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Mikhail Kalashnikov, Creator Of World's Most Popular Assault Rifle, Has Died At 94

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It is perhaps ironic that the creator of the AK-47 assault rifle, also known as the Kalashnikov named for its creator Mikhail Kalashnikov, and of which there are between 70 and 100 million in circulation making it the world's most popular weapon, has just passed away from what is essentially old age, at 94. "It is difficult and sad to realize that Mikhail Kalashnikov is no longer with us. We have lost one of the most talented, memorable and committed patriots of Russia, who served his country throughout his life,” said the statement from the press secretary of the Udmurtia administration Viktor Chulkov.

RT reports that Kalashnikov, who had been suffering from heart-related problems in recent years, had been in intensive care in Izhevsk - where the plant that produces the eponymous rifles is located - since November 17. The official cause of death will be revealed following a mandatory autopsy.

More on Kalashnikov's passing from RT:

A public funeral will be organized by the regional administration, in consultation with surviving relatives, though no date has been named so far.


For most of his life, Kalashnikov was feted as a straightforward hero.


The self-taught peasant turned tank mechanic who never finished high school, but achieved a remarkable and lasting feat of engineering while still in his twenties.


But as the rifles, inextricably linked forever to their creator by name, were more and more commonly seen in the hands of terrorists, radicals and child soldiers, the inventor was often forced to defend himself to journalists.


He was forever asked if he regretted engineering the weapon that probably killed more than any other in the last fifty years.


"I invented it for the protection of the Motherland. I have no regrets and bear no responsibility for how politicians have used it," he told them.


On a few occasions, when in a more reflective mood, the usually forceful Kalashnikov wondered what might have been.


"I'm proud of my invention, but I'm sad that it is used by terrorists," he said once.




Indeed, at his museum in Izhevsk, where he spent most of his life working at the factory that was eventually named after him, there is an ingenious mechanical lawnmower Kalashnikov invented to more easily take care of the lawn at his country house.


It’s not what he will be remembered for.


Considering his age and circumstances, it was hardly surprising that Kalashnikov felt he could best serve his country by creating weapons.

His life story, as presented in a prepared obit by the FT:

Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov was born on 10 November 1919 into humble surroundings in western Siberia. After basic secondary schooling he became a technician on the Turkestan-Siberian railway. When the second world war came he was drafted as a tank mechanic to the front near Bryansk in the west of Russia. Within months he was injured and it was in hospital that he became obsessed by his dream.


“I decided to build a gun of my own which could stand up to the Germans. It was a bit of a crazy escapade, I suppose. I didn’t have any specialist education and I couldn’t even draw,” he said. His first designs attracted little attention, but on release from hospital he went back to his engine workshop in Siberia to try to make a prototype.


It was not long before he was on his way to Alma-Ata, the capital of Kazakhstan, with his first model in his hand. On arrival in the town, he was arrested for carrying unauthorised firearms, but the police soon released him when he told them of his dream project.


Kalashnikov went straight to the Communist party for advice and was sent to several provincial institutes. After a determined battle with the bureaucrats, he finally made it to Moscow. But the diminutive sergeant was scorned by the top brass, including generals such as Vasily Degtyaryov, the Soviet Union’s most prominent weapons designer between the wars.


Kalashnikov was so shy that he signed his sketches “MikhTim”, the first syllables of his first names. But he persevered, and by 1949 had been awarded the Stalin Prize and made a Hero of Socialist Labour. The same year he was transferred to Izhevsk to supervise production. So secretive were the testings of the rifle that photographs were forbidden and cartridge cases had to be picked up after firing. By the mid-50s the AK-47 literally, the Automatic Kalashnikov made in 1947, was standard issue to the Soviet armed forces.


It was only in the 1960s, when he became a member of the Supreme Soviet, the then parliament in Moscow, that Kalashnikov emerged from the obscurity of Izhevsk. Even in the early 1980s, however, he was ordered not to reply to a letter from an American academic for fear of inadvertently disclosing information.


In May 1990, on his first visit to the old cold war enemy, he was introduced in Washington to Eugene Stoner, designer of the M-16, the closest thing to an American equivalent of the AK-47, which was first issued to US troops in 1961. Kalashnikov’s clothes were shabby. The few dollars in his pocket had been given by his factory and by the American institute sponsoring the trip. He later recalled: “Stoner has his own aircraft I can’t even afford my own plane ticket.”


Kalashnikov’s personal life was fraught with tragedy. He met his wife Yekaterina at an army testing range near Moscow. She was a graphic artist and helped him put his designs on paper. They married in 1943 and had four children, although he saw little of them because of his work schedule. Yekaterina died in 1977 after a long illness, and his youngest daughter Natalia moved in to keep him company, only to die in a car crash six years later.


His hearing failing him, he lived alone for his final 10 years, although Yelena, another of his daughters, would visit him on Sundays to do the cleaning. His only perks were a driver and a country dacha by the lake. On his trips abroad, usually as part of a Russian delegation to an arms fair, he would always be accompanied by Yelena, who smoothed the path with her passable English.


Kalashnikov retained the title of chief designer at the Izhevsk factory that produced the AK-47 and related models, and in his later years would go to work on designs for new hunting rifles. He was an avid shooter, and with his son Viktor and a close-knit group of friends would go hunting for elk in the snow. Relaxing after a hunt in the factory’s dacha three hours outside the town, he often took to musing about his life.


His reflections were tinged with sadness that his rifle had become the tool of terrorist groups from the former Soviet republics, to Africa to Northern Ireland. “I wanted my invention to serve peace,” he once said. “I didn’t want it to make war easier. Constructors have never been given their just deserts in this country. If the politicians had worked as hard as we did, the guns would never have got into the wrong hands.”

Some visual info on the legendary gun:


Finally, a summary on the legacy of the world's most popular gun from Weapons and Warfare:

AK-46 prototype disassembled
Post-1951 production Kalashnikov AK rifle with milled receiver and bayonet attached, right side
 Kalashnikov AKMN rifle (Modernized, with Night sight mounting bracket on the left side of receiver), with muzzle compensator installed


The Long Road to the AK-47

No firearm in history has enjoyed the fame or popularity of the assault rifle known as the AK-47, or Kalashnikov. Created by a Soviet weapons designer at the dawn of the Cold War, it was mass-produced and distributed worldwide in the millions, leading to its canonization in the revolutionary Third World of the 1950s and 1960s. Indeed, far beyond its utility, the AK-47 became a Cold War icon, appearing on revolutionary flags, in songs and poems, and in televised insurgencies as proof of communist fervor and supposed martial superiority. And it continues to play a major role in warfare today, most visibly in guerrilla conflicts in Africa and the Middle East.

The AK-47 has succeeded so wildly because it is almost an ideal realization of the personal firearm: where most weapons have had to contend with tradeoffs between accuracy, lethality, speed of fire, reliability, cost of production, and ease of carrying and use, the AK-47 managed to find a sweet spot maximizing these traits. In fact, the weapon is so reliable, effective, and easy to use by untrained operators that its advent made it widely possible for just about any group, even with little money, modern technology, or formal military training, to mount significant, deadly assaults against a much larger and more advanced force — a fact that has transformed the face of warfare and created a revolutionary romance that still surrounds the weapon.

