#Tula

In which I restore a 1952 Tula SKS to her original glory. Featuring adventures in international shipping, a brief history lesson, and more than you wanted to know about the different models of SKS bayonet adapters.

Just earlier this week Kalashnikov announced its own line of rifle cartridges.

Thanks to the Kalashnikov Gun Magazine, today we have a chance to take a look at one of the Soviet experimental sniper rifles/DMRs chambered in the 6x49mm caliber. The rifle is called TKB-0145S (ТКБ-0145С) and as one can expect from an experimental rifle, it has a lot of interesting and unusual design solutions.

Over the past few months more information has emerged on one of Russia’s most interesting firearms – a big bore close quarters assault rifle. The Tula-based Instrument Design Bureau (KBP) designed ASh-12 (or ShAK-12 according to a recent Jane’s article) is a bullpup chambered in a huge 12.7х55mm round.

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 assault rifle/personal defense weapon. The AMB-17 is an integrally suppressed variant of the same, firing the 9x39mm dedicated subsonic round first introduced with the AS Val and VSS Vintorez in the 1980s. Pictures of the new rifles have been posted on various social media outlets, such as TFB contributor and small arms expert Max Popenker’s blog.

Here follows a short story from a recent visit to the Central Armed Forces Museum.

The AK has a problem as a defensive rifle. Rifle projectiles that do not yaw, fragment, or expand tend to produce wounds that are little more severe than those produced by pistol bullets. In 7.62x39mm, this problem is compounded by its relatively low velocity, when compared to 5.56mm, 5.45mm, or full power rifle cartridges like 7.62x51mm. Some 7.62x39mm FMJ does yaw reliably, but even the good stuff, like Yugoslavian M67 or Golden Tiger 124 gr FMJ, does not yaw until it has penetrated four inches or more. More common FMJ like Wolf, TulAmmo, or any of the differently colored Bears tend to yaw even later, if at all. There are a great number of “hollow point” loads available in 7.62x39mm from the various Russian brands but, with very few exceptions, these projectiles behave exactly like full metal jacket in tissue. There are a few American loads that have excellent terminal performance, but these are far more expensive.There are Russian 124 gr and 154 gr soft points available, and these do generally tend to expand well, but they are not reliable and some users have reported feeding problems with soft points. What’s worse, Russian ammo makers seem to change components more often than Bruce Jenner changes his mind. You never really know what projectile will be loaded in the ammunition you buy, unless it is actually labeled with the specific projectile design, like Western ammo.

Fresh off of the editing and framing masterpiece that is the “Inside the M4 Carbine” video, Larry Vickers does not seem to be resting on the upload button. His latest video features a unicorn AK-74 at least here in the United States.

This is a the second part of a guest article from our reader Brandon covering the development of synthetic magazines for the AK-47 and AKM rifles. You can read the first part, on metallic magazines, at this link. Thanks, Brandon!

This is a guest article from our reader Brandon covering the development of metallic magazines for the AK-47 and AKM rifles. Thanks, Brandon!

My Russian friend and military photographer extraordinaire  Vitaly V. Kuzmin sent us high resolution photos of the new Tula ADS Underwater rifle. It is quite an elegant design when viewed up close (rather than low resolution mainstream press images). The 40mm grenade launcher is built in and doubles as the handguard, adding almost no extra bulk to the rifle.

It went unnoticed at The Firearm Blog but, back in late 2009, Russian arms manufacturer Tula / KPB announced an underwater ammunition system for the Tula A-91 assault rifle. A modified 5.45x39mm round appears to be loaded with a long thin sabot bullet. Unlike the ASP round, also based on the 5.45mm cartridge, this newer round does not need a special rifle with an oversized magazine.

LuckyGunner has published an article about Tula and Ulyanovsk Ammunition (branded as TulaAmmo in the US market). The article is very interesting and well worth reading.