The TKB-0146 () is a

bullpup A bullpup firearm is one with its firing grip located in front of the Chamber (firearms), breech of the weapon, instead of behind it. This creates a weapon with a shorter overall length for a given barrel length, and one that is often lighter, ...

assault rifle prototype designed by Igor Yakovlevich Stechkin at the

TsKIB SOO The Central Design and Research Bureau of Sporting and Hunting Arms, abbreviated TsKIB SOO () is a Russian small arms design bureau based in Tula, Russia. It was established in 1946, and it is currently managed as a branch of the KBP Instrument D ...

. The gun participated in 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, ...

Project Abakan Project Abakan was a Soviet/Russian advanced assault rifle program in rival to the US Advanced Combat Rifle that took place between 1980 and 1994. History The 1960s ushered a new generation of assault rifles with the introduction of smaller cal ...

assault rifle trials. Nikonov's AS and Stechkin's design were the only two truly innovative designs in the Abakan competition that made it to the final testing round; all the other 6 competitors that made it that far were based on more conventional designs. Stechkin's design could fire two-round bursts at 2000 rpm or sustained fire at 600 rpm. Stechkin's gun was slightly more accurate than Nikonov's, but turned out less reliable, mainly because it accumulated more

fouling Fouling is the accumulation of unwanted material on solid surfaces. The fouling materials can consist of either living organisms (biofouling, organic) or a non-living substance (inorganic). Fouling is usually distinguished from other surfac ...

. Nikonov's design won and became 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 ...

.Михаил Дегтярёв,
«Абакан» Стечкина
(Stechkin's Abakan), ''Калашников. Оружие, Боеприпасы, Снаряжение'', 2004/1, pp. 10-16

In TKB-0146, switching from one-round semi-automatic to fully automatic fire was accomplished by a secondary trigger located behind the main trigger. Squeezing the main trigger slightly fired off a single round. Pulling it back fully, so that it pressed the secondary trigger, enabled fully automatic fire. Switching to the two-round burst mode was done by operating a different lever. Two examples can be seen in the Tula arms museum; one of these is an early prototype that was configured for three-round bursts rather than two, which was the option for the later models.Оружие И.Я. Стечкина
Официальный сайт Тульского государственного музея оружия, retrieved 2013-4-7

References

5.45×39mm assault rifles Assault rifles of the Soviet Union Bullpup rifles Trial and research firearms of the Soviet Union TsKIB SOO products {{Rifle-stub

See also

References