The RPK (Russian: Ручной пулемёт Калашникова/РПК, romanized: Ruchnoy Pulemyot Kalashnikova, English: "Kalashnikov's hand-held machine gun"), sometimes inaccurately termed the RPK-47, is a Soviet 7.62×39mm light machine gun that was developed by Mikhail Kalashnikov in the early 1960s, in parallel with the AKM assault rifle.

It was created to standardize the small arms inventory of the Soviet Army, where it replaced the 7.62×39mm RPD machine gun.

It has a similar design layout to the Kalashnikov series of rifles, with modifications to increase the RPK's effective range and accuracy, enhance its sustained fire capability, and strengthen the receiver.

It is fitted with a new front sight base, and the gas block lacks both a bayonet lug and an under-barrel cleaning rod guide.

The rear sight leaf also features a windage adjustment knob unique to the RPK series of rifles.

The RPK light machine gun chambered in 7.62×39mm cartridge, is essentially a Russian equivalent to a squad automatic weapon.

It uses a trunnion riveted to both receiver walls that has a socket and tang, allowing the stock to hinge on a pivot pin.

In line with the AK-74M assault rifle variant, the RPK-74M lower handguard, gas tube cover, pistol grip, and new synthetic stock are made from a black, glass-filled polyamide.

It also includes most of the 74M economic changes, such as the dimpled on barrel hardware, omission of lightening cuts from the front sight block and piston and stamped gas tube release lever.

[12] The RPK-16 light machine gun (the number 16 indicates the year 2016, when the development first started) is Kalashnikov's response to the "Tokar-2" program, where it competed against Degtyaryov's submission.

Such as a Picatinny rail on the top of the receiver for mounting various optical sights and on the bottom of the handguard to mount the Picatinny rail mounted detachable bipod instead of the fixed bipod of the RPK-74, an ergonomic pistol grip and a folding buttstock, and two main barrel lengths; a 550 mm (21.7 in) long barrel (when it is applied or configured for the light machine gun role) and a 370 mm (14.6 in) short barrel (when it is applied or configured for the assault rifle role).

[14] Its design enables it to have an interchangeable barrels that can easily be removed, and the ability to quickly attach a detachable suppressor.

It has a combat weight of 6 kg (13.23 lb), a full-length of 1,076 mm (42.4 in), a cyclic rate of fire of 700 rounds per minute, an accuracy range of 800 m (870 yd).

[15] After receiving feedback on the performance of the weapon, the Kalashnikov Concern has begun development on the RPL-20 (20 indicating 2020) belt-fed light machine gun also chambered in 5.45×39mm and with a very similar rate of fire.

A series of semi-automatic rifles and shotguns based on the heavy RPK receiver are manufactured by the Molot factory in Vyatskiye Polyany, Russia.

Vepr rifles do not include a bayonet lug, integrated cleaning rods or tool kits, can not accept standard AK magazines, and have wooden thumb-hole stocks.

Early generations of the Vepr rifle were manufactured with slant-back receivers, making them incompatible with most AK furniture sets without a converter.

Due to this rapid change between designs, it is not uncommon to find some second generation Vepr rifles with rough, incomplete stocks that have not been sanded or painted.