AK-74
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| AK-74 | |
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| Type | Assault rifle |
| Place of origin | Soviet Union/Russian Federation |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1974 – |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Mikhail Kalashnikov |
| Designed | 1974 |
| Variants | AK-74M, AKS-74, AKS-74U, RPK-74 |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 3.3 kg |
| Length | 943 mm |
| Barrel length | 415 mm |
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| Cartridge | 5.45 x 39 mm |
| Action | Gas-Operated, Rotating bolt (with 2 lugs) |
| Rate of fire | 600 – 650 rounds/min |
| Muzzle velocity | 900 m/s (~2952 f/s) |
| Effective range | 500 m |
| Feed system | 30 round detachable box magazine) |
| Sights | Adjustable Iron sights, optional mount required for Telescopic sight |
The AK-74 assault rifle is a modernized version of the AK-47 developed in 1974, chambered in a smaller cartridge (5.45 x 39 mm as opposed to the 7.62 x 39 mm of the AK-47). The weapon went into mass-production in 1976. The newest variant, the AK-74M, is the main service rifle for the Russian Federation armed forces and has been since the early 1990s.
Contents |
[edit] Design
When it first appeared, the AK-74 was assumed to be a limited-production version to equip special forces. In reality, the Soviet Union mass produced this rifle to replace their inventory of AKM weapons entirely.
Like its parent AK-47 and AKM weapons, the AK-74 is a magazine-fed, self-loading, selective-fire, intermediate caliber assault rifle with a rigid piston gas system and rotating bolt locking mechanism. The stamped sheet metal receiver is borrowed from the earlier AKM. The AK-74 has other differences from the AKM, notably the distinctive muzzle brake, which is designed to reduce the already mild recoil and muzzle climb of the AK-74, however, because it is such an effective muzzle brake, it is extremely loud. Current production versions also employ a mounting rail on the left side of the receiver for fixing accessories such as an optical sight or flashlight.
Originally, the AK-74 had a laminated-wood stock, but later production models, as well as the current AK-74M, use black, glass-filled polyamide, giving the rifle an all-black finish.
[edit] Ballistics
The weapon fires a 5.45 × 39 mm round with a muzzle velocity of 900 m/s. Muzzle energy is 1.39 kilojoules, giving an effective range of around 500 m. Cartridge mass is 10.75 g. Projectile mass is 3.42 g. The new cartridge was designed to give greater effective range, less recoil, and a flatter trajectory than the 7.62 x 39 mm.
Design of an entirely new cartridge was possibly a reaction to the effectiveness of the 5.56 × 45 mm round in Vietnam. All military rifle bullets will turn or yaw in soft tissue. Small-caliber high-velocity projectiles like the 5.56 mm produce significant wounds because they yaw much sooner in soft tissue, greatly increasing their frontal area.[1] The Soviets designed a round that would be similar to the 5.56 mm, but with an increased tendency to yaw. The 5.45 mm projectile consists of a mild steel core in the rear with a lead plug in front. The copper-plated steel jacket of the bullet incorporates an air space in the nose. This empty space has several functions. It moves the center of gravity rearward, encouraging yaw in soft targets. It also streamlines and lightens the projectile resulting in greater velocity, flatter trajectory, and more reliable feeding from the magazine. Finally, this space often collapses and deforms irregularly in soft targets. Despite its complicated design, the bullet fired by the AK-74 fails to reliably fragment in soft tissue making it less effective in this area than similar Western designs. It has also been shown to yaw no sooner than the 5.56 mm projectiles.
The development of the AK-74 bullet is often compared to that of the American M16 rifle and its M193 ammunition. When the NATO-Developed SS109 5.56 mm bullet is compared side-by-side with the 5.45 x 39 mm they are similar in many ways. They are both composed of a separate jacket, steel core, and lead component. As with the SS109, the 5.45 mm was likely designed as a compromise between penetration and soft-tissue damage. The major threat at the time of development was the American soldier who was increasingly utilizing body armor. Not surprisingly, the 5.45 mm bullet is more effective against Kevlar than the earlier 7.62 mm bullet. The 5.45 mm and 5.56 mm cartridges are considered equal in most aspects with the exception of the Western round having a significantly greater tendency to fragment when fired at close range.
