The NSV heavy machine gun (Utyos/Utes) is one of the most recognized and respected heavy machine guns on the battlefield today. The original NSV was designed by Grigory Nikitin, Yuri Sokolov, and Vladimir Volkov and produced by a few different Soviet satellite states.[i] The most well-known of these NSV manufacturers is the Western Kazakh Machine-Building Company (ZKMK), formerly MetallistJSC, a manufacturing plant in Uralsk, Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (modern-day Kazakhstan).[ii] In this article we’ll examine the history of the Kazakh NSV.
Kazakhstan
Muzzle Brake Designed by Diyar Gilmanov (Kazakhstan)
While doing research for another article, I came across an invention of a Kazakh arms designer named Diyar Gilmanov. This gentleman has designed a muzzle device which has quite an interesting construction.
Gilmanov’s muzzle brake has a telescoping design. It consists of an inner part that is mounted onto the muzzle of the weapon and a spring-loaded mobile part. Upon firing the weapon, gasses escaping the muzzle enter the two expansion chambers (4 and 5 in the drawings) and force the spring loaded part to move forward. The spring then extends and returns the mobile assembly back to its collapsed position.
According to the designer, this forward motion mitigates the recoil. It is probably accomplished by the mass of the forward moving assembly which counters the rearward motion of the bolt carrier group or the recoil mitigation occurs due to the forward impact of the mobile part onto the housing on its foremost position. The recoil reduction may also be achieved by the combination of the described two processes.
The drawings used in this article are from the Kazakh patent #16012 granted to Diyar Gilmanov in 2009. You can view or download that patent (in Russian) by clicking here. Here is also a link to a short video (found on OK.ru social media website) showing this muzzle brake in action.
https://ok.ru/video/1155074560
Judging by the construction of this muzzle device, I assume it may also partially reduce the flash signature and the report. Also, it should double as a booster for AK carbines and AKS-74U (Krinkov) rifles.
Firearms and Ammunition Designed by Santay Zhetesov
Santay Zhetesov (Сантай Жетесов) is an inventor and scientist from Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Among a number of other inventions, he has also developed a couple of firearms and caseless ammunition. In this article, we’ll take a look at Zhetesov’s firearm prototypes and ammunition patents.
PPZh-05 Caseless Submachine Gun
PPZh-05 is an abbreviation which stands for Zhetesov submachine gun (Пистолет-Пулемет Жетесожа; Pistolet Pulemyot Zhetesova). The number 05 in the designation means that it was made in 2005.
This SMG feeds from a detachable box magazine. The magazine well is a rather long one which is probably designed so to allow using it as a front grip without applying pressure to the magazine itself. The gun shoots from an open bolt. It is a fairly compact weapon.
This SMG uses a type of caseless ammunition where the bullet itself contains the powder charge and the priming compound and there is no cartridge case per se. The experiments with this kind of ammunition have been conducted throughout the history of firearms development. Similar ammunition was used in the Volcanic pistol, the Gerasimenko VAG-73 pistol, Benelli CB-M2 etc.
Here are a couple of videos showing the test firing of PPZh-05 SMG:
Caseless Ammunition
Santay Zhetesov’s caseless ammunition designs are described in the Kazakh patent #29642. The ammunition used in PPZh-05 SMG should be constructed similarly.
In the mentioned patent, it describes caseless ammunition which has a striker and primer built into the projectile/cartridge. Unfortunately, it is not specified how the cartridge will be aligned in the chamber to expose that built-in striker to the hammer. Possibly for this kind of ammunition, an annular primer could be a better idea.
There are two versions of these cartridges described in the patent. One of them has rifling-style flutes on the ogive of the bullet (see the above image) which is said to impart spin to the projectile. The second one (see the image below) has identical grooves inside the powder charge cavity. I assume these flutes are supposed to spin stabilize the projectiles when shot in smoothbore firearms because the inventor states in the patent text that this ammunition can be used both in rifled and smoothbore barrels. There should not be a need to have that flutes if the cartridges are fired in rifled barrels.
According to Zhetesov, such cartridges of 5.47mm, 7.62mm, 9mm and 10.2mm calibers have been tested and showed “promising results”.
SPZh-06 Grenade Launcher
The model designation of this firearm stands for Zhetesov Soldier Cannon (Солдатская Пушка Жетесова; Soldatskaya Pushka Zhetesova). The “06” means that the gun is designed in 2006.
This is a bolt action single shot grenade launcher. Its effective range is said to be 500 meters. Basically, this weapon is a standalone caseless grenade launcher.
The unusual stock configuration (separate pistol grip with a hunting rifle stock) is probably there because this is a prototype weapon and they just temporarily attached whatever stock they had.
