The AS (АС, Автомат со Смещённым импульсом отдачи, Avtomat so Smeshchonnym impul'som otdachi, lit. Assault rifle with offset recoil) is a prototype Russian assault rifle designed by Gennadiy Nikonov. The AS is known for being one of the contenders in the Abakan trials, and ultimately being the victor of said trials.
History
Designed in 1980 by Gennadiy Nikonov, then known for his work on his double-barreled handheld machine gun, the AS was submitted in 1984 along with seven other assault rifles as a contender which could potentially replace the AK-74 as a new service rifle. During the trials, the AS consistently performed extremely well; however, after more tests were performed, no weapon met all requirements set by the judging panel, even the AS, although both the AS and AO-63 met the requirement for accurate groupings. This led to Nikonov modifying his AS to become the ASM (АСМ, Автомат со Смещённым импульсом, Модернизированный, Avtomat so Smeshchonnym impul'som, Modernizirovannyy, lit. Assault rifle with offset recoil impulse, modernized) with various minor refinements here and there; the ASM also consistently performed extremely well and was eventually declared the victor of the trials. After which, the ASM would be developed into the much more famous AN-94.
Design Details
The AS was gas-operated with a rotating bolt, and some variants appeared to use what looked like the hybrid gas-recoil operation of the AN-94. Unlike the AN-94, however, the AS and its variants did not appear to have canted magazines.
Variants
The AS had many variants, all of which were functionally identical apart from aesthetic differences here and there.