Nikonov AN - 94 Abakan The AN - 94 Abakan is a Russian advanced assault rifle . The initials for " Avtomat Nikonov " ( After the chief designer Gennadiy Nikonov ) Model 1994 , The AN - 94 was considered the successor of the legendary AK - 47 . Description . The AN - 94 assault rifle had been officially adopted by the Russian Army and the Ministry of Internal Affairs in 1994 as a possible replacement for the venerable Kalashnikov AK - 74 series assault rifles . The AN index means " Avtomat Nikonova " , or Nikonov Assault rifle . This rifle had been designed by the Gennady Nikonov , a Russian arms designer , at the IZHMASH state factories , during the late 1980s and early 1990s . This rifle , initially known as the ASN prototype , had been developed for and submitted to the Russian Army trial contest , held in the early 1990s . This contest , known under the code name " Abakan " ( a small city in Russia ) , was intended to develop the more effective replacement for the AK - 74 assault rifles . The ASN was tested among the many other prototypes and eventually won the trials , and was consequently adopted . Originally it was intended to replace most , if not all , AK - 74 rifles in the Russian service , but it soon turned out that the complete replacement is impossible due to the economical ( mostly ) and some other reasons . At the present time the AN - 94 is considered as the " professionals ' choice " , and is used in limited numbers by the elite forces of the Russian Army , police and Internal Affairs Ministry . The main body of the Russian armed forces are still armed with the Kalashnikov assault rifles , and AK - type rifles will remain in service for a long time , most probably . Much controversy is created about the AN - 94 rifle , mostly because it is advertised as a quantum leap from the Kalashnikov designs , and because of its official action description , known as the " blow back shifted pulse ( BBSP ) " . This weird description could confuse anybody , especially since it is used in conjunction with the note of gas operation of the AN - 94 . I will try to explain the operation of the AN - 94 later in this article , but first I will discuss some of its main features . The key improvement of the AN - 94 over the AK - 74 is the introduction of the 2 - rounds burst mode , added to the standard single shots and full auto mode . The two rounds bursts are fired at very high rate of fire , and a trained shooter can make a single hole in the target at 100 meters in this mode . This allows for significant increase in lethality , stopping power and body armour penetration over the single shot mode , with the same " single shot " accuracy . The full auto mode of AN - 94 consists of the two stages - first two rounds are fired in the " high rate " fire , and the remaining rounds are fired in low rate of fire , until the trigger is released or the magazine is emptied . In the single shots or the full auto mode , there ' s no significant advantages over the AK - 74 . At this point , one can ask " is all this complication of the AN - 94 mechanism worth the achieved results " ? From my point of view , there ' s no simple answer . The trained professional warrior can use the 2 - rounds burst capability of AN - 94 to the great degree of success , but prior to this , a lot of time and resources should be spent to train this professional soldier to use AN - 94 effectively . Unlike the more common designs , like the Russian Kalashnikov or American M16 rifles and others , the AN - 94 internals are not " user friendly " , and it took weeks , if not months , to get used to this rifle , its assembly / disassembly and maintenance procedures . It is also more expensive to made and maintain , than the AK - 74 . From all this it is obvious why this very interesting rifle hardly will see any widespread service , at least with the Russian Army ( which at this moment is conscripted by the large , and on a low budget ) . On the other hand , some elite units can make a good use for major advantages of the AN - 94 . The ergonomics of the AN - 94 is not the best one . The shape of the pistol grip , and the inclined from the vertical plane magazine are way from being comfortable . The rear diopter sight has small apertures , not protected from dirt , and is hard to clean in the battle conditions . It also has sharp edges and can snag in the clothes or make a scratches on the skin when handled roughly . The grenade launcher mount under the barrel is a little weird , since it uses a large " bridge " between the stock and the launcher . The folding butt interferes with the trigger when folded , and the fire selector , which is separated from the safety , is hard to operate , especially when wet . On the other hand , as said above , in the 2 - rounds burst it is very accurate and offers a great advantage in the terminal effectiveness over the standard single shot mode . Technical description . The heart of the AN - 94 is the more or less common gas operated , rotating bolt , long piston stroke action . The barrel with the gas chamber above it is mounted on the receiver , which holds the reciprocating bolt carrier with relatively short rotating bolt . The receiver is allowed to recoil inside the plastic gun shell or housing , against the receiver recoil spring . This spring is located under