The Rarest Military Rifle in the World; The Russian AN-94 

“24/7 METRO 5000 Tickets!” NO SUAV, NO CLAYMORE, NO SHOTGUNS, NO C4, NO AIRBURST, NO ANYTHING

This is so fucking hype. I will play with one of these before I die 😍

Micah being a terrifyingly accurate shooter without the background of GT is always my favorite part of these

Greetings from Izhevsk. I remember when I was a child I had the Izhmach magazine, where all the company's assault rifles with tactical and technical characteristics were presented. I remember drawing copies of them in a notebook, bragging to my parents. I especially remember the AN-94, it seemed somehow unusual even to a child, I drew it in the hands of the L33T crew from CS, I still remember :D And then I studied to be a design engineer at IzhSTU and worked for a while in Izhmach) Childhood dreams have come true. (Sorry for the google translator)

I genuinely can't believe you got to shoot an AN-94 what a treat.

This is currently the most definitive public access AN-94 information that we have in the world. Over 30 minutes of it. That is huge. HUGE.

This rifle is astounding!! What a feat of engineering. Mad respect for your dedication and friends that led you to this awesome opportunity! Your love and interest radiates in this video.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R has made me fall in love with this gun. I just love the design of almost being futuristic Bo2 looking almost but not. I love the sights, simple but effective. The unique recoil system is one of the most odd but cool systems in firearms design

It is indeed an incredible rifle - until it breaks when you need it. :) Nice video!

Let me borrow it I’m going to get banned on every bf4 server

The tilted mag, the unique rear sight, iconic compensator. That is a thing of beauty.

This is such an S-tier video. Rare✔️ Engineering miracle✔️ Collab for documentation✔️ Wholesome vibe✔️ Wholesome topic✔️ Training✔️

The engineering behind this weapon is so impressive

Ian McCollum is a living gun encyclopedia. Very generous of him to contribute to the making of this video.

Когда я служил в армии, у меня был некоторое время Ан-94 «Абакан». Эти винтовки нам выдали для участия в параде в честь годовщины победы в ВОВ. Кстати, я там также видел и держал АС "Вал" и "Винторез". В целом винтовка необычная, но показалась более громоздкой, чем АК74М. Винтовочный магазин меня, конечно, удивил. Я тоже тогда подумал, что странно, что его сделали скошенным, ведь выглядит это не красиво, да и польза от него не сразу очевидна) Кстати АС «Вал» очень легкий и компактный, его вес и размеры напоминают игрушку.

It is absolutely UNREAL that an AN-94 is not only in the USA but that you guys got to actually run it. Theses guns are so insanely rare its not even funny. I will forever be insanely jealous, AN-94 is my favorite AK variant ever made.

AN-94 is like abstract art version of an AK, no one understands why it was made but everyone loves it.

The guy from Kalashnikov was able to hit with both rounds of hyperburst on metal at 100m. He claims he just needed to hold the rifle lightly and not to pull it into himself hard. I.e., you need to shoot from it like a conscript, not like a pro, and then the hyperburst hits better; such is the magic of stalinium.

Man…. Y’all’s excitement has me excited like I’m there with you. This is one of my favorite videos from you and that’s saying a lot cause I’m a real fan of GT

Outstanding review- or overview, whatever you choose to call it. GT and Micah at their best! Thank you for sharing and keep producing this great content!

A masterpiece for an engineer, and a nightmare for a mechanic.

You know it’s a big deal when Micah is completely serious the whole episode.

Never expected to see this gun on the channel. An absolute unicorn of a firearm. I saw the video Vickers did many years ago where he went over to Russia to try this gun, as well as the AEK-971 which you referenced briefly. Interesting note: The AEK is probably my favorite AK ever made, also because of Battlefield 3 where it was OP as hell and I loved it lol. Also saw Forgotten Weapons do a tabletop presentation of the AN as well. But I never expected to see a guntuber get one in their hands, in the United States, and put it through its paces on American soil. Fascinating weapon. Glad we finally got some more in-depth information about it in video format like this. Well done.

