Created this sample machine in 2003 year, and created within the walls of the institution with a rather interesting name, namely the Scientific and Technical Center of Precision Engineering of the National Space Agency of Ukraine. It’s hard to imagine just this, what kind of machine gun it was, as at the time of its creation it was joked off, a weapon was created for conducting combat in space, however, in practice, the sample turned out to be completely not funny. Many compare this machine with the well-known Russian Thunderstorm, and in many ways this comparison is true. Just like the Thunderstorm, the Vepr machine gun is based on AK74, just like the Thunderstorm, the machine gun is designed as a bullpup, but the cartridges are not 9x39 and not 7,62x39, but 5,45x39, so even the comparison and the correct one, but the characteristics of the weapon are different . The main feature of the weapon is that it was possible to maintain maximum compatibility of parts and components with similar ones from the Kalashnikov assault rifle. This is quite important, provided that the AK from the Soviet Union left a huge number of warehouses, and to repair fully compatible weapons is much easier when each spring is studied far and wide and is in stock. The weight of the machine is equal to 3,45 kilogram without taking into account the cartridges, the length is only 702 millimeters, with a standard barrel length 415 millimeters, respectively, the initial speed of a bullet fired from this barrel is about 900 meters per second. The rate of fire left the old 600 shots per minute, which is convenient for those who are used to AK. Shops are fully compatible with AK74, 30 ammo capacity.As a result of the fact that the 5,45х39 cartridge itself doesn’t create the biggest impulse when shooting and assembling the bullpup weapon, we managed to increase the accuracy of automatic fire, the machine itself became more manageable and everything would be fine if not for the few “buts” that are almost always present have weapons in the bullpup layout. Due to the new layout of the weapon, its balance has shifted, which makes retention for the shooter unusual. Ejection of spent cartridges, even when using the right hand as the main one, occurs too close to the shooter’s face, respectively, powder gases can irritate the mucous membranes, which is not at all a pleasant phenomenon. The change of the store in the weapon is completely unusual, the sighting line has decreased in its length, which negatively affected the accuracy, however, the sights of the machine gun work perfectly on their distance. In general and in general, the only serious disadvantage of this weapon can be considered only the release of spent cartridges close to the shooter’s face, the rest is a matter of habit.
In addition to the layout of the weapon, changes were made to the controls of the machine gun. Immediately catches the eye is that in the usual place there is no shutter handle. She carried far forward over the barrel of the weapon, can be rearranged from the right side to the left, and most importantly, it is stationary when firing. The fuse switch is a cross slider, placed above the trigger, which has a positive effect on the speed of bringing the weapon on alert and silence when switching. Much more important point in the weapon was that the forearm, controls, etc. do not relate to the trunk, that is, in fact, the trunk itself could be called freely suspended, if not for the removal of powder gases. This decision has played a significant role in improving the accuracy of weapons. Separately note that due to the fact that the barrel is almost completely covered with plastic elements, this excludes its uneven cooling, although in my opinion such a problem is more inherent in machine guns rather than machine guns, however, if you don’t feel sorry for the weapon, don’t recount the cartridges ... almost all elements of the weapon are metal, the long-term contract of the arrow with the metal is completely excluded. This is achieved thanks to the plastic lining on the cover of the receiver, which is the focus for the cheek shooter, as well as the back plate on the butt, which, thanks to its sufficiently large area, helps to reduce the already not very high return when shooting.
The first assault rifles were equipped with sights taken from AK, but since the sighting line was reduced due to changes in the layout of the weapon, and the accuracy of the weapon as a whole increased, it was decided to replace the rear sight with a diopter. As well as the front sight, on the high rack is installed and the rear sight, the rack itself has the ability to fold. In addition to the standard sights, you can install the widest range of optical sights, night sights, collimator sights, including specially designed for this machine gun.
Initially, the weapon was developed taking into account the mounted grenade launcher, that is, we can speak not just about the machine gun, but about the rifle-grenade complex. Unfortunately, the GP-25 grenade launcher with a weapon in such a layout was incompatible, so it was necessary to develop its modification, especially for the Vepr machine gun. With the grenade launcher installed, the weapon is more stable when fired, its balance back becomes more familiar, although the weight of the machine gun increases. An interesting point is that with the grenade launcher installed, the automaton fuse plays the role of the grenade launcher fuse, which is quite reasonable. In addition, at the same time you can not push the trigger of the machine and the grenade launcher.Thus, it turns out that the Vepr machine gun is another variation of the Kalashnikov machine gun in the bullpup layout. Naturally, many deny it, but even with the naked eye, without disassembling weapons, one can see the relationship of the two samples. The automatic machine received a gain in accuracy and accuracy of fire, its dimensions were reduced. Naturally, the bullpup layout contributed its negative qualities to the weapon, but they are quite tolerant. Many argue that the Vepr machine has fewer parts in comparison with the AK, which, unfortunately, is not possible to reliably verify. At the moment, the machine is in service with the army of Ukraine, along with the Kalashnikov machine gun, that's just to give this weapon in their hands is given far from everywhere, but only where compact dimensions are necessary with the full usefulness of the machine gun. The rest has to be content with Kalashnikov assault rifles, whatever one may say, and it is much cheaper to take the ready from the warehouse than to create an automaton again.
