#5.45x39

This article is an English-language translation of an article written for Мир увлечений: Охота & Оружие (World of Hobbies: Hunting & Weapons) magazine, by Andrey Donets and Dmytro Adyeyev. TFB reader dnepr0mike graciously aided the blog with his translation skills to bring this to our readers. The article and its images are used with permission from Hunting & Weapons magazine.

To the first-time AK builder, the task in front of him or her can seen daunting, or even impossible. Unlike AR-15s that easily go together virtually like a LEGO set, the Kalashnikov rifle requires a bit more effort – and more expensive tools – to put together. There are some resources available online to aid a new AK builder, but another option is Build Your Own AK, Volumes I and II, by Montag and Nicoroshi.

Polish gun magazine Broń i Amunicja posted two photos of the elusive AN-94 rifle in use with Russian forces recently. The 5.45mm hyperburst rifles are seen equipped with optics mounted via rails to the Soviet-era dovetail scope mount integral to the receiver of the weapon.

Via his Facebook page, Larry Vickers shares with us some photos of a  prototype upgraded AK-74 rifle, made by Kalashnikov Concern and  adopted by the Russian Army:

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 Grigory Rhein has posted a few videos of shooting the latest incarnation of the AK-12, which differs in a few ways from its predecessors:

I heard on the grapevine that Hornady’s steel cased V-Max 5.45×39 and 7.62×39 ammunition has since the beginning of this year been loaded in lacquered steel cases, versus the polymer-coated steel cases that had been the basis for Hornady’s ammunition in those two Russian calibers previously. Sam of SG Ammo confirmed this rumor, and I promptly put in an order for some 5.45×39 V-Maxes.

Retiv sends us this photo of the personal AK-74 of a Russian MVD (Ministry of Internal Affairs) agent “KardeN”. The rifle sports numerous modifications that actually differ between the two photos, even down to the optics mounts:

On May 20th, 2015 we promised to destroy/catch on fire an AK74. We were looking forward to seeing where the gun either failed or the handguards melted/ignited.

Kalashnikov Concern has made an effort to rebrand itself following its consolidation, and spurred by the US sanctions of 2014, that prevent the importation of the Concern’s products to the lucrative American civilian market. VICE News, online offshoot of VICE Magazine, has traveled to Moscow to cover the rebranding, interviewing Alexey Krivoruchko, the Concern’s CEO, as well as Grigor Badalyan, Director of Brand Consulting for Apostol Media Group, which consulted for the Concern’s rebranding effort:

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 military-informant.com:

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 time for an update. One of the most informative videos regarding the rifle itself that I have yet seen is this one from December of 2014, which besides showing the monolithic upper rail fifth prototype in action, also comes equipped with both automatic and human translations. I encourage readers to watch it with both comments and subtitles turned “ON”:

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 accepted into service with operational units for evaluation. VPK.name reports:

MG Industries is now shipping a version of the Hydra MARCK-15 rifle chambered in 5.45×39. These guns, called the AK-74 model, use a standard AR-15 configuration, but are able to change barrels and calibers quickly.

There has been a lot of hub-ub going on over the weekend on 5.45×39 ammunition. Originally brought to light by James Yeager and then by Tim at the Military Arms Channel, ATF Form 6’s (Request for Import) that include the mild steel core 7n6 ammunition are currently being “held”.

CAI is now producing a splendid AK74 clone that they have dubbed the M74 Sporter, and I asked our great editor Phil White if I could review one. Let me tell you, we deal with a lot of companies here at The Firearm Blog, but CAI is really on the ball when it comes to reviewing one of their products. A single email sent by Phil to the manufacturer results in a gun at my FFL, with accessories and all kinds of cool ancillary stuff in about 4 or 5 days! To me this speaks well of their organization as far as the administrative side goes, and to me that is an indicator of a good company overall, and there I must give them some serious credit. That being said, I was very excited to have to opportunity to test their AK74.