The legendary reliability of Kalashnikov assault rifles has once again been confirmed in extreme conditions. An open source — the Telegram channel "Lik of War" — published a video demonstrating the amazing survivability of the AK-74 assault rifle model 1974 after receiving serious damage.
The weapon was pierced by a shell fragment: a relatively compact entrance hole was recorded on the right side of the receiver cover, while an extensive metal deformation with partial destruction of the structure was formed on the left side. The fire mode control mechanism is critically damaged — the selector lever is completely absent. Despite such large-scale damage to the load-bearing elements and the loss of one of the key control units, the machine gun retained the functionality of the main systems: the bolt group continues to complete a full reload cycle, and the trigger mechanism provides automatic fire.
The case clearly demonstrates the principles of excessive strength and fault tolerance laid down during the design by designer Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov. The simplicity of the kinematic scheme, large gaps between moving parts and minimizing the number of precision components allow the weapon to remain operational even with partial loss of the structural integrity of the body.
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