The TKB-408 Korobov was 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 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 '' ...

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...

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 ...

designer German A. Korobov presented in 1946. The TKB-408 was submitted to a set of official trials conducted in 1946 to select an assault rifle for the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

. The Soviet Army commission found it unsatisfactory, with the trials eventually selecting

Mikhail Kalashnikov Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov (10November 191923December 2013) was a Soviet and Russian lieutenant general, inventor, Military engineering, military engineer, writer, and small arms designer. He is most famous for developing the AK-47 assau ...

AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the Avtomat Kalashnikova (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is an assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms designer Mikhail Kala ...

Characteristics

The TKB-408 is

gas operated Gas-operation is a system of operation used to provide energy to operate locked breech, autoloading firearms. In gas-operation, a portion of high-pressure gas from the cartridge being fired is used to power a mechanism to dispose of the spent ...

, with

locked breech Locked breech is the design of a breech-reloading firearm's action. This is important in understanding how a self-reloading firearm works. In the simplest terms, the locked breech is one way to slow down the opening of the breech of a self-reloa ...

action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

, with a vertically

tilting bolt Tilting bolt action is a type of locking mechanism often used in self-loading firearms and, rarely, in straight-pull repeating rifles. Essentially, the design consists of a moving bolt driven by some mechanism, most often a piston with gas pres ...

to lock the barrel. It can be fired on semi- or

full-automatic An automatic rifle is a type of Self-loading rifle, autoloading rifle that is capable of fully automatic firearm, automatic fire. Automatic rifles are generally selective fire, select-fire weapons capable of firing in Semi-automatic firearm, semi ...

. Its

cocking handle The cocking handle, also known as charging handle or bolt handle, is a device on a firearm which, when manipulated, results in the bolt (firearms), bolt being pulled to the rear, putting the hammer (firearms), hammer/firing pin, striker into a sp ...

is located at the left side of the weapon, above the wooden

handguard A barrel shroud is an external covering that envelops (either partially or full-length) the barrel of a firearm to prevent unwanted direct contact with the barrel (e.g. accidental collision with surrounding objects or the user accidentally touch ...

, being non-reciprocating. The firing mode selector is located on the left side of the receiver, above the

pistol grip On a firearm or other tools, a pistol grip is a distinctly protruded handle underneath the main mechanism, to be held by the user's hand at a more vertical (and thus more ergonomic) angle, similar to how one would hold a conventional pistol. ...

. A separate safety switch is located within the

trigger guard A trigger guard is a protective loop surrounding the trigger (firearms), trigger of a firearm designed to prevent unwanted contact with the trigger, which may cause an accidental discharge. Other devices that use a trigger-like actuator mechanism, ...

, in front of the

trigger Trigger may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Trigger (''Only Fools and Horses''), in the TV sitcom * Trigger Argee, in science fiction short stories by James H. Schmitz * Devil Trigger, a transformation ability of ...

. The design incorporates no provisions for firing from the left shoulder. The ejection port is located at the right side of the weapon, above the

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

; having a flip-down dust cover.

Caliber

The TKB-408 is chambered in the Soviet 7.62×39mm M43 intermediate round and has an overall length of 790 mm. It used proprietary magazines, made from

sheet steel Sheet metal is metal formed into thin, flat pieces, usually by an industrial process. Thicknesses can vary significantly; extremely thin sheets are considered foil or leaf, and pieces thicker than 6 mm (0.25 in) are considered plate, ...

, with each magazine holding 30 rounds, with a forward projection that entered the magazine lock, located at the bottom of the pistol grip. The Korobov was mostly made of stamped steel, with wooden buttstock and handguard.

In popular culture

In the cancelled

post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction are genres of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astronom ...

RPG game ''

Nuclear Union ''Nuclear Union'' (Russian: Новый Союз / ''Novyy Soyuz'', actually meaning "New Union") is a cancelled post-apocalyptic role-playing video game. It was developed by the Ukrainian company Best Way, and supposed to be funded and published ...

'', the protagonist is shown carrying the TKB-408. According to in-game lore, the Korobov was revived when counter-revolutionary gangs found the documentation and the weapon began appearing in the regions of

Ryazan Ryazan (, ; also Riazan) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. The city is located on the banks of the Oka River in Central Russia, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 C ...

and

Tambov Tambov ( , ; rus, Тамбов, p=tɐmˈbof) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, Central Federal District, central Russia, at the confluence of the Tsna River (Moksha basin), Tsna ...

; the deficiencies of the weapon were corrected with it being referred to as "Object 93" (''Ob'yekt 93'') in reference to the year its

schematic A schematic, or schematic diagram, is a designed representation of the elements of a system using abstract, graphic symbols rather than realistic pictures. A schematic usually omits all details that are not relevant to the key information the sc ...

s were discovered.

References

* ''Oruzhie'' Magazine, Page 9, Issue 5 1998 & Issue 6 1998. *

External links

World Guns article on the TKB-408
7.62×39mm assault rifles Assault rifles of the Soviet Union Trial and research firearms of the Soviet Union Bullpup rifles Abandoned military projects of the Soviet Union {{Rifle-stub

Characteristics

Caliber

In popular culture

See also

References

External links