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PKT machine gun

PK machine gun
7,62 KK PKM Helsinki 2012.JPG
PKM general-purpose machine gun with modern black polymer furniture and a 100-round ammunition box
Type General-purpose machine gun
Place of origin Soviet Union
Service history
In service 1961–present
Used by See Users
Wars Vietnam War
South African Border War
Cambodian Civil War
Cambodian–Vietnamese War
Sino-Vietnamese War
Soviet–Afghan War
Iran–Iraq War
Nagorno-Karabakh War
Gulf War
Somali Civil War
Yugoslav Wars
First Chechen War
Second Chechen War
War in Afghanistan
Iraq War
Cambodian–Thai border dispute
Russo-Georgian War
Libyan Civil War
Syrian Civil War
Northern Mali conflict
War in Donbass
Yemeni Civil War
Production history
Designer Mikhail Kalashnikov
Designed 1960
Manufacturer Degtyarev plant
Produced 1961–present
Number built 1,000,000
Variants See Variants
Specifications
Weight PK: 9 kg (19.84 lb) (gun + integral bipod) + 7.7 kg (16.98 lb) (tripod).
PKM: 7.5 kg (16.53 lb) (gun + integral bipod) + 4.5 kg (9.92 lb) (tripod).
PKTM (tank): 10.5 kg (23.15 lb)
Length PK: 1,203 mm (47.4 in)
PKM: 1,192 mm (46.9 in)
PKT: 1,098 mm (43.2 in)
Barrel length PK(M): 605 mm (23.8 in) (without muzzle device)
PKT: 772 mm (30.4 in)

Cartridge 7.62×54mmR
Action Gas-operated, open bolt
Rate of fire PK, PKM: 650 rounds/min
PKT: 700 - 800 rounds/min
Practical: 250 rounds/min
Muzzle velocity PK, PKM: 825 m/s (2,707 ft/s)
PKT: 855 m/s (2,805 ft/s)
Effective firing range PK(M): 1,000 m (1,094 yd) (100–1,500 m sight adjustments)
PKT: 1,500 m (1,640 yd) (100–1,500 m sight adjustments)
Maximum firing range PK(M): 3,800 m (4,156 yd)
PKT: 4,000 m (4,374 yd)
Feed system Non-disintegrating metal belts in 100 and 200/250 round ammunition boxes
Sights Tangent iron sights (default);
Optical, Night-vision, Thermal and Radar sights

The PK (Russian: Пулемёт Калашникова, transliterated as Pulemyot Kalashnikova, or "Kalashnikov's Machinegun"), is a 7.62 mm general-purpose machine gun designed in the Soviet Union and currently in production in Russia. The original PK machine gun was introduced in 1961 and then the improved PKM in 1969 to replace the SGM and RP-46 machine guns in Soviet service. It remains in use as a front-line infantry and vehicle-mounted weapon with Russia's armed forces. The PK has been exported extensively and produced in several other countries under license.

The Main Artillery Directorate of the Soviet Union adopted specification requirements for a 7.62 mm general-purpose company- and battalion-level machine gun, chambered for a rifle cartridge in 1955. In 1958 a machine gun prototype, developed by G.I. Nikitin and Yuri M. Sokolov, successfully passed field tests. Based on the results of the tests it was decided in 1960 to manufacture a batch of Nikitin-Sokolov machine guns for service tests and then put the machine gun into production at the Kovrov Mechanical Plant. When the Nikitin-Sokolov machine gun was almost completed, a team of Izhevsk Mechanical Plant designers, headed by M.T. Kalashnikov, and further consisting of M.T. Kalashnikov, V.V. Krupin, V.N. Pushchin, A.D. Kryakushin, as well as Startsev, Kamzolov, Koryakovtsev, Yuferev, joined the competition. Their machine gun prototype was based on the well-proven gas-operated rotary-bolt design of the Kalashnikov-pattern arms. The Kalashnikov and the Nikitin-Sokolov prototypes underwent service tests in the Central Asia, the Odessa, and the Baltic military districts, as well as at the Vystrel officer training courses in late 1960. The Main Missiles and Artillery Directorate and the Ministry of the Defence Industry preferred the Kalashnikov design. The Kalashnikov design was found to be more reliable and cheaper to manufacture than the design of Grigory Nikitin and Yuri Sokolov. The PK/PKS was put into production at the Kovrov Mechanical Plant and used the tripod mount and an ammunition belt boxes originally designed for the Nikitin-Sokolov prototype machine gun.


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