the barrels, with the spent cartridges being ejected from both sides. The barrels move back and forth the full length of the cartridge. The double-barreled design, in combination with the shortest possible stroke, allows for a high rate of fire at more than 3,000 rounds per minute. The prototype is now located the M.T. Kalashnikov museum in Izhevsk. Personal life He was married and had two sons, Nikolay and Yuri. Tatiana, Nikonov's wife, works as an arms designer in the same bureau. References "Эйнштейн, Чехов и Платон?!", Ружьё. Российский оружейный журнал. 1998/1, page 64 "У Истоков «Абакана»", Ружьё. Оружие и амуниция, 1998/1, pp. 6–8 Nowa Technika Wojskowa 2002-03/04. http://www.kalashnikov.ru/upload/medialibrary/b8c/15.pdf http://www.kalashnikov.ru/upload/medialibrary/110/042_046.pdf http://alibudm.narod.ru/pis/pisuch.html 1950 births 2003 deaths Russian inventors Firearm designers Soviet engineers 20th-century Russian engineers People from Izhevsk Soviet inventors