Wow. This video needs to be in a time capsule as one of the best the internet ever had. The fact that Ian participated has even brought it to an unreachable level of quality. Thanks guys for 34 mins of pure joy.

The story of how this gun made it into the country is probably even more interesting than the gun itself.

I remember this rifle from Bad Company 2, what a beautiful piece of engineering.

this has been one of my most favorite episode EVER - well done guys!!

Really appreciate that you guys took so much effort to be as analytical as possible and show a variety of tests, top work!

Gennadiy Nikolaevich Nikonov was brilliant arms designer. Very sad that he passed away at the age of only 52 and never refined his AN-94.

Man the fact it had no malfunctions kinda blew my mind. Awesome piece of engineering

EPIC! Probably one of my favorite gun reviews I've ever watched. Brings back memories of SOCOM Navy Seals 2 onPS2. I thought it was a AK94. It's incredible that the 2rd rapid burst was just as effective and accurate in real life as it was in that game. Definitely one of the best guns in that game. IF @Garandthumb could get his hands on a MG42 and do a video on that, that would be the pinnacle of epic weapons, imo. I strongly feel it would also be super important for historical demonstration and preservation. Especially Mike doing a belt fed Mg43 rip off of a tripod. Just putting the idea out there. 😁👍

An artifact of a former more advanced civilization.

The engineering inside the rifle is genius an absolute work of art. Forgotten weapons has a breakdown of the guts inside this thing and it's crazy.

Hi Mike. I’m a retired U.S. Marine. I was very fortunate to shoot the AN-94 back in 2006 while I was stationed at Marine Corps base Quantico with Weapons & Field Training Battalion. I was an instructor for a school house called S.A.W.I.S. (Small Arms Weapons Instructor School). The school house was closed down in I believe 2008 or 2009. Our school was near the F.B.I. and DEA academy. We began teaching courses on foreign weapons and had the ATF come to our school house with the AN-94, a true Russian SVD and many other weapons. Myself and my fellow instructors were all multiple award rifle and expert shooters. By far the accuracy of the AN-94 in both 2 round burst and full auto concerned us……a lot. The AN-94 we shot was actually confiscated in Iraq, turned over to the Army and eventually placed in the custody of the ATF. We got to disassemble it and see how the system worked. At the time, we were not allowed to disclose ANY of the specifications of the gas system or the overall operation of the weapon for obvious reasons. When I first saw the rifle appear in Call of Duty in 2017 as the “KVK 99m” I was pretty surprised. During our shooting, we shot approximately 1,500 rounds between myself and 2 other instructors. We did combat shooting drills, distance shooting and testing of body armor. Message me if you want to.

I'm already amazed by the fact that you could have both eyes open upon firing and still not miss. The rest of this awesome video edit is far more effort, but that is just the way I appreciate this. Thanks for all the effort, brother.

Amazing that you were able to get your hands on one! ❤

For what its worth; The Kalashnikov Media channel had some fun shooting the rifle and they found that the hyperburst mode is more fit for a regular conscript, as when the shooter relaxed a bit, took a not-so-tactical stance and just shot in the general direction of the bullseye instead of carefully aiming, the spread on the hyperburst for whatever reason got way smaller than it was when they shot like competition shooters

Never thought we would ever see an actual AN-94 shooting. And seeing it on Garand Thumb is the BEST.

Russians have always made great defense stuff, this is probably my favorite rifle now.

Awesome profile. Looks great and seems really fun. Muzzle brake looks so dope!

If you’ve cleared out the monolith in red forest with this rifle at least once, go ahead and hit that subscribe button!

This is a very important video in the history of youtube gun content, so glad Mike could get his hands on that rifle

The technical name for the operating system of the AN94 is Gas Operated Blowback Shifted Pulse. This is what the Soviets referred to this rifle as. Nice to see Dan Shea is allowing his rifle to be tested. I recognize the rifle from his collection from several years back.

