.45x39mm ammunition which wasn’t powerful enough to cycle the action rendering the gun to a manual repeater. My first reaction was that this ammunition is worthless for a semi-auto gun. However, later I thought about a situation where this kind of ammunition can actually be useful. Let’s watch the mentioned video first.

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 making the incremental improvements that everyone knows are possible?

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 Sino-Soviet split beginning in 1956, but subsequent development took place without Russian input, leading to an entire family of unique AK variants. The name “Type 56” actually refers to this entire family of Chinese AKs, which includes milled receiver variants derived from the Russian Type 2 AK, as well as stamped versions similar to (but distinct from) the AKM. These guns showed up all over the world, and for many they are THE iconic “AK-47”. They were the primary weapon of the North Vietnamese Army in the latter half of the Vietnam War, were exported by the Chinese to Africa, Asia, and South America. It was the most used AK variant by the mujahideen during the Soviet-Afghan War, up against Russian AK-74 rifles. Too this day remains one of the most common if not the most common AK variant, and it’s the Chinese Type 56 with its distinctive integral spike bayonet that is famously depicted as a symbol of liberation on the Flag of Mozambique.

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 calibers not in fact a need to be addressed, but a desire to sell weapons in a stagnant small arms market?

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 Federal Security Service (FSB) as well as the Russian National Guard have expressed a high interest in these two firearms.

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 Vladimir Onokoy, the video offers English speakers an important look at the technical features of the new weapons, which were until now something of a mystery to those on this side of the language barrier. The video is embedded below, followed by a written summary: