Image credit
- Title
- File:AKS-74U (1).jpg
- Author
- Vitaly V. Kuzmin(attribution required)
- Licence
- CC BY-SA 4.0
- Source
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AKS-74U_(1).jpg
.jpg){kind=link}
How Muzzle energy is calculated
E = ½ · m · v²
Inputs
- m3.43 g52.93 grverifiedsourceBallistics table of the cited article, which publishes bullet mass in grams.
- v880 m/s2,887 fpsverifiedMeasured with a 415 mm barrel, not this arm's 206.5 mm. Velocity outside the sourced range is not projected.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Muzzle velocity is calculated
nearest sourced barrel length, no extrapolation
Inputs
- v at 415 mm880 m/s2,887 fpsverifiedsourceBallistics table of the cited article.
Assumptions
- This figure belongs to a 415 mm barrel. It is shown because it is the closest measurement that exists, not because it applies here.
1 of 1 inputs link to their source.
How Loaded mass is calculated
m_loaded = m_empty + m_magazine + n · m_cartridge
Not calculated: m_magazine has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- One magazine, filled to the stated capacity. Spare magazines, optics, slings and lights are the owner’s, not the arm’s.
2 of 4 inputs link to their source.
How Free recoil is calculated
E_recoil = ½ · m_firearm · v_recoil²
Inputs
- m_firearm2.7 kg5.952 lbestimatedsourcefrom the infobox; no inline citation is given there.
- v_recoil1.118 m/s3.668 fpsestimated
Assumptions
- Propellant gas momentum is excluded: ARMAG does not record charge weights. This is therefore a lower bound on the real free recoil, consistent between entries but smaller than a figure that includes the gas term.
- Free recoil: the arm is unrestrained. Stock design, muzzle devices, stance and shooter mass are not modelled, because none of them is a property of the arm.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Capacity is calculated
as published for the primary chambering
Inputs
- capacity30estimatedsourcepublished as 20- or 30-round AK-74 magazines, a 45-round RPK-74 magazine, or a 60-round casket magazine, from the infobox, uncited there; 30 rounds recorded here as the standard AK-74 magazine.
1 of 1 inputs link to their source.
Derived figures
Computed from the sourced values above. Open ƒ on any figure for the formula, its inputs, and the assumptions it makes.
How Momentum is calculated
p = m · v
Inputs
- m3.43 g52.93 grverifiedsourceBallistics table of the cited article, which publishes bullet mass in grams.
- v880 m/s2,887 fpsverifiedMeasured with a 415 mm barrel, not this arm's 206.5 mm. Velocity outside the sourced range is not projected.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Sectional density is calculated
SD = mass(gr) / (7000 · diameter(in)²)
Inputs
- mass3.43 g52.93 grverifiedsourceBallistics table of the cited article, which publishes bullet mass in grams.
- diameter5.6 mm0.2205 inverifiedsourceC.I.P. G1, maximum bullet diameter.
Assumptions
- Reported in the conventional lb/in² so it is directly comparable with published figures.
2 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Power factor is calculated
PF = mass(gr) · velocity(fps) / 1000
Inputs
- mass3.43 g52.93 grverifiedsourceBallistics table of the cited article, which publishes bullet mass in grams.
- velocity880 m/s2,887 fpsverifiedMeasured with a 415 mm barrel, not this arm's 206.5 mm. Velocity outside the sourced range is not projected.
Assumptions
- A competition classification defined by the IPSC and USPSA rulebooks, stated in their units. It describes a scoring category, not an effect.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Magazine dump is calculated
t = (n − 1) / (rpm / 60)
Inputs
- n30estimatedsourcepublished as 20- or 30-round AK-74 magazines, a 45-round RPK-74 magazine, or a 60-round casket magazine, from the infobox, uncited there; 30 rounds recorded here as the standard AK-74 magazine.
- rpm700 rpmestimatedsourcefrom the infobox, uncited there.
Assumptions
- Cyclic rate held for the whole magazine, no stoppages, trigger held down. A theoretical figure for comparing mechanisms, not a measured one.
2 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Sight error at 1 mm is calculated
θ = atan(misalignment / sight radius)
Not calculated: sight radius has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- Shows what a stated aiming error costs. The misalignment is the reader’s figure; the site does not claim how well anyone aims.
No input on this calculation carries a clickable source yet.
Specifications
Every row here is generated from the schema, so a figure recorded on this entry cannot be missing from the table, and the same rows, read the same way, are what the comparison shows.
Identity
- Type
- Carbine
- Action
- Self-loading
- Fire modes
- Semi-automatic
- Fully automatic
- Operating system
- Gas, long-stroke piston
- Roles
- Designed in
- Soviet Union
- Produced in
- Introduced
- 1979
- Production
- not recorded
Dimensions and mass
- Mass, empty
from the infobox; no inline citation is given there.
- Magazine, empty
- not recorded
- Length
stock extended, from the infobox, uncited there.
- Length, folded
stock folded, from the infobox, uncited there.
- Width
- not recorded
- Height
- not recorded
- Barrel length
from the infobox, uncited there.
Sights and rifling
- Sight radius
- not recorded
- Sight height over bore
- not recorded
- Rifling twist
- not recorded
- Twist direction
- not recorded
- Grooves
- not recorded
- Sight graduation
- not recorded
Chamberings
- 5.45×39mmprimary30 rounds
Scale
A to-scale outline against family siblings. The dimensions are sourced; the shape is a representative outline for the type, and says so.
- AKS-74U730 mm28.74 inheight not recorded
Representative outline: the dimensions are sourced, the shape is not. Overall length, and barrel length where recorded, are drawn from this entry's own figures; the profile is a generic one for the firearm type and says nothing about this arm's actual contours. AKS-74U records no height, so its outline is drawn at the type's proportion. That height is part of the shape, not a measurement.
Gallery
Image credit
- Title
- File:Ukrainian Marine with AKS-74U.JPEG
- Author
- LCpl M.A. Sunderland, U.S. Marine Corps
- Licence
- Public domain
- Source
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ukrainian_Marine_with_AKS-74U.JPEG
Detail
The AKS-74U was Mikhail Kalashnikov’s answer to a gap between a submachine gun and a full-length rifle: something for special forces, paratroopers, rear-echelon troops and vehicle and helicopter crews who needed a rifle-calibre weapon but had no use for a rifle-length one. Cutting the AK-74’s barrel down to little more than a fifth of a metre solved the size problem and created a new one: a shortened gas system reduces the propellant’s dwell time in the barrel, which cost the round about 100 m of effective range and left unburnt propellant to ignite in a large, visible fireball right at the muzzle.
Tula’s engineers addressed that with a purpose-built gas block and muzzle booster rather than a simple flash hider: an expansion chamber built into the booster raises gas pressure back up near the port to keep the action cycling reliably on a barrel this short, while the design also works to burn off more of the propellant that would otherwise flare visibly at the muzzle. The compromise the AKS-74U represents (some range and some muzzle signature traded for a package that fits inside a vehicle hatch or under a jacket) is why the design earned a role and a service life distinct from the rifle it was cut down from.
Every figure in this entry traces to the Wikipedia infobox without an inline citation and is recorded as
estimated. No twist rate is published.
References
This entry's own bibliography. Every citation key on this page resolves into this list.
- AKS-74U · Wikipedia · 1370842764 · read 2026-09-09 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Last verified 2026-09-09 · review status: agent-populated