Since gunpowder is not static in power in the way that human muscle is, once fiery arms were invented in the fourteenth century, they would in theory constantly improve in a way that bows, slings, and swords could not. But in reality, centuries of technological stagnation followed the invention of the first gun: for example, the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century “Brown Bess” flintlock musket remained almost unchanged during its use by the British Empire over the course of more than a century. Early muskets and their predecessors had slow rates of fire and poor accuracy and reliability, and thus did not always ensure battlefield superiority over arrows, edged weapons, and hand-launched missiles. Benjamin Franklin famously advocated the use of bows by the cash-strapped Continental Army, arguing that they were cheaper, easier to use, and could send more arrows per minute than the musket could fire balls.

The problem was that the various qualities of a good handheld weapon were often mutually exclusive. Increased lethality, for instance, was usually attained by increasing the weight of the firearm and bullets, which often reduced reliability and mobility, and made weapons too expensive to outfit an entire army. So the development of personal firearms was often haphazard, especially during periods of general peace. Black-powder, muzzle-loading, smoothbore (unrifled) firearms were the norm for centuries. Only in the mid-nineteenth century did sophisticated metallurgy and techniques of mass production at last begin to usher in rear-loading models, cartridge ammunition, more powerful and smokeless gunpowder, rifled barrels, and interchangeable, machined parts. The result was a giant leap in the ability of soldiers to kill one another on a mass scale, as the ancient science of effective body armor was unable to keep pace. By the nineteenth century, the personal arms race was on.

The watershed years were those of the American Civil War, which created a race for more rapidly firing and lethal arms. The war that began with the use of muskets and Minié balls ended with the Henry repeating rifle, which allowed a skilled single shooter to load and fire up to twenty-eight times per minute. The war also saw the development of the Gatling machine gun, and, somewhat later, the Maxim, the first fully automatic weapon. The more advanced models of these machines could in theory spit out six hundred rounds per minute, allowing two-man teams to lay down a volume of fire greater than what was possible from a whole company of riflemen. The new machine guns proved revolutionary, especially in the colonial wars in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, in which small numbers of Westerners could trump numerically superior foes, sending a chilling message of technological superiority. The venerable traditions of the mounted lancer, the cavalryman, and the skilled swordsman slipped into decline with the advent of the machine gun.

But the early machine guns, though rapid-fire and quite lethal, were heavy and they often jammed, leaving their operators defenseless. And they were costly and difficult to move and maneuver. Nevertheless, during World War I, improved mobile Maxim, Vickers, and Colt-Browning machine guns reigned supreme across the trenches, overpowering the firing rates of bolt-action, clip-fed rifles. In response to the machine gun’s lethal tyranny on the battlefield, early twentieth-century tacticians began dreaming of an everyman’s mini-machine gun that would diffuse such killing power into the hands of millions of combatants.

The result was the generation of the so-called submachine gun, most prominently the German MP-18, the Italian Villar Perosa and Beretta Model 1918, and the American Thompson (or Tommy Gun). These weapons fired pistol cartridges, allowing for the employment of existing stocks; they were relatively light at around ten pounds; and they could in theory be shot at astounding rates of fire of well over 400 rounds per minute. Whereas World War I was defined by heavy machine guns battling each other in antipodal fashion across clearly defined fields of fire, battles of World War II were frequently fought in jungles, forests, and urban streets, in which the enemy was typically near and highly mobile. Submachine guns proved popular during this war — and spawned a number of cheaper imitations — thanks to their adaptability to a situation in which constant streams of bullets were directed at soldiers from every direction by constantly moving enemies, and enemies were more likely to be stopped by sudden, rapid fire than by precisely aimed shots from small, longer-barrel weapons.

Yet, for a variety of reasons, the new submachine guns could still not entirely replace clip-fed repeating rifles. While they delivered far more bullets per minute, their short barrels allowed only for poor accuracy and limited range. The less powerful pistol cartridges and greater recoil from near-continuous fire also meant that few submachine guns were deadly beyond two hundred yards — a potentially fatal limitation at the times when rifle sharpshooters had clear fields of fire at over a thousand yards. The constant rapid firing, together with the grime, heat, and filthy conditions of battle, made the submachine guns jam far too frequently. And another problem developed during the war that transcended the weapons’ advantage of rapid firing: heavily-laden soldiers simply could not carry enough additional bullets — often larger-caliber .30 and .45 ammunition — to take advantage of their guns’ voracious appetites.

On the other hand, repeating rifles, even when semi-automatic and equipped with enlarged clips and improved barrel and stock designs that allowed a good chance of hits at great distances, did not allow enough shots per minute for the increasingly close-order combat in which enemy soldiers might appear suddenly en masse, and in all conceivable landscapes. Their longer barrels and clumsy shoulder stocks certainly proved a hindrance during close-in fighting. Other tradeoffs arose as millions of combatants joined the Allies or Axis powers in a global war, allowing little time to ensure traditional marksmanship training for men from such widely disparate backgrounds. The advantages that could be gained from employing a more accurate, slower-firing, traditional semi-automatic rifle were often lost by the inexperience of the users. There had been design attempts during World War I to bridge these differences, the most successful of which was the American Browning Automatic Rifle. It was almost as accurate as a rifle, but with a weight of over fifteen pounds and a small magazine of just twenty rounds, riflemen often had to shoot from a prone position, with a barrel tripod and plenty of available magazines nearby.

But in the post-World War II era, a true breakthrough addressed the apparently irreconcilable advantages of submachine guns and repeating, clip-fed rifles. The brilliant compromise became known as the “assault rifle,” the most prominent of which was the Russian Mikhail Kalashnikov’s AK-47 (for automatic Kalashnikov, model 1947), which came into wide use in the early 1950s. Kalashnikov, who benefited from the designs of earlier German and Russian prototypes, seemingly at last solved the six-hundred-year-long dilemma of providing an accurate rifle that was not only capable of firing hundreds of rounds per minute, but was still deadly at ranges of 300-400 yards and beyond. And at under ten pounds, the AK-47 was easy to carry, simple to operate, and highly dependable. Moreover, by using a medium-sized bullet (the 7.62x39mm cartridge, equivalent to about .31 caliber) rather than larger .40 caliber rounds, the AK-47 achieved a deadly muzzle velocity of over 2,300 feet per second. In short, Kalashnikov seemed to have squared the circle by creating a light, cheap, rapid-firing, accurate, reliable, and lethal weapon that was neither rifle nor submachine gun. The gun proved perfect for revolutionaries in Third World countries, and the Kremlin would gleefully reward its new friends with mass deliveries of their wondrous weapon.

The sudden ubiquity of the AK-47 stunned the United States and Europe, and seemed to turn the so-called First World’s advantages in marksmanship and weapon craftsmanship on their heads. Illiterate insurgents, amply equipped with cheap AK-47s — now produced even more inexpensively by an array of Soviet satellite countries — suddenly had at their disposal more firepower than American soldiers. And what did it matter if Western riflemen were in theory better trained or shot a better calibrated and more accurate weapon, when mere teenagers in the tens of thousands could pepper Western troops with bullets?

