Gold-plated AK

An AK with a gold-plated receiver, held by a man with dreadlocks and a phone in his other hand. The most ostentatious weapon in the official material.

The frame is a close-up. The receiver, the dust cover and the gas tube are all finished in gold, the curved magazine is dark, and the furniture is wood-coloured. The pattern is unmistakably Kalashnikov: the curved magazine, the angled gas block, the safety lever on the right side of the receiver.

It is held at rest, muzzle up, by a man in a bandana with gold teeth and heavy chains. His other hand holds a phone. Nothing about the framing suggests it is about to be used.

Gold weapons have shown up in the series before as reward items and as status props. Which of the two this is, the frame does not say — but the staging, one gold weapon and one phone, reads as display rather than combat.

How to recognise it

• Kalashnikov pattern: curved magazine, angled gas block, right-side safety lever
• Gold-plated receiver, dust cover and gas tube
• Wood-coloured furniture against the gold
• Held muzzle-up, at rest, with a phone in the other hand

The frame it comes from

The frame is a still from the official Press pack, which carries no timecode. It is 3840 by 2160, and the vehicle occupies 1766 by 1685 of it. Also in it: Vice City.

What we still do not know

• Whether the gold finish is cosmetic or marks a distinct weapon
• Who the man holding it is — he is not one of the eight named characters
• Whether AK-pattern rifles are common in the world or reserved for particular groups
• Its in-game name