AK74U

AVTOMAT KALASHNIKOV U KARACHANY Russian 5.45×39mm AKS-74U Popularly known as the Krinkov in the United States or the Kalikov in Pakistan or Afghanistan The concept for a 5.45 submachine gun for the Spetsnaz was developed in the mid-1970s, eventually being adopted in 1979 However, Russian special forces never liked it and often traded it off for full-length AKS-74s, with mostly vehicle and helicopter crews adopting it Mujahideen especially favored captured examples for this reason, and it has become a status symbol in modern-day Afghanistan The weapon first became known to the Western media through the July 1984 edition of Soldier of Fortune, where writer David Isby went to Pakistan to investigate the mysterious Krinkov Today we have a semi-automatic NFA-registered SBR built on an original Russian Tula parts kit with American 922-compliant parts We've got some Russian ammunition, in addition to some original Russian bakelite magazines, as we put this through its paces The gun would come with this canvas carrying case that allowed for it to be carried with the sling still attached This case wasn't designed for ruggability or ease of use, instead it was to protect the gun while in transit The sling is designed to be used while the stock is folded as opposed to extended Underneath the AKSU there's an internal pouch for the magazine that it was supplied with Disassembling the AKSU is much like any other Kalashnikov platform Ensure the firearm is unloaded, then push in on the receiver retaining button The receiver cover will angle off towards the forward position, exposing the bolt carrier, bolt, and mainspring Remove these straight out of the firearm to expose the internal trigger and hammer components for cleaning The gas tube, however, unlike other AKs, is held in place by a spring-loaded pin actuated by the receiver cover Push down and it's locked, push up and it comes out Similar to other AKs in European small arms manufacturing techniques, the serial number is engraved on all the major parts from the factory In 1985 the Soviets stopped cutting air vent holes in the handguards of the AKSUs This is an 86 build The sights are extremely rudimentary, adjustable 4 to 500 meters, then a battle sight, 0 for 3 and in The front sight is adjustable for elevation We'll see later on the submachine gun never performed well at long range, despite it being a 5.45 Here we have a simplistic representation of what a Soviet helicopter crew member might have carried one of these in The Soviets issued out special leg holsters, and we were able to slap together a cardboard representation of one The vest had the magazine pouch just above the holster for easy access, purely a self-defense setup Operating the AKSU is just like any other Kalashnikov platform, apart from it being a blast, literally If you look closely, you can see the ball of flame coming out of the muzzle from the short barrel of the submachine gun The 5.45 is a very light recoiling cartridge, and follow-up shots are extremely easy to squeeze off For the majority of the day, we were shooting at handgun distances, because steel is so much funner that way Joking aside, this was honestly the distances that the AKSU was historically deployed in, and is currently used today within Russian law enforcement Production stopped in 1993, and only the police have it now Bulgaria has a number of variants as well In the pictures, we see a lot of Soviet soldiers with 45 round magazines in their AKSUs, and that, or 30 rounders taped together The reason for this was because the weapon was only expected to be used as a personal defense weapon, outside of a vehicle or downed helicopter We also had on hand a Rifle Dynamics Krinkov with 7.62mm, and shot the two together as a sort of old versus new test Of course, the 5.45 cannot compare to the 7.62 in terms of caliber, but what we have are two opposite ends of the development spectrum From an initial issue to modern conceptions of how outstanding a short AK is We then fired the two at 100 meters And surprisingly enough, the minute of milk jug sights on the AKSU actually allowed for smaller grouping than the aim point on the Rifle Dynamics This is also from a bench rest position, and isn't indicative of what the submachine gun would have been capable of at 300 meters or in, or a typical engagement distance during the Soviet-Afghan war We wish to thank Panther Ridge Training Center and Jeremiah Cohen from Kalashnikov in Phoenix, Arizona for putting together an outstanding historical rebuild of this AKS-74U