A tiny stud in the middle of the rod plays an important dual-functional role.
(A) In the automatic fire both the barrel and the extension rod, oscillating, may develop a resonation harmony. To break the frequency of oscillation of the rod and thus eliminate the bounce, the stud was placed in the middle of the extension rod.
(B) The rifle is adapted to deliver fire from firing ports of APCs. In its firing position the gun is usually locked by a special mechanism. To prevent the rifle from longitudinal sliding inside the lock, the stud is used as a retainer. The gas cylinder is located inside the carrier-stock above the barrel. All firing mechanisms, gas tube with cylinder and the receiver are placed inside the stock too. The latter, to be precise, is an integrated carrier-stock in performance very similar to a lafette of a conventional artillery piece. The barrel and the receiver integrated into a firing unit, travel inside the stock. The bolt and the bolt carrier perform their reciprocating motion inside the receiver. The polyamide handguard is integrated with the top cover. At the top rear part of the stock there is a rotary asterix-type (canted wheel) diopter with peepholes located at different levels for various elevations. One of the star points of diopter has two holes to hold a luminous element, which enables an operator to conduct fire in twilight or under conditions of poor visibility. A similar device is available in the round-post-type front sight placed inside a protection frame. The front sight has a possibility for zeroing both for elevation and the windage. The muzzle brake is an original two-chambered design, which also departs from most Russian designs. Unlike earlier designs of small firearms with underbarrel bayonet mount, Abakan has a side bayonet lug on the right side of the barrel to enable a better penetration capability in a hand to hand combat. In addition, the bayonet in a horizontal position can be used to make swinging side cuts. Thanks to the location both the bayonet and an underbarrel grenade launcher could be attached at a time. As could be seen from the photos, AN-94 looks significantly different from any of the Kalashnikov designs. There are only five AK-74 components borrowed by Nikonov from a well-know rifle. These are the following:
buttstock hinge with release knob,
pistol grip,
magazine,
optic sight base located on the left side of stock and
cleaning kit.