The widespread export of the AK-47 marked yet another Sputnik-like moment in which state communism seemed to outpace Western entrepreneurialism. And just as the Soviets’ Sputnik success would set off the space race, and as there were other rivalries between the Soviet T-34 tank and its American counterparts, and between MiG-15 and F-86 jet fighters in the skies of Korea, so too was there a competition in assault rifle technology. Not until the early 1960s did the Americans accept that their old reliable M1 and its replacement M14 were woefully wrong for the new non-traditional theaters of the Cold War.

If a new American assault weapon were to follow in the Kalashnikov model, it would have to trump its Russian competitor with greater accuracy and lethality. This goal was seemingly accomplished with the M16 rifle, invented in the 1950s by the legendary arms designer Eugene Stoner. The sleek black assault rifle employed plastic and aluminum alloys to reduce the weight to two pounds less than the rival AK-47. And it used even smaller ammunition — the 5.56x45mm high-velocity bullet that was to become the standard NATO round.

The result was that, by all accounts, the M16 proved to be an exceptionally reliable and accurate assault rifle. Its smaller-caliber bullet was in some ways as lethal as the AK-47’s larger ammunition, as it had a muzzle velocity of over 3,000 feet per second, and the bullet tended to break up after penetrating flesh. The M16 also proved somewhat easier to handle and had less recoil than the AK-47. And soldiers could carry far more of the lighter-weight ammunition. The ensuing shoot-off between the two weapons in the Vietnam War was supposed to make clear the American gun’s advantages in rates of fire, accuracy, and lethality.

But just the opposite proved to be true — at least in the first four years of the M16’s wide use. Jamming was chronic, apparently due to initial design flaws in the gun, manufacturing problems with the gunpowder, and soldiers’ frequent failure to clean the weapon regularly amid the humidity and dirt of the jungle. In contrast, the AK-47 seemed nearly indestructible, in part due to its simpler construction and greater tolerances. In Vietnam, at least, the verdict favored the notion of an uncomplicated assault rifle that compensated for lost accuracy by achieving greater reliability, simplicity of use, and a larger bullet.

The AK-47 further exasperated Westerners by its cheap fabrication from stamped metals and its brilliant operation with just a few working parts. By the late 1960s, soldiers were taking apart, cleaning, and reassembling the weapon in about half the time required for the M16. Something that felt and looked so “cheap,” and that was produced by the Communist Bloc notorious for its shoddily manufactured products, surely, it seemed, could not be comparable to a rifle designed by the Americans, the British, or the Germans, with their far more distinguished firearms pedigree.

Yet the Communist Bloc continued to meet world demand with millions of AK-47s. And when the Soviet Union collapsed, its former republics and clients often sought to unload their stockpiles at discounted prices. Ironically, the United States eventually became the largest purchaser of the AK-47 in its efforts to supply poorer allies — such as some areas of the former-Yugoslavia, post-Saddam Iraq, and Afghanistan — with cheap, reliable assault rifles without its own large fingerprints on the arm sales. The result today is that some 75 million AK-47s have been produced, with most still in circulation, making it the most ubiquitous weapon in the history of firearms — dwarfing the M16’s eight million.

The debate between exponents of the AK-47 and the M16 has never been resolved, in part because both guns continued to evolve with subsequent improved models and have now both been superseded by more recent designs; in part because ideology and national chauvinism were inseparable from dispassionate analysis; and in part because the relative value of accuracy versus reliability is so subjective. In any case, NATO troops in general felt that their improved models of M16s by the 1980s had proved superior, even as some of the old problems of jamming and insufficient stopping power sometimes reappeared during the harsh conditions of sand and heat during the most recent Iraq War.

The story of the AK-47, amid the ongoing saga of rifle evolution, has in recent years spawned a number of popular books. The best is C. J. Chivers’s scholarly The Gun. Chivers takes a properly skeptical view of many of the claims by Mikhail Kalashnikov surrounding the birth of AK-47, and offers a sober and fair account of the acrimonious rivalry between the M16 and AK-47. In dispassionate fashion, Chivers concludes that few inventions of the twentieth century have done so much to kill so many through “war, terror, atrocity, and crime.” But after such a clear-headed analysis of the AK-47, he surprisingly offers the emotional hope that eventually the seasons, aging, and wear and tear will finally rid the world of this nearly indestructible menace — and with it the bestowing into the hands of untrained near-children the world over the power to kill indiscriminately and en masse. To this hope, one might rejoin that the fault is not in our stars, but in our selves.

Larry Kahaner’s book AK-47: The Weapon that Changed the Face of War is a lighter but nevertheless engaging story of the contemporary AK-47 as a cultural phenomenon. He too reminds us that many of the terrorist movements and insurgencies in Asia, Latin America, and especially Africa would have been impossible without the widespread dispersion of the AK-47, the ideal weapon for impoverished, poorly trained mercenaries. He points out that the acrimonious controversy between the AK-47 and the M16 resurfaced again forty years after Vietnam during the post-Saddam Hussein insurgency, when improved versions of both assault rifles collided in the streets of urban Iraq. And the verdict was again ambiguous, as U.S. troops still largely preferred their own weapons but developed a grudging respect for the insurgents’ “bullet hoses,” which shot streams of deadly large-caliber bullets at close ranges and seemed impervious to the sand and heat of the Iraqi landscape.

Then there is the book by Mikhail Kalashnikov himself. Now a nonagenarian, Kalashnikov was presented in 2009 with the title Hero of the Russian Federation, the country’s highest honor. With the help of his daughter Elena Joly, Kalashnikov wrote an autobiography, first published in French in 2003 and available in a 2006 English translation. Kalashnikov fought during the worst months of the German invasion of Russia; in 1941, in a failed counter-offensive, he was almost killed when his Red Army tank regiment was cut off and overwhelmed.

During a long subsequent illness and recovery, Kalashnikov’s innate gun-making talents were noticed. And so, despite his lack of formal design training, he was soon promoted to work with a team of Soviet engineers, quickly emerged as a senior designer, and was mostly responsible for the AK-47. The most fascinating chapters in Kalashnikov’s story are about the nightmare of life in Stalin’s Soviet Union, in which any achievement, commercial or intellectual, earned envy that in turn might translate into accusations of being a counter-revolutionary, would-be elite, often with deadly repercussions.

As Chivers and Kahaner point out, and as is discernible in Kalashnikov’s memoir, his relationship with his own deadly invention over the last two-thirds of a century has proved erratic. Kalashnikov is proud of his promotion to the rank of lieutenant general in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, and under Communist rule he was twice honored as a Hero of Socialist Labor. Yet even as Kalashnikov details the horrors of Stalinist Russia that resulted in his own family’s brutal exile, he concludes, “I consider Stalin as one of the great national leaders of the twentieth century, and as a great army leader.”

Kalashnikov takes great trouble to note that the AK-47 grew out of an effort to protect his homeland from a repeat of the sort of barbaric invasion that Hitler unleashed, adding that he did not profit, at least in Western style, from the sales of some 100 million weapons that bear his name (including variants on the AK-47). And yet Kalashnikov seems almost longingly to note the millions of dollars in profits that came to Eugene Stoner from his M16, even as he ostensibly prefers the public acclaim in Russia that was never accorded to Stoner in the United States. That same paradox characterizes Kalashnikov’s occasional regret that his invention became the signature weapon among terrorists and bandits — many of them now deadly enemies of Russia itself — juxtaposed with his pride in the astounding success of a supposedly defensive AK-47. Speaking at a ceremony honoring the sixtieth anniversary of the weapon, he claimed, “I sleep well. It’s the politicians who are to blame for failing to come to an agreement and resorting to violence.”

