BREAKING: Kalashnikov Concern Discontinues AK-12, Replaces It with… The New AK-12!
The AK-12 is dead. Long live the AK-12! That’s the song Kalashnikov Concern is singing this week at the recent ARMY 2016 expo in Moscow, Russia. The radical AK-12 prototypes that have dominated Kalashnikov’s press over the past two years are gone, replaced by a more conservative rifle – also called “AK-12” – based on the Concern’s previous AK-400 prototypes. The new rifle addresses the Russian Army’s concerns regarding the AK-12’s cost and issues in fully automatic fire, an anonymous source told TFB, and is expected to be much cheaper to build than the previous model. It incorporates many of the same improvements developed for the previous AK-12 model, but improves the strength and resilience of some of the components.
The new AK-12’s design shares more in common with the existing AK-74 than its predecessor, but it will not be a retrofit to existing rifles, the source said. Several improvements were made to the rifle’s receiver, such as an improved and far more rigid top cover interface and a new free-floated barrel. The new AK-12 reportedly outperforms the existing AK-74 by at least the margin requested by the Russian government. The 5.45x39mm AK-12 appears to also be accompanied by the 7.62x39mm caliber AK-15, evidently of similar design.
Our source told us that the new AK-12 is already undergoing troop trials with the Russian Army, where it competes against the Degtyarov A545 balanced action rifle. The winner of the Ratnik rifle competition is expected to be announced later this autumn.
Nathaniel is a history enthusiast and firearms hobbyist whose primary interest lies in military small arms technological developments beginning with the smokeless powder era. He can be reached via email at nathaniel.f@staff.thefirearmblog.com.
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It's official...the AK12 is dead in the water. CK offered the AK400 instead.
http://kalashnikov.com/pres...
I visualize ZID workers gearing up with PKM's and what not for hostile take over of Izhevsk..
Russia reduced the cost of the AK12 program by instead just buying Polish Beryls from 1996. /s