Both of these guns are made in single samples. Reportedly, they have been introduced to the military officials of Kazakhstan, but have been rejected.
As soon as there is new information concerning these firearms, we will report to our readers.
Sources:
https://www.ktk.kz/ru/news/video/2009/04/06/3666
http://kzpatents.com
http://military-kz.ucoz.org/index/kazakhstanskie_izobretateli/0-43
http://www.dogswar.ru/oryjeinaia-ekzotika/strelkovoe-oryjie/783-opytnyi-pistolet-pyl.htm
http://kelisim.kz/ru/news-region/id/307
Winter Drills of Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Kazakhstan regularly publishes news on their official website. We collected photos from various winter exercises and drills and depicting small arms in the hands of Kazakh soldiers. The units in the photos represent various branches of this country’s military.
I hope you enjoyed this set of photos. Let us know in the comments section what interesting piece of gear have you noticed.
Kazakh Armed Forces Preparing for a Military Parade
Various branches of Kazakh Armed Forces are preparing for the military parade which will be held on May 9, 2017. The parade is dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the establishment of Kazakh Armed Forces. Although there was no new firearm spotted (yet), it is still interesting to take a look at some of them in the hands of Kazakh military personnel.
In the above picture, the special forces units carry Beretta ARX 160 rifles chambered in 7.62x39mm, which also feeds from AKM pattern magazines. They also have EOTech 512 series reflex sights and GLX160 grenade launchers mounted on the rifles.
Other than mentioned firearms, the rest (majority) of the soldiers taking part in the parade are equipped with AK-74 and AK-74M rifles.
Interesting to note how the weapons from the ’70s are still capable and are the main weapons of many armies. Also, newer weapon systems find their way into the arsenals blending with existing ones. In that sense, it was a wise choice made by Beretta to not only chamber their ARX160 rifle in 7.62x39mm caliber, but also design it to take AK magazines. As you can see that configuration allows countries like Kazakistan to adopt modern rifles without any trouble concerning logistics, compatibility and interchangeability.
If anything small arms related appears during the actual parade, we’ll post about it here on Silah Report.
AK-74s of Kazakhstan Army’s Military Exercises
Ministry of Defense of Kazakhstan has recently posted news releases on their website concerning military exercises of high-ranking officers.
Particularly, battalion commanders of mechanized infantry, paratrooper and marine regiments took part in mentioned exercises. The purpose of that event was to upgrade the qualification of the officers by a number of tactical and strategic classes, defensive and offensive scenario studies, as well as familiarization with new weapon systems.
During these exercises, the officers were carrying AK-74 assault rifles, which had some interesting upgrades and mods on them. Let’s take a closer look at each of them.
The railed dust cover, handguard and gas tube cover are most likely made by Russian company Zenit. The dust cover is Zenit B-33 (Зенит Б-33), the handguard is a Zenit B-10M (Б-10М) and the railed gas tube cover is a Zenit B-19 (Б-19). Here is a picture of all three accessories:
The stock adapter is probably made by Israeli company FAB Defense. It is the model M4-AK P or a similar one. Some of these stock adapters differ only by the material, which is almost impossible to distinguish by only a visual reference. In any case, it is a conversion stock which allows mounting AR-15/ M-4 rifle stocks on the AK platform. It also has a built-in side folding mechanism. Here is the image of M4-AK P model:
The buttstock itself is also made by FAB Defense and it is their GLR-16 CP model with an adjustable cheek riser.
The angled foregrip mounted on the handguard has the distinct shape of another FAB Defense product – PTK.
The scope is unidentified, but it is presumably a Russian made one. It is a night vision or thermal scope judging from the looks. Possibly, it is a newer version of NSPU scope. We’ll update this post as soon as we find out the exact model of the scope.
Similar exercises of squad leaders were held too and it is interesting to note that squad leaders were equipped with AK-74 rifles in stock configuration. Judging from that, the upgrades for AK-74s are available for high ranking officers only. Here is a picture of squad leader sergeants firing their AK-74s:
FYI: here is the small arms’ list of Armed Forces of Kazakhstan (from Wikipedia):
Small Arms
- 9×18mm Makarov PM Standard issue pistol for armed forces.
- 9×18mm PP-90M1 Submachine gun, used by special forces.
- 5.45×39mm AK-74 Standard issue rifle of Kazakh military.
- 5.45×39mm RPK-74
- 7.62×39mm AKM Reserve units
- 7.62×54mmR SVD Dragunov sniper rifle
- 7.62×54mmR PKM machine gun
- 7.62×54mmR PKP Pecheneg machine gun, used by special forces.
- 7.62×39mm ARX-160 Assault rifle, used by special forces
- 12.7mm NSV machine gun