Hi guys
thanks for tuning in to another video on Forgottenweapons.com. I'm Ian McCollum, and today we are going to take a look at a
Type 2 milled AK--the first milled AK actually!
These rifles were developed actually by an engineer by the name of Valery Kharkov who was working in conjunction with the Kalashnikov design bureau
and this was the response to the problems that were initially encountered when they tried to make the stamped receiver AK. They
Ran this program for about two years and finally, they just couldn't get the stampings good enough. They had too many quality control problems
they were scrapping too many receivers and
While they continued to try and figure out how to get that process up and running properly
Karkov
Designed a replacement receiver. This would be a forged and a machined receiver
You could get rid of all the problems with stamping. Now
it was more expensive and it was substantially heavier than a stamped receiver
but at least it would be high quality and would work well
And so starting in 1949, these rifles went into production and they only were made for a few years in
1953, a new...some modifications were introduced to this milled AK receiver
It became what was known as the Type 3. The Type 2 was out of production by about
1955 so only about five or six years that these were actually being made.
Now there are a number of distinctive features to them, the most obvious which you can even see from back there
Is this metal socket on the buttstock
And that's the easiest way to recognize these guys
But there are a number of other features to them which we will go ahead and take a look at right now
Well, if you're familiar with AKs, you'll probably recognize this magazine. This is the "slab side" AK mag
It is the first iteration of the AK magazine, and like the Type 2 rifle here. This is the
Durable, will run until the end of time, but really quite heavy option for AK magazines
Later on, they would develop a version that was made out of a substantially thinner sheet metal, but had some ribs pressed into it to keep the strength of the
Magazine and that would replace these fairly quickly. Anyway moving on from that
What we have here is a solid block of metal
That had a whole bunch
I think it's something like a hundred and twenty machining operations done to it and ended up as a 1.4 pound
milled solid receiver
So with this, you no longer had to have separate front and rear trunnions to attach the barrel on the stock. Instead
It was all one continuous piece. Now with the Type 2s, they have this very distinctive socket on
On the end to hold the buttstock
This was done
Best I can understand this was done so that the milled receiver
First off you didn't have to try and mill tangs in for the stock
These are kind of flimsy and that's something you would really better do as a separate part as they did
It also meant that the same receiver could be used
Interchangeably for the fixed stock guns and also for guns with under folding stocks
Which they did make. Both the Type 1 and the Type 2, they made under folding versions as well as fixed stock versions
so this socket is the one really distinctive element of a Type 2, and you can spot that from a mile away in pictures.
Couple other things to point out here. There's a reinforced section right at the front and also one at the rear
This is just to make the thing stronger
This one back here actually is the surface that the dust cover rests on when it's fully in place
And they would get rid of both of these in the Type 3
In fact just briefly, here is a Type 3 for comparison, and you can see that it is flat right here
They've gotten rid of this
Enlarged surface and this rail is gone. On the Type 3,
they're just perfectly happy to have the dust cover sit over lapping over the receiver
one other subtle but distinctive feature of the type 2 receiver is
this weight reducing scallop is cut parallel to the top of the receiver and at an
angle to the bottom. When they upgraded these, when they revised them to the Type 3, that would change and
On the type 3 receivers that scallop is cut parallel to the bottom and at an angle to the top
Now in some other ways, the Type 2 is still sort of a transitional gun between the type 1 and type 3
You will notice that the vent holes have been moved up to sort at ten o'clock and 2 o'clock position on the type ones
they were
Exactly on the sides of the gas block there
However, the front sling attachment point is still on the handguard. On the Type 3, that would move up here to the gas block
The pistol grip did change form
So the grip itself is at a slightly straighter angle and it's now attached by a long screw
that goes all the way up the length of the grip and threads into a lug on the bottom of the milled receiver as
opposed to having this long flat tang on the inside of the grip like the type 1 did
But going back to another feature that didn't change. We still have this sort of curved looking spring retainer
And pull that out
And
The top cover on the type 2, like on the type 1, is made of a very heavy gauge steel
In fact, the difference is substantial enough that you can even see it here looking at them side-by-side
