Russian Weapons Naming Convention, HeadsBunker Blog Post

the headsbunker blog has disappeared from the net so i'm posting this for easy reference. long read but hindi naman kelangang basahin lahat, scan lang for the info that you need.

"Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Russian Weapons Naming Convention

"Naming conventions of Russian weapons can get confusing, especially among the modern late 20th century sub-variants of various systems. We've all seen things like AK-47, AK-102, Mosin Nagant 1891, 91/30, PKM, SKS, and so on. What does it all mean? What's correct, what's not? The answer? As usual, it depends...

"Date of Acceptance

"Originally, the Imperial Russians followed the convention accepted by most nations, designating rifles based on year of acceptance. This is still a common convention for many nations, a notable exception being the US. Even as Soviet Russia began a prolific industry of sub-variants and minor versions of primary weapons system, the inclusion of a numeric date designator was retained for major developments.

"For example, the Mosin Nagant rifle was named officially "Russkaya trekhlineinaya vintovka obrazets 1891-ago goda" meaning "Russian three line rifle of the year 1891". The reference to 'three line' referred to a unit of measurement and roughly equals .30 caliber. 1891 is the year in which the Russian government officially accepted the deisgn for production. It does not necessarily mean the rifle entered service in the year of acceptance. The numerals designating the year of acceptance into service will be the common element in most rifle names. In Russian, the Mosin Nagant rifle was also commonly referred to as "Vintovka Mosina", or "Mosin's Rifle", or simply "Three line rifle". Interestingly, Nagant is almost never mentioned in Russian descriptions of the rifle, he was a Belgian after all. Mosin was honored posthumously by the Russians by the renaming of the rifle, "7.62 mm magazinnaya vintovka sistemi Mosina obrazets 1891-ago goda", translating to "Mosin System 7.62mm magazine rifle, model of 1891". Still, the common element of the designation is the date of acceptance.

"M + date"

"In the US and most of the firearms collector community worldwide. we call these the variants rifles Mosin-Nagant M91 or M1891 or M91/30. The "M" that we attach to the designation is inherited from international naming convention meaning "Model of". A Mosin Nagant M91 for example, is a "Mosin Nagant model of 1891", a Mosin Nagant M91/30 would be a "Mosin Nagant Model of 1891/1930". The second date number is universally accepted in international convention as a model variant descriptor. Usually, a second date in a designation means the rifle was refined, changed or otherwise altered to the degree that it warranted a new designation to set it apart from previous version of the weapon. The M91/30 is a good example, as is the Mosin Nagant M91/59. In the SKS world we have Yugoslavian rifles named M1959, and a major variant called M59/66, meaning the upgrade program began in 1966, and altered the rifles of Model 1959.

"In our example, the Russian Mosin Nagants were never officially called "M91" or "M91/30" or "M" anything, but the naming convention has been applied to the rifle type by small arms collectors, historians, and to some degree, the need to have clear model designations for international trade. Historically not technically accurate, the "M" style of naming many nation's weapons is an accepted practice.

"Type + Name + Date"

"After the overthrow of the Czar, Soviet Russian began to use a naming convention that was somewhat more detailed. The actual mission or type of weapon was combined with the name of the designer to from an acronym. Usually, but not always, the date of acceptance was appended, carrying on the tradition of using dates. The best way to describe this type of system is to simply list some examples:


* AK- Avtomat Kalashnikova (Kalashnikov's Automatic) used with 'Year of acceptance' deisgnations: AK-47, AK-74
* AKM- Avtomat Kalashnikova Modernizirovannyi (Kalashnikov's Automatic, Modernized) (the vast majority of so-called 'AK-47' assault rifles in the world are, in fact, AKMs.)
* AKMS- Avtomat Kalashnikova Modernizirovannyi Skladnaya (Kalashnikov's Automatic, Modernized folding/para)
* AKSU- Avtomat Kalashnikova Skladnaya Ukorochennyj (Kalashnikov's Automatic, folding/para, shortened)


* RPK- Ruchnoi Pulemet Kalashnikova (Kalashnikov's Light Machinegun)
* RPD- Ruchnoi Pulemet Degtyareva (Degtyarev's Light Machinegun)
* RPKS- Ruchnoi Pulemet Kalashnikova Stankovyi (Kalashnikov's Light Machinegun, Supported tri or bipod)


* PK- Pulemyot Kalashnikova (Kalashnikov's Machinegun)
* PKM- Pulemyot Kalashnikova Modernizirovannyi (Kalashnikov's Modernized Machinegun)
* PKMS- Pulemyot Kalashnikova Modernizirovannyi Stankoviy (Kalashnikov's Modernized Machinegun, Supported tri or bipod)
* PKT- Pulemyot Kalashnikova Tankoviy (Kalashnikov's Tank Machinegun)
* PKMT- Pulemyot Kalashnikova Modernizirovannyi Tankoviy (Kalashnikov's Modernized Tank Machinegun)


* DK- Degtyarev, Krupnocalibernyi (Degtyarev's Large Caliber)
* DShK- Degtyarev & Shpagin, Krupnocalibernyi (Degtyarev and Shpagin's Large Caliber) used with 'Year of acceptance' designations: DShK-38, and occasionally year modifiers DShK-38/46
* DShKM- Degtyarev & Shpagin, Krupnocalibernyi Modernizirovannyi (Degtyarev and Shpagin's Large Caliber Modernized)


