This article is about the Ukrainian machine gun. For the Russian hunting rifle, see Hammer Vepr. For the Russian gun, see Vepr-12.
For other uses, see Vepr (disambiguation).
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Bullpup rifle type
| Boar | |
| Type | Bullpup rifle |
| Place of origin | Ukraine |
| Service history | |
| In service | 2010–present |
| Used | Ukrainian Army [ link needed ] |
| Production history | |
| Designer | S. Naumov [1] |
| Designed by | 2001 [2] –2003 [3] |
| Manufacturer | National Space Agency Precision Engineering Research Center [1] |
| Characteristics | |
| Weight | 3,45 |
| Length | 702 mm [1] |
| Barrel length | 415 mm [1] |
| Caliber | 5.45 × 39 mm [1] |
| Action | Burners, butterfly valve |
| Rate of fire | 600–650 rounds/min |
| Feeding system | 30-round detachable box magazine [1] |
| Attractions | Iron sights |
« Boar"
(Ukrainian: Vepr,
boar
) was announced in 2003 as the first Ukrainian assault rifle, developed by the State Space Agency of Ukraine. [1] This is one of several bullpup modifications of the traditional AKM design, along with the Polish Kbk wz. 2005 Jantar, Chinese Norinco Type 86S, Russian OTs-14 Groza, Finnish Valmet M82 and South African Vektor CR-21.
History[edit]
Prior to the development of the Vepr, Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel were installed primarily with Soviet AKM and AK-74 Assault Rifle designs.
The first Vepr rifle was shown on August 28, 2003. [4] Until October 9, 2004, only ten Vepr rifles were manufactured [3]
In addition, in 2005, one [5] prototype (“Malyuk”) was manufactured [6].
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has stated its intention to purchase thousands of boars by 2010, but as of March 2014 there were not a single boar in the Ukrainian army.[7]
However, as the political tide in Ukraine moves towards NATO and possibly membership in the European Union, and since 2009, a well-established Ukrainian arms manufacturer (RPC Fort) has been offering "Western" caliber firearms such as Israeli ones on the Ukrainian market. The Tavor assault rifle, [8] the Negev light machine gun, [9] and the Galil sniper rifle, [10] the future of these weapons in Ukrainian service may be in jeopardy.
In March 2022, it was announced that the National Police of Ukraine would replace Kalashnikov assault rifles with HK MP5 submachine guns. [11] As of 2022, the majority of Ukrainian military personnel still use the AK-74.
Currently, the Ukrainian security service uses only a small number of boars. [ citation needed
]
Price
Price, now this is the main issue of “zrada”, but only information on selling the civilian version on one forum is freely available. And as it turned out, they are sold not by the factory or the manufacturer, but by the person who undertook to sell them on their own. As I understand it, this is where the information among the masses about its cost comes from. We were told a slightly different figure, which will approximately be for the civilian market in the future (for the civilian version). For structure purchases, prices vary greatly depending on quantity. But it was stated that there is an opportunity to reduce prices if output increases. Alas, these numbers were asked not to be announced. But it’s not $3 thousand, which I readily believe. We were in the assembly shop, it is very small and it is a completely manual assembly. As the manufacturer stated, currently 20-30 products are produced per day. In the shortest possible time, you can increase up to 50 units per day. In case of urgent need, it is possible to double production within a few weeks.
After Malyuk passed the official state test. acceptance and went into service. They became interested in him abroad. The plant was visited by delegations from the USA, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iraq. Now they are actively working on selling the machine abroad.
Design[edit]
Although the Vepr has been hailed as a revolutionary update to the AK-74, it is in fact an interesting but rather simple modification of the basic AK-74 system in a bullpup design with the following modifications:
- The standard gas-powered AK-74 bolt-rotating mechanism is removed from its furniture and a new buttplate is installed directly on the rear of the receiver.
- A polymer cheek rest is attached to the receiver cover.
- The trigger and pistol grip are located in front of the magazine.
- The cocking handle is removed from the bolt carrier and a new cocking handle is placed on the left side of the handguard.
General characteristics with AK-74[edit]
The weapon still fires 5.45×39mm cartridges from 30-round magazines at an approximate rate of fire of 600 to 650 rounds per minute, the barrel length remains the same and the muzzle brake is retained, suggesting that the Vepr's ballistic performance should be the same . identical to AK-74. The weight of the weapon is almost the same as the AK-74M variant, and its length is comparable to a folding AK stock with the stock folded. Thus, the main advantage of the bullpup layout is that the weapon becomes much shorter and therefore easier to store, carry and handle in confined spaces. However, the overall superiority of the bullpup over conventional rifle configurations, which place the magazine and chamber in front of the trigger and pistol grip rather than behind, remains to be seen.
