The Karabinek-granatnik wzór 1960 (), also designated PMK-DGN-60
[Katz, Russel, and Volstad, ''Armies in Lebanon'' (1985), p. 44, Plate G1.] or PMK-60,
[Rottman and Volstad, ''Warsaw Pact Ground Forces'' (1987), p. 53, Plate E1.] is a Polish-made version of the
AK-47 assault rifle that can fire
rifle grenades.
Description
The LON-I grenade launcher is screwed onto the forward end of the
rifle barrel
A gun barrel is a crucial part of gun-type weapons such as small firearms, artillery pieces, and air guns. It is the straight shooting tube, usually made of rigid high-strength metal, through which a contained rapid expansion of high-pressure ga ...
and locked into place by means of a spring-loaded plunger mounted in the front sight base of a modified
AK-47 rifle. The sight for the launcher is mounted on the rear sight base. A valve is fitted to the right side of the gas block, allowing the gas to be shut off (preventing it from leaving the barrel via the gas port) when the grenades are fired.
When using the rifle to launch grenades, a special rubber recoil pad is used and a special 10-round
magazine
A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...
is inserted.
[Rottman and Volstad, ''Warsaw Pact Ground Forces'' (1987), p. 53, Plate E1.] This magazine has a filler block that prevents it from being used with "normal" (i.e. bulleted) cartridges. There is also a regular version of this rifle as well that was not designed to shoot grenades.
Operators
* : Limited use by
Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establ ...
(PLO) guerrilla factions in Lebanon.
* : Limited use now, mostly being replaced by the
wz. 83 Pallad.
*
*
* : Used during the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
by the
Vietcong
,
, war = the Vietnam War
, image = FNL Flag.svg
, caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green.
, active ...
and
NVA.
See also
*
AK-47
*
AKM
The AKM () is an assault rifle designed by Soviet small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov in 1959. It is the most ubiquitous rifle of the Kalashnikov rifles. It was developed as a replacement to the AK-47 introduced a decade prior.
Introduced ...
*
Kbk wz. 1988 Tantal
*
Kbs wz. 1996 Beryl
*
List of assault rifles
An assault rifle is a rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge, a detachable magazine, and can switch between semi-automatic/fully automatic fire. Assault rifles are currently the standard service rifles in most modern armies. Some rifles listed ...
Notes
References
* Gordon L. Rottman and Ron Volstad, ''Warsaw Pact Ground Forces'', Elite series 10, Osprey Publishing Ltd, London 1987.
* Samuel M. Katz, Lee E. Russel, and Ron Volstad, ''Armies in Lebanon 1982-84'', Men-at-arms series 165, Osprey Publishing Ltd, London 1985.
Secondary sources
*Gordon L. Rottman, ''The AK-47 Kalashnikov-series assault rifles'', Weapon series 8, Osprey Publishing Ltd, Oxford 2011.
7.62×39mm assault rifles
Rifles of the Cold War
Infantry weapons of the Cold War
Grenade launchers of Poland
Kalashnikov derivatives
Assault rifles of Poland
Military equipment introduced in the 1960s
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