Tank to infantry, a new level of DIY
General view of the PKZ-T machine gun
Against the backdrop of the current conflict in the east of our neighboring state, there's often a return to old weapons concepts and their reimagining. Sometimes this results in interesting weapon designs.
We are talking about the latest creation of the Perm private weapons design bureau – PKZ-T.
Perm gunsmiths have already made a name for themselves in the media. Their design, the PKZ, was widely discussed in the arms and related communities. Despite all the controversial aspects of the bullpup assault machine gun's design, the project's main drawback was that it required significant modifications to the Kalashnikov PK/PKM machine guns.
The Perm gunsmiths' previous creation was the PKZ. Its design is far more complex. What all Laby OOO designs have in common is their high quality of execution.
And as has been discussed many times, rifle-caliber machine guns (of any caliber, but we're specifically talking about the 7,62mm x 54mm caliber) aren't exactly in abundance... Quite the contrary—they're in dire need. Soldiers in the SVO zone have long been issued Degtyaryov light machine guns. These have essentially been decommissioned for a long time. weapon Besides all this, the machine gun chambered for a cartridge that's not the most common in the army doesn't have any standard or even commercial upgrade kits. So, installing optics, a night sight, or a "can" on this machine gun is either impossible or difficult, and soldiers have to make do as best they can. We also got North Korean PKs. But at least they use a standard rifle cartridge, and that's something to be thankful for, even though the design is very unique and strange.
The footage was published by the press service of the Federal Service for the National Security and Defense of the Russian Federation. Fortunately, this is all happening deep in the rear, but still...
And perhaps the most glaring sign of the machine gun shortage is the acquisition of DPM machine guns by Rosgvardia units guarding strategic facilities. In other words, to put it simply, Rosgvardia units deep in the rear have been assigned a new mission: shooting down drones, but there are no resources for this (machine guns), and all that was found were antiques from the end of the Great Patriotic War. Moreover, some believe that these machine guns weren't even from our warehouses, but trophies from the former 65th Order of the Red Star arsenal of the USSR Ministry of Defense, that is, the Ukrainian arsenal in Balakliya. In general, this makes sense, since in the 2000s and 2010s, we underwent a massive purge of our warehouses. Some were dumped on the civilian market as models or hunting weapons, and some were scrapped. In other words, the Soviet mobilization reserve was destroyed... And no new ones were created.
General view of the PKT machine gun with the electric trigger unit attached.
Against this backdrop, the new development by Laby LLC appears incredibly relevant. We're talking about the PKZ-T project – a redesign tank Kalashnikov machine gun in hand.
And here's the rear of the PKT receiver with the electric trigger assembly removed, and therefore without the trigger. Incidentally, the photo of this machine gun was taken from a website selling mock-up guns, and this particular PKT is available for purchase.
The first such conversions seem to date back to the period when Soviet troops were fulfilling their international duty in Afghanistan. Units desperate for additional machine guns turned their attention to damaged armored vehicles, from which they removed the PKTs. Then came the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the patchwork quilt of the post-Soviet space was drowned in a series of local conflicts. Many warring parties were short of weapons, and various makeshift conversions of PKTs into "handguns" flourished. Perhaps the most famous example of this use of the PKT is its use by armed groups during the First Chechen War.
A close-up of the mechanical trigger on the electric trigger unit
A true renaissance in the use of PKTs for other purposes began in 2014 in eastern Ukraine. The scenario was essentially the same: there was often a frank shortage of weapons, while there was an abundance of damaged vehicles from which machine guns could be removed. This trend continued after 2022. The enemy quickly began to experience a clear shortage of small arms, plus entirely new tasks emerged, such as countering drones in the near and far rear, which also required weapons. Unfortunately, over time, we too began to feel a shortage, fortunately not in small arms in general, but certainly in machine guns.
This is probably one of the earliest and most famous photographs of a PKT converted into an infantry machine gun. Some say it's from Afghanistan, others say it's from Kazakhstan. In reality, the photo shows a soldier in the Self-Defense Forces of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. It was taken in August 1992.
