The TKB-059 (Cyrillic: ТКБ-059) was a prototype handheld volley gun developed by German A. Korobov, best known for its three barrels, which are in a horizontal arrangement similar to the 19th century Nordenfelt gun.
It was designed to fire in rapid salvos by combining the rate of fire of each barrel to increase accuracy and hit probability. Another variant of the TKB-059 was made from AKM-style parts for ease of production, though the weapon had ultimately never entered service. To this day, the TKB-059 prototype can be seen as an exhibit at the Tula state arms museum.
Overview[]
The TKB-059 provided "near minigun" performance but was also to be suitable for a soldier to handle. It uses the 7.62×39mm M43 round but the ammo supply was limited as the weapon is magazine-fed. The TKB-059 still worked, but was also quite hard to control due to the combined recoil force from all three barrels. In addition, cartridge ejection is downwards and positioned behind the magazine area. Each barrel of the weapon fired independently of each other, all fed from a tripled 90-round box magazine. This resulted in a total fire rate of 1,400 to 1,800 rounds per minute, with heating-related issues minimized such each barrel was only firing at ~467-600 rpm. The priming handle is on top of the weapon.
Designations[]
The TKB-059 is a development of the experimental Pribor-3B (Cyrillic: прибор-3б) rifle, whose name means '3B Device', with 3B meaning '3 barrels', referring to its three-barreled configuration. The 3B was also developed by Korobov.
An early mockup of the weapon indicated that the magazine well was originally to be on top and at the very rear. It was to use three separate magazines, one for each barrel. Because of the position of the magazine well, the sights are placed in an offset position. In addition, the pistol grip and trigger are placed far forward to the front.
The later functioning prototype of the Pribor-3B has a layout similar to what would be seen in the TKB-059. The front sight is off-set to the left-hand side of the weapon.
Gallery[]
TKB-059[]
Pribor-3B[]
References[]
- Oruzhie Magazine, Page 9, Issue 5 1998. Issue 6 1998.
- Оружие 5"98
- Солдат удачи 6"98
- Журнал Оружие 2007-08
- Russian Page 1
- Russian Page 2
- Tula Arms official website
- GA Korobov 1
- GA Korobov 2
- Russian weapons article
- Poster/Cover regarding G.A. Korobov's Bullpup rifles
- Avtomat Korobov TKB-059
- Avtomat Korobov TKB-059
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