PK machine gun

PK machine gun
PK machine gun PKM machine gun
Type	Squad automatic weapon L ight machine gun
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Service history
In service	1961–present
Used by	See Users
Production history
Designer	Mikhail Kalashnikov
Number built	over 1,000,000
Variants	PK, PKS, PKT, PKM, PKMS, PKP
Specifications
Weight	PK: 9 kg (19.84 lb) (gun + integral bipod) + 7.7 kg (16.98 lb) (tripod).
Length	1,203 mm (47.4 in)
Barrel length	658 mm (25.9 in)
Cartridge	7.62×54mmR
Action	Gas operated,open bolt
Rate of fire	750 rounds/min
Muzzle velocity	PK, PKM: 825 m/s
Effective range	1,640 yd (100–1,500 m sight adjustments)
Feed system	Belts in 100/200/250 round boxes
Sights	Tangent iron sight

The PK is a 7.62 mm general-purpose machine gun designed in the Soviet Union and currently in production in Russia. The PK machine gun was introduced in the 1960s and replaced the SGM and RPD machine guns in Soviet service. It remains in use as a front-line infantry and vehicle-mounted weapon with Russia's armed forces, and has been exported extensively. The original PK (Пулемёт Калашникова: Pulemyot Kalashnikova, or "Kalashnikov's Machinegun") was a development of Kalashnikov's automatic rifle design, firing the 7.62x54mmR Eastern Bloc standard ammunition originally from the Mosin–Nagant. It is equipped with a simple bipod and is designed as a squad-level support weapon; it is also suitable for installation and vehicle mounting. The PK machine gun can be used as a light anti-aircraft weapon when it is put on an AA mount. Most are belt-fed, using linked 25 round belts. These 25-round belts can be linked to any length necessary. Typical of Soviet machine guns, the standard model feeds from the right and ejects its spent cases via an ejection port on the left side of the weapon, contrary to the right side ejection port seen in most Western machine guns.

Users

·          Afghanistan

·          Albania

·           Armenia PK/PKM

·          Azerbaijan

·          Belarus

·          Bosnia-Herzegovina

·          Bulgaria: PK/PKM copies were produced as the MG-1 & MG-1M.

·          Cambodia

·          Cape Verde

·          Chad

·          People's Republic of China: PK/PKM copies were produced as the Type 80.

·          Croatia

·          Egypt

·         Estonia also uses the MG-3 (MG 1A3) and the KSP-58 B.

·          Moldova

·         Mongolia

·         Morocco

·          Mozambique

·          North Korea

·          Panama

·          Poland: PK/PKM copies were produced.

·         Romania: PK/PKM copies were produced as the Mitraliera md. 66.

·          Russia

·          Sao Tome and Principe

·          South Sudan

·          Serbia: Made under license as the M84/M86.

·          Soviet Union

·          Syria

·          Sweden: Known locally as "Kulspruta 95"

·           Tajikistan

·         Turkmenistan

·          Uganda

·          Ukraine

·          Uzbekistan

·          Vietnam Used from the Vietnam War to the present

·         Yugoslavia: PK/PKM copies were produced.

·          Zambia