Category Archives: Russia and also USSR

Bulgaria, Russia and also USSR

Amazing tour video of the Hind Mi-24 helicopter by a pilot

Folks, I have found the Russian Hind Mi-24 helicopter absolutely fascinating for decades. Both I and the Hind are old enough to truly say decades in this case as it was delivered to the Soviet Air Force in 1970 but NATO and the West didn’t find out about them until 1972.

The HIND is a huge helicopter gunship and unique in that it has room for eight passengers. At the same time it is fast, armored and loaded with weapons. Soviet pilots called it the “flying tank: and other nicknames include Galina, Crocodile/Krokodil and Drinking Glass.

At any rate, it is very interesting and has evolved over the years plus the Soviets and later the Russians exported it to many countries including Bulgaria, Macedonia and many others plus it has served in a number of conflicts (click here for the Wikipedia Mi-24 page if you want more details).

The purpose of this blog post is to share with you an amazing video assembled by Erik Johnston where Bruce Stringfellow, a Hind pilot, gives a detailed walkround tour of the helicopter. How detailed? It has an hour and 16 minutes of detail – it is the best video I have ever seen if you want to really know more about the design, capabilities and what a preflight check looks like from a pilot’s view. Here it is:

Note, the photo shown at the top is extracted from the video and shared under fair use. I do not own the rights to the video and imagery – the video was created by and presumably owned by Erik Stone Photography. Please visit the actual Youtube video page if you wish to subscribe to Erik Stone’s videos or buy some of his merchandise to support his efforts.

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Russia and also USSR

Video: What is the Best Way to Reload an AK? Kalashnikov Media Answers a Hot Question

You know, it’s interesting how people will argue over stuff on the Internet. Give them a picture of a stick and they will argue about it! Now, turn the topic to AK rifles and debating what is the right or wrong way to do something, things get colorful fast and a lot of energy is wasted over trivial points.

In this video, Vladimir Onokoy, who always does a great job, goes over different reloading approaches. Now most folks do not know Vladimir but I will tell you he is the real deal with considerable Russian military experience and armorer-level experience with the AK platform. In short, I would recommend you listen real close to what he says plus bear in mind that this is a Kalashnikov Media video and they know their stuff as well 🙂

Watch the Video

Normally I give some screen shots and make some color commentary but this video is only 3:05 seconds and seeing is believing.

I fully agree with his conclusion – train and become proficient. They all work the question is what works best for you and only training and experience can answer that.

Please note that all images were extracted from the video and are the property of their respective owner.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@*********ps.com. Please note that for links to other websites, we are only paid if there is an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay and only if you purchase something.

PSA AK Webstore Links

Interested in an American made AK? Consider Palmetto State Armory (PSA) as a source. Click on the following links for the associated webstore categories for AK-related rifles, pistols and parts at PSA:

Russia and also USSR

Video: Russian Gunbusters Fires An AK-12 Until It Fails. Wow! Very interesting comments about 5.45 and 5.56 AK barrel Stresses

In this episode, Georgiy Gubich operates a 5.45×39 AK-12 on full auto until it fails. You’ll notice he is wearing body armor and for good reason as you’ll learn from the video.

He starts by loading up a case of 7N6 ammo into 30 mags and then dumping one after another. You get views from several angles and a shot counter plus his observations during the process.

The handguards are starting to smoke and Georgiy mentions he smells burning plastic.
Note the barrel and brake care glowing red at 503 rounds. It’s hard to say for sure, but this puts the temperature at 930-1175F (500-635C) degrees. I don’t know if it is the camera lens distortion but the brake looks like it is drooping. In later photos it does not so I’m thinking the wide angle lens might be causing distortion.
The handguard is on fire by round 510. It’s hard to say for sure but the temperature might be closer to 1490F (810C). She is hot!! Depending on the polymer they are using for the handguards, the ignition flash point could be from 572-1292F (00-700C). I would guess they are using something good because we can see the barrel is well past 1000F and there is an air gap plus the thermal mass of the handguard to consider which is why it took a while to reach the heat of ignition.
Round 630 – Wow! That is an impressive photo. The handguard is on fire and by luck the camera caught one hell of a muzzle flash. I can’t help but wonder what the temperature of the barrel is under the handguards at this point.
The barrel is started to rupture just prior to this point. Sparks could well be burning powder and there is definitely shrapnel flying as well. Yeah, right about now the body armor, gloves and face shield are making a lot of sense!
Georgiy inspects the rifle and sees the burst barrel.
This is where the barrel ruptured and it looks like it took out part of the gas block. Georgiy mentioned this is a common failure areas for 5.56 and 5.45 rifles due to the heat and pressure compare to larger calibers (I assume is he is referring to 7.62×39 and x51 variants). The rust you see is “flash rust” caused by the heat and being cooled down by water.
It definitely took a beating.

