The RPK - Saigon Report Ep. 07 

Big Thanks to Century Arms!
The RPK “Ruchnoy Pulemyot Kalashnikova” was a light machine gun developed by Mikhail Kalashnikov in the 1950s along with the upgraded AKM rifle. The RPK was designed to fill the role of a Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW). Unlike heavy, vehicle-mounted machine-guns, the RPK was one man-portable. Again, the 7.62x39mm cartridge is used.
The RPK uses an action that is essentially the same as the AK-47, the manual of operations is identical. The manual safety and charging handle are AK-style. All standard AK magazines will fit in the RPK.
The primary differences between an RPK and the AK are the addition of a 20-inch heavy barrel with factory standard bipod. A carrying handle is also included in many but not all versions of the RPK. Filling the role of a SAW, the RPK was normally fed with either a 40 round magazine or a 75 rounds drum. RPK gunners would carry the RPK with a drum in place and a shoulder bag containing 4 additional 40 round magazines. Assistance gunner would carry extra loaded drums and 40 round magazines.
While not as effective as a belt-fed machine-gun as a casualty producing weapon, the RPK could be carried and operated by a single soldier. The learning curve for the RPK was also quite simple as it mirrored the straight forward AK-47. The robust reliability of the AK design carried over to the RPK.
Empty weight for a standard RPK with wooden furniture was 10.6 pounds. Front and rear sight are adjusted as you would the AK-47. The factory specified effective range was 100-1000 meters.
Numerous models of RPK were developed by numerous Soviet-bloc countries, to include a folding stock paratrooper version.
----------
Stop by the Official Student of the Gun Gear Store: shopsotg.com
** Follow us on our other social channels **
• Instagram: www.studentoft...
• Facebook: www.studentoft...
• Twitter: www.studentoft...
** We also have TV apps! **
• Roku: channelstore.r...
• Apple TV: itunes.apple.c...
• Amazon Fire TV: www.amazon.com...
** Prefer to listen to Student of the Gun Radio?! **
• SOTG.com: www.studentoft...
• iHeart Radio: www.iheart.com/...
• iTunes: itunes.apple.c...
• TuneIn: tunein.com/radi...
• Stitcher: www.stitcher.co...
• Soundcloud: / studentofthegun