#Kalashnikov

The first time I ever saw this rifle was during a trip to Russia in 2012. It sat on display, with no label or information plaque, an oddity that immediately caught my attention. Curiosity pushed me to dig deeper, and after reaching out to my friend Mikhail at Kalashnikov.Ru, I learned that the rifle had been briefly featured in Kalashnikov Magazine back in 1997. That was where the real story began.

Kalashnikov Concern have announced that they will soon start the production of the modernized AK-308, an AK-pattern rifle chambered in 7.62x51. Designed in 2018, this battle rifle is primarily made for export. Let’s see what has been changed in the design of the AK-308.

The president of Kalashnikov's concern announced at a press release on October 8th, 2024, that state tests for the AM-17 had been completed. The rifle was developed by order of the Ministry of Defense, and full production is reported to start in 2025. The AM-17, a small-sized or compact assault rifle, was officially adopted in 2024, marking a significant milestone in the development of modern military weaponry.

The PK and PKM can be traced back to the Goryunov SG-43 medium machine gun, a testament to the unwavering perseverance of Kalashnikov's design team. Their dedication and hard work in refining the machine gun are genuinely inspiring. This historical evolution, from the SG-43 to the PK series, carries significant weight in the field of military technology.

Many people who briefly looked into Kalashnikov’s biography ask the same question - how come the first gun he developed, the AK-47, became so incredibly popular? But when you dig deeper, it turns out the AK-47 was not his first design, and Kalashnikov’s early attempts to develop new guns often failed.

In Part 1 of this article, I wrote about the beginning of the Kalashnikov machinegun story, Part 2 was dedicated to the bureaucratic hoops he initially had to jump through, Part 3 described the technical triаls and competition between the Kalashnikov and his rivals, Nikitin and Sokolov. Part 4 was about the troop trials. Part 5 outlined the final results of all the tests.

In   Part 1 of this article, I wrote about the beginning of the Kalashnikov machinegun story, Part 2 was dedicated to the bureaucratic hoops he initially had to jump through, Part 3 described the technical triаls and competition between the Kalashnikov and his rivals, Nikitin and Sokolov. Part 4 was about troop trials. In this chapter, I will talk about the end of the trials and their results.

In Part 1 of this article, I wrote about the beginning of the Kalashnikov machinegun story, Part 2 was dedicated to the bureaucratic hoops he initially had to jump through, Part 3 described the technical triаls and competition between the Kalashnikov and his rivals, Nikitin and Sokolov. In this chapter, I will go into the story of troop trials that determined the destiny of Kalashnikov GPMG.

In  Part 1 of this article, I wrote about the beginning of the Kalashnikov machinegun story, Part 2 was dedicated to the bureaucratic hoops he initially had to jump through. In this chapter, I will talk about the technical triаls and competition between Kalashnikov and his rivals, Nikitin and Sokolov.

In Part 1 of this article, I wrote about the beginning of the Kalashnikov machine gun story. In this chapter, I will get into details of how Kalashnikov managed to go through with his design against all odds.