Time for the Video!

Summary

The rifle held up three times as long as the Russian Ministry of Defense 180-round burst requirement. Practically, you would expect pauses during firing to allow it to cool down some. I thought his comments about the high-pressure 5.56 x 5.45 rounds causing significant stresses on the barrel was very interesting and hope you enjoyed this video as well.

By the way, a big shout out to Kalashnikov Concern for making these videos available. They are very good!

Please note that all images were extracted from the video and are the property of their respective owner.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@*********ps.com. Please note that for links to other websites, we are only paid if there is an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay and only if you purchase something.

PSA AK Webstore Links

Interested in an American made AK? Consider Palmetto State Armory (PSA) as a source. Click on the following links for the associated webstore categories for AK-related rifles, pistols and parts at PSA:

Russia and also USSR

Video: Russian Gunbusters Fires An AK-74M Until It Fails

In this episode, Georgiy Gubich operates a 5.45×39 AK-74M built in 2014 on full auto until it fails. You’ll notice he is wearing body armor and for good reason as you’ll learn from the video.

As with his other videos, you definitely want to watch it to hear his observations during the testing and the post mortem review afterwards.

Georgiy is 210 rounds and gives us a great quote “The smell isn’t great”!!
480 rounds into the test he can hear the plastic hissing as the bolt carrier is starting to stick when he is reloading. The plastic is still holding its shape.
When he went ,to reload after round 570, he had so slam the rifle on the ground to get it to cycle. I’ve heard of this but it’s my first time seeing someone really do it and does it smoothly.
Round 587 – the barrel ruptured just in front of the lower handguard retainer. Note, the Russian Ministry of Defense requires the weapon to handle a 180-round burst so they passed that test more than three times over.
Here’s the rupture. Note the cooked plastic.
Now this fascinates me. They are using a polyamide plastic and it held up remarably well. The solid parts closest to the barrel and gas tube were definitely decomposing but you will notice the horizontal ribbing was able to dissapate the heat fast enough to that point to retain its shape and structural integrity. That pattern makes even more sense to me now after seeing this.

Watch the Video!

Summary

Definitely a cool video and I appreciate Kalashnikov Concern making it possible. Georgiy rocks and really like how he changes mags and cycles the action not to mention his running observations during and after the test.

The biggest take-away for me by far is the understanding of why they ribbed the lower handguards – enabling the ribs to cool enough to maintain structural integrity is fascinating. In theory there will be a upper round-count limit causing more heat than can be dissipated but under practical use, they ought to hold up great.

I hope you found it interesting as well.

Please note that all images were extracted from the video and are the property of their respective owner.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@*********ps.com. Please note that for links to other websites, we are only paid if there is an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay and only if you purchase something.

PSA AK Webstore Links

Interested in an American made AK? Consider Palmetto State Armory (PSA) as a source. Click on the following links for the associated webstore categories for AK-related rifles, pistols and parts at PSA:

Russia and also USSR

Video: Russian Gunbusters Fires a 1974 RPK in 7.62×39 Until It Fails – You Totally Need To Watch This!!

Ever wonder how long a heavy duty 1974 Russian RPK in 7.62×39 can fire almost non-stop until failure? Now’s your chance. This video features Georgiy Gubich firing in an episode of the Russian series Gunbusters firing an RPK as fast as he can doing drum and mag dumps on full auto. Yes, he’s wearing armor because he literally shoots it while it starts to burn an ultimately fails.

That is a ton of ammo and a RPK I would much rather own than see them fry it.
Somewhere near 500 rounds being dumped from 75 round mags the handguards are starting to smoke.
About round 997 or 998 the handguard bursts into flame
Even though the handguard were on fire, he shot it until the barrel burst at round 1232.
For me, it’s fascinating that the only thing that truly failed were the handguards and barrel. Everything else could still be used if the barrel was pressed out and replaced.

So you need to watch the video!!