So what in the end are we to make of the AK-47, given that people ultimately kill one another and design weapons that do it so effectively? A perfect storm of events explains the gun’s lethal role in eroding civilization over the last six decades. The impoverished post-colonial world was eager for the sort of advanced weapons that had characterized a near-century of endemic warfare in the more advanced West, and the Soviet Union was eager to fan liberationist movements against the West. It took the postwar glamour of international communism, the industrial muscle of the Soviet Union, and a Russian genius with no higher education but great practical savvy to at last provide millions with such parity, meeting the requirements of a new arms lethality at very little cost. The result was the tragedy of a global assault rifle that has been crucial to self-described liberationists in furthering so often the cause of tyranny.


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Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:27 | 4271075 Colonel Klink
Colonel Klink's picture

RIP MK!  Maker of the most prolific instrument of death.

He should get the Nobel piece (sic) prize.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:40 | 4271109 hedgeless_horseman
hedgeless_horseman's picture



If you own an AK, the first mod should be a Krebs Safety Lever, so you can use your trigger finger to manipulate the safety, verus Mikhail's lever, which uses the thumb.  It will save you as much as a full second before getting off the first shot.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:40 | 4271116 Colonel Klink
Colonel Klink's picture

Thanks HH, looks like I'll be investing in a couple of those.  My biggest complaint about the AK is that cluster fuck of a mag release.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:40 | 4271124 Uncle Remus
Uncle Remus's picture

That I think Ruger copied on their minis.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:49 | 4271159 Pladizow
Pladizow's picture

If there is a heaven, I wonder how all the people that were killed by his creation, will greet him?

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:52 | 4271173 Uncle Remus
Uncle Remus's picture


Mon, 12/23/2013 - 14:11 | 4271244 Obchelli
Obchelli's picture

It's amazing how some stupid assigned CEO Like Eric Schmidt for instance who didn't create anything in his life and was just lucly to be in elite pool of CEOs pockets billions of dollars and Man who realy created something of value died essntialy in poverty... Life is not just indeed

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 15:25 | 4271466 Boris Alatovkrap
Boris Alatovkrap's picture

Kalishnikov is serve state well. He is know that when die.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 16:39 | 4271670 12ToothAssassin
12ToothAssassin's picture

Your infographic loses all credibility the moment "Clip" is used referring to magazine capacity.

Tue, 12/24/2013 - 09:24 | 4273079 N2OJoe
N2OJoe's picture

@ Colonel Klink

The mag release is pretty quick/easy once you get it down. You just smack it with the new mag which causes the old to drop out, then insert the new and rack the action.


On a side note, people always lament that "terrorists" have easy access to these weapons, yet they never mention how one mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter. If every man on earth owned one, how long do you think abusive governments would be allowed to operate as they do?

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 14:02 | 4271217 U4 eee aaa
U4 eee aaa's picture

If they were martyrs then the gun was probably their ticket in.

It's an emotional toss up I suppose

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 18:39 | 4271906 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

I'm sure John Browning met him at the pearly gates, shook his hand and welcomed him in.


Mon, 12/23/2013 - 19:54 | 4272072 TBT or not TBT
TBT or not TBT's picture

John Moses Browning. Is Eugene Stoner up there yet?

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 14:22 | 4271276 kchrisc
kchrisc's picture

"Guns don't kill people, mostly people in uniform do."

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 15:27 | 4271475 Boris Alatovkrap
Boris Alatovkrap's picture

Gun is not killing people, bullet is killing people... except when pistol whip, then maybe can blame gun. Oh, and butt or stock to back of head just above C2 is also cause paralysis and often is death.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 15:53 | 4271542 Seer
Seer's picture

What, no military training?

Nyet (mention of) Bayonet?

But, given it's weight and sturdiness the AK certainly can operate as a bat.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 15:57 | 4271559 giggler321
giggler321's picture


Interestingly, more like how'd they greet each other?  Well no heaven then.  Oh HH those are now 3d printed!

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:57 | 4271210 HelluvaEngineer
HelluvaEngineer's picture

Hit the tab with the top of your next mag.  They are steel, after all.  Practice and you can reload as fast as an AR.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 17:16 | 4271732 Citxmech
Citxmech's picture

That techniquie doesn't sound like it would be too good for the long-term health your mag's feed lips. . . 

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 18:42 | 4271908 HelluvaEngineer
HelluvaEngineer's picture

If you have an ar-15, true.  If you have an AK-47 you can roll your truck tire over the feed lips.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 18:50 | 4271926 DosZap
DosZap's picture



True, but  ever heard of PM Mags?.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 20:12 | 4272110 Citxmech
Citxmech's picture

If AK mags never had problems - you wouldn't have folks obsessing of the which ones are the "good" ones.  

FWIW - I wouldn't use my steel M14 mags to hammer on shit either. . .

Just sayin. 

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 20:22 | 4272135 Greenskeeper_Carl
Greenskeeper_Carl's picture

im sure those steel AK mags are fine, but have you ever done that with a PMAG? you can drive over them with your truck, throw them off a building, even shoot them. the feed lips hold up just fine. also, most AK mags dont have anti-tilt followers. granted, neither do the mags for mini-14s, but you can abuse those steel mags pretty much forever and they will still function

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 14:20 | 4271273 Hugh Jardon
Hugh Jardon's picture

The Ruger mini14 and mini30 are Garand copy's

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:42 | 4271125 hedgeless_horseman
hedgeless_horseman's picture



Don't ever buy one until you have inspected the gas ports to make sure you are not getting "vodka special" from the factory.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:43 | 4271130 Uncle Remus
Uncle Remus's picture

Would they be staggered then?

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:50 | 4271139 hedgeless_horseman
hedgeless_horseman's picture



Different models have different numbers of ports and patterns.  Know what the model you want is supposed to look like.  For example, Saiga 12 is supposed to have three ports in a triangle, but it is the location of the triangle, relative to the gas block, that is important.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:48 | 4271165 DoChenRollingBearing
DoChenRollingBearing's picture

Mine is the Russian-American "Saiga" (from Arsenal in Nevada).  2000 rounds through it, all kinds of ammo (inc. Russian), NEVER a problem.

I am a novice in guns.  But VERY happy with my AK.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 15:01 | 4271406 Agstacker
Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:54 | 4271184 Uncle Remus
Uncle Remus's picture

Pssst - it was a play on words.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:55 | 4271188 hedgeless_horseman
hedgeless_horseman's picture



Sorry.  I get it now.  Funny.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 14:02 | 4271219 Uncle Remus
Uncle Remus's picture

It's good info though about the gas ports. I personally don't own an AK and have no to plans to - just personal preference. Know plenty of people that do and often shoot with them at the range.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 19:38 | 4272030 Agent P
Agent P's picture

Same here. I've shot my buddies' 47s and 74s. I don't care for how the rifle feels, but I would never bash the platform, it's a damn good rifle.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 15:48 | 4271477 10mm
10mm's picture

Some came with 2 holes, some with 3. 4 is the goal. Took off block, had press do another hole. Sometime's a performance spring (lighter) will assist in light game loads and cheaper. Go to You Tube. "EDDIE GUNKS" Saiga 12 Guage. Shows step by step on port holes. Takes maybe an hour overall. Also slightly bore out remaing holes. The light recoil spring is the kicker.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:46 | 4271153 Colonel Klink
Colonel Klink's picture

Yep, heard it's more a problem with Saiga 12s versus the AK.  I was simply referring to the safety levers.  My rifles I lost in a tragic live fire boating accident cycled flawlessly.  I'm sure they still will even after being at the bottom for years, once I retrieve them.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 15:28 | 4271479 Freddie
Freddie's picture

I may need one of these to lay down supression fire in case of FSA zombies.

