AK-74 AK-74 The AK-74 (Russian: or "Kalashnikov automatic rifle model 1974") is an assault rifle developed in the early 1970s by Russian designer Mikhail Kalashnikov as the replacement for the earlier AKM (itself a refined version of the AK-47). It uses a smaller 5.45×39mm cartridge, replacing the 7.62×39mm chambering of earlier Kalashnikov-pattern weapons. The rifle first saw service with Soviet forces engaged in the 1979 Afghanistan conflict. The head of the Afghan bureau of the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence claimed that the CIA paid $5,000 for the first AK-74 captured by the Mujahideen during the Soviet–Afghan War. Presently, the rifle continues to
Comparison of the AK-47 and M16 Approximately 100 million AK-47 type rifles have been made worldwide. "The AR-15/M16-series rifles are considered the finest human-engineered assault rifles in the world." The M16 is ergonomically superior to the AK-47 in most respects. It is much easier and faster to change magazines and get the M16 back into action than with the AK-47. This is due to several factors, such as perfectly located magazine release and bolt release buttons, a flared magazine well for fast magazine insertions, and the ability to simply insert the magazine into the M16 in a conventional manner, rather than the "rock and lock" method