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The PKM is a machine gun of Soviet origin. It was developed in the early 1960's by Mikhail Kalashnikov to replace several older machine guns in Soviet service. The name PKM stands for Pulemyot Kalashnikova Modernizirovannyy, which is Russian for Kalashnikov Machine-gun Modernized. Due to its reliability, firepower and limited weight it became a very successful design and over 1 million copies have been produced.
The PKM is based on the Kalashnikov mechanism and features many elements of older machine gun designs. It is a gas operated weapon using a long stroke gas piston, rotating bolt and fires from the open bolt position. The PKM is belt fed and the non-disintegrating link belt is usually carried in a metal box attached to the weapon. The barrel can be changed, but is not of a quick detachable design. Some PK are fitted with optics or night vision sighs, although this is uncommon. Besides the infantry version there are variants for tripod, pintle mount and coaxial use.
The PKM fires the 7.62x54mm Russian round from belts of 100, 200 or 250 rounds. The PK fires only fully automatic at a cyclic rate of fire of about 650 rpm. The practical rate of fire is claimed as 250 rpm. The effective range is about 500 meters against point targets and 800 meters against area targets. When fitted on a tripod or vehicle the maximum range is extended to over 1 km.