Until I watched this video, I’d only seen the very unique Hungarian AMP-69 in books. Ian McCollum did one of his impeccable reviews of this very interesting AK. He calls it the ugliest AK he’s ever seen but I think it’s pretty cool.
One of my first AKs was an AMD-65 it ran like a top. Like the Yugoslavs, the Hungarians had no issues with producing some very uniquely designed rifles based off the Kalashnikov design.
This amazing video has four parts. First is a private tour of the FB “Łucznik” Radom factory and you will note the extensive automation, cleanliness and attention to detail. The second part is a media group touring the facility and the third is a montage of military groups shooting Beryls and different weapons.
You get to see a variety of weapons including the Mod.96 Beryl, Mod.96 Mini-Beryl, PM-06 and PM-98 submachine guns, the MSBS GROT and more.
Here’s the Video
Please note that all images are extracts from the video and remain the property of their respective owner(s),
At a tradeshow, a representative gives a brief overview of the RPK-16 light machine gun in 5.45×39. He highlights design features including the adjustable buttstock, full length Picatinny rail, 4 kilogram light weight, 96 round drum, ability to use AK magazines, free floating handguard, different barrel lengths and that the barrels can be changed in the field.
The RPK-16 builds on the innovations developed for the AK-12.The RPK-16 in 5.45×39 can use a 96-round drum or standard AK magazines.
During his visit to Russia in 2018, Larry Vickers was interviewed by Vladimir Onokoy, a technical consultant with the Kalashnikov Concern, about Larry’s views on the traditional AK platform.
The two discussed a number of topics and I’ll just hit some personal highlights that I found interesting:
Larry mentioned that people get hung up on the design of the safety and the short sight radius but the positives of the design far outweigh the negatives. This is especially true because the safety works just fine once you get used to it and the addition of a good red dot is a game changer. I agree with both points.
Vladimir asked Larry his caliber preference. Larry said if he had to only pick one, it would be 7.62×39. That’s definitely my go-to caliber for the rifle.
Larry made a really interesting point – the tapers of the 7.62×39 and 5.45×39 aid in reliable feeding in the AK platform. The 5.56×45 is at a disadvantage because it does not have the same degree of taper. That caught my attention – I never really stopped and thought about the impacts of case taper on reliability given how to AK operates. Interesting point.
So, is the AK obsolete? In my opinion, it is an extensible platform but watch this interesting video and here Larry’s thoughts first hand.
Being interested in AK weapons also leads me to an interest in the militaries that used them. AKs are in military use in 106 countries and the USSR licensed production to 30 countries including East Germany, Hungary, Iran, Iraq, Poland, and Yugoslavia just to name a few. Interestingly enough, there have been some licensing issues but that is a topic for another day.
One of the high quality producers of small arms is Poland. In my opinion, their AKs and other small arms are very well made. When I started to research about their Beryl series, I was surprised to find out that Poland has been very pragmatic with their weapons and are leveraging designs from Eastern and Western countries.
A Polish soldier with a kbs wz. 1996C Beryl.Polish soldiers with kbs wz. 1996A Beryls. I’m pretty sure these are A-series rifles because with the B, they introduced a fixed front grip that is integral with the lower handguard.Another soldier with a kbs wz.1996C series Beryl. The Poles use the Russian Hind-D gunship and plans to modernize them. This is one of my favorite helicopters so I had to include the photo.
A young man assembled the below video about the Armed Fores of the Republic of Poland as part of his Facts Without Borders broadcast series and found it very interesting. He has assembled some excellent footage and commentary about the Polish military including aspects you may not have considered. You ought to consider subscribing to his channel on Youtube also.
Here’s the video
Please note that all photos were extracted from the photo and remain the property of their respective owner(s).
DefenseWeb attended the Army 2018 expo in Moscow and released this video where they interviewed Vladimir Onokoy, a technical consultant with the Kalashnikov and experienced AK armorer, about Kalashnikov Concern’s new AK-200, AK-308, AM-17 and AMD-17 rifles.
