Puşcă Automată model 1986

Puşcă Automată model 1986
Pmd. 86 in Afghanistan.
Type	Assault rifle
Place of origin	Socialist Republic of Romania
Service history
In service	1986-present
Used by	Romania, Socialist Republic of Romania
Wars	Peace-keeping missions in Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan
Production history
Designer	Romtechnica
Designed	1986
Manufacturer	RomArm via Regia Autonomă pentru producţia de Tehnică Militară (RATMIL), Cugir
Produced	1986-present
Specifications
Weight	3.69 kg (8.14 lb)
Length	943 mm (37.1 in) stock extended / 748 mm (29.4 in) stock folded
Barrel length	432 mm (17.0 in)
Cartridge	5.45x39mm
Action	Gas-actuated, rotating bolt
Rate of fire	700 rounds/min
Muzzle velocity	880 m/s (2,887 ft/s)
Effective range	100 to 1,000 m sight adjustments
Feed system	30-round box magazine
Sights	Rear sight notch sight on sliding tangent, front post

The Puşcă Automată model 1986 (Automatic Rifle Model 1986, abbreviated PA md. 86 or simply md. 86) is the standard assault rifle used by the Romanian Military Forces and manufactured in Cugir, Romania by firm RomArm S.A. located in Bucharest, Romania. The export name for this variant is the AIMS-74.

History

As the Soviet Union switched from the 7.62x39mm caliber AK-47 to the 5.45x39mm caliber AK-74, it encouraged other nations of the Warsaw Pact to follow suit.

By the mid 80s, Romania decided to switch calibers, however it was decided that the new rifle be developed independently, and not represent a clone of the Soviet AK-74. In doing so, the PA md. 86 has several anachronistic AKM elements that were found only on the prototype Soviet AK-74.

Features

The most easily recognized AKM feature is the gas block design (45 degree versus 90 degree). Incidentally, although the gas block is purely AKM, the gas vent in the barrel did change to a 90 degree design to minimize bullet shearing (a problem with early Soviet AK-74's with 45 degree gas blocks). This means the Romanian AK-74 has a double angle gas port, which makes it much harder to clean the gas vent. This variant also uses the AK-47 rear trunnion, and thus the siderail is lengthened.

It uses either the bird-cage flash suppressor, or a flash hider (designed for Special Forces). The design also incorporated an upward curved charging handle, a wire sidefolder, based on the East German design, but offset slightly to the left, and the traditional vertical handgrip. The md. 86 use laminated wood lower handguards, and Bakelite pistol grips and upper handguards. None of the components have had any polymer versions.

The AG-40 grenade launcher can be attached as a lower handguard after removing the standard one. Lasers/lights can also be clamped to the barrel in two ways. The rifle is one of only a few AK versions that have a 3-round burst option. The selector markings are as follows, from top to bottom: ∞, 1, 3. Only ribbed steel magazines are used.

Combat divers also use a version with straight handguards, as the grip is considered to be cumbersome for amphibious operations.

Variants

This rifle also has a rarely seen short barrel version, also known as the carbine version, where the front sight is placed on the gas block. This version also uses straight handguards (http://www.arms.home.ro/arms/cugir1/pag/7.html).

Civilian variants

The 5.45mm civilian export versions are: Romak 992, Romak 2, Intrac Mk II, CUR-2, WUM-2, SAR 2, and the WASR 2 which is the current production rifle. The WASR 2 doesn't have a dimpled receiver, as opposed to previous models.

References

• Tantal's Avtomats in Action.
• MApN (Ministry of National Defence) Photo Gallery
• SC Fabrica de Arme Cugir SA - Arms Factory - md. 86 Assault Rifle
• SC Fabrica de Arme Cugir SA - Arms Factory - md. 86 Carbine