The Twitter analyst Everest65 has shared photographs of some bullpup Kalashnikov experimentation within the arms trade social media groups in Syria. There are a couple of iterations of the design, some appear to be more experimental and might be low in production while others are more standard in their craft method of production. Craft-produced bullpups are no stranger to the region with the experimentation in bullpup PKM GPMGs appearing within the past couple of years from Libya to Syria. Although innovative and certainly an attempt to improve upon the design, the problems of a bullpup are most likely magnified in a craft-produced one. Namely the horrendous trigger pull and especially with the “tilt, lock, and rock” method of inserting most any Kalashnikov platform magazine.

Every field has its own mysteries and mystifications. And if we are talking about the history of Soviet small arms, the biggest puzzle is the notorious AKMSU. If you look it up on Russian gun websites, you can find a lot of fascinating information, for example:

Xtech Tactical has introduced a new 7.62x39mm 30 round AK magazine called MAG47. The new magazine has a polymer construction with metal reinforced front and rear lugs as well as metal inserts underneath the feed lips providing a metal reinforcement for the feed lips, too.

Rifle Dynamics has announced about the addition of California compliant AKs to the list of their main products. The company has built multiple custom California compliant AKs before, but now they have these rifle as main production models. Rifle Dynamics calls this project Operation California Air Lift. Let’s watch the video where Jim Fuller, the founder of Rifle Dynamics, tells about these new rifles.

Over the years, conducting trials in different countries, I had countless opportunities to test the accuracy of an AK in multiple calibers. There are a lot of myths and misconceptions regarding AK accuracy, and despite people putting out good information out there, a lot of folks still think that Kalashnikov rifle can’t hit the broad side of a barn past 100 yards.

Today’s Picture(s) Of The Day are from the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service, with the focus on Kalashnikovs in the hands of US soldiers.

The seventh Installment of Build of the Week was contributed by Rick.  This is actually a full repost of his write up that he originally submitted on ar15.com in May of 2017.

If you’re having any problems with the embed video, you can use this link:  https://kalashnikov.media/en/media/videolibrary/4522502

Every country that has been at war long enough eventually creates its own “firearms industry”. In some countries, like Pakistan and Philipines, it leads to the creation of indigenous weapon production.

The People’s Project is a crowdfunding organization in the Ukraine to help their army upgrade their Ukranian AKs. Back in 2014 they helps upgrade Unit A 0224 with Holosun Optics, digital night vision, handguards and grips.

Atlantic Firearms has announced the launch of a customized Draco pistol. They partnered with several other companies to source the different aftermarket furniture parts and the Cerakoting service for these Draco pistols. The host rifles are the same well-known Romanian import guns chambered in 7.62x39mm.

In what would certainly make the gun makers of Darra Adam Khel blush with professional embarrassment, a recent so-called Islamic State of Khurasan (IS entity in eastern Afghanistan) propaganda video showed fighters of the group engaging enemy Taliban fighters with a craft produced anti-materiel rifle. The rifle is extremely rudimentary, reminiscent of similarly constructed craft-produced rifles coming out of Iraq and Syria from workshops around the region.

Alexey Sudayev, a designer mostly known for creating the PPS-43 submachine gun, was also participating in the assault rifle trials which ultimately resulted in the adoption of the AK rifle. Recently,  Kalashnikov Gun Magazine published a video showing and telling about Sudayev’s entry into the trials – the AS-44 rifle. Let’s take a look.

This is the first guest post by Grigory, author of “Kalashism” blog:  https://www.instagram.com/kalashism/
Grigory is a passionate gun enthusiast and spent his entire career working in Russian military-industrial complex in various capacities. He travels a lot, mostly to the Middle East and South Asia, and has a unique perspective on a lot of modern small arms and tactical gear.

Starting when the notorious terrorist leader found refuge in the company of Mullah Omar’s Islamic Emirate in the mid-1990s, Osama bin Laden became a vociferous proponent of constantly appearing in propaganda footage armed with a Soviet AKS74U “Krinkov”. Many have pointed to this being a very deliberate choice and not a haphazard appearance of a particular weapon system for maximum impact. If the leader wanted to simply demonstrate that he was armed in every recorded or photographed event, then of course any nearby rifle of sufficient weight and size could do. Indeed, the “Sheikh” could have pulled one off his Arab staffed security team at any time. But he didn’t, and instead he specifically chooses to be depicted in visual media as carrying the AKS74U. From what appears to be the time he began his work in Afghanistan and ending in some of his last televised propaganda messages, UBL constantly and consistently has an AKS74U by his side.

The Iraqi Al-Kadesiah rifle was named after a battle bearing the same name in 636 AD which marked a key point in the Islamic conquest of what is current-day Iraq and Iran. The naming of weapon systems  whether it be small arms or missiles in Saddam’s Iraq was often based on important events in history, religion, or geography so this odd naming scheme comes as no surprise.

