Powerful and very light: What is the AM-17 assault rifle, by Sergey Ptichkin for Rossiyskaia Gazeta. 10.10.2024.
It has been officially announced that in 2025 the Kalashnikov concern will begin production of the compact AM-17 assault rifle of 5.45 mm caliber. Its prototype has already been tested in the SVO zone. The series will include a variant improved taking into account the conducted combat trials. It is assumed that the AM-17 will replace the well-known AKS-74U assault rifle of the same caliber, which was adopted in 1979.
Let us recall that the Kalashnikov assault rifle of 5.45 mm caliber, called AK-74, was developed in the early 1970s and adopted into service in 1974. It replaced the AKM of 7.62 mm caliber. The appearance of the new assault rifle was associated with the transition to a new low-impulse cartridge 5.45x39 mm.
Simultaneously with the design of the AK-74 in its classic version, its shortened version, the AKS-74U, was created. It was intended to arm the crews of ground combat vehicles and pilots of combat aircraft, mainly helicopters. Later, this machine gun was widely used in law enforcement agencies.
However, despite the active use of the AKS-74U in our country and practically throughout the world, the machine gun had a number of shortcomings that could not be eliminated in the original version.
Work on creating a new shortened 5.45 mm assault rifle has been going on for a long time. And now it has become known that they have managed to develop a weapon devoid of many shortcomings - the AKS-74U. The new assault rifle does not retain Kalashnikov's name in its name, it is simply called the AM-17 compact assault rifle. And this is logical. The assault rifle was originally designed by another famous designer.
It is no secret that the AM-17 is a further development of the small-sized MA assault rifle, created by designer Evgeny Dragunov back in the late 1970s. At that time, the development of the outstanding gunsmith was not appreciated. Only several decades later, the assault rifle created by Dragunov found a second life. As part of the military-technical forum "Army-2016", Izhevsk gunsmiths first showed an updated version of the MA. And the debut of the AM-17, which became a logical continuation of the previously presented MA model, to the general public took place in 2017 at the forum "Army-2017".
Its creators noted that the main highlight of the machine gun was the wide use of high-strength polymer materials, including in the design of the receiver. This technical solution made it possible to use a two-way fire mode translator, a folding telescopic buttstock, a Picatinny rail, and a cocking handle that can be installed on both sides of the barrel. This is important because it makes shooting easier for both right-handed and left -handed people.
Structurally, the AM-17 assault rifle consists of a receiver with a buttstock and barrel, a fore-end, and a trigger box. The receiver contains a bolt carrier with a bolt, a locking unit, and a return mechanism.
The trigger box includes a window for the magazine and the control handle, as well as the firing mechanism. The receiver and trigger box are connected to each other by transverse locks, which are removed when disassembling the machine gun.
The AM-17 automatic mechanism is based on the principle of removing powder gases from the barrel bore with a short piston stroke, locking is by turning the bolt counterclockwise on three combat stops. All types of 5.45 mm combat cartridges adopted for service in the Russian army are used for firing from the machine gun.
After mastering the production of the AM-17 assault rifle, the Kalashnikov concern is reportedly planning to create a whole line of combat and hunting weapons on the new platform, including those for other cartridges.
https://rg.ru/2024/10/10/kompaktnyj-avtomat-moshchnyj-i-ochen-legkij.html
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