Youtube has a younger husband and wife from Kentucky (?) who have AK versus AR shoot offs.  In one video, the young guy just bought a new AK and was hitting smallish metal targets at 100, 150 and 300 yards!   I was suprised how accurate he was at 300 yards.  I think it was a AK 47 and not a 74.   Anyone try the two variants?

Another video, his wife is hitting small metal target at 150 yards with a 12 gauge shotgun using slugs!

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 17:20 | 4271738 Seer
Seer's picture

AK-47 vs. AR-15 (I shot M16s back in the day- had to qualify at 500 yds [open sights; my eyes were really good back then, always qualified expert]):

The guy's kind of fun.  First stumbled on to him watching this one:

He's got this video of an AK-74, and though I have no knowledge of its use, I'm thinking that it is/was an AK-47 replacement(?):

Everything is a tool.  No matter how good a tool is it can be considered useless if not applied in the right way or if applied for the wrong job at hand.

Oh, target shooting is fun and all, but getting back to the "security" aspect of it all- first things first, get a good dog!  A dog's sense of smell and its hearing is going to buy you that time to grab the real "tool," highly desireable if you like get sound sleep.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 21:02 | 4272216 Freddie
Freddie's picture

Thnaks. I watched the third one with the older guy with glasses hitting the metal plate at 260 yards with the AK-74! Wow.  I will watch 1 and 2.

Here is Brandon and his wife Kristi. Their videos appear to be pretty popular.

Romanian WASR 10 Ak 47 at 300 yards out of the box. Using cheap Wolf. Wow!

Trying to figure out if he is in Kentucky.  Looks like KY.


Tue, 12/24/2013 - 14:50 | 4273688 aerojet
aerojet's picture

They don't hold a candle to an AR at longer ranges.  The later 5.45s are more accurate.  The short sight radius is a real issue, but with an optic they are acceptable.  But even a junky AR is more accurate.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 15:18 | 4271448 10mm
10mm's picture

The Vodka special would apply more to the Saiga 12 shotgun.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:49 | 4271169 Overfed
Overfed's picture

And the lack of a bolt-hold open on the last round feature.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 14:24 | 4271285 Citxmech
Citxmech's picture

To me - that is a critical feature.  No excuse not to have one on a battle-rifle.  

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 14:55 | 4271390 chunga
chunga's picture

The Saigas have a BHO.

Some magazines do have that feature and others don't.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 15:38 | 4271502 Overfed
Overfed's picture

I don't like the feature that just uses the follower in the magazine as a bolt hold-open. It further slows reloading.

Tue, 12/24/2013 - 14:47 | 4273683 aerojet
aerojet's picture

It was made to be operated by the non-trigger hand.  You were supposed to retain the empty magazines, not let them drop.  And seriously, if you're part of a Soviet infantry platoon, are fast reloads really that important?  You have someone else firing all the time, plus you have other men with PKMs and RPGs.  

Fri, 01/03/2014 - 11:54 | 4296577 fallout11
fallout11's picture

Exactly opposite, in fact.
Soviet/Russian manual of arms training has one supporting the weapon with the left hand on the foregrip and the buttstock on the shoulder. Right hand releases the pistol grip, grasps the magazine and magazine release simultaneously (same grip positioning), release in the web of the hand, squeeze and rock forward, and drop on the ground as the hand drops to the magazine pouch. Then, using the same (most dexterous) hand (Russians are mostly right handed), grab a filled magazine (stored bottom end up on the right hand side), turn the hand over as it moves, insert front end first and rock and lock into place. Right hand continues rearward motion, racks the bolt carrier and returns to the grip/trigger, sight picture never moves off target, and possible to do so while prone or in a foxhole/scrape. The left hand never moves, eyes never come off the target. It is smooth and fast once you get used to it.  Takes 2 seconds for even the most lowly conscript.There are youtube videos of Russian instructors showing how it is done and they are blindlingly fast both with the reload and safety manipulation. This is, incidentally, exactly the same as the US M14 as shown in the USGI field manual.

Original stamped steel magazines were cheap to manufacture in vast quantities and made well enough that can have a truck driven over them and still work flawlessly, which is why there are still so many of them on the market ~35 years after they were replaced with metal reinforced bakelite magazines. No worries about bent feed lips from dropping or damage, and unlike stamped aluminum STANAG magazines with weak springs that were originally intended for 'one-use-only' (throwaway) and could be used again and again for decades.
Dispensation of spent magazines was a non-priority (unlike in Western forces where quartermaster accountability and bean counting reign supreme, and where the "dump pouch" has been semi-standard equipment for 10+ years), when seconds count in a life or death firefight ****ing around with a $2 empty magazine is beyond stupid, even for the penny-pinching Soviets. To paraphrase a Russian Serzhant: 'If you win the fight, pick them up afterwards. If you lose the fight, you don't care where they end up.'  As a result you still do not see Russian troops with dump pouches.

Mon, 12/30/2013 - 14:18 | 4285803 fallout11
fallout11's picture

The M-14/M1A both used a near-identical magazine release system years later. Nothing wrong with the design, just not what you are accustomed to.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:51 | 4271168 Headbanger
Headbanger's picture

This sad news for me.  But I'm glad he lived a very long and productive life.

The AK-47 is a marvelous design for its time but a pain to clean!

I own one but prefer shooting my VZ-58 as it is so much easier to clean.

Like my SKS and Mosin 91/30 too.

And for you haters of this man for designing the AK-47,  you might as well hate the Wright brothers and Mr Boeing and Mr Nobel and Ogg, the inventor of the rock some 10 million yeas ago!

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 14:30 | 4271263 Dr. Engali
Dr. Engali's picture

It's rumored that UGh really invented the rock and Ogg got rich after he stole the patent. Ogg was burned  later when invested his ill-gotten oyster shells in a start up company that claimed they could make fire.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 14:47 | 4271364 Headbanger
Headbanger's picture

LMAO!   Thanks!

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 15:25 | 4271458 daemon
daemon's picture

"The AK-47 is a marvelous design for its time ...

And for you haters of this man for designing the AK-47 ...  "

Apparently, he was inspired by this (among others) :

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 16:18 | 4271609 SWRichmond
SWRichmond's picture

If one understands the history and development of the STG44 then they understand the impetus for the development of the AK47 and its cartridge.

