#Vityaz

TFB’s  Photo Of The Day and you’re looking at the Palmetto State Armory AK-V, which is a US-made clone of the Russian Vityaz, chambered in 9mm. I would like to shoot a competition in Pistol Caliber Carbine with it, to see how it goes – just let me mount a red dot on it first.

Kalashnikov Concern first introduced the PPK-20 9mm SMG a little over a year ago. This is essentially a modernized Vityaz submachine gun, the result of the “Vityaz-MO” R&D project. During the  ARMY-2021 exhibition, the company unveiled a new, lighter and shorter version of this SMG tailored to the requirements of the Russian Aerospace Forces. This SMG is currently being tested in the Russian State Flight Test Centre in Aktyubinsk and may be adopted as the new firearm of the Russian military pilots’ personal survival kit.

Back in July, Hrachya reported on the newly modernized Vityaz 9x19mm submachine gun, the PPK-20. Now following the recent Army-2020 Expo in Moscow Kalashnikov have introduced a flurry of new weapons and shared some promotional videos of them in action. The latest is for the PPK-20.

Kalashnikov Concern has just published a press release announcing that a new modernized version of the 9mm Vityaz SMG has successfully passed the government trials. The new iteration of the submachine gun is called PPK-20. The trials were held within the R&D program called “Vityaz-MO” (Витязь-МО). As a result of the trials, the PPK-20 was approved as suitable for mass production.

With a name like Kalashnikov USA, what kind of guns do you expect? Yes, the Soviet kind… I had the good fortune of going to check out their factory in Florida.

Victor Kalashnikov, the son of Mikhail Kalashnikov, has passed away on March 27 at age 75. Like his father, he also was a firearms designer and worked in Izhevsk for many years. He is buried in a local cemetery in Izhevsk, Russia.

Kalashnikov USA, orphaned stateside importing partner of Kalashnikov Concern, brought their latest prototype and production guns to the 2018 SHOT Show, and there is good reason to be excited. Chief among them: The KR-9 9mm AK carbine.

Kalashnicohn is bringing to market Vityaz, completely manufactured in the United States. Apart from the few parts that are subcontracted out, the machining and receiver stamping is manufactured at the companies store in Phoenix, Arizona. Compared to the clone being brought in by Kalashnikov USA, Kalshnicohn’s version might not be as matching when it comes to collector value, but it does accomplish the job of an affordable SBR, pistol, or rifle that comes with interchangable magazine wells. Currently the magazine wells offered are for MP5, Glock, and of course original Vityaz magazines. Removing them is through a simple pin outside of the trigger guard. Pistol variants will come without the folding stock, while rifle variants will come with a faux suppressor attached. Of course, one can order the Vityaz in SBR form with the folding stock and sub 16″ barrel. If you notice that there aren’t any dimples where the safety should slide into, this is intentional. Customers can request dimples, or even cut them out themselves. The company has had too much conflicting information when it comes to what customers want, that it is just easier to leave it plain.

Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.

Kalashnikov USA had two potentially very exciting rifles at SHOT 2017. Unfortunately, the guns that I got to handle were not so great.

We first wrote about Kalashnicohn in 2014, when the small company began introducing their pistol caliber AKs. Compared to a number of larger manufacturers bringing the platform to market, Kalashnicohn has encountered a successful selling point considering that the entire company operates out of a small warehouse with 4 employees in Phoenix, AZ. While at Red Oktober the company showcased a number of their SBRs, pistols, and parts kits, mostly focusing on pistol calibers, however they do have some rifle caliber offerings as well.

Gun guru and MVD agent KardeN gets to play with all the best toys – this time, it’s the 9mm Kalashnikov-based submachine gun, the PP-19-01 “Vityaz”. Designed to handle high pressure 9x19mm Russian ammunition, the Vityaz is a more elegant weapon than its predecessor, the PP-19 “Bizon”. In KardeN’s photos below you can see the steel-cased and steel-cored 9x19mm 7N31 ammunition with polymer coated cases. This ammunition is extremely high pressure and powerful, flinging its 63gr armor-piercing bullet to nearly 2,000 ft/s, while the cartridges themselves are about a third lighter than standard 9x19mm ball rounds.

Backyard Safari has a collection of images showing the AEK-919 K Submachine gun being used in training by the Vityaz (counter-terrorism Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs special forces unit).

Last month the Deputy Head of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, Lieutenant-General Mikhail Suhodolskogo, announced that Russian police (the MVD) would be moving away from the AKS-74U (5.45mm 8″ barreled sub-carbine) and the famous Makarov pistol.