Hi guys, thanks for tuning in to another video on ForgottenWeapons.com.
I'm Ian McCollum, and we are following up
yesterday's video on the wz.96 Polish Beryl rifle
with a video today on the Mini-Beryl.
The carbine associated with the standard Beryl.
So thanks to Woody's Weapons and Sienna Armoury
we have this actual original, in fact very early production, factory Mini-Beryl.
This is a registered post-1986 dealer-sample machine gun.
So it's not a parts kit build, and it is fully functional as it came out of the Radom factory.
Now the backstory on this guy basically starts with the Tantal, which was Poland's 5.45 rifle.
If you're interested in all the details on this, check out my previous video on the Tantal,
or yesterday's video on the Beryl.
But essentially in 1991 there was a work in progress
to develop a 5.56 ... carbine version of the Tantal, and that was the wz.91 Onyks.
That project ... didn't initially come to completion, it was kind of sidelined.
When Poland came back really with its NATO membership assured,
and started developing a 5.56 infantry rifle,
they pulled this project off the shelf, and the result was the wz.96 Beryl.
Now they completed the carbine version at the same time,
but it really wasn't produced for almost a decade in serious quantities.
The army was much more concerned with the standard rifles.
This is a specialist's weapon, and there weren't major purchases of them.
So this early version has a number of things different on it than
a Mini-Beryl that would be more typically seen in military service today.
Now a couple of things before we look at it closely.
It shares basically the entire standard mechanism with the regular Beryl,
and it is probably the only mini-AK
that is actually technically capable and set up to fire rifle grenades.
So let's take a closer look.
Essentially from basically the bolt handle backwards
the regular Beryl and the Mini-Beryl are completely identical.
The fire control systems are the same, the receivers are the same, the stocks are the same.
So we're kind of going to ignore all of that, if you're interested in the internal mechanics,
again, take a look at yesterday's video on the full-size rifle.
So here we can pretty much encompass all the stuff that changed.
First off, note that the handguard is the same style as the regular Beryl,
including the use of this sort of front hand-stop ridge there.
But it is, of course, shorter.
Mini - full size.
Note up here we have a little retaining wire around the muzzle device.
That's to hold a rifle grenade on. It's not going to get held on there very long,
... and in fact, from what I've read, firing a rifle grenade off of a Mini-Beryl is
... basically a dumb idea that will change your perception of recoil, shall we say.
But it can actually be done.
Note that the ... dust cover retaining catch is still present on the Mini-Beryl
because of those rifle grenades.
Now the front sight block is of course different than the standard.
There is no provision for those tritium night sights that the standard Beryl has.
Up here where the standard Beryl has a lever to allow you to unlock and slide
this handguard retaining plate forward, there's just not enough space to do that on this.
Now, in the original Onyks in the early '90s this disassembly required removing a screw.
With the Mini-Beryl they simplified that to just a captive pin.
So we can pull that pin out, which then allows us to pull the retaining plate forward.
We can then pull off the upper handguard.
We can pull off the lower handguard, which does have a heat shield in it.
And if you pull that forward, you can then actually take the gas tube off.
Of course, we can't right now because there is a bolt carrier in it,
but that's how disassembly works.
Note that ... like the Tantal and Beryl, but unlike typical AKs,
you can remove both handguards without having to field strip the rifle completely.
Alright, and then the biggest difference is the rear sight of course.
So what we have here, unlike the AKS-74U, the dust cover is just the same standard top cover,
comes off just like a regular AK.
So.
That spring latch is annoying there. So that comes off.
The rear sight is a permanent part of the rear sight block here.
It has a rail for attaching optics, but this is a very early production Mini-Beryl.
Note here 1998 production. And "Mini-Beryl", that was added as an import mark, as was "Poland".
But circle 11 factory code, very low early serial number.
This rail was designed for Beryl specific optics.
Now that would be changed later on, this would become a standard Picatinny rail.
We'll talk about actual purchase and production of the Mini-Beryl a little bit later, but.
The iron sights were initially a short range notch and a long range notch
that you can just flip between.
When the rail was improved, at the same time they also made an interesting change to the rear sight,
and made the long range part of the sight actually an aperture.
So a short range notch and a long range aperture.
Not that I think you'd really be using that 400 ... metre sight in any form, but it is there.
I do apologise that like yesterday's video I don't have a proper magazine to show you.
It would look essentially just like ... a black or translucent AK-74 magazine.
I will point out they did actually manufacture a 20 round magazine for the Mini-Beryl.
Not because there's any reason it can't use 30s,
but just to have a more compact magazine
to go along with the generally more compact layout of the whole gun.
Shorty AKs like this really are specialist weapons,
they're sort of intended to replace the submachine gun.
But they've got a lot of blast, they typically are not particularly accurate
because of the very short sight radius.
And this is a good example of how they aren't generally made in
anywhere near the quantity of the standard infantry rifle variations of AKs.
In fact, the first substantial order for the Mini-Beryl didn't come until 2004,
and that was on behalf of the Polish military police.
So sort of a specialist organisation, they need a light compact handy rifle
much more than they need a rifle that they're actually going to use every day.
And so they ordered these. Now, by 2004 a bunch of these mid-life upgrades
were already being made to the gun, so what they got isn't quite this configuration.
But it is a very cool little carbine to take a look at. Hopefully you guys enjoyed the video.
Thanks for watching.