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AN-94 - the weird Soviet weapon (with photos!)

Writer's picture: Vlad BesedovskyyVlad Besedovskyy

Soviets were no strangers to weird small arms. They experimented with many of them, but never adapted any. Well, except this particular specimen.

AN-94 "Abakan" is an incredible weapon. Mostly incredible in its complexity. But the story behind, the decisions that led to its development and adoption are just as interesting.

AN-94 Abakan
The pistol handle disassembles with the trigger group

An AK-74 controversy and "Abakan" competition

At the time of the adaption, the AK-74 seemed a bit like an outdated weapon. Surely, it was a new caliber, but the principal system was identical to AKM. But this was a time of great inventions and rapid technologcal advanecemtns - just 20 years prior to AKM, the Red Army had to rely on Mosin rifles and the tanks were light and unreliable. So, many people in the military establishments were hoping for some extremely futuristic weapons in the near future.


AN-94 Abakan
Apart from scope and bayonet, a GP type underslung launcher can be installed on AN-94

To fulfull this desire, as per usual protocol, a competition was set. The idea was to make a standard infantry assault rifle that would be 1.5-2 times better than AK-74 in most of its characteristics. From the very early days of the assault rifles development in the Soviet Union a problem described as "insufficient accuracy when shooting from unstable positions" was following all Kalashnikov's rifles. Huge amount of ideas and experiments was tested out to fix it, but there was no universally acceptable solution.


AN-94 Abakan
The magazine shaft is offset to the centre to allow for the speed required for the burst shot

So, this time, the Soviet Army tried to apply math logic for the requirements of the new weapon. By calculating the probability of a hit at the enemy soldier from own, not-so-well trained conscript, they decided that shooting a short burst of rifles should significantly improve the statistics. When in hyperburst mode, there is not enought time for the recoil to affect the weapon and the operator, so the bullets should not spread too much from the original point of impact. So, in the language of FPS games - more bullets more damage. But in this case they did not necessary mean more damage for one enemy, but rather more reliable and stable damage to the enemy side.


Practical use of the AN-94 "Abakan"

Being the most Soviet thing in its design and execution, the AN-94 was not adapted in the Soviet Union. In 1991, the AN-94 was in the stage of the Army testing, where it was accepted by the troops and recommended for adoption. The collapse of the country has interfered adequate continuation of the devleopment process. Yet, in 1997 the AN-94 was officially adapted by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and was produced on Izhmash plant from 1998 to 2008.

While it was supposed to be a full scale, mass production rifle, essentially for every grunt, it never went anywhere near that level. The production levels were never big enough to fully arm even single units and this was an essential part of the whole idea, to increase the effectiveness of infantry. These rifles eneded up in small scales in more specialised units, like reconaissaince companies within regiments and Spetsnaz. And this, probably, makes more practical sense.


My personal view on the AN-94 "Abakan" rifle

The AN-94 feels incredibly weird. Pictures and videos do not fully reflect the obscurity of the rifle. To say that is overcomplicated is a big understatement. These is the most complicated weapon, both for industry and for the user that I have had experince with so far. Given how simplicity and reliability based on it was an important requirnemnt for all Soviet small arms, it is very strange that this rifle was ever reccomended for adoption. And given how Russian Army was just the same old Soviet one, but with different insignia, I am incredibly surprised that this thing was adopted at the end.


AN-94 Abakan
Most external components of the gun, including the receiver, are made from polymer

The rifle is okay in terms of controls, the ever-hated AK safety latch was changed to a PKM style one, that can be operated without taking the hand of the pistol grip. And, for as much as I can judge, the two-burst fire does increase the accuracy for an undertrained shooter. But the positive sides end up with that.

The negatives would include the moving barrel. I mean, this is certainly better than a moving magazine, as was proposed by the same engineer in a different version of the rifle, but still, it is not a good solution for a military rifle that was designed to be shot from "unstable positions". The moving barrel could certainly lead to a stoppage, especially in a confined space. And the stoppage on AN-94 would not be a big problem. The gun complexity would require a lot of training to know how to deal with them.


AN-94 Abakan
Partial disassembly of the AN-94. I wouldn't dare go for the full one

But, as many practical shooters or servicemen know, some stoppages require dissasembly of the weapon. And this is where we get to the very worst of the Abakan. The dissasembly process is neither easy nor intuitive. Taking it apart even in normal conditions on a clean table is a bit of a mechanical puzzle. But doing that in field condition, or, God forbid, during an active combat, would be border line impossible. At least if you want to assemble rifle back together in the right order and with all parts properly in their niches.

Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to shoot one, given their rarity. However, the video from Royal Armories, who were incredibly lucky to score not one, but three working samples, can give you some idea of what its like.




Plans for the future

Well, the rifle itself probably does not have any future. Which makes it a great collectible. So, if you ever get a chance to purchase one, even as a deact - do not miss it. My bet, it is a great investment.


AN-94 Abakan
The feeling that all parts of the gun are not centred to the receiver is not just a feeling

Regarding the plans of the Safar Publishing, we do have a, well, not a plan yet, more of a dream, to conntinue our weapons series - not only into the past, but also into the recent history. A book on Soviet developments of the late 1980s would be an absolute gem and a pleasure to work on, so maybe, one day... Let's hope for the best on that one. Soviet Army was modernizing in the 1980s, partially for the worse, partially for the better, but in both cases - it is interesting to follow some though experiments and imagine how it would look like if the USSR did not collapse. Maybe this will be the idea behind this potential future book. Well, we already have good photos of AN-94, so it's a start!


Our weapon's series so far:



Safar Publishing is very grateful to CWC Armory for giving us access to AN-94 and other collectible weapons.

cwc armoury

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