After a brief hiatus, the infamous Mahama Tactical training team is back in the spotlight again. The group’s former leader, Uzbek national Abu Rofiq was killed a while back and since then the team appears to have lost some key leadership. Since then, a Twitter account under the handle of Salman Belarus started posting older media of the group on April 19th and has continued to grow to include much newer material, in addition to posting about the group coming back into the picture.

Early prototype of AM-17, first public demonstration. August 2016

At this year’s 100th Anniversary of the Azeri Army Parade in Baku, Azerbaijan we were able to get a glimpse of some of the recent developments within the Azeri Armed Forces while on parade. In terms of small arms the most significant observation is the recent introduction of what appears to be a Belarussian manufactured AR15 derivative in 7.62x39mm that we reported on earlier this month. It still isn’t clear where the weapon is made, or if Azerbaijan simply purchased it from BSVT. The country does have a significant manufacturing and industrial base that does support small arms manufacture and development so there could be local production occurring. But without any further details, we can only speculate at this point. A user on MilitaryPhotos.Net who appears to have more information claimed that the nomenclature is “AZTEX” (possibly AZTEC?) but again, we just don’t know enough at this stage.

Since Jim Fuller founded Rifle Dynamics more than a decade ago, the company has risen to an extremely high standard of craftsmanship within the AK industry in the United States. Jim talks about the story of the company, starting with his very first introduction to the weapon system as an electrician on a job site to making mistakes with Chinese import guns, and ending with what Rifle Dynamics will be coming out within the next year of production when it comes to the Kalashnikov derivatives that it has become famous for manufacturing.

I came across the images of this AR-15 rifle with an AK-47 underfolder stock in one of the gun-related online communities. Normally, cool images like these are shared all over the Internet and often times it is virtually impossible to find the original source. However, there are always exceptions. I was lucky enough not only to find the man who made this gun but also get the details of the story along with a bunch of photos and his permission to publish them.

Generally speaking, firearms laws in the United States are better than those in the United Kingdom – except when it comes to museums.

Lynndon Schooler is an avid Kalashnikov enthusiast and works in the industry himself. He has visited numerous Kalashnikov collecting venues in Russia over several years, running a Facebook page called 907 KALASH that helps chronicle his finds. This is his first guest post for TFB.

A few weeks back I asked the gang from the TFB Gear chat room (chat link is here: https://discord.gg/bcVD9zw) to recommend a few minimalist chest rigs. I wanted a small, light rig for 3-4 AR or AK mags, and the Discord boys made a number of suitable recommendations. I liked the Blue Force Gear 10 Speed for less than $100, but the MOLLE wings made it less minimalist and more mediumist than what I was looking for. I favored the Zulu RSCR, but $150 seemed steep for a 3 mag minimalist setup.  I looked at the Spiritus Micro Fight for $76.95 and thought I had a winner, especially because I love Tropical Multicam, which was one of the many patterns available.

Iron Claw Tactical has published on their social media pages images of a custom built AK that they call tAnK 47. This rifle was built for a customer, who is an instructor running AK courses. The rifle is based on a WASR 10 and has an interesting combination of features and parts.

After more than five years of promises, presentations and demonstrations, the first balanced recoil sporting rifles (SR-1) recently hit the shelves in Russian gun stores.

At this year’s KADEX 2018 held in Astana, Kazakhstan, the Kazakh state-owned GIS Center had a virtual reality headset that is designed to work with a Kalashnikov-patterned service rifle. The headset portion integrates (and likely licenses) software from a Russian entity called VR Concept, which produces VR solutions for a wide variety of applications.

Modern Firearms website has published a new article telling about the official release of the 200-series of AK rifles. These rifles represent the next generation and evolution of the 100-series of AKs. In fact, they’ve been around for about a year but didn’t have the 200-series model designation.

As we initially reported in January of this year, Palmetto State Armory is working on a 9mm AK pistol that was initially shown using MP5 magazines. Yesterday on AR15.com, PSA showed some initial prototypes outfitted with 3D printed parts, a folding  SB Tactical Brace and a prototype PSA magazine. In the posting, a company representative states that the 9mm AK will be in production in August or September and will utilize translucent CZ Scorpion magazines. It will also feature a blowback action and a 9mm standard thread pitch of 1/2×36.

A coordinated attack against the Afghan Ministry of Interior headquarters in Northern Kabul on May has shown a fair degree of sophistication when it comes to the small arms and tactics of the insurgents involved. Reportedly the planning was carried out by the Haqanni Network of terrorists, but overall responsibility has been claimed by the so-called Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISIS-KP). The attack was meant to strike a symbolic hit against a recent Loya Jirga, or gathering of religious scholars in Kabul that were proclaiming an end to the current violence in the country. Casualties were all the attackers (less than a dozen) with Government casualties at 14 killed and 17 wounded. Those last numbers are questioned by many in Kabul as being too low for many of the attacks in the city.