I remember my only experience with this weapon was with Stalker ShOC where I ended up having like six or seven in a stash. Really cool gun!

This is the 3rd AN-94 video that i've seen, i believe. The 1st was by Forgotten Weapons, where ian said the mechanism was almost rocket science. The 2nd was from Vickers Tactical but Larry had to actually go to Russia to shoot one.

I actually wouldn't be surprised if the AN-94 really is "more reliable" than the AK-74 in that you go longer between breakages or stoppages; but I'd be more than willing to bet that when the AN-94 does break it's something that takes the rifle completely out of the fight, requiring a long stay at the arsenal to get rebuilt while the AK could be fixed in the field.

Watching him shoot it was actually incredible. That gun is potentially the most lethal thing you could put in an army grunt’s hands. Clearing a building with that thing would be absolute mayhem. Every time the trigger is pulled, 2 shots in nearly the same instance are sent and it continues full auto if need be?? That’s insane. If you could load a higher caliber version of that with something armor-piercing it would be the perfect ambush weapon for places all over the world

Good Job! Im not commenting much and i saw more than a sh`tload of weapon test vids. This one was very pleasant to watch + informing. Because of the unique weapon and presenter. Obviously very well thought through and flawlessly done MR thumb. Thank you mate!

When you get past all the propaganda clutter, you understand just how genius Russian engineering is, both when they try to make something complicated and something simple, but robust. As a military analyst, I got the chance to get acquainted with several Russian defense industry engineers and those guys are just the next level.

The gun passed MOD rigourous testing, but was considered too complex for average soldier. Some SF units used it and the gun was praised, but they were more excited about A-545.

Great to see everyone back, garand thumbs back, great video, you're the the HK of firearm tubers.

Eight rifles of different designers were submitted to the competition for the development of a promising rifle in the USSR. The closest competitor to the AN-94 was the Stechkin TKB-0146 rifle. It was also a recoil pulse offset automaton. But it was more complicated, and the testers jokingly called TKB-0146 - the mechanical workshop of the factory for the production of shots.

This is probably my favorite rifle of all time. Its just so cool and rare. The burst fire mode shooting two shots at once is insane engineering.

About the front sight post you are absolutely right. As Euro-Asian patent for AN94 says - there goes glow in the dark element. Slot goes under number 79 in the Euro-Asian patent if you will search for.

Such a trippy gun. Looks and sounds like a single shot but its a burst. Thats some crazy russian engineering

It's truly a shame that the AN-94 never really saw mass production or that much service. Just by watching you shoot it, I could tell just how incredibly that rifle handles and shoots.

That is a scary gun. Look how good it was at close quarters. It is incredible

I think that the benefit of the hyper burst over full auto is more pronounced with more powerful rounds. Would be interesting to see how the system performs with 7.62x39 and if it can be upscaled to 7.62x51 and higher.

The French are professionals when it comes to fashion, The Italians are professionals when it comes to cuisines, The Russians are professionals when it comes to warfare!

We may not be able to feel what it's like to shoot an AN-94, but we CAN feel Mike and Micah's excitement at having the opportunity with this unicorn of a firearm. Nikonov's creation is certanly an interesting piece in the small arms history and this 35min footage of his "Abakan" has to be the best in youtube right now. Truly a Christmas gift from GarandThumb.

That rifle carried me through S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky, which they renamed to AC-96/2. Once you give it a scope and upgrades, it works for any situation.

Oh that’s cool. Now do the An-94 mud test.

Garand Thumb: “Somebody needs to remake this in the U.S. Like right now” Palmetto State Armory: “Hold my beer”

This weapon was a favorite in multiple videogames back the early 2010's, Black Ops 2 being the most iconic portrayal in my opinion. I can't believe the barrel actually recoils like that! So cool.

Amazing Review! Really love this series. Could you do an AEK-971?

NRA did a review on the AN-94 years ago. They gave it a big thumbs up. The first three rounds cycled so fast the barrel hadn't even risen.

