The AK-74 and Western intelligence reports (or more trivia hehe)

[Ekie]

This thread is intended to bring to light humorous (to me hehehe) miss reporting on the AK-74.

Western Intelligence reports on Soviet weapon systems run the gamut from speculation to out right propaganda. One of the best examples was the US Airforce and the MIG-25. The aircraft was found to be something other then what was thought, after a Soviet pilot flew one to Japan. The aircraft was thoroughly inspected by US personnel before being returned. The T-80 MBT was given a similar treatment by the US Army. Of interest to members of this board was that the AK-74 was surrounded by mystery for quite some time. Before the West had examined an example some of these “intelligence” reports are quite humorous. Even after several AK-74 rifles had been acquired by the West confusion continued to follow the rifle.

I will start with the following text from a Janes’s publication titled WEAPONS AND TACTICS OF THE SOVIET ARMY by David C Isby, that was published in 1981. The following is part of a description of the AK-74 and the then new 5.45 round. “The potential considerable recoil of such a round is countered by a muzzle brake…..”. Or how about this on the AKS-74 “Its muzzle brake/flash suppressor is modified, and it has been reported that it can fire rifle grenades.”

There is of course many more. The speculation surrounding the cuts in the butt stock are pretty funny. I will save my favorite for last, it is a doozie. Others, please share what you got.

PS
FN49 I started this one here rather then that other board OKAY.


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[This message has been edited by Ekie (edited 08-29-2000).]

[Ekie]

Okay here are some more.

Peter Kokalis was one of the first Westerners to get his hands on an AK-74. His review was published in the May 1983 edition of SOF. This was a groundbreaking piece and contains a lot of detailed photos of an early manufactured AKS-74. Being one of the first means taking a risk at making some mistakes. Peter states that the barrel is 18.5” (off a little bit) and that a bayonet will not clear the muzzle brake. In this article Peter again re states his explanation of the infamous “rate reducer”. He was correct in stating that it was really an anti-bounce devise.

A rumor was repeated in this article that was commonly batted around in the early 80’s. I consider it to be pure BS (Barbara Striesand). It reads “In fact reports from British intelligence sources indicate at least one AK-74 has been examined which had a barrel resleeved from 7.62x39 to 5.45x39.”

The lighting cuts on the butt stock have been the subject of much speculation. It turns out that it was a simple means of getting the rifle to meet military weight specifications. In John Walter KALASHNIKOV MACHINE PISTOL, ASSUALT RIFLES AND MACHINE GUNS 1945 TO THE PRESENT on page 24 “Long-itudinal grooves cut into the sides of the butt allowed the calibre to be identified by touch.”

OKAY here is my all time favorite. It is found in INFANTRY WEAPONS OF THE WORLD by Christopher F Foss and T.J. Gander. It was published in 1979.

“Although the latest Soviet infantry rifle has not yet been seen publicly, news of it is now filtering through to the West. By the few rumors that are current at the time of writing this new rifle uses a calibre of around 5.6mm with a caseless propellant. Electrical ignition is used with the batteries for this purpose being carried in pouches strapped to the user’s chest.”

There is a correction on the page previous in the form of an addenda, but too late.




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[Tantal]

Very memorable instances. In Peter's defence, I assume he measured the barrel with the muzzle brake attached, as is the practice in several countires outside the US, especially. If they mention the barrel without the muzzle brake, they sometimes list it as the "length of rifled barrel" or something of that nature. I just read some old posts on Snopercountry or something of that nature, guys who were taliking about the SVD comparing it to high dollar Western sniping systems, one guy said he heard that if you got three inch groups with it you were lucky, what a load, and he also said it was because it had a case of the "sheet metalitus" The same guy said he had done "T&E" on the SVD for the Army, I guess he thought it had a sheet metal receiver, not much of an eval if you cant tell the differnece. Another so-called expert mentioned it was an AK. None of these sniper wannabe's even considered ammunition quality, comparing thirty year old surplus MG ammo in an SVD against a PSG-1 with match grade.

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[Ekie]

Tantal

That is the kind of stuff I was talking about. I have not followed the SVD as close. It seems that it has only been recently that information has been available about the correct ammo for this rifle. Turns out they shoot nice even with that “sheet metalitus” problem. Hehehehe

How about the confusion on Russian arsenal codes. It was not until the last couple of years that I have seen information on identifying these codes. The AKS-74 tested by Peter was described as being built by an unidentified manufacture. There is also that Soviet manufacture AK-74 in the Tokoi book that is in the Bulgarian section, complete with Izhmash arsenal code.


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[M92S]

I've been told that in 1979 one SAS-team went to DDR to found any info (shells,pics..) about the Soviets new AK.
They sneek and peek 4 weeks and ended up for nottin! http://www.ak47forums.com/biggrin.gif

--kick ass and take names--


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[rondo]

Funny, but at that time it was very difficult to get reliable inormation.

Rondo

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[omar]

Ekie,

I got my first glimpse of the AK-74 in 1986, and also acquired some ammunition. At the time, I didn't pay much attention to it. When new (to the west) soviet equipment fell into the hands of the U.S. or NATO during the cold war, a preliminary evaluation/spec sheet was published, with more detail later. The goal is to get information into the hands of friendly forces as soon as possible, and errors can happen during preliminary reporting. But sometimes the info is there, and no one pays attention. The AT-3 Sagger should've come as no surprise to the Israeli forces during the Yom Kippur War, since this system was encountered and captured late in the Vietnam war by the U.S. and a paper was published which Israel had access to. Nontheless, Israeli forces suffered huge losses to this system and RPG-7 teams in early fighting, until they developed countermeasures. Sophisticated systems such as the MIG-25 were intentionally overblown in performance, so as to justify support to build U.S. aircraft to counter the new "threat".

Jim

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I'm already visualizing duct tape over your mouth.


[This message has been edited by omar (edited 11-13-2000).]

[Jimbob]

Ekie,

Did you see Remington's new electric primer rifle. Does anyone smell an Edsel.

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[Ekie]

Yes I did..hehehe

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