The 5.45 mm bullet yaws when striking a soft target such as a human causing it to tumble. This tumbling creates a larger wound in the target than the bullet's diameter. The Afghans who fought the Soviet Union often referred to the 5.45 mm as "the poison bullet" because of the severity of the wound in proportion to its relative size and energy. Reports from Afghanistan suggested that the new bullet might violate international conventions on rifle ammunition, however international conventions prohibit only exploding, poison, and expanding bullets. It was suggested that the bullet's radical design would create inhumane wounds. This complaint was also made about M193 ammunition for the M16, which not only yaws in the flesh, but gets routinely fragmented into many pieces. No sanctions or prohibitions have been levied on either design.
[edit] Operation
[edit] Loading
In order to make the rifle ready to fire, a loaded magazine is inserted and the fire selector lever must be moved to either of the lower two positions. The charging handle must then be pulled back to its rear-most position and released. This operation slides a round from the top of the magazine into the chamber of the rifle and closes the bolt.
[edit] Firing
Once the charging handle has been pulled and released, the weapon is loaded. Depending upon the position of the fire selector switch, it will fire when the trigger is squeezed. The fire selector switch has 3 modes:
- When the selector is in the upper position, the rifle's safety mechanism is engaged and it cannot fire via the trigger. In the safe position the selector blocks foreign matter from entry to the gun. However, it still allows the bolt to be withdrawn far enough to check if the gun is loaded.
- When the selector is in the middle position, the gun will fire on full automatic, cycling fresh rounds into the chamber until the trigger is released or the magazine is emptied.
- With the selector in the lower position, the gun fires in semi-automatic operation. This requires the trigger to be released and then squeezed again for each individual round to be fired until the magazine is exhausted and the chamber is empty.
[edit] Field stripping
To field strip the rifle (for cleaning or inspection), the magazine catch is depressed and the magazine is removed. Using the charging handle, the bolt carrier is pulled toward the rear allowing inspection of the chamber to verify that the gun is unloaded. To remove the receiver cover, it is necessary to first press forward on the button at the rear of the cover and to simultaneously lift up on the rear of the cover, removing it from the weapon. The spring assembly is then pushed forward and lifted from its raceway, withdrawing to the rear. The bolt carrier assembly is then pulled all the way to the rear, lifted and then pulled towards the rear. The bolt is then removed by pushing it to the rear of the bolt carrier and rotating the bolt so the camming lug clears the raceway on the underside of the bolt carrier. This procedure allows the weapon and its parts to be cleaned and lubricated before reassembly. When cleaning, special attention must be paid to the barrel, bolt face, and gas piston.
[edit] Service
Besides the Soviet Union and its successor states, the AK-74 was widely adopted by many Soviet client states and other nations, in particular users of the AK-47 and the AKM, although not nearly as extensively as those rifles. Like the AK-47 and the AKM, the AK-74 was copied both illicitly and under license by many of its operators. Yugoslavia license built the weapon as the M80, and it was featured prominently among many of the armed forces operating in the country during the 1990s. It remains the service weapon for many of the former Yugoslav republics. Semi-automatic variants of the AK-74 have gained in popularity with gun owners in the United States due to laws there restricting ownership of machineguns. Civilian rifles (and pistols) based on the Kalashnikov include a hodgepodge of features from various countries, even being available in 5.56 x 45 mm. Captured AK-74s and several variants thereof have also been used by the Mujahadeen, Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and Northern Alliance in Afghanistan, and by Osama Bin Laden and his subordinates in videos and interviews.
[edit] Media
The AK-74 has become a fixture in modern video games and books. In movies, it is often seen and used interchangeably with the AK-47 rifle.
[edit] See also
- AK-47
- AKS-74U
- AK-101
- AK-103
- AK-107 includes AK-108
- GP-30
- Civilian "cousins" of the AK-47
- List of Russian Weaponry
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Fackler et al. (1984). "Wounding potential of the Russian AK-74 assault rifle", Journal of Trauma-Injury Infection & Critical Care. 24, 263-6.
