DESIGN
In the mid-60’s United States adopted the
M16 with its high velocity ammunition. The
Russians feared it might outrange their AK-47
to much and they also wanted a kinetic energy
round. The fastest way to do that was to
rechamber the AKM to a lighter bullet. The
development of the 5.45mm started. To make
the conversion easier the 5.45mm round was
given a 39mm shell. The developed rifle was
adopted in 1974 as as the AK-74. A lot of
people think an AK-47 is meant when they
see or hear ‘AK-74’. If you see AK-74, it
probably is correct, as most AK-47’s are
out of service and replaced by AKM.
The RPK was also rechambered and named RPK-74.
The low recoil 5.45mm round made it possible
to make a sub machine gun in that calibre.
The AK-74SU was born. Drivers and other non-combat
personnel were equipped with the AK-74SU,
but it is not very effective because of its
short barrel. Since 1991 a modernized AK-74
is in Russian service. It is made of black
plastics and uses improved black magazines.
Scope mounts are attached to the weapon and
it has a foldable stock. |
| The low recoil 5.45mm round made it possible
to make a sub machine gun in that calibre.
The AK-74SU was born. Drivers and other non-combat
personnel were equipped with the AK-74SU,
but it is not very effective because of its
short barrel. ‘U’ stands for ‘Ukorochennyj’,
or ‘shortened’. |
| An AKM rechambered to the 5.45x39mm round.
The AK-74 can be fitted with a grenade launcher.
The Paratrooper version with foldable stock
is called AK-74S. |
| Since 1991 a modernized AK-74 is in Russian
service. It is made of black plastics and
uses improved black magazines. Scope mounts
are attached to the weapon and it has a foldable
stock. |
| The RPK-74 is a RPK rechambered to the 5.45x39mm
round. It uses high capacity magazines. |
PERFORMANCE
The AK-74 has a much greater range than the
AK-47 and AKM. The 5.45mm round is less effective
than the 5.56mm NATO and 7.62mm Soviet, but
has only half the recoil of the 5.56mm NATO!
Burst fire is very effective because of the
low recoil. Just like the AK-47 is the AK-74
cheap, rugged and reliable. The RPK-74 can
give more support fire because of its longer
range and larger magazines. Nowadays the
AK-74M is seen more often than the AK-74.
The AK-74SU is only useful within urban terrain.
Its barrel and thus range is too short to
be an effective weapon.
USE
- The AK-74 is in use with the Russian army.
- The AK-74 was also built in East Germany,
Bulgaria, Poland and Romania. Nowadays it
is no longer produced in those countries.
- The AK-74 is very popular in Eastern Europe
and the Middle East. The longer range of
the AK-74 makes it superior to the AK-47
in desert conditions.
- Like all Russian weapons is the AK-74 and
its variants and ammunition are widely available
on the black market.
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