Gennadiy Nikolaevich Nikonov (; 11 August 1950 – 14 May 2003) was a Russian firearm engineer. Some of his accomplishments were as the designer of the

AN-94 The AN-94 (, GRAU designation 6P33) is a Russian assault rifle. The initials stand for model of 1994, after its chief designer Gennadiy Nikonov, who previously worked on the Nikonov machine gun. The name refers to the Siberian city of Abakan ...

assault rifle An assault rifle is a select fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge, intermediate-rifle cartridge and a Magazine (firearms), detachable magazine.C. Taylor, ''The Fighting Rifle: A Complete Study of the Rifle in Combat'', F.A. Moyer '' ...

, and the "straight-back bolt." Nikonov held 44 Copyright Certificates, and was awarded the titles of "The Best Designer of the Company" and "The Best Designer of the Ministry." In his memory there is a memorial plaque on the building design and weapons center of "Izhmash".

Early life and education

Nikonov was born 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 ...

. His father and mother were employed 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 ...

, a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

arms factory. His father was a mechanic. Nikonov graduated from technical school in 1968. At Izhmash, he took evening classes. In 1975 he graduated from the Izhevsk Mechanical Institute as a gun engineer.

Design career

He started work at Izhmash in the Department of the Chief Arms Designer. His first position was as a technician. In technical school, Nikonov became obsessed with

underwater rifles An underwater environment is a environment of, and immersed in, liquid water in a natural or artificial feature (called a body of water), such as an ocean, sea, lake, pond, reservoir, river, canal, or aquifer. Some characteristics of the underw ...

. He won his first professional recognition by designing a trigger mechanism for an underwater rifle. He designed various rifles, including

air gun An air gun or airgun is a gun that uses energy from compressed air or other gases that are mechanically pressurized and then released to propel and accelerate projectiles, similar to the principle of the primitive blowgun. This is in contr ...

s and sporting firearms. One of the most praised was the stylish, accurate "Izjubr" (Buck Deer) carbine, a limited edition luxury weapon. Nikonov was appointed as a senior project engineer to design single-shot bolt-action rifles and fully automatic weapons. In this assignment he patented a number of mechanisms and components. One of the most significant was the "straight-pull bolt," first used in a winter

biathlon The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not ti ...

target

rifle A rifle is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting and higher stopping power, with a gun barrel, barrel that has a helical or spiralling pattern of grooves (rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus o ...

. Nikonov also worked on research projects. In the middle 1970s he entered a post-graduate Ph.D course. From 1980 to 1985 he worked on projects for the Soviet Ministry for Defense Industry. Examples of his innovation include a twin-barreled machine gun and the "blow back shifted pulse (BBSP)" used on the AN-94.

Nikonov machine gun

The weapon was developed on Nikonov's own initiative, from work connected with competitions and technical tasks. The weapon has no bolt, but a stationary

breech Breech may refer to: * Breech (firearms), the opening at the rear of a gun barrel where the cartridge is inserted in a breech-loading weapon * breech, the lower part of a pulley block * breech, the penetration of a boiler where exhaust gases leave ...

and movable barrels, each with its own gas cylinders and pistons connected to the adjacent barrel. Upon firing one barrel, the next one is forced backwards, and thus causes the next barrel to move forward (a

Gast gun The Gast gun was a German twin barrelled machine gun that was developed by Karl Gast of Vorwerk und Companie of Barmen and used during the First World War. Its unique operating system produced a very high rate of fire of 1,600 rounds per minu ...

principle). Firing operates a feeding device that channels rounds into the barrels, with the spent cartridges being ejected from both sides. The barrels move back and forth the full length of the cartridge. The double-barreled design, in combination with the shortest possible stroke, allows for a high rate of fire at more than 3,000 rounds per minute. The prototype is now in the M.T. Kalashnikov museum in

Personal life

He was married and had two sons.

References

* "Эйнштейн, Чехов и Платон?!", ''Ружьё. Российский оружейный журнал.'' 1998/1, page 64 * "У Истоков «Абакана»", ''Ружьё. Оружие и амуниция'', 1998/1, pp. 6–8 * Nowa Technika Wojskowa 2002-03/04.

External links

Геннадий Николаевич НИКОНОВ (Gennady Nikolaevich NIKONOV)

КАЛАШНИКОВ. ОРУЖИЕ, БОЕПРИПАСЫ (KALASHNIKOV. WEAPONS, AMMUNITION)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nikonov, Gennadiy 1950 births 2003 deaths Russian inventors Firearm designers Soviet engineers 20th-century Russian engineers People from Izhevsk Soviet inventors