By Oryx Blog Team
Several new developments in North Korean armaments can be witnessed amongst the recent flow of propaganda released by Pyongyang after Kim Jong-un’s ascension to power. One such development is what appears to be a new magazine model for the North Korean copy of the AK-74, the Type 88. This new magazine uses a staggered helix design, which allows for a high number of 5.45 x 39 mm cartridges to be carried without the notable increases in size and unwieldiness that characterise many other high capacity magazines.
So far the only users of this helical magazine appear to be Kim Jong-un’s (and formerly Kim Jong-il’s) personal bodyguards. While in the picture above each bodyguard appears to be carrying only one magazine (which, given their high capacity, isn’t that surprising), other, earlier, footage shows a loadout of two spare magazines for each bodyguard, as seen below. The magazines appear to have been in service since 2010, and possibly earlier.
The North Korean Type 88 is usually seen issued with standard 30 round magazines and, aside from the standard wooden or synthetic fixed stock, a side-folding or top-folding stock (pictured). Two notable distinctions differentiate the North Korean helical design from other helical magazines that have been developed. First, and perhaps most obviously, this magazines was developed for a larger, more powerful rifle calibre than existing designs. Existing helical magazines have typically been developed for pistol calibre weapons, with designs having been produced in calibres such as 7.62 x 25, 9 x 17SR (.380 ACP), 9 x 18, and 9 x 19 mm. Secondly, whereas other helical magazines have typically been developed in conjunction with the firearms intended to make use of them, the recent North Korean example was instead produced for use with an existing weapon, appearing to make use of the bayonet lug for mounting. The top-folding stock, another North Korean innovation, allows the stock to be folded with the magazine inserted, which would not be possible with typical side-folding or under-folding AK stocks. Both Russia and China have developed prototype helical magazines for AK pattern weapons, but these have not been documented in service.
The nature of the post-production design and the inherent complexity of helical magazines (when compared to a typical removable box magazines) suggest that while these magazines offer a greatly increased cartridge capacity, they may render the weapon more prone to malfunctions and misfires. It is unknown if similar magazines have been developed for other calibres, or to what extent the helical magazine has been integrated into the Korean People’s Army.
Magazine specifications
The following specifications are estimated based upon measurements extrapolated from known dimensions, as well as a comparison with existing helical magazines. They represent the author’s ‘best guess’ at present.
Calibre: 5.45 x 39 mm
Capacity: 100 to 150 cartridges
Weight: Approximately 2 kg
Length: Approximately 370 mm
Diameter: Approximately 85 mm
Top image from il Giornale. Second from an official North Korean documentary released in 2011, entitled “Succeeding the Great Work Of The Military First Revolution”.
Header image: North Korean special forces soldiers march during a military parade marking the 105th anniversary of the birth of the country’s founding father, Kim Il Sung, in Pyongyang, North Korea, on April 15 2017 (photo credit: Reuters).
The views expressed in this post are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent the views of ARES or any institutions to which the authors may be attached.
Odon Tatarek 1915 austro-hungarian monarchy,drum magazin for Artillery Luger 9×19 pistol.Robert Voros 1988 west germany,helical drum magazin for VD 9×19 pistol.
Evans Lever Action rifle.Rotari/helical magazin in the butt stock.34 pieces .44 Evans (11×35 mm RF). leverguns.com
I would have thought that modification of the original 7.62×39 75 round drum to hold 5.45×39 could have yielded 100 rounds and not been as bulky but what do I know. Those North Koreans are super smart as evidenced by their pick if leaders.
Are you kidding? The magazine is far more likely to malfunction and misfire than a regular drum magazine. The North Koreans are not super smart and their technology is decades behind us and their recent ICBM missile test exploded at launch.
Holy hell you commented on a post form 2015 that was satirical with pure autism
He was being sarcastic.
I sure he was being sarcastic
Yes, he WAS kidding.
Dumber’n a brick.
They took the design from the calico .22 caliber rifle. Im sure it doesnt malfunction all that much. Firearm mechanics are simple. Watch you tube people make their own stuff all the time and get it fine tuned. The north Korean foot soldier is the strength of their military force. My granpa said in Korea they would charge in massive numbers and often their coats were so thick that shooting them was often ineffective
Yeah, I detected a little bit of sarcasm from the fella posting how super smart nk is. This mag is for propaganda purposes . This round will be a disaster for a design that works sorta small pistol ammo
The author of this article is evidently unaware of the 1990s-vintage Russian Bizon helical magazine AK variant?
gewehr, the author says in the article helical magazine designs are used mostly with firearms chambered in a pistol calibre and the firearms were developed with that type of magazine in mind. Fits the Bizon’s description.
When’s tapco coming out with one for the American market?
With our luck the only one we get is made by Pro-Mag.
It has the look of an automotive grease gun; ugly as sin and, when full of ammo, heavy and unwieldy. It moves the weight of the ammo forward, thus altering the center of gravity. It’s only utility is full auto burst at very short range, so perhaps OK for personal security protection but nothing else. Last, I also assume it takes a lot of time and work to reload, unless they have created a special reloading tool, which a user has to than carry on their gear. All and all, it has the same look and feel as the country itself: stone age.
Right. Only pictures released shows them with modernized government bodyguard. Oooo..scawy!
Poorly trained troops with low discipline waste ammo when “spraying and praying”. Unless the troops are trained with fire discipline under pressure the deployment is self defeating and evidence of failed leadership prone to fall for unwise gimmicks to enhance troop kill ratios.
If they enhance kill ratios then they are effective,
Its one or the other.
That looks incredibly unwieldy and only good for shooting from prone or shooting at masses of unarmed civilians. In no way does that look like a tactical advantage to me. However, I am glad to see that NK is investing in something useless rather than good optics. If all the soldiers were sporting red dots or trijicon style optics, I would be more nervous. But these are spray and pray with crappy iron sights.
Calico M960
You all miss the really important information in the picture, the soldier himself. Use your imagination to see the body underneath the uniform and he is beanpole skinny and obviously malnourished from an early age. Which speaks volumes about the underlying problem the NK military faces.
Yeah, but the amount of Crystal meth and Heroin they will be on if it pops of will circumvent that low nourishment.
For some of the 14 minutes it takes the U.S. and maybe Japan to annihilate the entire starving 3rd world military.
Uhh…remember Vietnam?Those “skinny” dudes were tough!
There are significant differences among the magazines shown in the different photographs. At least two generations, possibly three. Was the design iterated to improve manufactuability or function?
Agreed. At least 2 versions of this magazine are seen above. Too bad we won’t be seeing something like this in the US. I wonder if an AR version would be worth visiting as well…set up like the 203 grenade launcher under the barrel.
I think this looks bad ass, it’s like a sawed off ak 47 with a huge magazine, this would be my weapon in a video game. with the standard 7.62 rounds, you could basically just point that thing in anywhere and anything in it’s path would die. It’s taking the worlds best rifle, and turning it into a portable machine gun, imagine being in a office, or a submarine, or some small quarters battle and you are special forces, fighting north koreas special forces. You have an mp5 and they have those sawed off ak 47s with 100 round clips. It’s big fish little fish.
I believe the Mk-27 takes the top rifle in the world slot.
While you can’t argue the reliability of a gas piston rifle, the ergonomics on the AK platform and its decedents are awful.
Vietnam for he US developed into gun envy because of the 30 mag capacity. The so called mad minute was insanely stupid.
The 30 round AK Mag in fact is a hindrance for firing from cover.
My BB gun has 200 rounds
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