[DEFEXPO 2020] MG-M2, PKM Variant in 7.62x51mm From Bulgarian ARSENAL
The second most famous creation of Michail Kalashnikov, general-purpose Kalashnikov machine gun, had a multitude of names over the last 50 years: PK, PKM, M84 in former Yugoslavia, Konekivaari KK PKM in Finland. In some southern regions of Russia, where shooting at weddings is a mandatory part of the celebration, PKM is semi-officially called “the Handsome One”. New versions of this weapon still emerge all around the world, and several years ago Arsenal Bulgaria presented its own version called MG-M2.
Most PKM variants are chambered for 7.62x54mmR – a Russian rimmed cartridge that originated in 1891, but more companies are producing variants that use more conventional 7.62×51 rounds: Poland with their UKM 2000, Turkey with Modern Makineli Tüfek machine gun.
Bulgaria has been producing PKM in 7.62×51 for a while, an earlier version of it was reviewed by Larry Vickers.
But the latest version called MG-M2 has a couple of new features worth mentioning.
First of all, there is a standard Picatinny rail on the receiver cover. It also appears that the receiver cover locking mechanism was improved in order to ensure that the scope mounted on the rail will hold zero.
The second obvious improvement is the barrel locking mechanism. While it was not possible to field strip the weapon and take detailed pictures, you can see that the locking mechanism is now exposed and you don’t have to open the received cover in order to reach it. That should make maintenance and barrel change procedure easier.
For a while now, an Indian tender for 40.000 “Light Machine Guns” has been floating around. As it always is with Indian tenders, it is not clear when the trials are going to start and when the final decision will be made, but it seems like MG-M2 will be one of the top contenders in that particular competition.
Vladimir Onokoy is a small arms subject matter expert and firearms instructor. Over the years he worked in 20 different countries as a security contractor, armorer, firearms industry sales representative, product manager, and consultant. His articles were published in the Recoil magazine, Small Arms Review, Small Arms Defence Journal, and Silah Report. He also contributed chapters to books from the "Vickers Guide: Kalashnikov" series. Email: machaksilver at gmail dot com. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Vladimir-Onokoy-articles-and-videos-about-guns-and-other-unpopular-stuff-107273143980300/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vladonokoy/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/machaksilver
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Left hand load as well! If it's as reliable as the original, it must be a great gun.
This seems like a significant departure from the original system though,
plenty of things to go wrong internally. Push load instead of pull-push,
different links, left side load and right side eject etc.
Vladimir, what do you think, can this be a reliable system if executed properly?
I've never liked Russian weapons too much, but the PKM is a fantastic design.
It can still offer most everything a machine gunner could want, with the rather significant exception of optical sights and a handguard.
For current tender of 40K LMGs for Indian Army a team was sent to Bulgaria, Israel & S.Korea. Trials of Arsenal MG-M2, IWI Negev NG7 and S&T Motiv K12 were conducted. Recent news from a journo states that NEGEV NG7 is winning against the MG-M2. Although MG-M2 design is more reliable than NG-7 & K12 but there is gonna be weight issue.