The short version: infantry-only engagements are not generally fought at mid- to long ranges, they are fought within 300 yards.  Automatic fire is greatly helpful in making defenders keep their heads down (thus not firing back) during an infantry assault, where the attackers are running (mostly incapable of accurate aimed fire) and exposed to accurate aimed fire from defenders, who are not moving, often prone, and firing from prepared positions.  Giving each infantryman an automatic weapon makes it more possible for the attackers to provide their own suppressing fire, hence the term "assault rifle".

The Germans, of course, pioneered the concept, and developed the 7.92 Kurz ("short") cartridge for the excellent STG44.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 17:28 | 4271763 Seer
Seer's picture

Very good!

It's one reason why smaller ammo (such as the 5.56mm) gained traction.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 14:38 | 4271342 Hulk
Hulk's picture

Safety Levers ??? We don't need no stinkin safety levers !!!

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 15:29 | 4271476 Nehweh Gahnin
Mon, 12/23/2013 - 17:49 | 4271804 Buckaroo Banzai
Buckaroo Banzai's picture

Eez gun. Eez not syupposed to be, how you say, "safe".

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 16:42 | 4271621 DaddyO
DaddyO's picture


Krebs not only makes a fine AK-47,and 74, he also builds some of the worlds finest 1911 Race Guns. I shoot with Mark every March at a private event and he always brings something fun. This past March, he brought a PKM and we proceeded to cut a KIA Sophia in half, what fun. Wolf Ammo supplied as much as we could shoot in the 7.62x54R caliber. It didn't seem like a chore at all to load the chains to feed the PKM.

Anyway, if anyone is interested in a Krebs AK, you won't go wrong and will end up with a gun that is worthy of many years of pure joy and accurate as hell to boot.


Mon, 12/23/2013 - 18:06 | 4271838 Loucleve
Loucleve's picture

I notice how the article failed to mention that the AK-47 was virtually a copy of the first true assault rifle, the German Sturmgewehr 44.

The StG 44 (Sturmgewehr 44, literally "storm [or assault] rifle [model of 19]44") was an assault rifle developed in Nazi Germany during World War II that was the first of its kind to see major deployment and is considered by many historians to be the first modern assault rifle

Picture here, virtually identical:

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:46 | 4271154 2bit Hoarder
2bit Hoarder's picture

It is his invention that is in my safe ... always ready and reliable in case my family should need defended from those who might wish us harm.  Men always have and always will find a way to kill each other ... such is human nature.  To blame the tool used for the evil that some men have done is asinine ... they would have simply used a different one should the AK never have been invented.  RIP MK

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:59 | 4271206 zerozulu
zerozulu's picture

Flag is flying half mast in Afghanistan.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 15:51 | 4271541 10mm
10mm's picture

Flag flying half mast over the gun safe.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 16:37 | 4271668 DaddyO
DaddyO's picture




Mon, 12/23/2013 - 15:01 | 4271402 MachoMan
MachoMan's picture


Say what?  I guess I have a different definition of ready...

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 17:28 | 4271761 Tijuana Donkey Show
Tijuana Donkey Show's picture

Small children in the house....

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 17:31 | 4271768 Seer
Seer's picture

He didn't use any profanity!

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 23:48 | 4272553 Tijuana Donkey Show
Tijuana Donkey Show's picture

Small kids=lockout. Can't stay that ready with guns with kids around. 

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:59 | 4271213 Pooper Popper
Pooper Popper's picture

Hey Boris,do you know where we can send flowers?

Your the man M.K.

You can shoot all day,take it down to the river,wash it out,and keep shooting!


Now thats ART!

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 14:54 | 4271386 Headbanger
Headbanger's picture

Better yet.. You can shoot a Mosin 91/30 all day, use it as an oar to paddle up the river, dive in with it to shoot the  fish  then bash down some trees for fire wood at the camp site!

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 15:43 | 4271527 Montecarlo
Mon, 12/23/2013 - 17:13 | 4271730 Jumbotron
Jumbotron's picture

Still the choice of American serviceman worldwide when their weapons jam and they need to pick one up off the ground and know they will fire.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:30 | 4271079 Satan
Satan's picture

A fine engineer.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:31 | 4271095 Colonel Klink
Colonel Klink's picture

A high compliment coming from Satan.  Who's been kept full with fresh souls since the AK was created!

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:33 | 4271099 Ignatius
Ignatius's picture

If you're gonna create and build a Kalashnikov might as well have a guy named Kalashnikov design it.


/sarc  (is this necessary?)

Fri, 01/03/2014 - 11:55 | 4296604 akak
akak's picture

I've never been able to figure out why, if both the gun and the inventor are named "Kalashnikov", why does everyone (at least in the USA) call it the "Kalishnakov"?

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 18:46 | 4271921 DosZap
DosZap's picture

Great man, basically he saved the SU from the Nazi's, along with the winter attacks(dumb Nazi's).

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:29 | 4271086 roadhazard
roadhazard's picture

Hell of a product.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:37 | 4271108 Ignatius
Ignatius's picture

From the picture above it looks like he got the short end of the royalties.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:47 | 4271143 Uncle Remus
Uncle Remus's picture

But he has on his best May-Day-go-to-Politboro duds though.


Besides, in Russia, don't royalties keep you? Oh wait, that was before 1917.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 14:05 | 4271235 ZeroPoint
ZeroPoint's picture

Well of course. The design he invented, he perfected, belongs the people of the Soviet Union. No private property!


Mon, 12/23/2013 - 14:58 | 4271400 Headbanger
Headbanger's picture

But hey, he lived to be NINETY FOUR!  So he must have ate and drank well.  And he probably had a nice quiet country life with his dog and a small farm maybe. 

And to be so beloved and regarded by his country and its people is a good life !

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:32 | 4271090 FieldingMellish
FieldingMellish's picture




Conflict was, and always will be, a failure of politics (usually intentionally).

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:39 | 4271122 Overfed
Overfed's picture

Failure of politics? I hardly think so. Conflict is usually the goal of politics, so long as it serves to empower and enrich the masters (big banks).

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 14:15 | 4271262 SgtShaftoe
SgtShaftoe's picture

"War is politics carried out through other means" - Claustwitz

Tue, 12/24/2013 - 03:31 | 4272873 Freddie
Freddie's picture

European Bankster Families.  Oh let's see - somebody's servers are in Switzerland where the Bank of International Settlements is which is the big kahuna.  I wonder if I will get banned.

Tue, 12/24/2013 - 14:55 | 4273692 aerojet
aerojet's picture

Maxim said the same thing.  It's all bullshit.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:34 | 4271094 JustObserving
JustObserving's picture

Far more people have been killed or enslaved by economic weapons of mass destruction, Mikhail Kalashnikov.  So no need to feel bad about your weapon.  RIP.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:45 | 4271141 DoChenRollingBearing
DoChenRollingBearing's picture



+ 1

I hope that my AK-47 is NEVER used in anger.  For defensive purposes on vs. burglrs or future .gov thugs.

A great book, in large part about the AK is The Gun, by Chivers (I forget author's first name), published about 2012.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 15:01 | 4271409 MachoMan
MachoMan's picture

For defensive purposes, I'd worry about over penetration...  I'd be for damn sure you're not blasting through your sheetrock and siding into the neighbors' houses or apartments (or through the walls in your own house)...  they probably wouldn't take too kindly.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 15:31 | 4271481 DoChenRollingBearing
DoChenRollingBearing's picture

Good point.  9mm for inside.

