Serious Discussion: TKB-022PM mechanism

Does anyone here know how the mechanism of this bullpup weapon works?, There is no space for the bolt to move back and reload a new round. However the TKB-022PM(Russian: ТКБ-022ПМ) is believed to be 3 times more accurate than an AKM at an unstable position.

pookieweb.dyndns.org:61129...

talks.guns.ru...

A possible but unproven idea of its operation:

Since you have posted the same question and photos on a gazillion websites, let me be the gazillion and 1st person to tell you that it can´t work that way. So there are two possibilities; the first is that this indeed is a mock-up, possibly to explore the ergonomics of this layout (yes, gunmakers do that all the time, with nonfunctional weapons).

The second is that this weapon was made in the 50s, but the picture was made about 40 years later... which means that a museum curator might have put this weapon together completely wrong, and that the mag inserts into the seemingly nonsensical hole in front of the magazine, which is missing a magwell but more or less shaped just like the mag. The spent cases are then ejected downward the little ramp towards the end of the "weapon".

There you have it, the only sensible explanation in my eyes.

The line of TKB-022 experimental assault rifles is one of most intrigying developments in small arms, made in Soviet Union. In many respects these weapons, designed during early sixties by Soviet gun designer G. A. Korobov were many years ahead of its time. Those guns were simply too advanced for conservative-thinking Soviet Army officers who preferred simple, familiar, proven and reliable Kalashnikov assault rifles over anything else. Regardless of thst, the TKB-022 is well worth mentioning, if just for the sake of curiosity.
TKB stands for Tulskoe Kosntructorskoe Buro - Tula Design Bureau, an arms-designing organisation associated with Tula arms factory (TOZ), which later evolved into the KBP - large and famous arms design and manufacturing state-owned company. Korobov was one of the more advanced designers at KBP, and he always tried to step ahead of its time. In this case, he tried to create a compact weapon, suitable for motorized troops riding in cramped armored personnel carriers (BMP, BTR) or helicopters. Despite very compact size, this weapon retained full-length barrel (and thus effective range and lethality) of much longer standard assault rifles such as Kalashnikov AKM. In fact, TKB-022 has best barrel length to overall length ratio among most military rifles ever built. During mid- to late sixties Korovov produced several variations of the TKB-022, from TKB-022PM to TKB-022PM5. The last one, the TKB-022PM5, which was produced in 1968, was chambered for then-experimental 5.6x39 ammunition (which latter evolved into 5.45x39). All weapons were tested by Soviet army, but turned down on unpublished reasons (most probably becuse the gun was simple too advanced for contemporary military thinking, but also possibly because no-one at the time could tell for sure if plastic housing would hold its integrity in extreme weather conditions or during many years of storage or use).

The TKB-022 assault rifle is gas-operated weapon with annular gas piston located around the barrel. To achieve minimum length, it is assembled into bull-pup configuration and uses vertically sliding bereech block (bolt), rather than traditional and most common bolt that cycles back and forth. Since the movement of the bolt (breechblock) in this design cannot be used to extract, eject and load cartridges, Korobov developed a special U-shaped rammer / extractor, that strips the frech cartridge from magazine, pushes it into the chamber, then, after the discharge, pulls the fired cartridge case back from the chamber. Upon feeding the next fresh cartridge, the fired case is pushed forward and slightly up, into the ejection chute above the barrel. Spent cases finally fell off the gun above the muzzle. Gun was capable of full- and semi-automatic fire, with combined safety / fire mode selector switch located above the trigger on the left side of the gun. The gun housing was made from reddish-brown plastic, with metall structure hidden inside.

Confirmed: world.guns.ru...

"vertically sliding breech block" is the key. From what I can figure out, this rifle uses a tilt locking breech block that is actuated by the gas piston, not rearward movement of a bolt carrier. If you look at the action of the FN FAL or SA VZ-58, these designs use the rearward movement of the gas piston to move the bolt carrier, which in turn unlocks the tilting breech block after a short rearward movement. The TKB-022PM probably has the sliding breech block afixed to the front trunnion and is actuated by the gas piston. That picture is wrong because the bolt never moves as shown, it probably pivots up and down. The fired cases are also pushed out above the barrel, not through the hole shown.

I doubt that this is a non-functional model, since it looks to be possible. Just because you can't figure out how it works, does not mean it does not. The action is probably similar to the FN F2000, heck, this may have been inspirational to that design.

reply to post by Cutaway

May I add that it ejects the spent cases out ABOVE the barrel.... Also, the gun is 525mm long, the barrel is 415mm long, the purpose of the mechanism Korobov made was to make an even smaller bull-pup design then had previously be achieved, giving soldiers who deal with confined quarters the ability to move with less hindrance and to still have a fully capable rifle.

Yeah popping the spent casings out where the diagram shows them in the OP's post. picture three doesn't make sense to me. wouldn't that just dump the hot brass onto somebody's belly near his oblique or on his hip or worse inside the dudes shirt or pants.