| Puşcă Automată model 1986 | |
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Pmd. 86 in Afghanistan. |
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| Type | Assault rifle |
| Place of origin | Socialist Republic of Romania |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1986-present |
| Used by | Romania, Socialist Republic of Romania |
| Wars | Peace-keeping missions in Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Romtechnica |
| Designed | 1986 |
| Manufacturer | RomArm via Regia Autonomă pentru producţia de Tehnică Militară (RATMIL), Cugir |
| Produced | 1986-present |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 3.69 kg (8.14 lb) |
| Length | 943 mm (37.1 in) stock extended / 748 mm (29.4 in) stock folded |
| Barrel length | 432 mm (17.0 in) |
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| Cartridge | 5.45x39mm |
| Action | Gas-actuated, rotating bolt |
| Rate of fire | 700 rounds/min |
| Muzzle velocity | 880 m/s (2,887 ft/s) |
| Effective range | 100 to 1,000 m sight adjustments |
| Feed system | 30-round box magazine |
| Sights | Rear sight notch sight on sliding tangent, front post |
The Puşcă Automată model 1986 (Automatic Rifle Model 1986, abbreviated PA md. 86 or simply md. 86) is the standard assault rifle used by the Romanian Military Forces and manufactured in Cugir, Romania by firm RomArm S.A. located in Bucharest, Romania. The export name for this variant is the AIMS-74.
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As the Soviet Union switched from the 7.62x39mm caliber AK-47 to the 5.45x39mm caliber AK-74, it encouraged other nations of the Warsaw Pact to follow suit.
By the mid 80s, Romania decided to switch calibers, however it was decided that the new rifle be developed independently, and not represent a clone of the Soviet AK-74. In doing so, the PA md. 86 has several anachronistic AKM elements that were found only on the prototype Soviet AK-74.
The most easily recognized AKM feature is the gas block design (45 degree versus 90 degree). Incidentally, although the gas block is purely AKM, the gas vent in the barrel did change to a 90 degree design to minimize bullet shearing (a problem with early Soviet AK-74's with 45 degree gas blocks). This means the Romanian AK-74 has a double angle gas port, which makes it much harder to clean the gas vent. This variant also uses the AK-47 rear trunnion, and thus the siderail is lengthened.
It uses either the bird-cage flash suppressor, or a flash hider (designed for Special Forces). The design also incorporated an upward curved charging handle, a wire sidefolder, based on the East German design, but offset slightly to the left, and the traditional vertical handgrip. The md. 86 use laminated wood lower handguards, and Bakelite pistol grips and upper handguards. None of the components have had any polymer versions.
The AG-40 grenade launcher can be attached as a lower handguard after removing the standard one. Lasers/lights can also be clamped to the barrel in two ways. The rifle is one of only a few AK versions that have a 3-round burst option. The selector markings are as follows, from top to bottom: ∞, 1, 3. Only ribbed steel magazines are used.
Combat divers also use a version with straight handguards, as the grip is considered to be cumbersome for amphibious operations.
This rifle also has a rarely seen short barrel version, also known as the carbine version, where the front sight is placed on the gas block. This version also uses straight handguards (http://www.arms.home.ro/arms/cugir1/pag/7.html).
The 5.45mm civilian export versions are: Romak 992, Romak 2, Intrac Mk II, CUR-2, WUM-2, SAR 2, and the WASR 2 which is the current production rifle. The WASR 2 doesn't have a dimpled receiver, as opposed to previous models.
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