AK-12 Rifle Discussion

Not so bad for western weapons to be less reliable though, because if their tanks don't work in the cold or the dust, why would you need your rifles to work?

If you look at the video you can see that the new AK-12 infact uses a long stroke gas piston any thoughts?

Why do you think that is an issue?

Special forces in the Samara region received the latest batch of Kalashnikov AK-12

The AK-12 is like the T-90AM and Su-35 and MiG-35... it is a Soviet weapon that is upgraded as far as is practically possible to eliminate as many problems and flaws real or perceived without starting from scratch with a new design.

What I am looking forward to is the next gen design... so AK-74M to AK-12/15 to what?

The T-90AM has three replacements... the T-14 Armata, the B-14? Kurganets, and the K-14? Boomerang.... new generation vehicles.

The Su-35 and MiG-35 will likely remain in service in parallel with the Su-57 as a high/low mix offering capabilities that compliment rather than replace each other.

With the rifles personally I think they are working on new weapons.

Ironically current small arms ammo is arse about... in the Russian army.

The short range assault rifle round is a small calibre 5.45x39mm round, while the long range machine gun and sniper rifle ammo is a 7.62mm calibre round.

The short range ammo is small calibre and high velocity an relatively light projectiles, while the long range stuff is larger calibre lower velocity and heavier projectiles.

In terms of optimised performance it would actually make sense for the long range ammo to be both heavy and small calibre so it retains velocity over greater distance.

Velocity is energy so the faster a bullet travels the more energy it has for the same weight. The sooner it gets to the target the less time the target has to move.

The pinnacle of this is the flechette, but it lacks terminal effect which counts it out as a militarily effective round.

Steyr entered a rifle that fires flechettes in the US programme for a replacement for the M16. The Steyr entry had fixed iron sights because out to 800m there was so little bullet drop you didn't need to adjust fire for it...

It wasn't particularly accurate, but was very low recoil and penetrated flak jackets with ease at pretty much any range you could get a hit.

The main problem is that it wasn't particularly lethal making a large temporary cavity, but only a tiny permanent wound.

The problem is that to make it lethal you need to make it tumble, but if you make it tumble it stops being a good penetrator... and the accuracy wasn't good enough for the Americans who demand better than sniper rifle accuracy.

Is there a G11 type rifle being developed in Russia using liquid or gel propellent and hypersonic projectiles... an EM boosted weapon that launched solid metal projectiles using powerful magnetic coils alone with no propellent?

New plasma based propellants that leave no residue, that means the new ammo separates propellent, ignition, and projectile again, where the ignition is a small microwave emitter near the chamber... propellent is passed out in small tanks that fit around the barrel and the buttstock to assist cooling the barrel like an old water jacket on a WWI machine gun, with projectiles handed out in something like stripper clips but much smaller and with just projectiles fitted... or little plastic blocks containing a sabot encased projectile... different colours for different uses...

But what is the problem with a long stroke piston?

In WWIII they are not, but in COIN type ops where you need to be sure of your target and not just hose down everyone then good fire arms are important.

I think the Czech Vz 58 or something has a bolt hold open cutout on the magazine but when you pull out the mag the bolt slams forward so I really don't understand how it is useful except to tell you to change mags.

The SKS had a bolt hold open device but that was mainly to facilitate loading via a stripper clip.

If you look through the Kalashnikov archives and books there were dozens of different variations they tested before finalising on the rifles they did.

That includes rifles with the cocking handle on the left side and different sight arrangements.

Note the FN FAL had a bolt hold open option but it was manual, and the magazines were locked into place by rocking them back too.

In fact the FN FAL is an excellent example of a rifle that is better implimented than the AR.

The FN FAL has a front and a rear bit... the rear is the pistol grip and butt stock with recoil spring inside, while the upper is the upper receiver and magazine well and barrel, chamber and front grip.

This means that if you wanted to develop an new upper for the FN FAL you could make it any calibre and any mechanism you like... you could make it pump action using the recoil spring in the butt, or keep the gas system, but make it any calibre from a .22lr blowback, to any rifle calibre or shotgun calibre because the magazine well is part of the upper a 12 gauge model can use a 12 gauge mag well.

With the AR-15 the mag well is part of the lower so you can buy an upper for any calibre you want but that calibre has to fit through the well designed for the 5.56mm NATO round. You can't have calibres like .243 winchester or even a 7.62x51mm calibre because they wont fit in the mag well.

Button releases on the SA80 constantly led to soldiers getting to where they were going and shouldering their rifles and firing their first round only to find their magazine was gone... the chance of an AK mag accidentally dropping were zero.

Also the lever means you are holding the mag in your hand and operating the mag release with your thumb so if you are going to put the mag away in your belt order because you are on a mission and wont get resupplied for a week so you want to refill your mags later with the boxes of ammo in your backpack then putting the spent mags back in your belt order is important.

AK mags are much more solid and reliable than M16 mags which were a source of problems for all the rifles that used them.

Actually I like the look of the ADS... bullpup that can be fired left handed or right handed without adjustment... sounds pretty accurate and able to fire under water...

There has been a mention regarding Ratnik 3 due about 2025 will include new small arms of new design... presumably a new family of weapons...

Would like to see a PKP in 6x49mm calibre too.