AK-201 rifle in 5.56×45. The AK-20x family of weapons is available in 5.45×39, 5.56×45 and 7.62×39 plus in long and short versions.AK-308 for countries wishing to use 7.62×51/.308 ammoAM-17 compact assault rifle that replaces the out of production AKS-74U.AMB-17 compact assault rifle with integral suppressor.To the left is the AM-17 and the AMB-17 is to the right.
The AM-17 and AMB-17 are of special interest to me as some groups are looking for compact weapons and this rifle will have to compete against the well established Tula’s AS Val, VSS Vintorez and SR-3 rifles.
Here’s the video
Please note that all photos above are extracted from the video.
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:
I wish I had better news but Youtube cancelled the channel for the Kalashnikov Concern so the video is no longer available. I am leaving the post up so at least you can see the screen shots.
I am really enjoying these videos that Kalashnikov Concern in Russia is producing. In this video, Vladimir Onokoy, a technical consultant with the Kalashnikov and experienced AK armorer, discusses the Hungarian AK evolution with Pavel Pticin, founder of the AK-info.ru web portal, who has extensive AK knowledge.
I’ve always liked Hungarian AKs and found them to be high quality. Over the years I’ve built several AMD-65s and an AMMS. The kits all had original barrels and I was impressed by the fit and finish of the parts plus the rifles just ran and ran with no problems. They are definitely unique AK variants and I was actually really interested to watch this video and learned quite a bit.
Vladimir actually showed photos of a modified AK-63D that he encountered in Somalia. He mentioned how very impressed he was that it was still running with very little maintenance for close to 20 years.
This is one of Vladimir’s photos of the Somalian AK. Pavel noted it was likely an AK-63D with a cut down barrel, modified gas block and an AMD-65 muzzle break. One can’t help but wonder who did the work and why.
The video is just over 12 minutes and they discuss the early AK-55 rifle that is very similar to the Type 2 AK-47 with a milled receiver. They then move to a discussion of the AKM-63 (I’ve always heard it referred to as the AMD-63 in the US) with its distinctive handguard and grips plus other design differences.
As you may know, I own Ronin’s Grips and we make replica AMD grips. In one of the funniest gun video lines ever, Vladimir noted that the designer who decided to put an identical pistol grip at the front but simply reverse it deserved a medal! The Hungarians wanted to add it to improve accuracy and control under full auto fire.
Both Vladimir and Pavel noted that the front grip made reloading problematic and Vladimir pointed out that he had encountered rifles with the front grip cut down to reduce interference with loading magazines.
I finally got the best explanation ever as to why they used that bluish colored plastic. When the Hungarians decided to experiment with and move to polymer stocks, they lacked the ability to manufacture the base plastic. Because they were a Socialist country aligned with the USSR, the only plastic they could find that they could buy and import was a bluish plastic intended for dish making! You know what, that makes sense to me and what I will explain going forward.
The blue color is because the only plastic they could buy abroad was intended for dish making!
Lastly, they brought up some great examples of unique features you will see in the AKM/AMD rifles:
Distinctive pistol grip design
Metal lower handguard with no gas tube cover
The selector notches are labeled with an infinity diagram for full auto and a “1” for semi-auto.
The rear sight leaf has an “A” on it
The Hungarians used unique selector markings – the infinity loop is for full auto and the “1” is for semi-auto.The rear sight leaf has an “A” on it.
This is where the video would have been. Too bad Youtube had to cancel the channel.
As you well know, I am very interested in AK rifles, their history and how they are evolving. In September 2018, Kalashnikov Concern released a very interesting video that shows you some of their early AK variants.
In the video, Vladimir Onokay, a technical consultant with the Kalashnikov Concern, will show some unique AKs manufactured in 1948 at the Izhevsk motorcycle factory as well as models produced until the 1950s.
Please note that the following video is hosted in Russia and you may need to let it buffer a bit for smooth viewing. It’s just over 4 minutes long and any student of the AK design will find it very interesting.