Restless hands
Judging by published photographs and statements by designers, the Ukrokalashnikov barrel is attached to the receiver liner using transverse pins - just like a PK/PKM machine gun. The creators claim that this unit can be replaced in just a couple of minutes. Along with the barrel, the bolt also changes, after which the weapon is ready to fire a different cartridge.
“The Ukrainian army is a consumer of the world’s leading cartridges,” says Mayak’s message, prepared by chief designer Alexander Gordeev and posted on the plant’s Facebook page. – In order to transition AK platform operators to using the world’s leading cartridges, the development of the KalashNash multi-caliber platform has begun.
Multi-caliber Kalashnikov assault rifle - MP "KalashNash"
PAT Plant Mayak
I wonder what criteria were used to determine the “leading cartridges of the world” and how Grendel and especially 6XC got into this list? Well, okay, let's move on. Another “trick” of the Ukrainian miracle weapon will be the option to turn off the gas engine so that the machine gun can work like a rifle with manual reloading. “Bolt-gun mode for precise shooting,” the message explains.
The history of the most famous machine gun is full of myths, but that doesn’t stop it from being the most famous
It was not possible to find any comments from the Ukrainian military, whom KalashNash should make happy. There is also no information about the intention of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to use 6.5 Grendel and 6XC Norma cartridges (the latter cannot be considered automatic ammunition at all).
“This is a big tent, obvious and completely undisguised,” small arms expert and editor-in-chief of Kalashnikov magazine Mikhail Degtyarev commented on Mayak’s initiative. According to him, it is completely unclear why this is needed and how the proposed system will work. How did the creators of KalashNash solve the issue of attaching magazines for different ammunition? The fact is that the listed cartridges differ in size, and accordingly, the geometry of the magazines for them differs. It is not possible to attach magazines chambered for 5.45x39 or 5.56 NATO cartridges to an AKM assault rifle (caliber 7.62x39), and vice versa. They won't fit. To fit, you need to make changes to the receiver and use special adapters or design new magazines. There are no explanations on this matter.
Problem two - how will the weapon be brought into normal combat when changing the barrel? Judging by the published photos, the KalashNash front sight is removed along with the barrel, and the sighting bar, originally marked for the ballistics of the 7.62x39 cartridge, remains on the weapon. Consequently, we put the barrel under a different caliber, and the marking bar becomes meaningless. “Theoretically, it can be assumed that the barrels are brought into normal combat with the help of a front sight, but this will only work for a certain distance,” Degtyarev explained.
Right-handed [edit]
The only major and obvious disadvantage of the Vepr appears to be that its layout, like that of the British SA80, is not conducive to two-way operation for three reasons:
- Like the AK-74, the weapon still ejects to the right, which becomes a problem because a right-ejection bullpup weapon held with the left hand presents an ejection port directly opposite the operator's face;
- Notably, the standard Kalashnikov-type safety lever/selector lever combination has not been revised. In the original weapon, the selector lever was known for its relatively unusual sequence of safe-auto-semi-automatic options (rather than the typical safe-semi-automatic), but the only real problem was that the lever was made infamous for its characteristic "Kalashnikov Click" feature. and it could not be controlled without releasing either the pistol grip or the forend. Using the same selector lever in a bullpup configuration adds additional problems: the lack of any other fire control device, which would ideally be located as close to the trigger as possible, results in awkward handling of the weapon on the shoulder, especially when holding it left-handed hand;
- The charging handle is still offset to the side, now favoring right-handed operators, but makes it difficult to operate the cocking handle with the right hand while holding the weapon with the left hand.
No longer fashionable and not at all necessary
And as icing on the cake: Mayak representatives did not mention the fact that Ukraine does not produce Kalashnikov assault rifles. “They are “frolic” with Soviet-made AKMs, their warehouse stocks have not yet been exhausted,” says Profile’s interlocutor. “They’re essentially working with fifty-year-old machines.” This is such a shame. By the way, Kyiv has already declared its desire to abandon the AK platform altogether in favor of a rifle based on the AR15/M16. True, things in this direction are not going so well yet. Or rather, almost nothing.
But the main question is whether the military needs multi-caliber weapons as such. Practice shows that, most likely, no. At least, not a single army in the world has decided to adopt something similar. The topic of multi-caliber “took off” in the West about 10 years ago, along with the trend towards modularity. This was talked about a lot, discussed - the topic was fashionable.