AK for outside.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 16:03 | 4271568 MachoMan
MachoMan's picture

If you're defending your house, then I would strongly suggest against outside...  Further, don't forget about shotguns.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 16:24 | 4271622 SWRichmond
SWRichmond's picture

If I'm ever defending my house it will not be from inside it.  My immediate response to the attack will be from inside it, if I'm already inside, but thereafter we are taking it outside.  Fixed fortifications are a monument to the stupidity of man.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 16:42 | 4271676 MachoMan
MachoMan's picture

Let me know how the prosecution goes when you're chasing the burglar down the street firing at him...

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 17:05 | 4271708 SWRichmond
SWRichmond's picture

I promise you that is not what I mean.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 17:04 | 4271707 DanDaley
DanDaley's picture

Fixed fortifications are a monument to the stupidity of man. George Smith Patton

Tue, 12/24/2013 - 15:53 | 4273801 aerojet
aerojet's picture

I don't think you can use military doctrine as a home defense strategy.  Patton was probably talking about the Maginot Line, not a suburban home.  How often does this really come up for you people, anyways?  I do not sit around thinking about how to defend my house from...whom?  The FSA?  What scenario are you talking about here?

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 17:48 | 4271802 Seer
Seer's picture

Ever see how well a shotgun can penetrate something?

My wife is small.  Recoil for her IS an issue.  As the above video demonstrates, a shotgun isn't as indescrimminate as some would think: you DO have to be accurate.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 18:39 | 4271893 SgtShaftoe
SgtShaftoe's picture

Shotguns are for little birdies, riot rounds and door breaching.  I don't have much use for them beyond that. 

Tue, 12/24/2013 - 03:48 | 4272884 Freddie
Freddie's picture

Here is Kristi hitting a target at 150 yeards with a Remington 870 using slugs.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 16:25 | 4271626 SgtShaftoe
SgtShaftoe's picture

Actually, a 223 has  better penetration performance than 9mm because of the low mass (45 grain available for urban).  9mm is screaming fast for a pistol round, and there's a lot of mass (120 gr or so).  That's why a bunch of the cheap and soft body armor will stop 45ACP, 22LR, but not 9mm.    Remember your 4 rules of safety, notably this one:


"Be sure of your target and everything behind it."

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 17:56 | 4271811 Seer
Seer's picture

There's penetration and then what happens after that initial penetration.  A 5.56 (.223+) is VERY effective at killing humans: if there's a human attacking you it's a very useful tool.  If you need to penetrate a vehicle that's attacking you, well, yes, there's stuff that's effective.

I've got .45 and .50 muzzleloaders.  If the lead doesn't get 'em the smoke will! :-) (muzzleloaders are REAL men's rifles because there's no firing of warning shots- you have to make it count [not applicable to my .45 revolver])

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 18:20 | 4271857 Manipuflation
Manipuflation's picture

Smokepoles!  I hate cleaning them though.

Tue, 12/24/2013 - 00:58 | 4272702 MachoMan
MachoMan's picture

one of my christmas gifts is the conversion of my model 700ml into smokeless + a custom barrel...  get the factory trigger down in the 2 lbs range and call it a day...  will do ~3" 3 shot groups @ 500 yards...  unbelievable...  which is why it's hard to get a 700 ml atm.

I bought some slugs to shoot out of a smooth bore 12 guage just so I don't have to ever use the damn muzzleloader again...  you hunt for a day and then get to clean the damn thing for a day...  I'll go smokeless and pass on the hard cleaning.

Tue, 12/24/2013 - 03:49 | 4272886 Freddie
Freddie's picture

Vehicle penetration - AK versus AR:  Brandon and Kristi

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 17:10 | 4271717 DanDaley
DanDaley's picture

Absolutely.  I lived next to a couple of young yahoos 25 years ago who let off a .357 round by accident, which round went through the outside wall of their house, the outside wall of my house, 3 more interior walls and kept on going up through the roof.  Yes, overpenetration, at least with firearms, is a screaming bitch.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 18:00 | 4271823 Manipuflation
Manipuflation's picture

Mossberg model 590 w/bayonet and pistol grip for inside.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 15:23 | 4271465 Zymurguy
Zymurguy's picture

Far more have been killed by the abortion doctor with his horrific set of tools... don't see much mention of those inventors do we?

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:34 | 4271096 Dr. Engali
Dr. Engali's picture

He created on hell of a gun. It should be included in every personal collection.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 15:32 | 4271148 DoChenRollingBearing
DoChenRollingBearing's picture

Yes, it is in my collection of just two guns.  The AK is easy to maintain and learn for beginners.  Reliable.  Highly recommended.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 14:34 | 4271313 zerozulu
zerozulu's picture

Yes. Second amendment is translated in other languages as AK.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 15:05 | 4271413 MachoMan
MachoMan's picture

Absolutely...  AK 101 + bulgarian waffle mags...  optics are a pain to get right, but it can be done.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 15:39 | 4271500 DoChenRollingBearing
DoChenRollingBearing's picture

The Bulgarian magazines were recommended for me as well (Russian-American Saiga).  I have 10.  Supposed to be the best.  Never a problem.

I decided NOT to put a scope on my AK.  That will be for my "next gun", probably a .308.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 16:05 | 4271577 MachoMan
MachoMan's picture

A scope proper is something best left to a different firearm...  however, a red dot/holo sight beats the hell out of irons in plenty of situations...  you just have a helluva time getting it properly situated on the gun and it ain't going to be cheap, which is the hallmark of the AK...  of course, the more shit you add to your gun (mall ninja), the more stuff there is to malfunction...  thereby defeating the purpose of the AK.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 17:58 | 4271819 Seer
Seer's picture

AR-15 with an Aimpoint PRO.  Just follow the dancing dot, dear (wife)...

I like to look more John Wayne-ish but packing a huge fucking .45 blackpower revolver while driving my tractor and looking for "bad guys."  A frontloader gives me some cover... and when they're out of ammo I can whack them or pin them with it.  This assume the dog isn't around... or the wife hasn't resolved things from the front porch...

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 16:36 | 4271661 chunga
chunga's picture

The Circle-10's are great but won't work in a Saiga without a bullet ramp.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:35 | 4271098 autofixer
autofixer's picture

R.I.P. Mikail Kalashnikov, wherever you are!

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:33 | 4271100 A Lunatic
A Lunatic's picture

Think of it more like a Liberty management tool rather than an assault rifle.......

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:39 | 4271120 Uncle Remus
Uncle Remus's picture

"Liberty management and liberty management accessories."

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:44 | 4271136 A Lunatic
A Lunatic's picture

There's nothing better than 400 yards of personal space.........

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 14:07 | 4271237 Uncle Remus
Uncle Remus's picture

And don't forget the Z axis. Bastards are pernicious with their fucking drones.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:45 | 4271103 Overfed
Overfed's picture

The AKM is gas operated, not blowback per the little infographic. And Victor D. Hanson really doesn't know shit about guns or warfare.

BTW, the AK was largely the product of the mind of Hugo Schmeisser, with some input from Kalashnikov. But there was no way the Russians were gonna name it the Schmeisser.

