The AL-7 is a Soviet assault rifle designed by

Izhmash JSC Kalashnikov Concern (), known until 2013 as the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant (), is a Russian defense manufacturing concern and joint-stock company headquartered in the city of Izhevsk in the Republic of Udmurtia as well as the capital ci ...

engineer Yury Aleksandrov in the early 1970s. The AL-7 uses a type of operation developed by Pyotr Tkachyov of TsNIITochMash (Central Institute for Precision Machine Building) in the mid-1960s known as ''Balanced Automatics'' first used on the

AO-38 assault rifle The AO-38 is a 5.45×39mm assault rifle and AK derivative designed by Peter Andreevich Tkachev and first to use the Balanced Automatic Recoil System (BARS) to improve stability giving better accuracy over AK-74's. Its derivatives are the AK-107 ...

. The

Balanced Automatics Recoil System The AEK-971 (Russian: Автомат единый Кокшарова 971, "Rifle, common, of Koksharov, 971) is a selective fire 5.45×39mm assault rifle that was developed at the Kovrov Mechanical Plant (KMZ) by chief designer Sergey Koksharov ...

(BARS) replaces the traditional Kalashnikov gas piston operating system, reducing the negative effects of

recoil Recoil (often called knockback, kickback or simply kick) is the rearward thrust generated when a gun is being discharged. In technical terms, the recoil is a result of conservation of momentum, as according to Newton's third law the force r ...

and allowing more efficient use of automatic fire. BARS works by shifting mass toward the muzzle of the rifle as the bolt and bolt carrier recoil rearward. The AL-7 and its BARS system were never adopted by the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

. The project was overshadowed by the acceptance of the

AK-74 The AK-74 ( Russian: , tr. ''Avtomat Kalashnikova obraztsa 1974 goda'', lit. 'Kalashnikov assault rifle model 1974) is an assault rifle designed by small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov in 1974. While primarily associated with the Soviet ...

due to cost considerations. The passage of time has allowed manufacturing technology to advance, finally making the AL-7 concept economically viable, presenting itself in the form of the

AK-107 The AK-107 is a Russian 5.45×39mm assault rifle developed from the AK-100-series. It features a "balanced" operating system, similar to that used in the AEK-971. In this case, the designation AK does not indicate ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' but ' ...

and

AK-108 The AK-107 is a Russian 5.45×39mm assault rifle developed from the AK-100-series. It features a "balanced" operating system, similar to that used in the AEK-971. In this case, the designation AK does not indicate ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' but ' ...

rifles. Other rifles that use the balanced automatics system are the

AEK-971 The AEK-971 (Russian: Автомат единый Кокшарова 971, "Rifle, common, of Koksharov, 971) is a selective fire 5.45×39mm assault rifle that was developed at the Kovrov Mechanical Plant (KMZ) by chief designer Sergey Koksharov ...

, AO-38, SA-006, AKB and AKB-1.

References

*''Legends and Reality of the AK'' by Charlie Cutshaw and Valery Shili

*Shadowrun and Firearms ''Alexandrov Kalashnikova 107 and 108'

References

See also