How a Soviet machine gun ended up in the hands of friends and foes of the Soviet Union
But the generals, having weighed all the pros and cons, decided that it was better to stay away from such happiness. Because multi-caliber weapons promised huge problems with the logistics of components and ammunition. At the same time, ordinary soldiers do not need such a prodigy at all. As for special parts, instead of one sample with a bunch of replaceable pieces of hardware, it is more convenient to have several samples to solve specific problems. Specialists can afford this, and each type of weapon will always be ready for use, unlike a multi-caliber “device”, which still needs to be assembled and configured.
But perhaps the potential consumer of the new machine gun is not the military at all. It is no coincidence that the Mayak report says that the civilian version of the KalashNash MP will soon appear on the hunting and sporting weapons market. “Such systems are and will be in limited demand in the civilian market. As they say, it’s not an acquired taste,” explained Mikhail Degtyarev. “But the key word is “limited.”
Accessories [edit]
The Vepr includes adjustable open sights and a conventional left side mount for day or night sights. The front sight is strikingly similar to the front sight of American M16 series rifles. Also, a relatively large red sight made in Ukraine can be installed as standard. The latest versions of the Vepr also include an integrated 40mm underwater grenade launcher with a dual trigger, where the front trigger fires the grenade launcher and the rear trigger fires the rifle.
Links[edit]
- ^ B s d e g S. Naumov. Ukrainian “Vepr” // “Arms and Hunting” magazine, No. 12, 2016
- “ As Alexander Selyukov told journalists of the Kiev Scientific Center for Precision Engineering, the Vepr assault rifle was developed for two years as part of an order from the Ukrainian department.
Ukraine has released a “pirated version” of the Kalashnikov assault rifle. Archived May 9, 2014 on the Wayback Machine // LENTA. RU dated September 4, 2003 - ^ ab " Ten prototypes of the Vepr have already been made.
Their cost is quite high, but when mass production begins, the price will not exceed $200. blanks ""Vepri" ." Victor Osipchuk. The unique sight of the newest Ukrainian Vepr assault rifle allows even an inexperienced shooter to hit a penny coin from a distance of 100 meters // Facts from October 6, 2004. - Alexander Selyukov demonstrates the first Ukrainian assault rifle “Vepr” // UNIAN dated August 28, 2003.
- “ KBAV also tried its hand at shooting.
We have carried out a deep modernization of the Kalashnikov assault rifle. The new machine gun was named “Malyuk”. The weapon was made according to the bullpup design... However, further production of the experimental model did not proceed » Dmitry Bogdanov. Gunsmiths of the God of War // “Defense Express”, 2011 (interview with the director of the State Enterprise “Design Bureau “Artillery Armament” Andrei Vyacheslavovich Palyokhin) - Serhiy Luhovskoy. Our goal is to replace the Soviet-designed 5.45/7.62 mm AK Malyuk rifle in Ukraine // Ukrainian Defense Review, No. 2 (April - June 2015), pp. 46-49
- » The Kiev Scientific and Technical Center for Precision Engineering created the Vepr assault rifle, a Ukrainian modification of the AK-47 - a Kalashnikov assault rifle.
But the Ukrainian army does not have these weapons in its arsenal. » Ekaterina Grebenik. Ukrainian arsenal: what a country can go to war with // Forbes.UA dated March 5, 2014. - Tavor assault rifle on the RPC Fort website (Ukrainian) archived January 25, 2009, in the Wayback Machine
- ↑
Negev SAW on the RPC Fort website (Ukrainian). Archived January 10, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. - Galil sniper rifle on the RPC Fort website (Ukrainian) Archived January 10, 2009, in the Wayback Machine
- The Ukrainian police will abandon Kalashnikov assault rifles in favor of German MP5s // TASS on March 25, 2019
Vepr assault rifle
| Vepr |
In 2003, the Scientific and Technical Center for Precision Engineering of the National Space Agency of Ukraine presented the Vepr assault rifle (“Vepr” - Russian).
The assault rifle was created as a modernization of the AK-74 assault rifle and was made according to the “bullpup” design.
“Vepr” is positioned as a replacement for the Kalashnikov AKM and AK-74 assault rifles in service with the Ukrainian Armed Forces, left over from the times of the USSR.
The Vepr assault rifle consists of the following main parts and mechanisms: - barrel with receiver, sighting device, butt and trigger mechanism; — receiver covers; - bolt carrier with gas piston; - shutter; — return mechanism; — gas tube with reloading handle; — forend assembly with pistol grip and safety; - store. The Vepr maintains a general disassembly procedure identical to the Kalashnikov assault rifle.
