Daewoo Precision Industries K1

Daewoo Precision Industries K1A
Daewoo Precision Industries K1A
	Daewoo Precision Industries K1A
Type	Submachine gun
Place of origin	Republic of Korea
Service history
In service	1981-present
Used by	See Users
Wars	Gulf War; War in Afghanistan; Iraq War
Production history
Designer	Agency for Defense Development; Daewoo Precision Industries
Designed	1977-1982
Manufacturer	Daewoo Precision Industries
Produced	1980-present
Variants	See Variants
Specifications
Mass	2.87 kg
Length	838 mm (stock extended); 653 mm (stock retracted)
Barrel length	263 mm (10.4in)
Cartridge	.223 Remington
Action	Gas-operated, rotating bolt
Rate of fire	700-900 rounds/min
Muzzle velocity	820 m/sec
Effective firing range	250 m
Feed system	Various STANAG magazines.
Sights	Iron sights

Daewoo Precision Industries K1/K1A submachine gun is the first modern firearm developed by Agency for Defense Development (ADD) and manufactured by Daewoo Precision Industries,^[2] and entered service in the Republic of Korea Armed Forces in 1981. Although K1 uses .223 Remington, it is classified as a submachine gun by the Republic of Korea Armed Forces and the current manufacturer S&T Motiv, because the K1 was intended to replace M3 submachine gun. Sometimes, either assault rifle and carbine are used to describe the K1 outside of the Republic of Korea.

Development

In 1976, the Republic of Korea Army Special Warfare Command requested a new weapon to replace the old M3 submachine gun. In the following year, ADD launched a project named XB rifle, and the project aimed at the following:

greater firepower than SMG class
light weight for easy carrying
cost effectiveness
must be indigenous for improved capacity to produce military firearms independently of other nations

The prototypes were made in 1980 and entered service in 1981. However due to the design of its flash suppressor, the K1 exhibited serious problems in service with ROK armed forces, such as:

Excessive recoil and weak stock due to increase in firepower
Excessive noise and flash
Difficulty in aiming during night operation

K1 outfitted with a foregrip and scope attached via Rail Integration System.

These shortcomings were later fixed by the development and adoption of a new flash suppressor, which has three holes in the top right quadrant to limit muzzle flip under rapid fire and reduces flash to one-third of that of the early K1. Moreover, 3-round burst mechanism was added for improved accuracy. This new version of K1 is known as the K1A and its production began in 1982. All K1 sumbmachine gun in service were subsequently modified to the K1A standard.

Differences

While K1 submachine gun is commonly regarded as a shortened version of Daewoo Precision Industries K2 assault rifle, it is actually different from K2 for the following reasons:

The development of K1 was completed earlier than that of K2.^[3]
The K1 uses the direct impingement gas system, while the K2 uses AK-47 style gas piston system.^[3]
The K1 has 1-in-12 rifling twist for .223 Remington, while the K2 has 1-in-7.3 rifling twist for 5.56x45mm NATO (FN SS109).^[3]

The carbine version of K2 named K2C was developed and shown to the public in 2012 by S&T Motiv.

Variants

XK1: Experimental prototype.
K1: First mass-produced variant. Every K1 has been modified to K1A standard.
K1A: Second mass-produced enhanced variant.
- MAX-1: Semi-automatic version of K1A for civilian market.^[4]