Type 58 assault rifle Type 58 assault rifle The Type 58 is an assault rifle made in North Korea derived from the Soviet AK-47 designed by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It uses a 7.62×39mm cartridge. It is the longest version of the rifle at 890 mm, while the AK-47 is 870 mm. After the Korean War (1950–1953), North Korea was allied with the Soviet Union and continued to receive military support from them. President Kim Il-sung ordered the fabrication of the Type 58. The gun was used in the Vietnam War, along with the AK-47, AKM and China's Type 56 by Vietcong and North Vietnam Army
AK-47 of the USSR. The Soviets were impressed with the weapon and immediately set about developing an intermediate caliber fully automatic rifle of their own, to replace the PPSh-41 submachine guns and outdated Mosin–Nagant bolt-action rifles that armed most of the Soviet Army. The Soviets soon developed the 7.62×39mm M43 cartridge, the semi-automatic SKS carbine and the RPD light machine gun. Shortly after World War II, the Soviets developed the AK-47 assault rifle, which would quickly replace the SKS in Soviet service. Introduced in 1959, the AKM is a lighter stamped steel version and the most ubiquitous variant of the entire