POV: you clicked on this faster than the firerate

Don’t forget Larry Vickers went to Russia and tested both the AN-94 and the AEK-971 as well as the AK-12 which was still in development at the time I believe.

Great video. Ian breaks it down and disassembles it on forgotten weapons. I think the AN94 is plenty reliable but if it does break, your average soldier couldn't field repair.

That is a sick rifle. I heard of it but never really knew anything about it. This is probably my new favorite rifle of this class or whatever you describe that as. I do feel like it wouldnt hold to firing as many rounds as like an AK before needing some decent maintenance though.

I had the pleasure of holding but not shooting one of these in Kyrgyzstan. Buddy of mine is in a pretty high spot in the Kyrgyz Military and he said there are around 40 still left in their forces. He did mention that when the Russians gave them to them they were told to not use them unless it was an emergency and they were extremely unreliable.

Russian Engineer: "You've already fired one bullet" Russian Lt: "We've shot one yes, but what about 2nd bullet??"

When you mentioned Battlefield, I heard you loud and clear. I absolutely loved using it in Bad Company 2, where it was undeniably powerful. I was a menace with it, I made other players legitimately upset because I would always get the drop on them with the hyper-burst, which could be "spammed" in, how do I say it, semi-automatic-burst-only faster than pure 600 RPM full automatic. Burst, Heads, Metal "Doink" Hit Sound, Kill. Man, that game was great.

In regards to action, there was an assassination against an indian punjabi singer (gang affiliated), in which the an94 was used. It's odd. They tracked its route of import from the nepali border to india. Would love to look further into its scene conflict.

For reference: that 1800 RPM for that hyperfire is nearly twice the ROF of an M240B on its fastest gas setting, which is 950 RPM. That's close to the ROF of an M134 on low, which is 2k RPM

The pre-nerf AN94 was a major vibe in Bad Company 2. Doming snipers w the 4x acog while tearing dudes to shreds in CQC. Good times

Cool! I was always unclear about how this thing worked. Seeing the slo-mo of it firing clarified a lot of things.

You have to admit the Russians know ingenuity

Find someone in life who looks at you like Mike looks at the AN-94 and you will truly find lifelong happiness

This makes the AEK971 seem simple. It’s honestly kind of crazy that this is a video. In all the years of RU-vid and how long this gun has been out there it’s amazing that this a legitimately a first look into a moon rock rare gun.

wow super interesting and awesome video. I especially like the unique weapon system videos

Hi 👋 I just wanted to say what an absolute beautiful video! I don't think anything could have done this gun justice enough, such a unique and novel revolutionary system. Sadly it wasn't very invested in, but I wanted to maybe make a note here. I'm an American living in Russia, and when the mobilization started back in September, I saw a lot of military units riding around for a bit. I think it was a PR stunt to get people to volunteer (which actually worked, a lot of people have been conscripted via contract) but I wanted to ask (if anyone knows). This gun is very under the radar and not well documented, especially in the west, but when mobilization started I saw an entire train full of soldiers who were equipped unmistakably with AN-94s. It's one of my favorite guns, and I wanted to ask, does anyone know if it's been modernized? I mean, the soldier I saw had AN-94s mounted with EO Tech sights (or probably a close russian equivalent), front grips, some even with suppressors. They had picattiny rail mounts on the top, side of the hand guards, and bottom as well (for the forward grip). It was unmistakably an AN-94, but have they been modernized for the Russian military? It may have been a publicity stunt, but they were real. I played airsoft every week with my friends back in the US, and my friends today do prop weapons for films and TV shows, so I could tell that this wasn't a prop, it was most certainly the real deal.

I don't usually see Mike smile like this, this whole video is A++

I can only think of one rifle more rare than the AN94. The APS underwater assault rifle. But I'm sure getting your hands on one and actually being able to test it is nearly impossible. Great video, Mike.

Dream rifle right there, thank you for this gem.

I'm kinda impressed of how the sound is really close to the one at COD whenever its fired. I could closed eyed guess its the AN94 from just playing so much COD.

