Kalashnikov AK - 74 The AK - 74 is a 5 . 45mm assault rifle developed in the early 1970s in the Soviet Union . It was developed from the earlier AKM ( itself a refined version of the AK - 47 ) and introduced in 1974 . The rifle first saw service with Soviet forces engaged in the Afghanistan conflict . Presently , the rifle continues to be used by the majority of countries of the former USSR . Additionally , unlicensed copies were produced in Bulgaria ( AK - 74 and AKS - 74U ) , China ( Type 88 ) , the former East Germany ( MPi - AK - 74N , MPi - AKS - 74N , MPi - AKS - 74NK ) and Romania ( PA md . 86 ) . Description . The idea of the reduced caliber ammunition for military shoulder arms was played with for a very long time . Each time the technology leaped forward , the standard calibers were reduced - from the 0 . 45 - 0 . 50 inch ( 11 . 4 - 12 . 7mm ) of the mid - 1800 to the . 30 of the mid - 1900s . The idea of further reduction of the caliber down to 6 . 5 - 5 . 6 mm ( . 240 - . 220 inch ) was also considered in many countries since the beginning of the XX century , but it was not until the 1960s when the idea of the low impulse , small - caliber , high velocity round came up to something real . When US Army adopted the M16 rifle in the mid - 1960s , everybody else eyed Americans with interest . And as soon as the idea of small caliber rifle was found worthwhile , the total rearming began . Soviet army started the development of its own small - caliber ammunition in the early 1960s . After some years of development , a new round was created . This round featured a bottlenecked , tapered case 39mm long made of steel , loaded with slim , relatively long bullet with nominal caliber of 5 . 45mm ( actual bullet diameter is 5 . 62 mm ) . The bullet featured a combined steel and lead core with the hollow nose , muzzle velocity from the 415mm barrel was about 900 m / s . It must be noted that the new 5 . 45mm ammunition featured a new case of smaller diameter ( compared to 7 . 62x39 M43 cartridges ) ; this allowed for lighter round and also solved the problem of loading of the 7 . 62mm ammunition into the 5 . 45mm weapon by mistake ( which other wwise might result in a catastrophical failure of the weapon ) . As soon as the new ammunition was available and accepted by the Soviet Military , it was decided to develop a new family of small arms around this cartridge , and an official requirements for new family of small arms were issued to all development organizations in 1966 . Trials of new weapons commenced in 1968 , and it must be note that most rifles , submitted for trials , were of highly advanced designs , as the main goal of the new weapon was to significantly improve hits probability ( compared to 7 . 62mm AKM rifles ) . Most weapons were build using so called " balanced action " , in which additional mass is added to the action to counter - recoil synchronously with the bolt group , to minimize its effect on the gun stability . About the only weapon of the more or less conventional design was the entry by Kalashnikov team - this was more or less the old AKM rifle , adapted for new 5 . 45mm ammunition . After extensive and torturing tests two weapons were put forward for extended troop trials - the conventional A - 3 assault rifle by Kalashnikov and ' balanced action ' SA - 006 rifle by Konstantinov . During field trials the latter was found to be much more accurate ( and thus more combat - effective ) , especially in the hands of the average trained soldiers , while being adequately reliable . Despite that , trials commission have recommended the Kalashnikov entry for adoption , as its design was already familiar to both industry and troops , and possibility of teething problems during production and use was relatively low , compared with entirely new design by Konstantinov . New Kalashnikov rifle also was simpler in design , lighter and somewhat cheaper to manufacture . Following the decision of trials commission , Kalashnikov 5 . 45mm assault rifle was officially adopted by Soviet army early in 1974 as " 5 . 45mm Avtomat Kalashnikova , obraztsa 1974 goda ( AK - 74 ) " . Basically , it was the same old AKM weapon , adapted to smaller 5 . 45mm ammunition and fitted with relatively large muzzle brake . Another distinguishing feature was found on the buttstock , in the form of two lightening oval cuts on either side . The folding butt version , known as AKS - 74 , which was intended for airborne troops , also featured a new type of folding buttstock - instead of the earlier pattern of underfolding stock , found on 7 . 62mm AKMS rifles , the AKS - 74 featured more rigid and robust side - folding metallic buttstock , which folded to the left side of the gun . Early production guns featured polymer pistol grips and wooden buttstocks and handguards . Later in production all furniture was made from polymer The " Night " version , known as AK - 74N , was manufactured with the night / IR scope rail added to the left side of the receiver . The latest variation of the AK - 74 family was introduced circa 1991 and replaced in production both AK - 74 and AKS - 74 . It was the AK - 74M rifle , which is still in production and currently is a standard issue rifle of the Russian army . The AK - 74M externally differs from the AK - 74 of late 1980s production by having the side - folding , solid black plastic buttstock and the scope rail , mounted on the left receiver as a standard . Some minor improvements also were made in the production process and external finish of the new rifle . AK - 74M retained almost all advantages and disadvantages of the earlier Kalashnikov designs , including reliability , simplicity of operations and maintenance , and less than ideal " human engineering " and ergonomics . At the present time the AK - 74M , along with earlier AK - 74 / AKS - 74 is the standard shoulder arm of the Russian Army . The plans of replacing it with the widely advertised Nikonov AN - 94 assault rifle were not carried out to any significant extent - the AN - 94 is ( and most probably will be ) issued only certain " elite " units of the Russian Army , police and the Internal Affairs Ministry troops . The AK - 74 type , 5 . 45mm assault rifles also were manufactured in the East Germany , Bulgaria , Poland and Romania . Most of these designs after the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact were converted to the 5 . 56mm NATO ammunition . Operators . The countries that used or still uses the AK - 74 and its variants are displayed here :