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Foreign Weapons: Modern Machine Guns

Foreign Weapons: Modern Machine Guns

The AK is one of the most widely used military rifles in the world.

By Cameron Hopkins

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8/13/10

The iconic AK-47 is not what you might have been led to think, Matt Babb says. “You’ve probably heard the spiel. Mikhail Kalashnikov, a brilliant arms designer, is convalescing in a hospital when inspiration strikes and he designs the AK-47. Folks, it didn’t happen like that. It wasn’t until his sixth prototype that Kalashnikov finally got it right. That was the ‘first’ AK-47. He himself admits that he looked at the M1 Garand as part of his inspiration for the weapon system.”

Having debunked part of the AK myth, Matt walks us through how to strip the gun and why it is such a brutally simple, typically Russian design. The top cover pops off easily, allowing you to remove the recoil spring, which is captive so it doesn’t fly across the room and hit the Picatinny guys. The bolt assembly comes right out with the gas piston attached. From there, you’re three pins away from having the trigger assembly apart. We’re taking apart a select-fire AK-47 since this is a military firearms class, so we see how the auto sear also serves as an out-of-battery safety to prevent the rifle from firing if the bolt isn’t fully closed. We remove the three pins and take out the hammer, sear, cyclic rate reducer, trigger and auto sear.

While reassembling the gun, Babb shows us a trick of how to use the cleaning rod as a slave pin to hold the wire spring down while the second of the three pins is reinserted. As the last student gets his AK top cover snapped on, Babb assumes the role of a drill instructor.

“Everyone got their gun back together? Good. Now take ’em apart again!”

The sound of bolts moving, springs sliding, metallic parts pinging, shlack-clacking apart reverberates.

“Got ’em apart? Put ’em back!”

“Do it again!”

“Put ’em back!”

“Do it again!”

We learn through the mother of all skill builders—repetition, repetition, repetition. After the fifth or sixth rep, the guns are coming apart and going back together with a fluidity born of familiarity.

We learn that the “P” on the rear sight, below the “1,” is the battle zero. We are shown why the AK doesn’t have timing issues because the bolt rotates a full 30 degrees before unlocking, giving the just-fired cartridge case time to relax in the chamber. We also see how the gun has a floating firing pin so you don’t get accidental strikes.

We watch a video of an AK firing in full-automatic in super-slow motion with the top cover removed. Don’t try this at home! The bolt is bouncing around, the piston is flexing wildly, and the recoil spring jumps like it’s been goosed.

“You see that? The AK is a sloppy gun. It’s supposed to be a sloppy gun. That’s why it works,” Babb points out.

Now we move to AK variants in a slide show. Matt points out that the AKM is a stamped-receiver gun. “The ‘M’ in any Russian designation means ‘modernized.’ So you have the AKM, PKM, and others,” Matt tells us. We see slides of East German variants with distinctive, side-folding stocks; Hungarian variants with an infinity symbol for full-automatic; Chinese Type 56s; a North Korean Type 68 and an Iraqi Tabuk. Babb says the best of them all is the Yugoslav variant known as the Zastava AK for the plant where it’s made.

He flicks the lights back on and surveys the room with that same secretly sadistic smile. We know what’s coming.

“Take ’em apart!”

“Put ’em back!”

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Comments

  • Robert Talkington

    3/14/2013 9:17:11 AM

    The only ak varrient rifle to be produced with a bolt hold open device was the Zastava M70 manufactured in the former Yugoslavia. This feature was a function of the magazine follower and had no other bearing on the weapons operation. Once the magazine was removed from the rifle the bolt would reciprocate freely. After market safety levers have been made with a cut out to hold the bolt to the rear when engaged. Many times bolt hang up due to the flange of the meeting between the gas piston and bolt carrier group dragging on the gas tube is to blame.

  • steven

    8/17/2010 10:48:26 PM

    Ok the best tip for the m70 yugo or any ak type rifle is to see if it has a bolt hold open feature and if it is reliable. To do this empty the chamber and magazine. After this is done and verified empty slide the bolt all the way to the rear and hold. While holding bolt fully open press trigger all the way back then slowly release the bolt slowly forward. If it closes you don't have the ability. If it stops over the hammer you may. If it stopped over the hammer you need to confirm you have the feature. Take your free hand and smack the other side of the rifle and above the bolt as hard as you can with your bare hand. If the bolt does NOT CLOSE, then take your hand and slap the rear of the charging handle in a forward motion. If the bolt still wont close grip it with your hand and try pushing, moderately, in a forward direction to close the bolt. If it will Not close then you have a reliable bolt hold open feature for the range. To close the bolt simply pull the charging handle back a quarter inch and release. IF SIDE SLAPPING WONT CLOSE IT BUT SLAPPING THE CHARGING HANDLE DOES CLOSE THE BOLT THEN DO NOT USE TBE FEATURE AS IT IS UN RELIABLE. Only use if it locks in place and STAYS there after slapping the rifle and charging handle then shoving the charging handle. If it stays close after all that you are good to go. Please note that this feature is unique to each indvidual rifle not nessecarily to each rifle in a line...like all WASR's or all yugo's.