Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
In 2013, a decommissioned AK-47 was included in the A History of Ireland in 100 Objects collection. [206] The AK-47 made an appearance in U.S. popular culture as a recurring focus in the Nicolas Cage film Lord of War (2005). Numerous monologues in the movie focus on the weapon, and its effects on global conflict and the gun running market. [207]
Kalashnikov rifles (Russian: Автоматы Калашникова), also known as the AK platform, AK rifles or simply the AK, are a family of assault rifles based on Mikhail Kalashnikov's original design. They are officially known in Russian as avtomat Kalashnikova (Russian: автомат Калашникова, lit.
Approximately 100 million AK-47 assault rifles had been produced by 2009, [11] and about half of them are counterfeit, manufactured at a rate of about a million per year. [13] [18] Izhmash, the official manufacturer of AK-47 in Russia, did not patent the weapon until 1997, and in 2006 accounted for only 10% of the world's production. [9]
The 7.62×39mm (also called 7.62 Soviet, formerly .30 Russian Short) [5] round is a rimless bottlenecked intermediate cartridge of Soviet origin. The cartridge is widely used due to the global proliferation of the AK-47 rifle and related Kalashnikov-pattern rifles, the SKS semi-automatic rifle, and the RPD/RPK light machine guns.
AK-74 rifle Kalashnikov rifle family: AK-47, AK-74 and AK-12 (left) as well as rare OTs-14, AN-94, and AEK-971. The AK-74 assault rifle was a Soviet answer to the U.S. M16. [87] [88] [89] The Soviet military realized that the M16 had better range and accuracy over the AKM, and that its lighter cartridge allowed soldiers to carry more ammunition.
The Gun is a nonfiction book written by journalist C. J. Chivers about the AK-47 rifle and its variants, and the impact they have had on the world.It covers the origins of the design, its invention and distribution, and the consequences of the pattern's spread around the world.
Compared with most auto-loading rifles of World War II, the AK-47 is compact, of comparable range, moderate power, and capable of selective fire. It was one of the first true assault rifles and remains the most widely used, known as the "Best Automatic Assault Rifle". More AK-type rifles have been produced than of any other assault rifle type.
In 1974, the Soviets began replacing their AK-47 and AKM rifles with a newer design, the AK-74, which uses 5.45×39mm ammunition. The M16 entered U.S. service in the mid-1960s. [ 35 ] Despite its early failures, the M16 proved to be a revolutionary design and stands as the longest-continuously serving rifle in American military history. [ 36 ]