A big post for an important gun.

The Germans were the first to make an intermediate weapon between a small caliber sub-machine gun and a powerful long range rifle. During WWII, the Germans realized that most gun fights were taking place over short distances (like one or two football fields). Rifle ammunition was too heavy and powerful for nothing. Unless you’re a sniper, you’re not gonna hit a target over six football fields, so why bother. Smaller ammo means bigger magazines and less recoil. Thus, the Sturmgewehr.

The Germans didn’t produce enough assault rifle to affect the war, but the Soviets took notice. They produced their own new ammo, the 7.62x39mm M43. It was used on different weapons, like the semi-auto SKS rifle and the RPD light machine gun (featured earlier), while Stalin ordered a design contest for an assault rifle. In 1947, the Avtomat by Kalashnikov came on top.

Unlike most automatic firearms with a mechanism tight as a Swiss clock, the inside parts of the AK are loose. Meaning you can drown it in mud and it will still fire (the gas will eject the mud from every holes). The mechanism is also very simple, sturdy, hard to break and easy to clean (and it doesn’t necessitate that much maintenance). So simple even a kid can use it. Literally. The AK is the gun used by most child soldiers. A child can assemble and disassemble it in one minute or less with practice.

In the 50s the AK’s mechanism was perfected with the AKM, almost indistinguishable from the original version.

But the success of the Kalashnikov is not just technical. It’s not the most accurate rifle, especially over long distances, like when compared to the M-16. But it took 20 years for the Americans to come up with their own assault rifle, after getting caught with their pants down in Viet Nam. And it still took almost 10 years to perfect the M-16, which was at first a piece of shit. The Soviets had a head start and they used that time to distribute the AK to their allies. They sent advisors to help build AK factories in Czechoslovakia, Egypt, China, etc. Massive weapons cache were assembled all over the Warsaw Pact countries and allies. When the Wall fell, these caches, were looted and sold to warlords, dictators and guerrillas. There are Talibans and government forces in Afghanistan using AKs from the 50s. They’re beat up on the outside, but in perfect order on the inside.

In 1974, the Soviet and its allies replaced their AKMs with the AK-74, a similar design using smaller but equally powerful ammunition. The exterior design is very similar to the AKM and share a lot of the same components.

And here’s the RPK. Basically a AK-47 with a longer barrel and bigger magazine, used as a squad machine gun.

(click for full view)
That’s a very short version of the history of the Kalashnikov. I took most of my info from The Gun, by C.J. Chivers. Here’s the Youtube ad for the book.

And Esquire featured a short version of the book.

You can also open beer bottles with an AK.

See earlier: the Dragunov and the RDP.