This is a Type 2 or Type 1 dust cover. This is a Type 3
So, I mean I think they probably cut the thickness of this almost in half
as part of lightening the guns in general I
Should point out the type 1, the original AK weighed in at 4, right about 4.25 kg
That's 9.5 lbs unloaded. The type 2, when they went to this heavier milled receiver,
they added an entire pound to the weight of the gun
So this is 10.5 lbs unloaded, or 4.75 kilos, and that's actually a pretty hefty rifle
You will notice one thing that they did change was to extend the safety all the way across
To the left side of the receiver. Oh, and by the way
We have a full length rail here for the dust cover to sit on
Extending the safety across makes the safety a removable component
Which it was not in the type 1 so that's an improvement. At the same time, we still have this fluted
Gas piston, which is a feature off of the type 1. If we look at the inside of the receiver
You can see that the receiver design is still fairly reminiscent of the type 1
So the part that would have been the trunnion is coming all the way back to here almost the very back of the magazine well
Which is exactly what it did in the type-1
So this is a type one and the trunnion comes all the way back to here and has these rivets holding it in place
So the internal design of the receiver, they kind of kept the same. When they went to the type two
They just made it a single milled unit instead of a couple of milled trunnions inside of a stamped sheet metal shell
One other minor change that they made on the type twos: here on the type one
We have a flat solid surface on the bottom of the safety
With the type two. They actually let added a little bit of a recess right here
Presumably so that if one of these pins was oversize for some reason and sticking out at all
You could still engage the selector lever on the type one
If for any reason this pin starts to walk through--which doesn't seem likely, but I guess it did happen
If that happens the selector lever will hit it and you won't be able to operate the rifle
the markings on the type twos are still in the same place as the type 1.
The left side basically front trunnion area. We have our serial number here
And then this is really hard to read, but there was originally an Izhevsk arsenal mark there
that's an upward pointing arrow in a triangle and a date below it and
I don't know if I can really get it to come out on camera
But that date was 1952 on this one. I don't think I can get the light quite right to show you but
Yeah, yeah, you really can't see it there, but trust me it was 1952.
I think it's really interesting to point out that, while a lot of people see the AK as this rifle that just is the epitome of
reliability and functionality and it just works, where the
AR a lot of people see is this finicky rifle that took forever, and well it's okay now it sure did take its time getting there
When in reality, if you look at guns like the type one and the type two AK and by the way
I have a video out on the type one
If you haven't seen it, it'll be linked at the end of this video
If you look at those, you will realize that the a K actually took just as long to get working properly as the AR did
You know, this rifle was introduced first or approved in 1947
but it wouldn't actually be until 1959, twelve years later
That the AKM was finally introduced. When they finally got the stamped receiver right? That's twelve years of
Continuous development and improvement. You look at the AR-15
Pretty much the same thing. If you look at late 1950s when the AR-15 was introduced until late
1960s when you had a gun like the m16a1 that really had most of the kinks worked out
pretty comparable so
Something I think because we don't have very much exposure to these early AK's here in the United States
It's something a lot of people don't think about. Now one difference is that
These early AKs, especially the type 2, but also the type ones and of course the type three milled guns
Are still seeing extensive service in combat around the world today.
They may be extremely rare for us here in the United States
But it's not that uncommon to find pictures of them being used in conflict zones to this very day
So where the type 2 may have been like an engineering work around, you know, well, this is not optimal
But it's what we have to do until we can figure out how to do it the right way
for all of the problem that the downsides to that it is a
This rifle will run until basically the end of time. They're extremely durable
extremely reliable guns
And for that reason they're still fairly popular
on the
Battlefield today and while they were only made for a few years, there were tens upon tens of thousands of them manufactured during that time. So
You'll see them in Russian service
Not so much, but you'll also see them in the hands of all sorts of
other folks in combat who have various types of Aks
Anyway, hopefully you learned something today about another cool early variation on the AK
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For me to travel find these guns and bring them to you. Thanks for watching