Photos AK and its derivatives in action

[Talvisota]

North Korean AK copies.

example one - Type 58 Assault Rifle
Type 58 is North Korean made assault rifle, it is direct copy of original Soviet AK rifle with milled receiver, some very early models were assembled with mix of Soviet and North Korean rifle parts, those rifles were produced for 10 years before being replaced by Type 68, AKM copy in production. Type 58 does not have any very specific design aspects to make it easy to identify, but there still are few things - Marking on fire selector are in North Korean, also other identification markings include North Korean star symbol, "Type 58" and serial number. Very few of those rifles were exported, North Vietnam received several hundred rifles during Vietnam war, some were captured by US soldiers and ended up in US. Some were exported to African countries, such as Ethiopia in 1980s, Togo and Rwanda. limited number also in Cuba, Nicaragua and Peru. Middle saw rather very limited usage of this rifle - only Iran and Syria using few examples.

Type 58

Markings on Type 58

North Korean soldiers with Type 58 rifles

Type 58 rifles from Peru

US Marine firing Type 58 in South Korea

 

[Connaught Ranger]

Romanian AKs are no rare sight today in Afghanistan, but they have more deeper roots in that country, Mujahedeen were supplied with PM md.63/65 rifles in 1980s as well, Where did CIA mobilize those rifles from in rather unknown, could be that They bought them from Romania itself (cause war is just business), however, it is clear that US had a stockpile of those rifles since US army did opfor training in 1980s with Romanian AKs. A second theory suggests that those rifles were supplied to Pro-Communist government by Romania but I think its less likely

Captured PM mds from Mujahedeen
View attachment 215906

First weapon on the left is either an original WW2 .303 Lee-Enfield or a copy made in Pakistan.
Second weapon on the left has its origins as an original .303 Lee-Enfield Mk 1 (SMLE.)
Third is possibly the same model as the second.

 

[ao_sepia]

North Korean AK copies.

example one - Type 58 Assault Rifle
Type 58 is North Korean made assault rifle, it is direct copy of original Soviet AK rifle with milled receiver, some very early models were assembled with mix of Soviet and North Korean rifle parts, those rifles were produced for 10 years before being replaced by Type 68, AKM copy in production. Type 58 does not have any very specific design aspects to make it easy to identify, but there still are few things - Marking on fire selector are in North Korean, also other identification markings include North Korean star symbol, "Type 58" and serial number. Very few of those rifles were exported, North Vietnam received several hundred rifles during Vietnam war, some were captured by US soldiers and ended up in US. Some were exported to African countries, such as Ethiopia in 1980s, Togo and Rwanda. limited number also in Cuba, Nicaragua and Peru. Middle saw rather very limited usage of this rifle - only Iran and Syria using few examples.

Type 58 rifles from Peru
View attachment 222208

old type used wood
new type used plastic

 

[ao_sepia]

Galil MAR used by Turkish Gendarmarie commandos

Galatz variant used by Police Special Operation Department

from

IMI Galil - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[ao_sepia]

Female operators of Yemeni Security Forces with AKS-74U
View attachment 213142

Before civil war, AKS-74U was popular weapon of choice for Yemeni Security Forces, including elite anti-terrorist units
View attachment 213133

very big pant pocket and bell bottom military trouser!?

Famous pro-Russian terrorist motorolla with AKS-74U
View attachment 213144

and he pro syria assad!?

 

[Talvisota]

and he pro syria assad!?

yes

 

[haze99]

old type used wood
new type used plastic

Sepia, these two rifles are actually the North Korean AKM or Type-68. Yes, there is a difference in the condition of both rifles, which appear to be quite a few years difference in manufacturing quality.

To Kadir93, great upload selection on page 1!

Check this out.
Two of these rifles are AK-47's (notice the lightening cut above magazine well) now upon closer inspection noticed that the buttstocks had metal attachments, then I knew these were Polish-made! And not just a regular Kbk AK, but the rare rifle-grenade launching Kbkg wz. 1960!
*Lower arrow points the gas-cut off lever used to launch the grenade.

 

[haze99]

So

* Credit Lusilu and Yankeebob for these photos.

