The AL-9 (АЛ-9) is a prototype Soviet assault rifle. It is most notable for being one of the contenders of the Abakan competition.
History[]
Designed in 1984 by Victor Kalashnikov, son of Mikhail Kalashnikov of AK-47 fame, the AL-9 was submitted as one of the first eight entrants into the 1985 Abakan competition; the other seven entrants would be the TKB-0111, TKB-0136-3M, TKB-0146, AEK-971, APT, AS and the AEK-978. For unknown reasons, the AL-9 was pulled out of the competition around 1986 and replaced by the AKB, also designed by Kalashnikov; the AKB did not fare well as it was deemed not viable to continue work on it. After designing the AL-9 and AKB, Kalashnikov would go on to designing the far more successful PP-19 Bizon.
Design Details[]
The AL-9 is quite obviously based on an AK-patterned rifle. The weapon can fire in two-round bursts, as well as fully-automatically.
Trivia[]
- The AKB is sometimes misidentified as a 1984 AL-9.
References[]
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