I can't believe this video exist now, I am russian and this is my favourite weapon ever, especially from a mechanical point of view. It's a shame it became so rare. This could've been a new standard for weapon design, the mechanism is insane and very interesting. I'm very happy you guys could such a video to us, and it makes me happy that you were as excited for this as I am. Good job 👍🏻

So far, only 3 people had test the AN 94 with live firings on camera in the Anglosphere internet. Larry Vickers, quite short video due to jams. Vladimir Onokoy, one of the most interesting man alive (videos forever lost to the internet due to Kalashnikov RU-vid channel getting nuked). He tested the groupings in hyperburst and found that it performs best when held in relaxed NRA high power style offhand stance as opposed to modern shooting technique. Left Rostec sometime between 2019 and 2021 and is elusive ever since... I hope he's living the best life he can, and the world will one day know what kind of man he is. In a more enlightened time he'd be a national treasure bar none. For now, though, he's a definite underground legend of the small arms historiography niche, and no one can take that away Vladimir Onokoy is like the Hunter S Thompson of small arms history, except instead of narcotics, it's nerding out over obscure military firearms history. Syrian AKs with East German style furniture? Turns out it was Ethiopian manufacture facilitated by North Korean industry, and Vladimir Onokoy documented that story for posterity, debunking the long standing myth that East German AKs went from Unified Bundeswehr in Bosnia to Royal Nepali Army in Bosnia to UN custody in Bosnia and eventually into the Black markets in Syria. That wasn't the case. It was Ethiopian doppelganger. And now Mike Jones is in the path to join the pantheon. I'd say he's already there with the legends, but I don't think Mike's done just yet.

Very cool! I have to admit I just spent 1/3 of your video trying to figure out what the hell is the design on the top(just under your neck) of your carrier over the rectangular box.

My biggest disappointment was never being able to get this gun in MGS2.

Flat out amazing! As a gunsmith and a mechanical historian I found this jaw dropping. Unbelievable split times better than I imagined. Also, the ranged trials are at a minimum 85% more effective than what you would get in a conventional FA system. For someone to be dropped (be it without proper training on that specific system) a gun and yet that system performed so well, it’s such an amazing credit to the design of that platform. This is it, the current pinnacle of reciprocating mass operating systems. For those of you who currently want to know where this is, it is the exact same place that the Mauser K98 (current production military and civ arms) was to the M1 Garand (AN94) in WWII.

This is by far the most ambitious rifle ever made that actually worked. What a crazy idea. To bad it was too expensive, especially in the 90s when Russia had literally no money at all. A lot of ideas were simply scrapped into oblivion due to collapse of Soviet Union. And for the complexity part, yea it is complex. I would take AK over literally any weapon in the "apocalypse scenario". But for some units with good logistics this seemed like it could work.

In bo2 I had 290+ thousand kills with the AN-94 and a 3.7 kd. Yes ik, no one cares but seeing this video just reminded me. It's cool to see irl footage of this beast.

Excellent review. You did it justice.

God the pulley system on this is still out of this world. The fact the gun fires two rounds before the bolt reaches its stopping point is insane.

I absolutely love the way he openly admits that Micah is literally just a gamer, and they regularly trade back and forth on who's shooting better. Really shows that you don't have to have gone through military training to be an excellent shot

Hi Michael! The editorial office of Kalashnikov magazine has a sample of the AN-94 with a milled cover and Picatinny rail. It would be interesting to see a review with long-range shooting

I am so jealous of this video, I have come back to watch it 3 times.

The notch in the front sight protector is indeed for a tritium insert, as are the corresponding holes you noted in one of the rear sight vanes. I have two articles on the Armament Research Services website that cover the AN, albeit the second one is completely redundant thanks to World Of Guns since modelling this rifle perfectly. I recommend playing with that if you want to understand in detail how this works including the wacky trigger mech. Edit - source for the sight insert - the AN-94 manual - there's a copy online but I can't post links.

I didnt know how awesome AN-94 was until you showed it to us, its an honor to watch the AN-94 be able to shine in your hands.