The AK-105 is a short barrel,

carbine A carbine ( or ) is a long gun that has a barrel shortened from its original length. Most modern carbines are rifles that are compact versions of a longer rifle or are rifles chambered for less powerful cartridges. The smaller size and ligh ...

version of the

AK-74M The AK-74 (Russian: , tr. ''Avtomat Kalashnikova obraztsa 1974 goda'', lit. 'Kalashnikov assault rifle model 1974') is an assault rifle designed by small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov in 1974 as a successor to the AKM. While primarily a ...

rifle, originally developed to replace the shorter barrelled

AKS-74U The AK-74 (Russian: , tr. ''Avtomat Kalashnikova obraztsa 1974 goda'', lit. 'Kalashnikov assault rifle model 1974') is an assault rifle designed by small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov in 1974 as a successor to the AKM. While primarily a ...

. The AK-105 is chambered in

5.45×39mm The 5.45×39mm cartridge is a rimless bottlenecked intermediate cartridge. It was introduced into service in 1974 by the Soviet Union for use with the new AK-74. The 5.45×39mm gradually supplemented and then largely replaced the 7.62×39mm ca ...

ammunition and is used domestically by the

Russian Army The Russian Ground Forces (), also known as the Russian Army in English, are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, ...

in contrast to other AK-100 series rifles. The carbine is produced at

Izhmash JSC Kalashnikov Concern (; ), known until 2013 as the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant (; ), is a Russian defense manufacturing concern and joint-stock company headquartered in the city of Izhevsk in the Republic of Udmurtia as well as the capita ...

factories in

Izhevsk Izhevsk or Ijevsk (, ; , or ) is the capital city of Udmurtia, Russia. It is situated along the Izh River, west of the Ural Mountains in Eastern Europe. It is the 21st-largest city in Russia, and the most populous in Udmurtia, with over 600,000 ...

, Russia. It is part of the AK-100 family.

Design

Compared to the

AK-101 The AK-101 is a Kalashnikov assault rifle model developed in 1994 to use the 5.56×45mm NATO cartridge. It belongs to the export AK-100 (rifle family). The design of this rifle is similar to the AK-74, AK-74M. The AK-101 is constructed using com ...

, and

AK-103 The AK-103 is an assault rifle designed by Russian small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov. History The AK-103 was officially offered for export on March 13, 1993. Design details It is an AK-100 derivative of the AK-74M that is chambered ...

, which are full-length assault rifles of similar design, the AK-105 is a carbine rifle featuring a shorter barrel, and a solid, side-folding, polymer stock allowing convenience in transportation or paratrooper operations, while still providing a stable firing platform when extended; the AK-105 retains the ability to fire with the stock folded. The AK-105 has matching polymer furniture including pistol grip, magazines and forward handguard. It was developed to replace the even shorter compact

, (however both rifles are in-service) that featured a shorter skeleton stock and a shorter, barrel. The AK-105 uses an adjustable, Unotch, rear tangent

sight Visual perception is the ability to detect light and use it to form an image of the surrounding Biophysical environment, environment. Photodetection without image formation is classified as ''light sensing''. In most vertebrates, visual percept ...

, calibrated in increments out to . The front sight is a post, adjustable for elevation in the field, while windage adjustments are done prior to issue by the armory. According to the manufacturer's web site in 2014, "Protective coatings ensure excellent corrosion resistance of metal parts. Forearm, magazine, butt stock and pistol grip are made of high strength plastic."] The AK105 has a

muzzle booster A muzzle booster or recoil booster is a device fixed to the Muzzle (firearms), muzzle of a firearm, intended to harness the energy of the escaping propellant to augment the force of recoil on portions of the firearm. In spite of its name, a muzzle ...

derived from the AKS74U that aids in reducing recoil and improving stability of automatic fire, through the use of exiting gasses.

Users

* *: Used by the

State Border Service State Border Service may refer to: * State Border Service of Azerbaijan * State Border Service of Turkmenistan * State Border Service of Ukraine The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine ( SBGSU; , ; ) is the border guard of Ukraine. It is an i ...

. *: Brazilian military and law enforcement have adopted the AK-105 as it is suitable for urban and counter-narcotics operations. *: Used by the Indian Army with some units. *: The Kazakh military use the AK-105 as a standard-issue carbine rifle. *: Used by

Namibian Marine Corps The Namibian Marines Corps are the marines of Namibia and part of the Namibian Navy and the overall Namibian Defence Force. History The Marine Corps are a recent addition to the Namibian Defence Force due to the gradual establishment of the Nam ...

*: Produced locally as an unlicensed copy (Type 88 carbine), used by

Special Operation Forces Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

and armored crew. *: In service with the

, and limited use within the

Ministry of Internal Affairs An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the i ...

and other law enforcement, including

Alpha Group Spetsgruppa "A", also known as Alpha Group, officially Directorate "A" of FSB Special Purpose Center (Russian: Спецназ ФСБ "Альфа"), is a sub-unit of Russian special forces within the Russian Special Forces Center of the Feder ...

of the Federal Security Service (FSB). *: Used by some Syrian special forces.

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=March 2024 5.45×39mm assault rifles Kalashnikov derivatives Assault rifles of Russia Carbines Kalashnikov Concern products Military equipment introduced in the 1990s