Is this an early version of the AKS-74U or a totally new weapon?

[firefly_alpha]

I have come across two versions of the AKS-74U 'Krinkov', but from all the information that I can asscertain, there exists a version called the AKS-74U or AKSU-74 or AK-74SU 'Spetsnaz'.

I would like to direct the attention to the following webpages for comparrisons:


http://kalashnikov.guns.ru/models/ka114.html
http://www.flashpoint1985.com/gear/east/ak74su/ak74su.html

In my opinion, the 'Spetsnaz' version could be real and I base that on the details of the weapon. Compare the muzzle thickness and the optics with the 'Krinkov'. The optics of the 'Spetsnaz' is identical to that of the original AK-47's and AK-74 assault rifles.

But, I have also come to learn that some say that the 'Spetsnaz' version is an AKS-47U using 7.62 x 39mm ammunition!!!

I cannot find ANY information on the internet on the Flashpoint AK-74SU 'Spetsnaz' version except some from Tokyo Marui which produces softguns, so the question is: Does it actually exist and if so, what is it's orignial name and why is there not much information distributed about it?

Thanks guys!

[AHMzzz]

Hi firefly_alpha:

I was interseted with your topic but after a half an hour or so search on google I was only confused even more.

I am not sure but it seems that the game's AK-74su is actually an AK47su however I couldnt find much info on it just some pictures (some of them might be modified):

http://specialisti.netanday.it/ak47se.htm
http://www.teamace.co.uk/armoury.htm
http://www.softair.it/arsenale_fuc_ele.php
http://www.joensuunsar.fi/erikoisaseet/aksu.html

also this one from America's army game:
http://www.crazydogsworld.com/modules.php?set_albumName=weapons&id=aab&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php&PHPSESSID=dfc9df340f08c527890858a94f6731aa


As I said non of those sources is errrr... reliable so I am not sure.

[ghillisniper_270]

I think that all of the firearms in question are virtually the same.  Furthermore, I may be mistaken, but I think that the AK 47 and all it's derivitives are 7.62 X 39, while the AK 74 and it's derivitives are the russian 5.56 ammunition.  I have been told that this 5.56 ammo is slightly smaller than 5.56 NATO, so that if the soldiers carrying the AK ran out of ammo, they could load captured M-16 bullets into their mags and shoot them.  

Well, as far as comparisons go, I'm not really for sure about all these pics.  I know that the AK family is so diverse that it is hard to tell different variants appart.  In addition, they are very customizable so an original AK 47 can be fitted with all kinds of accessories to function better or just to look like a different version.

Like I said, I don't know everything about AK's, and with all the types out these days it's hard to tell.  I'd venture to say that the AK SU's are virtually the same, save for a few different modifications (flash suppressor, stock, etc.)

[Dubieman]

Wouldn't an AK74 need a slighty bigger or equal size barrel to take NATO ammo? Since I don't see how the bigger M16 ammo would fit well in the smaller AK74 barrel. OR am I just very confused?

And about the ak74 su, 5.56 ammo and ak47's take 7.62 ammo. Like it was said above, Ak's have tons of accessories and variations not to mention that they're made by many different countries. Of course this won't help you much.

[firefly_alpha]

Thanks for all the replies guys!

It's true that AK-47 assault rifles use 7.62 x 39mm ammunition and that the AK-74 series uses 5.45 x 39mm ammo as opposed to the NATO 5.56 x 45mm

I use to serve in a human intelligence gathering unit (Long Range Reconnaissance) in Denmark, and even here, many of the guys who came from Special Forces and other intel. patrols, haven't seen the OFP1985 AK74SU, ever! Some had seen them as hardball weapons, but that's it!

But given the design of the optics and the small vissible part of the barrel, it's "thickness", just before it reaches the flash suppressor, we were all convinced that the weapon must exist.

Only non of us had ever seen it!

But, even if the weapon does not exist, it still makes for a cool design with the chrome, although I might find the handguard a little too small.


Once again, thanks for all the feedback!

[firefly_alpha]

Ohh yea, and uhh, what I find interesting about the Flashpoint AK74SU which some say to be an AK47SU, is that the weapon's design is based on the AKS-74U 'Krinkov', but the magazines that the weapon is always portrayed with are AK-47 magazines !!!

Very interesting if this is a cross-breed of an AK-74 and an AK-47. 7.62 x 39,5mm ammo in an AKS-74U design...

Ohh, and if anyone knows of a good clan to join, then please, direct me there 'cause I would really like to share my flashpoint experiences with others.

Thanks!

[firefly_alpha]

As for the AK-74's using M16 ammunition, what i've been told is that the barrells of both the M16 and the AK-74 can expand!


In the case of the M16 using 7.62 x 39mm, the weapons barrell expands!
The same it is in the case of the AK-74, barrell using 5.56 x 45mm NATO.

But please, dont hang me up on this info if it prooves to be wrong. It's what i've been told by a weapons expert, but it also seems like the most logical explanation.

[ghillisniper_270]

I'm not trying to burst your bubble, but there is no possible way an M-16 can even chamber a 7.62 round.  You guys are right ammo size, the ak74 uses 5.45 x 39, so I believe my info about taking 5.56 NATO ammo is faulty.  There are some M-16 variants made by companies like Armalite that are made to chamber .308 (7.62 NATO), and even .243.  Pretty cool.

[ghillisniper_270]

I was just at Wal-Mart looking at books to buy my mum for mum's day, and of coarse I got destracted by a weapons and ammo magazine!  I was looking for an article about a new assault rifle when I came across an entire article about the AKS-74U.  It appears to be virtually identical to the first two links posted in this topic by firefly_alpha, except that the mag in all of the magazines pictures was the woodgrain mags, and of coarse the handguard, grip, and buttstock was always wooden.  It also turns out, that the weapon Osama Bin Laden is always totin' around in the pictures is an AKS-74U.  Thought that was interesting!

Later

[firefly_alpha]

yea, I concur with ghillie_sniper. my first thought when I heard people talking about fitting a 7.62 into a 5.56 barrel was that it couldn't be physically possible, so I did the only logical thing: I attempted to fit a 7.62 x 51mm NATO round in an M16 mag, which of course was not physically possible.

but I do know that the AK-47 versions use a smaller size, the 7.62 x 39,5mm round which has a smaller cartridge. haven't tried or had the opportunity of fitting one of those into an M16 mag but... who knows. I dont wanna second gues this issue so i'll leave it up for the community to decide the verdict of this topic.

but if what you read in the article, back at wal-mart, is true then the OFP1985 AKS74U does exist, but there's just not a whole lot of publicity surrounding it.

thanks for the replies...