Bulgarian soldiers using Soviet-made AKM and AKMS rifles.
This is significant, since Bulgaria manufactures the AK-47 series, not the AKM and this is the first time I have ever seen Bulgarian troops using the AKM-series.

 

[haze99]

Alright, going back in time to the Warsaw Pact.

NOTE: missing is a Romanian soldier with Modle-1963 or Modle-1965. (Romania had withdrawn from the Warsaw Pact after the Czechoslovakian Invasion in 1968.) Although, they continued to send observers to WP exercises hence the Romanian national flag in the background.
*The Bulgarian soldier does not look thrilled...

L-R.
Polish soldier with Polish-made Kbk AKM, Soviet Paratrooper w/AKS-74, Czechoslovakian soldier w/Vz. 58P, Bulgarian w/AKS-47, Hungarian soldier with AMD-65 and East German soldier with MpikM.

Soviet soldiers (apart of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany) prepare to fire East German-made MpikMS-72 (AKMS) rifles along side East German soldiers.
NOTE: later production MpiKMS-72 rifles, that have the Bakelite lower handguard.

 

[haze99]

Credit: fellow M.I. posters, Deno, Kadir93, Talvisota, Stormovik, & Chakib Larbi, photos borrowed from their posts on the Military Photo's by Country threads, much appreciated gentlemen.

Republic of Georgia (Not U.S. State of Georgia) soldiers train with former Soviet small arms.
*Tbilisi, if you ever want to sell off that old USSR stuff, there are a few of us in America that will take them.
USSR AK-74

USSR AKS-74 rifles
*Fifth soldier from the point-man has a GP-25 (GP-30?) mounted to his rifle.

PKM machine gun with blank adapter and blank ammo can attached. *A well-worn sling!

Bulgarian MG-1M (PKM) mounted on Soviet 6T2 tripod (I think?) during a range Live-Fire (as we call it in the U.S. Army)
*I like the DCU Gore-Tex Parka he wears, the last U.S. military units phased that pattern out in 2011.

Romanian soldiers fire the venerable Modle-1963 (AKM) rifle on the range.
*Austrian Glocks worn on hip.

Hungarian soldiers train with AK-63D (AKMS) rifles during field training.

Hungarian soldiers receive brief during training armed with AK-63D (AKMS) rifles. *One soldier has AK-63E (AKM) interesting.

 

[Talvisota]

Afghan child soldier with AKM, Soviet-Afghan war

Russian soldier in Chechnya with AKM

A rather famous photo from Second Chechen war - Russian Spetsnaz fighter with AKS-74

Chechen Jihadists with Krinkovs (AKS-74U)

Vietnamese soldiers with East German MPi-KM assault rifles

Milled Bulgarian AKs in service within Afghan police

 

[Talvisota]

North Korean Type 68 AKM copies in service of Peruvian police

 

[Talvisota]

A rather interesting modernization of AKM rifles with an indigenous collimator sights from Cuba

 

[Talvisota]

Russian SOF with AK-12

Russian soldier with AK-74M, the optic is night vision 1PN34 type

 

[haze99]

Yugoslavian/Serbian M-70AB2 (AKMS) in use by Afghan SOF?

Yugoslav/Serbian M-84 (PKM) machine guns in Kabul. *I believe these were donated by Slovenia or Croatia back in 2005?

Syrian soldier with USSR 3rd Model AK-47! (Still going after 70 years ;-)

 

[droopy]

A second theory suggests that those rifles were supplied to Pro-Communist government by Romania but I think its less likely

It was not a pro-communist it was a communist government, it had been since World War 2 ended. But with a twist, Ceaușescu the guy was a dictator, but was not a soviet friend. So it is a theory, but those AKs might have been sold knowingly that they would end up in Afghan hands since they opposed the USSR.

 

[NebrHogger]

Here's another example of a modified - cut down barrel - AK in use. Would it cycle? Maybe. The gas port could be drilled out or it could by cycled manually.

I believe the boy is Khmer.

 

[droopy]

^

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[Talvisota]

From the battlefields of Syria - AK-74 equipped with a BelOMO DNS-1 Day/Night scope and standard AKM.

 

[Talvisota]

Peru is one of the largest users of North Korean made AKs- in 1980s Peru bought several thousand Type 68 (AKM copy) and Type 58 (AK-47 copy) rifles, mostly for police use.