All of that said, it's a fine weapon and just about everybody should probably get one soon with a a couple thousand rounds of ammo to go with it.

 RIP Mikhail.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 14:27 | 4271293 Citxmech
Citxmech's picture

Yeah - take one look at the Sturmgewehr 44 and you can see where the AK came from. 

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 14:34 | 4271315 agent default
agent default's picture

The Sturmgewehr 44 and the AK have nothing in common internally. They just look similar but the are completely different weapons.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 14:42 | 4271348 Overfed
Overfed's picture

Indeed. But few people are aware that there was a great deal of engineering input on the AK platform from the engineer who designed the world's first successful assault rifle.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 16:48 | 4271680 Citxmech
Citxmech's picture

Next you're going to tell me that MK never looked at the John Browning-designed Remington Model 8. . .

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:37 | 4271105 docmac324
docmac324's picture

Two things you will find ANYWHERE on the globe, AK-47s and Toyota pickup trucks.  Not the most accurate, but will fire in any condition, period.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:57 | 4271194 Hongcha
Hongcha's picture

docmac324; and Marlboro Reds.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 16:36 | 4271655 post turtle saver
post turtle saver's picture

... and Camels unfiltered

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 14:11 | 4271243 Uncle Remus
Uncle Remus's picture

."Not the most accurate, but will fire in any condition, period"

You are talking about the AK-47 right?

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:38 | 4271106 smartstrike
smartstrike's picture

Regretfully it was not AK-41, it came too late to help defeat the Germanic gomers and scum collaborators.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:40 | 4271115 savedbyfreethought
savedbyfreethought's picture

Stg 44 is the first and also the greatest.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:45 | 4271149 Overfed
Overfed's picture

Hugo Schmeisser designed the Stg-44. At the end of WWII, he was captured by the Soviets and sent to-guess where? Izhvesk. Coincidentally, he ended up working on the AK with Mikhail.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:57 | 4271207 SgtShaftoe
SgtShaftoe's picture

You're absolutely correct.  Aparently, comrade Stalin's propoganda is still very effective. 

Tue, 12/24/2013 - 08:09 | 4273030 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

Behind every exceptional firearm design is a German or Mr Browning.

Tue, 12/24/2013 - 08:30 | 4273040 overmedicatedun...
overmedicatedundersexed's picture

somehow the rich and elite who rule the west never get the business end of these weapons, I think too much time is wasted on old tech. now flying  a multiton mach .5 weapon into major buildings was a start, but they only took out the poor ave joe, seems the truly powerful never get to bleed. we really need something more than mr smiths equilizer.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 14:12 | 4271250 zuuma
zuuma's picture


Mr. K didn't invent the modern "Assult Rifle". At all.

He DID refine what the Nazis invented into an more easily (and cheaply) manufactured version.

Ahhhh... progress.

Russians in WWII carried PPsh subs. They look like Lil' Tommy guns and shot .32 pistol ammo. Prolly give you a good bruise beyond 200m. They were very impressed by the STg44s dropped by dead NAZIs.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 16:38 | 4271662 post turtle saver
Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:43 | 4271129 Fred C Dobbs
Fred C Dobbs's picture

Go buy several NOW to protect yourself from whatever gorvernment you have nearby.   Everyone.  





Tue, 12/24/2013 - 08:09 | 4273029 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture


Everyone should keep buying MOAR, every chance you get.

Psychologically, the goal is to make "them" too scared to come after us. If we have a huge enough number of guns, more and more, nobody will want to mess with such a hornet's nest. Best to leave them folks alone.

I think each family should have a minimum of 50 firearms as a start.

And no, I am not being sarcastic.

Tue, 12/24/2013 - 15:58 | 4273818 aerojet
aerojet's picture

I dunno.  I just got done reading an article about how the CIA and the Colombian military used Paveway II smart bomb kits attached to 500lb. bombs to take out FARC leaders.  It was tremendously effective.  The US fields drones wtih Hellfires made for anti-personnel duty.  It would be a rough go for sure.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:43 | 4271133 seek
seek's picture


I'll take a wild guess that the author of this tripe isn't a fan of the 2nd amendment.

R.I.P. Mikhail, I'll raise a glass to you tonight.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 15:42 | 4271514 DoChenRollingBearing
DoChenRollingBearing's picture

+ (7.62 * 39)

Tue, 12/24/2013 - 16:01 | 4273827 aerojet
aerojet's picture

You don't have to be against individual gun rights to say the truth.  The proliferation of AKs after the fall of the USSR has led to much suffering and misery.  I would still rather have everyone armed than unarmed, but the balance of power has never worked out that way in Africa, Centra and South American, etc.  The US government is the world's largest arms dealer, so despite the widespread availability of AK pattern rifles, Americans have probably caused far more suffering in many ways.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:46 | 4271144 Make_Mine_A_Double
Make_Mine_A_Double's picture

Straight up ripoff from the Sturmgewehr-44. Same for the Russian RPG. Simply a modified Panzerfaust.

However, the AK 47 did have considerable improvements and certainly in terms of iconic products rates up there with the Volkswagen and Iphone.

The old Russian makes are beautiful. Nice heft, perfectedly weighted and virtually indestructable. Decades ago first time I ever fired one I was putting rounds on target after 3 shots.

But full auto all you do is scare the surrounding wildlife. That said it is one hell of a weapon for a smooth bore.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:54 | 4271185 SgtShaftoe
SgtShaftoe's picture

exactly.  I like the smooth bore comment.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:47 | 4271147 Ranger_Will
Ranger_Will's picture

Goddamn it Tyler, it is not an "assault rifle!" Haven't your heard the DHS calls them "personal defense rifles" now for their operatives.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:47 | 4271155 Overfed
Overfed's picture

"Patrol Rifles" for officer Friendly out on the beat.

Tue, 12/24/2013 - 08:01 | 4273023 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

Yep. Back in the day when I was Guard and LE, we had "Patrol Rifle" training every year. It was the only time we got issued enough ammo to use full-auto. The last two times I qualified, with the M4 and M9, they had a electronic range. It used air pressure to simulate firing and recoil. I thought it sucked, but it was better than nothing at all.

All the agencies where I live pretty much use Glocks. Everyone could go to the Police Supply place in the state capital and get a Glock for 20$ over cost. I got a 22, dropped in a Wolf 40/9 match barrel, added a steel recoil rod and dropped the trigger to 3.5# and got some 9mm mags which fit the 22 frame. It is still my Service Weapon, but I usually carry an airlight .38 with Hornady +P loads.

I am not in love with Glocks, but that pistol is on-target at 15-20 yards. If you use the Hornady or Winchester Defense Loads, the 9mm is still pretty devastating. Plus, you have moar rounds.

I can still yank the Wolf, drop in the factory-forty, swap mags and I'm ready to go.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:54 | 4271191 Dr. Engali
Dr. Engali's picture

The guns are called "assult rifles" if they are semi-auto and we own them. They are called "personal defense rifles" if they are full auto and .gov owns them.

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 18:02 | 4271826 Seer
Seer's picture

I see what you did there!

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 13:48 | 4271162 Phillycheesesteak
Phillycheesesteak's picture

Stamped metal piece of junk. The only reason it's so popular is because it's cheap to make. And the design was stolen from the German STG 44 anyway.