Vepr
The fuse is made by a separate mechanism in the form of a “transverse engine”, similar to that used in the Russian Vepr-308 Super carbine, and is placed above the trigger. This made it possible to significantly reduce the time it takes to turn it off.
The reloading handle and safety can be easily moved by the shooter to any side convenient for him. At the same time, the reloading handle, made as a separate unit, is stationary when firing, which increases safety when handling weapons and allows you to shoot from both the right and left shoulders. Changing the design of the reloading handle, made as a separate unit, also made it possible to get rid of the long cutout for it in the receiver cover, which significantly increased the protection of the machine from dirt getting inside, helping to improve its reliability in general.
It should be noted that the removal of the charging handle from the bolt frame had a positive effect on its balancing and also contributed to a slight increase in the accuracy of fire.
Another feature of the Vepr assault rifle is that the weapon’s holding elements—the fore-end and pistol grip assembly—are attached to the receiver without support from the barrel. This eliminates its uncontrolled bending and increases shooting accuracy.
The barrel is cantilevered into the receiver liner and does not bear any load. The forend and pistol grip assembly is disconnected from the machine gun in one motion - by pressing the stopper lever located on the back of the pistol grip forward and down.
| Caliber, mm | 5.45×39 |
| Weight without cartridges, kg | 3.45 |
| Length, mm | 702 |
| Barrel length, mm | 415 |
| Initial bullet speed, m/s | 900 |
| Rate of fire, rds/min | 600-650 |
| Magazine capacity, no. cartridges | 30 |
A positive feature of the Vepr assault rifle is that the fore-end covers the barrel almost the entire length, protecting it from uneven cooling in crosswinds, leading to its warping, and also protects the shooter’s hands from burns. A plastic pad on the receiver cover eliminates contact between the shooter's cheek and metal and improves ease of aiming.
The rifle sight is diopter type. Its stand is folding, which protects the sight from mechanical damage. The stand is equipped with an adjustment screw that allows you to change the horizontal position of the diopter within 2.5 mm from right to left. Bringing the weapon to normal combat vertically is carried out by screwing in and unscrewing the standard front sight from a Kalashnikov assault rifle. In addition to the diopter, it is possible to install any optical sights (including collimator sights, laser sights, etc.) on a special side sighting bar. The machine also has the ability to attach a “tactical” belt to the rear front sight post, similar to the M 16.
The design of the butt is a feature of the layout. The butt, as an independent structural element, is missing. Its role is played by the butt plate, rigidly fixed to the rear of the receiver. A positive feature of this design is the increased rigidity of the part of the machine gun applied to the shooter’s shoulder and the fact that the buttplate of a bullpup cannot be narrower than the receiver (the latter has a positive effect on the nature of the weapon’s recoil). In addition, the upper part of the butt plate protects the return mechanism guide rod button, preventing it from being accidentally pressed and causing the receiver cover to separate.
The machine gun is equipped with a flame arrester - a muzzle brake and a bayonet. The machine kit includes: an accessory, a belt and a pouch (a pencil case with an accessory and a collapsible two-link cleaning rod are carried separately in the pouch).
Vepr with an installed under-barrel grenade launcher
The machine gun was initially developed taking into account the attachment of an under-barrel grenade launcher to it. Since the standard army GP-25 under-barrel grenade launcher cannot be attached to the Vepr assault rifle due to its design features, a modernized version was developed that can be installed instead of the standard handguard in just a few seconds. At the same time, the highlight of the design is that the fuse of the machine gun in this case will also be a fuse for the grenade launcher, simplifying the handling of the weapon. There is also a lock against accidental simultaneous pressing of the triggers of the machine gun and the grenade launcher. In 2004, the Vepr assault rifle was introduced, equipped with an under-barrel grenade launcher.
Compared to the AK-74, the Vepr assault rifle has acquired a number of advantages. The fire control handle is located in front of the magazine - it is located in the center of gravity, according to the pistol principle. The main advantage of this solution is that the fighter holds the machine gun with one hand. When firing in long bursts, the Vepr, unlike a conventional Kalashnikov assault rifle, does not lift up and to the right, but vibrates parallel to the aiming line, practically without changing the position of the barrel. Due to the much wider butt plate, the recoil became much softer. “Vepr” can be configured not only for right-handers, but also for left-handers. According to various sources, in contrast to the Kalashnikov assault rifle, Ukrainian weapons have 43 fewer parts. In addition, the designers managed to double the shooting accuracy (compared to the AK).
