Silah Report’s editor in chief, Miles Vining, recently published a new TFBtv video discussing the history, mechanics and use of the Egyptian 7.92×57mm Hakim rifle.
Fig. 1.1. Firing the Hakim (Source: Miles Vining)
The Egyptian Hakim service rifle was a license-produced version of the Swedish 6.5×55mm Ljungman AG-42 self-loading rifles which used a gas impingement action. Egypt changed several features such as the grasping grooves, a removable muzzle brake, an adjustable gas system, and no cleaning rod. Some references will state that the Hakim was used in the 1956 Suez Crisis, however, upon review of available serial numbers on the current market, it appears that less than a few thousand Hakim rifles even existed in 1956. From observations of archival media from the war, it appears that Egypt had a much great stock of Soviet SKS carbines and Czech Vz.52 rifles from the 1955 Czech Arms Deal which rippled across the Middle East as one of the largest arms deals in the region during that time period. Miles discussed the rifle with the owner of the rifle, Machine Gun Dad.
Watch the video below:
Egypt also brought some of this surplus in addition to Hakim rifles to Yemen where Nasser was supporting the Yemeni Republican forces with both troops and materiel for much of the 1960s, otherwise known as “Egypt’s Vietnam Conflict”. Today we still find Hakim rifles in Yemen and Iraq, in addition to a large surplus market in the United States where complete Hakim rifles can be purchased for under a thousand dollars most of the time.
Fig.1.2. Examining the Hakim (Source: Miles Vining)
Hakim production appears to have overlapped with Rasheed carbine production in the mid-1960s, after which it was discontinued. Some sources estimate total Hakim rifle manufacture between 70,000-80,000 rifles, the highest serial number observed by the author in the 50,000 range.