Kalashnikov AK Series

A **Kalashnikov rifle** is any one of a series of automatic rifles based on the original design of Mikhail Kalashnikov. They are officially known in Russian as "Avtomat Kalashnikova" ("Kalashnikov's Automatic Gun"; Russian:Автома́т Кала́шникова), but are widely known as Kalashnikovs, AKs, or in Russian slang, as a "Kalash". They were originally manufactured in the Soviet Union, primarily by Izhmash, but these rifles and their variants are now manufactured in many other countries.

## Variants

### AK-47

Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year of World War II (1945). In 1946, the AK-47 was presented for official military trials, and in 1948, the fixed-stock version was introduced into active service with selected units of the Soviet Army. An early development of the design was the *AKS* (S—*Skladnoy* or "folding"), which was equipped with an underfolding metal shoulder stock. In 1949, the AK-47 was officially accepted by the Soviet Armed Forces and used by the majority of the member states of the Warsaw Pact.

### AKM

Introduced into service with the Soviet Army in 1959, the AKM is the most ubiquitous variant of the entire AK series of firearms and it has found widespread use with most member states of the former Warsaw Pact and its many African and Asian allies as well as being widely exported and produced in many other countries. The production of these Soviet rifles was carried out at both the Tula Arms Plant and Izhmash. It was officially replaced in Soviet frontline service by the AK-74 in the late 1970s, but remains in use worldwide.

* **AKMS:** An AKM variant featuring a folding metal stock.

### AK-74

The AK-74 was developed in the early 1970s by Russian designer Mikhail Kalashnikov as the replacement for the earlier AKM. It uses a smaller 5.45×39mm cartridge, replacing the 7.62×39mm chambering of earlier Kalashnikov-pattern weapons.

Presently, the rifle continues to be used by the majority of countries of the former USSR. Additionally, licensed copies were produced in Bulgaria, the former East Germany, and Romania. Besides former Soviet republics and eastern European countries, Mongolia, North Korean Special Forces, and Vietnamese People's Naval infantry use AK-74s.

* **AKS-74:** An AK-74 variant featuring a folding stock.

* **AKS-74U:** An ultracompact version of the AKS-74, intended for vehicle crews and other troops in need of a shortened weapon, and features a folding metal stock.
* **AKS-74UB:** A sound-suppressed variant of the AKS-74U designed for use with a subsonic version of the 5.45x39mm round.

### AK-100 Series

The AK-100 series is a set of AK-74 derivatives chambered in different calibers. These feature a folding plastic stock and numerous other minor modifications.

* **AK-101/AK-102:** Chambered in 5.56x45mm NATO. The 102 is the carbine model with a shortened barrel.
* **AK-103/AK-104:** Chambered in the AK-series' original 7.62x39mmR. The 104 is the carbine model with a shortened barrel.
* **AK-105:** Chambered in 5.45x39mm, this is essentially a carbine version of the AK-74.

### AK-12

The AK-12 (formerly АK-200) is the newest derivative of the Soviet/Russian AK-pattern series of assault rifles and was proposed for possible general issue to the Russian Army. In late September 2013, the AK-12 was passed over by the Russian military, but it was announced in December 2014 that it had passed state tests and now is being evaluated by Russian Army.

The AK-12 comes in two variants:

* **Light:** The light version has the ability to change calibers by swapping barrels. The standard caliber is 5.45×39mm and can be changed to 7.62×39mmR and 5.56×45mm NATO.
* **Heavy:** The heavy version fires the larger 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge. It is fed through standard AK-74M 30-round magazines and can accept RPK-74 45-round magazines.