The Kalashnikov tank machine gun is more than just a "PKM for a tank." It has numerous differences from, so to speak, the base model. These include a longer and heavier barrel, a modified gas system, and the addition of an electric trigger. The heavier barrel is self-evident. Firing takes a long time, and changing the barrel on a tank-mounted machine gun is difficult, and a few kilograms extra weight compared to the infantry version is insignificant when mounted on a multi-ton armored vehicle. The barrel is longer because the PKT's ballistics were adjusted to match those of the SGMT, which it was intended to replace. It was simply not worth changing the sights on all armored vehicles just to accommodate a new machine gun. The decision was entirely logical and more than economically feasible. And the modified gas bleed mechanism was necessary to reduce gas contamination in the fighting compartment, which is extremely important in armored vehicles.
PKTs have long been widely used in special operations zones by all sides, not for their intended purpose. However, they are used not as infantry weapons, but as anti-aircraft weapons.
But from the standpoint of "picking up a PKT and running with it like an infantryman," the electric trigger is much more important. The machine gun also has a mechanical trigger. This is essentially a classic "trigger" that's needed in case the electric trigger's power supply fails. However, the trigger is part of the electric trigger assembly, so when it's disconnected from the machine gun, the trigger is also disconnected. Furthermore, the trigger is only useful if the PKT is used as a mounted, turret, or anti-aircraft weapon. If we're talking about the PKT as a PK/PKM ersatz, then a special system with an adapter would be needed to use the machine gun with a buttstock and obtain a trigger with a pistol grip.
The PKT has been converted into an "infantry" machine gun for a long time and often. Most of these conversions are pure amateurism. In this photo, a Ukrainian "homebrew" is trying to attach a Picatinny rail to the machine gun. It's clear that attempting to attach a standard PKM stock to the PKT results in the machine gun being too large for any acceptable dimensions.
Most of the designs found online are attempts to attach a standard PKM stock to the PKT via an adapter that also accommodates the trigger system. Since the PKT is longer than the PKM, attaching a standard stock results in a monstrous beast of truly unsightly dimensions. The designers at Laby LLC took their own, and much more appropriate, approach here – they created the stock entirely from scratch, a completely original design. It's shorter than the standard one, allowing the PKZ-T to fit within the dimensions of a standard PKM. This is a significant factor in terms of ease of handling, especially for soldiers accustomed to its dimensions.
The second thing that distinguishes the Perm product is the overall high quality of its execution. Even the PKTs that our opponents in the SVO zone converted into handbrake rifles after 2022, in completely factory conditions, look like blatant home-made work. The PKZ-T is clearly not only of high quality but even features recognizable signature design elements.
The PKZ-T stock features a stylized Latin letter "Z." And why not? We can afford it, as they say.
At least one machine gun prototype is already in use in a special operation zone, and there's a video of a soldier using the weapon system reviewed. And the review is more than positive. The solid design of the upgrade kit from Laby engineers only highlights all the advantages of the original PKT. The heavier barrel eliminates the need to carry a spare barrel (although it seems the army has forgotten the concept of a "spare barrel" anyway) and eliminates the need to worry about the number of rounds fired from the machine gun in a continuous burst, as the receiver volume limits the length of a continuous burst anyway.
The main and fundamental drawback our soldier mentions is, of course, weight. The machine gun is approximately two kilograms heavier than the standard infantry PKM. But this is an inevitable price to pay for a heavier and more durable barrel, as the operator himself notes. Furthermore, Kalashnikov machine guns have long been used with various tuning kits, additional grips, and aftermarket sights, which already increase the weapon's weight. So, to some "PK operators," the weight difference may seem completely insignificant.
At least one model is already definitely in the SVO zone and is fighting, albeit in an anti-aircraft role.
It's also worth noting that the original machine gun has no iron sights, and the PKT's ballistics are different from those of the PKM. This can create difficulties when choosing optical sights, and soldiers already trained in the PKM will have to get used to the new machine gun.
Be that as it may, Perm gunsmiths have created a very interesting and truly original design that can and should find its way onto the battlefields of the Soviet Air Defense Forces. Admittedly, the idea isn't new. There have been attempts to create a standardized kit for converting the PKT into an infantry machine gun, intended to equip all armored vehicles, but that's a completely different matter. story.
Information