In our country, we are accustomed to the fact that a significant part of the arsenal of our hunters is a former army weapon, or created on its basis. It all started with the legendary "Frolovok" - hunting rifles converted from Berdan rifles.
But now we are seeing the opposite trend, when samples developed for civilian use are of interest to security officials. For example, the 12-gauge Saiga 030 became the standard armament of the special forces of the French gendarmerie. There are many other examples of this trend, one of the recent being the announcement of the newest model of the Kalashnikov Concern - AK 308.
In the 90s, when orders from the RF Armed Forces were practically not received, and the world arms market seemed lost to us forever, military-industrial complex enterprises, in order to survive, retain personnel and scientific and technical potential, at least partially, tried to enter the civilian market.
And, if the manufacturers of navigation systems for missiles began to produce "distillation" (in reality - moonshine), then the manufacturers of small arms did not have to redesign their production in such a radical way.
“Izhmash”, which produces AK, offered the citizens “Saiga”, and “Molot”, which specializes in the production of RPK, mastered “Vepri”.
Since these carbines required minimal design changes, they managed to start production extremely quickly. So, "Saiga" 7, 62x39 went on sale in 1992.
In order to consolidate the achieved success and more firmly gain a foothold in the market, the development of carbines for a more powerful cartridge began. It is no secret that with all the obvious advantages of the M43 cartridge, it also has a number of disadvantages that limit its use in hunting. This is insufficient (according to a number of hunters) power when working on large animals, as well as too steep a trajectory that limits the range of practical use when hunting in open spaces - in the steppes or in the mountains.
The cartridge 308 Win, also known as 7, 62x51 NATO, was chosen as a cartridge for the new "Vepr", and then the "Saiga".
This decision required a number of changes to the design of the carbine. First of all, the barrel was reinforced, the liner connecting it to the receiver, and the receiver itself. The design of the bolt itself was changed, which, instead of two locking protrusions, like in the AK, received three, like in the SVD. The new design was carefully worked out, as a result of which, with a significant increase in ballistic characteristics, the new weapon retained its reliability at the previous "AKashny" level. It should be noted that several models of the 308s "Saeg" and "Veprey" have been developed and produced, in various designs, from "tactical" to purely hunting. In addition, the Vepr -308 became the basis for the creation of carbines for other calibers - such as the 30-06 Spr, or the "ladies' magnum" 243 Win.
So why was the 308th cartridge chosen, which in its characteristics is close to the Russian 7, 62x54?
Firstly, it is much easier to develop a magazine for a cartridge without a flange, and to ensure its reliable supply, and secondly, the prevalence of this one of the most popular cartridges gave certain hopes for the success of carbines in the world market.
Recall that the 308 caliber cartridge, which is the standard rifle and machine gun cartridge of the armies of the North Atlantic Alliance, as well as many other countries. It was created after World War II, as an "interim" assault rifle cartridge, by shortening the 30-06, which was then standard for the US Armed Forces used in rifles and machine guns.
Thus, it was possible to reduce recoil and provide a shorter bolt travel to make the weapon more compact. It turned out to be very successful, and in the early 50s, the 308 was adopted by the US Army and other NATO member countries.
In addition, it has become one of the most popular and widely used hunting cartridges. It is produced in most countries, and has a wide variety of equipment options, making it truly versatile.
Note that at the same time, its energy turned out to be too high for assault rifles, and 5, 56x45 NATO became an intermediate cartridge for the Western bloc, and 308 is used in single machine guns, sniper and Marksman rifles.
However, the low-intensity conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, with the tactics of small groups used in them, indicated an urgent need for more powerful individual weapons. This, in turn, led to the creation of new assault rifles chambered for the 308th cartridge, such as the NK417, Bushmaster ACR or FN SKAR.
It is noteworthy that the Izhevsk and Vyatskopolyansk carbines for 308Win almost immediately after their appearance aroused interest not only as hunting ones.
“During joint demonstration firing with the soldiers of the Izhevsk special forces, along with the latest developments in military weapons, the Saiga-308 was shown. Already the first shots of master snipers showed that this carbine, after minor, purely cosmetic modifications, can be used both as a means of accurate forward fire support, as well as anti-terrorist weapons. There is an idea to make a "Saigu-308" with a military-style plastic stock ", wrote back in 1997, IZHMASH marketer Valery Shilin.
Soon after that, the "American batch" of "Saiga 308" was released - with a short 415 mm barrel and a Monte Carlo type stock made of polyamide. These carbines were a great success in the American market, and not only with civilian shooters. Operators of some PMCs, in particular those involved in protecting sea traffic from pirates, were armed with these light, compact and powerful carbines.
At about the same time, Hammer developed the Vepr-Tactic marksman rifle on the basis of Vepr 308, intended for the Russian law enforcement agencies. However, the "tactician" was never in demand. Perhaps because for this he would have to squeeze the SVD, which has firmly occupied this tactical niche.
Be that as it may, but twenty years of experience in the production of civilian carbines of 308 caliber of various modifications on the "Hammer" and "IZHMASH" was used to create the AK 308, announced by the Concern "Kalashnikov", which united these two enterprises.
In fact, all of its components had already been thoroughly worked out, the question was only about returning the automatic fire function, which from a technical point of view did not present the slightest difficulty.
What are the prospects for a new assault rifle that fits well into the "Afghan" concept of an assault rifle that is popular in the West today. It seems that the creators of the AK 308 are focused primarily on its export. And if the cartridge used in it, strictly speaking, is not an insurmountable obstacle to its use by our military (after all, the 9x19 Para cartridge has been adopted for service), then the request for an individual weapon with a rifle cartridge has not yet been formulated by them.
