K-3

     Notes: Though the K-3 (also known as the AK-3, M-3, and Model 3) was first revealed in 1996, by 2000 only about 40 had been built, and the Armenian government had not yet authorized series production.  (In fact, little had been heard about the K-3 since it was shown at an arms show in 1996 until late 2016, when upcoming series production was announced; it has apparently been demonstrated to a few “unnamed parties,” but mass production for the Armenian military didn’t begin until mid-2017.) 

     Though similar in appearance to the British L-85, the K-3 is based on the tried-and-true Kalashnikov action.  As a rather simple bullpup conversion of the AK-74, it is considerably more compact than the standard AK-74, but the rather simple conversion also presents a number of problems.  The biggest is perhaps that the K-3 may be fired only by right-handed shooters, as the ejection port would be buried in the shoulder pocket of a left-handed shooter and the K-3 might easily jam.  The second is that the selector lever is still the standard AK-74-type selector; this is awkward for a shooter to manipulate from the shoulder.  The third is that the charging handle is still connected to the bolt and reciprocates with it during firing, and it can hit the face of the shooter when he fires the K-3.  The fourth is that the sights had to be put on top of risers, since the bullpup layout raised the sight line, but the AK-74’s sights were still used for the K-3. The fifth is, because of the complicated trigger linkages, trigger pull weight is a bit heavy.  The Armenians are apparently willing to put up with these many shortcomings; however, they are using Western technology to lighten the trigger pull weight, and a K-3A1 may be coming soon as a result.

     The K-3 may is normally used with iron sights, but may be fitted with the PSO-1 4x sight of the SVD sniper rifle.  Like the AK-74, metalwork is largely of stamped steel; the pistol grip, trigger guard and short ribbed fore-end are of dark green plastic.  The muzzle brake is different than that of the AK-74; it allows the use of rifle grenades without having to have a special version for rifle grenade launching.  The Armenians have also modified the standard AK-74 magazines so that the shell is entirely polymer, instead of the steel magazines within a polymer shell of the AK-74.  (The K-3 can also use standard AK-74 magazines, however.)

     Twilight 2000 Notes: Seeing the writing on the wall, the Armenian government authorized production of the K-3 in early 1996, though many more resources were placed into domestic AK-74 and AKM production.  The K-3 was primarily used by Armenia’s fledgling special operations units.

Weapon

Ammunition

Weight

Magazines

Price

K-3

5.45mm Kalashnikov

3.99 kg

30, 40, 45, 60

$541

 

Weapon

ROF

Damage

Pen

Bulk

Mag

SS

Burst

Range

K-3

5

3

1-Nil

4

30, 40, 45, 60

2

4

41