he AK-107 is a Russian 5.45 mm assault rifle developed from the AK-100-series and features a "balanced" operating system, similar to that used in the AEK-971. In this case, the designation AK does not indicate Avtomat Kalashnikova but Alexandrov/Kalashnikov. The revised designation indicates the incorporation of a new gas system, designed by Youriy Alexandrov, for Kalashnikov-pattern rifles.
These new rifles were derived from the AL-7 experimental rifle of the early 1970s. The AL-7 utilized an innovative balanced gas operating system known as the Balanced Automatics Recoil System (BARS) developed by TsNIITochMash in the 1960s that essentially eliminated felt recoil and muzzle rise. The system was modified by Alexandrov, then a junior engineer at Izhmash, and prototypes were produced under the designation AL-7. The AL-7 was considered too expensive for production at the time and the Red Army selected the AK-74 instead as the new service rifle. No further development occurred until the mid-1990s when Alexandrov, by then a senior engineer, was directed to update his design for production as a less expensive alternative to the AN-94. The new rifle differs only slightly from the original AL-7. The AK-107 receiver is not fluted and a three-round burst feature has been added. There is otherwise little difference between it and the AL-7 prototypes.
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