The worldwide fame of "Kalash" for many decades remained indisputable. In terms of its combat and technological qualities, this type of small arms is unrivaled among all analogues produced on our planet. However, there was a gunsmith designer who managed to create something so outstanding that the opinion about the indisputable superiority of the AK became moot. This inventor is also Russian, his surname is Baryshev. The machine gun designed by him shoots more accurately, more accurately and farther. The story will be about the master and his creation.
The rapid-fire XX century and its weapon legends
It is believed that the twentieth century was the era of legendary gunsmiths. Perhaps this is so, although they owe much of their fame to two sad circumstances. The first of them consists in the increased information richness, the appearance of such types of means of mass notification (and fooling too), such as radio, television and the worldwide computer network. But this factor cannot explain the popularity of the name "Kalashnikov" in different countries, inincluding those where the majority of the population cannot read. And I mean, of course, not Lermontov's character, the merchant, but his rapid-fire namesake. The circulation of AK exceeds the number of printed copies of any book. Of course, Baryshev is much less known than Kalashnikov, the machine gun of his design has not yet been mass-produced. The reasons for the lack of worldwide fame have nothing to do with shooting and technological characteristics. The popularity of this pattern is yet to come, perhaps its design was simply ahead of its time.
The beginning of the inventor's career
This gunsmith is often referred to as self-taught, apparently referring to his lack of a college degree. Yes, indeed, Anatoly Baryshev did not graduate from an institute or university. He created his machine gun, however, relying not on natural ingenuity or folk instinct. The designer was born in Istra, near Moscow, in 1931, then he graduated from the Kaliningrad Technical School, where, obviously, the level of knowledge was given no worse than in modern universities (at least in special subjects). Work at the weapons enterprises, the main specialists of which were A. M. Lyulka and V. G. Grabin, contributed to gaining experience, which a true specialist cannot do without. Already passing military service from 1951 to 1954, the young man made rational proposals in the design of shooting simulators, invented and created. In 1952, a twenty-year-old soldier realized that his goal was an automatic machine of his own design. It was already impossible to stop Baryshev.
Main idea
The main enemy of the accuracy of rapid-fire weapons is associated with its main advantage. When firing bursts, each fighter knows that at best the first bullet hits the target, the rest fly at random. This is due to recoil, throwing the barrel up and down, right and left. If this negative factor is somehow leveled, shooting will immediately become more accurate. The machine gun of Anatoly Baryshev is characterized by an extremely low (three times) return. The designer made the main invention of his whole life a long time ago, but its implementation in practice took a long time. In 1962, Baryshev himself, without a task "from above", as a personal initiative, began work on a special mechanism for locking the barrel bore. The path was long, there were enough ill-wishers, including among specialists who realized that this author's system, if successful, could become revolutionary. Not everyone wanted this result. Once it got to the point that all the developments of the prospector were ordered to be destroyed within two days. Fortunately, this order remained unfulfilled.
The essence of the invention
Recoil occurs for two reasons. Firstly, Newton's third law, which is known to everyone from school, when applied to weapons, says that the acceleration of a bullet causes an oppositely directed reaction of a gun, carbine or machine gun. The bullet is much lighter, but it also flies out quickly. The second reason is the operation of the mechanism, which instantly responds to a shot and performs its work in a short period of time. If with fundamental naturalnothing can be done by regularities, something needs to be invented with the locking of the bore, the designer decided. The Baryshev automatic machine differs from other systems precisely not in a rigid, but in a smooth, “stretched” working cycle in time. To achieve this goal, the elements of the locking unit are connected in series, and in each of them a partial damping of the recoil impulse occurs. This cushioning results in a stable muzzle position and a significant improvement in accuracy, which is exactly the result that every shooter dreams of.
Further development of the concept
If the recoil is less, then this means that the weapon can basically shoot heavier ammunition, which creates conditions for the use of large calibers and even grenades. The first design presented to the high commissions was the Baryshev 7.62 54-mm (cartridge length), then the complex with a single design was replenished with a rifle of the same caliber and a bicaliber system, including a 12.7-mm machine gun and AGB-30, an automatic grenade launcher firing 30mm grenades. Individual weapons have acquired previously uncharacteristic firepower.
