More On Kalashnikov Concern’s New MA Compact Assault Rifle and SVK Marksman’s Rifle (and More!), via

[Zarvan]

Kalashnikov Concern’s newest weapon releases have received quite a lot of attention since they were first shown off at the ARMY 2016 military and technology forum in Moscow, and as the conference winds down, I want to take a more thorough pass through four of these new products from the company. Since we published announcements for three of these new weapons, Maxim Popenker, gun expert and TFB contributor, has published more detailed descriptions of the RPK-16, MA, and SVK rifles on his website, Modern Firearms. Let’s take a look at what he has to teach us about these new weapons:

RPK-16 Squad Automatic Rifle

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Image source: onepamop.livejournal.com

The RPK-16 is being designed as a potential replacement for the RPK-74 squad support weapon, and represents a much more radical departure from previous Soviet and Russian support weapons. Instead of a long, heavy 590mm (23.2″) barrel, the RPK-16 uses a much shorter 370mm (14.6″) barrel, which is changeable – not fixed – with a 500mm (19.7″) unit. This new rifle shaves 0.7 kg (1.5 lbs) off the previous model, and augments the firepower of the rifle squad with not only the same 30 and 45 round stick magazines as the previous 74 series, but a new 96 round drum as well.


Kalashnikov Concern’s new 30 round windowed magazine on the left, alongside their new drum.



Like its cousin the AK-12(400), the RPK-16 sports a folding and collapsing buttstock, as well as integrated top and bottom Picatinny rails for optics, foregrips, and bipods, as well as removable side mounted rail segments.


RPK-16 on the firing line, with a 96 round drum alongside. Also visible are AK-12(400) rifles and a Viking pistol. Image source: Maxim Popenker, used with permission



From the LiveJournal blog Chief Popiaritsya, a shooting video of the RPK-16:

MA Compact Assault Rifle


A radical angle on the KC MA. Image source: Kalashnikov Concern



If the RPK-16 and AK-12(400) are modernized orthodoxy, then the MA is one of the forgotten “might-have-beens” of the firearms world revenant. The MA is heavily influenced by a previous weapon of the same name, the Dragunov MA of 1975, which was an ambitious competitor to the now iconic AKS-74U “Krinkov”. This new incarnation of the original MA sports the same Dragunov-style 3-lug bolt, П-shaped low-profile upper receiver, and short-stroke gas operated mechanism as the original, but mates it to a thoroughly modern-looking polymer housing. The original MA’s extensive use of polymer and composite materials was somewhat ambitious for the manufacturing capabilities of the Soviet Union in the late 1970s, but today Kalashnikov Concern is fully embracing the advantages of the design with this new, slick-looking compact assault rifle. The new MA sports a low profile folding and collapsing buttstock, recessed ambidextrous selector levers, side-swappable charging handle, and integrated top and bottom – and removable side mounted – Picatinny-type rails. The MA is come again to take back the compact assault rifle throne from the AKS-74U, and also targets direct action, VIP protection, and close quarters roles with its substantially improved versatility compared to the Krinkov.


The MA sports substantially improved configurability and modularity versus its predecessor, the AKS-74U.



In physical dimensions, folded, the MA is less than 20″ long, and weighs just over 5.5 pounds (2.5 kg) unloaded!



SVK Designated Marksman’s Rifle


Image source: u-96.livejournal.com



In the United States, the Dragunov family of rifles can unfortunately no longer be imported, which makes the SVD – a fairly common sight in other parts of the world – an almost unattainable unicorn and the object of much coveting here in America. As if to rub salt in our wounds (how could they!), Kalashnikov Concern has announced an equally unattainable successor to the venerable SVD, called the SVK. Interestingly, the SVK is reportedly unrelated to a similar-looking development announced earlier this year, called “SK-16”, which has been cancelled. In fact, previously we reported a rifle that now appears to be an early SVK prototype as an earlier model of the SK-16, so similar are the two rifles in appearance!

 

[Zarvan]

At the time I reported this as an SK-16 prototype, but to my eyes now it looks more like an early SVK. Image source: retiv



However, there are definite differences between them. The SK-16’s receiver was longer and bulkier than the SVK’s, and looked harder to manufacture. Its handguard showed no obvious operating rod system, and the rifle was reported to be – of all things – a gas trap design! The SVK in contrast is very Dragunov– a three-lug rotating bolt coupled to a short-stroke gas piston, housed in an MA-style “backbone” upper receiver. Two versions – one in 7.62x54mmR, and the other in 7.62x51mm – were shown off, which reportedly have very high parts commonality with one another.


SVK rifle with iron sights. Image source: Maxim Popenker, used with permission.



The SVK to me looks like a very promising design. Although the aluminum receiver prototypes showed off at the forum came with a weight tag of a fairly porky (by modern standards) 4.2 kg (9.3 lbs) unloaded, sources report that polymer receivers for the rifle are in development, which should substantially reduce that figure.

Many of Kalashnikov’s newest products are in a relatively early stage of development, and it should also be remembered that these are internal corporate developments from KC, not government programs as we’d expect from Russian development in the past. Therefore, the future of these new weapons is still uncertain, although Kalashnikov Concern surely has high hopes for each of them.

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/...ifle-svk-marksmans-rifle-via-modern-firearms/

 

[Zarvan]

Army 2016: Kalashnikov shows three new sniper rifles


The Kalashnikov Group debuted three new sniper rifle developments for the Russian Armed Forces at the Army 2016 defence show held outside Moscow.

Kalashnikov SV-98M 7.62x54R mm bolt action sniper rifle for the Russian military. (Nikolai Novichkov)

The company unveiled its SV-98M at the show, a drastic updated to the SV-98 bolt-action precision sniper rifle developed in the early 2000s from the Record CISM sporting rifle.

The rifle has received a lightweight skeleton stock made of aluminium alloys, a Picatinny rail for optical scopes on the top of its upper receiver, a folding stock, and an integrated bipod. It is chambered for the 7N1 or 7N14 7.62x54R mm sniper cartridges. The SV-98M has a combat weight of 7.8 kg, a length of 1,200 mm (including a barrel of 650 mm), an effective firing range of 1,000 m, and a cartridge capacity of 10 rounds. It can be equipped with a suppressor instead of the organic muzzle brake. The firearm is fitted with a 1P69 Hyperon 10x optical scope. The SV-98M is primarily intended for the snipers of The Russian Ground Forces. According to a source in the local defence industry, the military has ordered a small batch of SV-98M sniper rifles for operational test and evaluation.

Kalashnikov SVK 7.62x54R mm or 7.62x51 mm semi-automatic marksman rifle. (Kalashnikov)

Kalashnikov also unveiled its VSV-338 bolt-action sniper rifle at the show. Unusually for a Russian firearm, the rifle is chambered in the .338 Lapua Magnum (8.6x70 mm) round. The rifle resembles SV-98M to a significant extent. VSV-338 has a combat weight of 7.2 kg, a length of 1,100 mm, a muzzle velocity of 860 m/s, an effective firing range of 1,500 m, and a magazine capacity of 5 rounds. VSV-338 features free-floating barrel, an adjustable trigger unit, a Picatinny rail on the top of the upper receiver, a stock made of composite materials, an ergonomic pistol grip with a heavy palm shelf, and a folding stock with folding third leg.

Kalashnikov VSV-338 .338 Lapua Magnum (8.6x70 mm) sniper rifle. (Kalashnikov)

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