Summary

You might be surprised by the seemingly fast failure of the rifle. Near the end Georgiy takes the RPK apart, notes what happened and points out that the problem for the rifle was the intense heat of the 75 round drums being dumped one after another. Normally you would fire a 2-1/2 30 round magazines and the pause in firing during reloads gives the barrel a chance to cool down plus practical applications aren’t going to see that type of sustained firing. One would assume that if all he had were drums that the RPK would have failed even sooner than round 1,232.

This was really a fascinating video to watch. Part of me really wants to bring that poor abused RPK home and repair it and part of me was interesting to see a video detailing testing to failure with this level of detail. A big thank you to Kalashnikov Group for helping put this video together.

Please note that all images were extracted from the video and are the property of their respective owner.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@*********ps.com. Please note that for links to other websites, we are only paid if there is an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay and only if you purchase something.

PSA AK Webstore Links

Interested in an American made AK? Consider Palmetto State Armory (PSA) as a source. Click on the following links for the associated webstore categories for AK-related rifles, pistols and parts at PSA:

AK & Related Rifles, Russia and also USSR

Video: Russian Gunbusters Fires 1,400 Rounds Through A 7.62×39 AK-103 Trying to Get It To Fail

In this episode, Georgiy Gubich operates a 7.62×39 AK-103 built in 2019 on full auto trying to get it to fail. The AK-103 is a remarkable rifle as you will see in the video

He’s smelling hot plastic
Starting here forward he really needs to struggle to get the bolt to exit the chamber. It seems to return and cycle just fine when firing.
He’s seeing flame from the handguards
The lower handguard had already fallen off during a previous reload but look at the barrel glowing red.
The rifle survived through two spam cans, 1,400 rounds, of ammo!
After all that, it could still shoot 2 MOA at 100 meters. Definitely a remarkable rifle.

Watch the Video!

Summary

I’m a fan of both the 7.62×39 round and the AKs that shoot it so I was rooting for the rifle the whole time. It’s pretty amazing that it still ran after 1,400 rounds.

I hope you enjoyed this!

Please note that all images were extracted from the video and are the property of their respective owner.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@*********ps.com. Please note that for links to other websites, we are only paid if there is an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay and only if you purchase something.

PSA AK Webstore Links

Interested in an American made AK? Consider Palmetto State Armory (PSA) as a source. Click on the following links for the associated webstore categories for AK-related rifles, pistols and parts at PSA:

Russia and also USSR

Video: Russian Spetsnaz – Into Battle – Some very cool Shots of AK-12s and PKP Pechengs

When I have time, I like to watch videos of foreign militaries. Some dedicated folks create motivational videos that have catchy music and often some very interesting clips set to the music. One of these gifted groups is Military Forces XXI Century that has a channel on Youtube.

They have a new one featuring some very interesting clips of Russian Spetsnaz teams training entitled “Russian Spetsnaz – Into Battle”. What especially caught my eye was the extensive use of optics – both red dots by themselves and with magnifiers – on their PKP Pecheng machine guns. The PKP is the modernized PKM.

PKP with both a red dot and a magnifier.
That’s either a large red dot or some form of prismatic scope — it’s big enough.

Here’s The Video

Be sure not to miss when they are throwing their famous shovels 🙂

I hope you enjoyed the video as much as I did.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@*********ps.com. Please note that for links to other websites, we are only paid if there is an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay and only if you purchase something.

Russia and also USSR

Ever Hear About The Time US Special Ops Snatched a Mi-25 Hind D Attack Helicopter?

Back in 1987, a damaged Libyan Mi-25 Hind D attack helicopter was captured by French and Chadian troops. The US wanted to inspect the helicopter and negotiated with the government of Chad to retrieve it.

Libyan MI-24 Hind D captured by Chadian forces at Wadi Doum, Chad .
Source: Wikipedia

On June 10, 1988, Operation Mount Hope III commenced to retrieve the Hind. The famous NightStakers (the 160th Special Operations Regiment) flew almost 500 miles at night with two MH-47 Chinooks to successfully retrieve the Hind and load it on a C-5.

On 21 June 1988, the captured Mi-25 arrived in N’Djamena where it was loaded into a USAF C-5
Source: Wikipedia

Videos

There are a couple of cool videos on Youtube that can give you some good background. The first one is very informative but please note the Hind D is not the fastest helicopter currently.

The next video has the same cover photo but is different:

Reading

If you want to read more, check out:

I hope you found this as interesting as I did.

Please note that the still photos are from the Wikipedia page listed above.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@*********ps.com. Please note that for links to other websites, we are only paid if there is an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay and only if you purchase something.