* SVD- Snaiperskaya Vintovka Dragunova (Dragunov's Sniping Rifle)
* SVDS- Snaiperskaya Vintovka Dragunova Skladnaya Dragunov's Sniping Rifle, folding/para)


* SKS- Samozaryadnyi Karabin Simonova (Simonov's self-loading carbine) Originally used with 'Year of acceptance' designation: SKS-45
* SVT- Samozaryadnaya Vintovka Tokareva (Tokarev's self-loading rifle) used with 'Year of acceptance' designations: SVT-38, SVT-40
* PK- Pistolet Makarova (Makarov's Pistol)
* TT- Tokarev Tula (Tokarev's design, Tula Arsenal) used with 'Year of acceptance' deisgnation: TT.33
* PPSh- Pistolet-Pulemet Shpagina (Shpagin's Machine Pistol) used with 'Year of acceptance' deisgnations: PPSh-41, PPSh-43
* AN- Avtomat Nikonova ( Nikonov's Automatic) used with 'Year of acceptance' designation: AN-94

"Type + Name + Series"
"The latest Russian naming convention has come about in an effort to increase weapon exports. While the naming convention is mostly preserved, the new export versions of Kalashnikov rifles are being designated by a series sequence rather than a date of acceptance. Since they were not accepted into Russian service, they have no official date to append to the "type + name + date" convention. In this case, dates are replaced by a series number beginning with 100. The result is a simplified type + name with the series number appended: AK-100, AK-101, AK-103, etc. The series currently goes to the AK-108. All of these rifles and carbines seem to use simply "AK" and not "AKM" or "AKS", even though they are all technically "Modernizirovannyi" and "Skladnaya". The simplification may work for sales, but it does end the traditional naming convention for the legendary Kalashnikov line.

"Latest Modifiers
No doubt current arms in Russian service will continue to use their traditional designations, such names as AKS-74U and AK-74M are officially accepted and continue in use. This brings the last fly in the proverbial ointment- modifiers being placed out of sequence. Since the advent of the AK-74, many Russian arms have been designated with the modifiers after the date. For example, the AK-74M is an upgraded (Modernizirovannyi) AK-74. Adding the "M" to the end avoids unnecessary confusion, because under the traditional naming system an AK-74 has been modernized or upgraded several times. Calling it an AKM may be technically correct, but there is already an AKM. AKM-74 was simply not chosen, instead it is an AK-74M for reasons unknown to the Bunker at tghis point. Ironically, the AKS-74U (the 'Krinkov') does use a modifier in the traditional manner, AND uses a modifier after the date. Go figure.

"Though confusing at times, there is a naming methodology that can be observed even as it changes to meet the needs of changing times.

posted by Head @ 1:29 PM"

NOTE: head failed to mention the modifier "N" which denotes a sideplate for scope mounting installed at the factory during manufacture. so the AKS-74U clones from BOYI, CYMA, and Unicorn should be properly called AKS-74UN. tama ang VFC nung nilabas nya ung Krinkov nya but peeps are naturally lazy kaya umiksi ung label

mali din ang CA sa SLR 105 nya, btw, dahil sablay ang kaliber nung magazine na kasama ng bengbeng

Thanks komrad zT

And please do correct me if wrong...



"Krinkov" is the Mujahedin given nickname for a shortened AK47/AK74 variant, the AKS-74UN, that first fell into western hands during the Russian occupation of Afghanistan.

sakli, kom yarik.

mali ung legend na co-inventor o designer si Krinkov. the word was in fact first published in a Soldier of Fortune article. nauna pa ung correspondent nilang makahawak ng Krink kesa sa intelligence operatives ng mga kano

katawa nga dahil kahit sa Red Alliance, AFAIK, eh hindi nila ma resolve ung issue minsan talaga eh mahirap ung bilib ka sa alam mo

btw, kung maghahanap kayo, komrads, ng site or article na nawala na sa web (as in, pagclik nyo nung link o pag type nyo ng url eh page ng portal ang bubulaga, eh subukan nyo ang Wayback Machine.

galing a?! ... nice one.

tumutulong lang kom solomonic.

konti pang koreksyon, komrads:
ung "S" sa SVD ay hindi Snaiperskaya. ang original na pangalan ay "Semipolarnya" na ang ibig sabihin ay semi-automatic. so hindi sya talaga designed para sa sniper kundi para sa "accurate supportive fire beyond the range of the original AK-47 in the battlefield."

source: interview with a finnish sniper sa dragunov.net

very very interestinggggg!!!!!

Maybe we can update this thread with images of each AK names...

Thread sticky...

wilco, bosing. soon as i'm down with the Krink events.

Di naman madalian eto komrad zT...
Try to help also...maybe tonight...

tenkyu komrad Zen sa mga dagdag kaalaman.

Whoa! Two thumbs up for that komrads! I have come to love Kalashnikov even more. Keep on feeding us the fire!! Hehehe! Kudos, komrad Zen!!!