The invention needed documentary confirmation of priority, however, departmental tensions and other sad realities of late Soviet society did not allow the author to become the owner of the certificate. In 1992, the patent was nevertheless obtained (No. 2002195), but the outstanding achievement remained unclaimed.
Overseas epic
The Baryshev design automatic machine is now patented in a good dozen countries (PRC, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Switzerland, France, Italy, India, Germany, Belgium, Britain, Austria and even Ukraine). But such a pastoral picture was not always. The Czech private arms company, with which the author entered into a cooperation agreement (there were difficult 90s), decided, taking advantage of the legally difficult legal situation, simply to deceive him. At the international exhibition IDET in 1995, it presented the Baryshev assault rifle as its own exhibit, a photo of the sample adorned the advertising booklet, while the name of the inventor was not even mentioned in these printing materials. The contract has been terminated.
Another company, also Czech (Czech Weapons), did the same thing already in 2014, passing off the 62-caliber Baryshev AB 7 assault rifle as its own CZW-762. It remains to be surprised at such naive attempts. However, it is quite possible that the manufacturer from the Czech Republic nevertheless reached some agreements with the author of the design.
In Russia
It would seem that such an interesting weapon, and even its own national author, should be used in the homeland. In addition, in terms of technology, it is as excellent as the familiar AK-47. Moreover, 60% of the parts of the Kalashnikov make up, with the complete uniqueness of the kinematic scheme and a completely different main idea, the design of the AB. This also showed the genius of the author, as well as his concern for the Russian economy and minimizing the cost of retooling production. Temno less, the Baryshev assault rifle has not yet been put into production, although those test participants who were lucky enough to hold weapons in their hands did not hold back their positive emotions. Particularly flattering reviews came from special forces soldiers who used prototypes in real operations. By the way, back in the 80s, employees and experts from the GRU and the KGB showed close attention to the brainchild of Baryshev.
Tactical and technical data
The quality of a weapon is objectively assessed by numerical indicators, although it is not always possible to describe all the features and advantages of a sample. Nevertheless, here they are, presented for convenience in the form of a table:
| Name | AB-7 assault rifle, 62 | Carbine AVB-7, 62 |
| Caliber, mm | 7, 62 x 39 M43 | 7, 62x54R or 7, 62x51 NATO standard |
| Full length (stock unfolded), mm | 960 / 710 | 1000 / 750 |
| Barrel length, mm | 415 | 455 |
| Weight of unloaded weapons, kg | 3, 600 | 3, 900 |
| Rate of fire rounds/min | 750 | 750 |
| Magazine capacity, pcs | 30 | 10 or 20 |
Flaws
In the presence of such an important advantage as a low level of return, combined with the relative and simplicity of the device, due to the absence of a gas outlet channel in the design, it is impossible to objectivelyevaluate the Baryshev assault rifle without mentioning its shortcomings. The bolt group turned out to be too massive with a general “flimsy” (according to one of the testers) impression of the sample. It is difficult to predict how the impacts of this assembly on the receiver will affect. An insufficient level of reliability was stated by participants in early tests, but it is quite possible that today this drawback has already been eliminated.
Some complaints were caused by the delay between pressing the trigger and the first shot, but nothing can be done here, this is a matter of principle, and the low return is due precisely to some slowness of the entire locking mechanism.
Perspective sample
Undoubtedly, this machine has advantages and disadvantages that determine its future prospects. Low recoil, high levels of accuracy and accuracy of fire, technological simplicity and a high degree of unification with the main model of small arms of the Russian and many other armies of the world can become an incentive for the deployment of mass production of AB. However, there are also constraining factors, including the need for serious investments. The budget costs needed to introduce a new model are currently not a priority for ensuring the country's defense, where it is more important today to improve the nuclear shield and air defense systems that directly ensure security on a global strategic scale.
Most likely, Baryshev assault rifles will be manufactured primarily to equip them with specialunits, at least at the first stage. They are lighter than the Kalashnikovs and meet all the requirements for such weapons (even the buttstock was originally made folding).
Massive rearmament of a new type of small arms in the Soviet army took place in the post-war years, when six million PPSh assault rifles, produced by industry in the amount of six million, were gradually replaced by AKs.
