RK 95 TP

The RK 95 TP is a 7.62 mm assault rifle of Finnish design, accepted into service with the Finnish Defence Forces in the 1990s in relatively small numbers.

Development
The rifle was developed in response to a requirement to replace existing 7.62 mm RK 62 service rifles, which was pursued in the second half of the 1980s. Between 1988-1990 the SAKO company developed the M90 prototype, which was a comprehensive modification of the RK 62. Changes to the original design included: the fire control and safety selector, whose lever was transferred to the left side of the receiver housing, the cocking handle cut-out in the bolt carrier assembly was covered with a strip of metal, the cocking handle itself was placed at an upward angle (enhancing left-handed reloading), a sliding tangent was fitted to the rear sight assembly with 150, 300 and 400 m sight adjustments and the rifle was equipped with a folding tubular metal stock with a locking latch system modeled on the one employed in the SIG SG 540 rifle. The M90 was also equipped with a multifunction muzzle device and manual gas valve, enabling the use of rifle grenades. After undergoing further testing and implementing several minor adjustments (among them, the fire control and safety selector mechanism were reverted to the previous RK 62 configuration) the rifle was introduced into service with the Finnish Army as the 7.62 RK 95 TP (Rynnäkkökivääri 95 Taittoperä, “Assault Rifle 95 Folding Stock”).

Design details
The RK 95 TP is a select-fire, gas-operated firearm with a long stroke gas piston system. The rotating bolt is locked via two locking lugs. A spring extractor is fitted inside the bolt assembly, while a fixed protrusion in the receiver housing is designed to eject spent cartridge casings. The firearm uses a hammer-type striking mechanism and a trigger group that enables semi-automatic and fully automatic firing modes. The fire selector lever, which is also the manual safety toggle, can occupy one of three positions: the top “safe” setting (the trigger and bolt carrier are both disabled mechanically), the middle setting (marked with three dot symbols) – continuous fire and the bottom setting (single dot marking) – single fire mode. The rifle feeds from curved box magazines made of an impact-resistant polymer (empty weight – 0.16 kg), with a 30-round capacity of double-stacked cartridges. These magazines are also interchangeable with standard AK magazines.

The weapon’s barrel has a multipurpose muzzle attachment, which performs the role of a muzzle brake, flash suppressor and a mounting base for launching rifle grenades. The gas block incorporates a manual gas regulator valve that isolates and disconnects the gas system in the closed position and a lug at its base – used to attach a blade bayonet (i.e. KCB-type bayonet). The barrel can be used to mount an accessory sound suppressor or blank-firing adaptor. The rifle comes with adjustable iron sights, consisting of a forward post and an L-shaped dual-aperture rear flip sight with settings for firing ranges of 150 and 300 m. The front sight, manually corrected for windage and elevation, is mounted in a semi-shrouded post on top of the gas block, and the rear sight – on the receiver top cover. For operation in low-level lighting conditions, subdued self-luminous tritium gas vials are used, installed in a separate folding post (mounted to the base of the foresight post, deployed manually) and in the rear sight assembly in a fixed notch sight (mounted forward of the aperture sight), visible after placing the rear sight in an intermediate position. Additionally the rifle can be adapted to use optical sights (i.e. a Trijicon ACOG or night vision equipment such as the Patria VV2000 sight), through the use of a receiver-mounted side-rail. A detachable cheek riser is employed when using optics.

The RK 95 TP has a tubular metal polymer-coated stock that folds to the right side and features an internal compartment used to store a cleaning rod. Both the forward handguard and pistol grip are made of a synthetic polymer. The rifle can be used with a lightweight barrel-mounted bipod or a 40 mm under-slung grenade launcher attachment. The rifle can also be fitted with a railed gas block attachment used to mount a tactical flashlight.

For maintenance the weapon is field stripped into the following components: receiver and barrel, bolt carrier, bolt, return mechanism, gas tube, receiver cover and magazine.

The RK 95 TP is chambered for the intermediate 7.62x39mm M43 cartridge.

Variants
An export variant of the rifle was also produced, modified to use the 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge with the SS109 bullet, fed from plastic 30-round curved magazines. The barrel, which has 4 right-hand grooves at a twist rate of 185 mm (1:7 in), has a muzzle velocity of 920 m/s using standard ammunition. The rifle's rear sight is calibrated for firing at 200 and 400 m. A civilian semi-automatic version with a fixed buttstock was manufactured under the name Sako M92S.