the receiver , at the bottom of the housing and to the left , and because of this the magazine is offset and inclined from vertical to the right . The rod under the barrel , which looks like the gas tube , is , in fact , a forward guide for the recoiling barrel / receiver assembly . This rod also used as a forward mounting point for the grenade launcher . The cocking handle is attached directly to the right side of the bolt carrier . The feed system is quite unconventional , since it had to transfer the rounds from stationary magazine and into the recoiling receiver . To achieve this , AN - 94 uses a two - stage feed , that comprises a feedway , built into the bottom of the recoiling receiver , and a separate rammer , that is used to feed the cartridges from the magazine and into the feedway . In brief , the AN - 94 works as follows . First , let ' s assume that the full magazine is inserted and the chamber is empty , receiver / barrel assembly is in the forward position . When one pulls the charging handle , the bolt carrier goes back , unlocking and retracting the bolt . At the same time , the rammer , which is linked to the bolt carrier via the thin steel cable and a large pulley , goes forward , stripping the first round from the magazine and placing it into the feedway in the receiver . Another action that takes the place the same time is the cocking of the hammer , which is also located in the recoiling receiver . When the charging handle is released , the bolt assembly goes forward , slamming the cartridge from the feedway and into the chamber , and locks the barrel . Now , the gun is ready to fire . When fire selector is placed to the " full auto " mode , and the trigger is pressed , following happens . As soon as the fired bullet passed the gas port , the traditional gas operated action begins . Since the bolt group is relatively light and the amount of the gas pressure is carefully calculated , the bolt group rapidly goes back , unlocking the barrel , extracting and ejecting the spent case . Due to the recoil impulse , the barrel receiver assembly begins to recoil inside the gun housing , compressing the recoil spring . At the same time , the cartridge rammer quickly strips the next cartridge from the magazine and introduces it into the feedway . The bolt group , under the influence of its main spring and the return buffer spring , rapidly goes forward , chambering the second round from the feedway . As soon as the bolt group locks the barrel , the hammer is released automatically , and the second shot is fired with the theoretical rate of fire of 1800 rounds per minute . At this moment the receiver is still recoiling inside the housing , and its recoil is accumulated and not yet affects the shooter and the position of the gun . When the second bullet is fired and left the barrel , the recoil cycle of the receiver / barrel group is stopped , and the hammer is held in the cocked position . At this moment the shooter feels the recoil of two fired rounds simultaneously , " shifted in time " . The reloading cycle continued as described above , but the hammer is held until the recoiling unit will not be returned into the forward position . If the gun was set to the " 2 rounds bursts " mode , the hammer will be held cocked until the trigger will be released and then pulled again . If the gun was set to the " burst mode " , the hammer unit will switch itself automatically to the low rate of fire , and will release itself only once per complete recoil cycle . I will not describe the design and the action of the trigger system of the AN - 94 , since it is way too complicated to be explained in few words . Other features of the AN - 94 include : the fiberglass - reinforced polymer housing , integral with the handguards ; the magazine bay that can accept standard AK - 74 - compatible magazines with 30 or 45 rounds capacity , as well as the newest 60 - rounds four - stack box magazines . The sight system of the AN - 94 is a step aside from all previous Russian assault rifles , and comprised by the protected front post , adjustable for zeroing , and the asterisk - shaped rear diopter , with 5 apertures drilled in the asterisk points . To set the distance , one must rotate the asterisk and set the desired aperture at the top of the receiver . The universal scope mounting rail is attached to the left side of the receiver as a standard . The safety and the fire selector are two separate controls . The safety is mounted inside the triggerguard , and the fire selector is a small switch above the triggerguard at the left side of the receiver . The fire selector has 3 positions , for single shots , 2 - round bursts and for full - auto . Safety has 2 positions - Safe and Fire . The buttstock is made from the same high - impact plastic as the housing / stock unit and folds to the right to save the space . The strange - looking " 8 " - shaped muzzle attachment is a special , self - cleaning muzzle brake , which is claimed to be highly effective . It can be easily detached from the muzzle if required . The front sight base carries a rear bayonet lug on its right side , so the bayonet is mounted in the horizontal plane , to the right of the muzzle . This allows to fire the grenade launcher with the bayonet attached ( which is impossible with the Kalashnikov - type rifles ) .