American-war veteran George S. Patton once said, “Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of men who follow and of the man who leads that gains the victory.” That though, was long before AK-47 was manufactured. Little did The General of the United States Army knew about the Russian weapon designers, the deadly weapons they would unveil in 1947.
The full form of AK-47 isn’t as silly as Assault Killer or Rifle. Instead, AK-47 stands for Avtomat Kalashnikov, designed in 1947, hence the name. Automatic Kalashnikov 1947 was developed in Soviet Union during the Cold War by Mikhail Kalashnikov, Lieutenant-General of the Russian Military.
Kalashnikov began working on the manufacturing & designing of weapons in early 1940’s. In an interview to The Independent, he described working on the design, while recovering from the wounds he had acquired during the Battle of Bryansk, World War II.
There’s a reason why it is considered to be the most Lethal of all time. The AK-47 had the best features from the already deadly weaponry like American M1 Garand and the German StG44.
Early struggle of Kalashnikov
Apparently, not to reinvent the wheel, Kalashnikov during the early foundations, focused on the efficiency of the short-stroke gas piston above the barrel. A breech-block mechanism similar to his 1944 carbine, and a curved 30-round magazine. Though, it failed to beat the weapons as Simonov’s AVS-31, which Mikhail was accused of copying.
Kalashnikov’s enthusiasm didn’t end there, he released new prototypes in November, 1947. The upper and lower receivers were combined into a single receiver. The selector and safety were combined into a single control-lever/dust-cover on the right side of the rifle. And, the bolt-handle was simply attached to the bolt-carrier. This simplified the design and production of the rifle.
The first army trial series began in early 1948.The new rifle proved to be reliable under a wide range of conditions with convenient handling characteristics. In 1949, it was adopted by the Soviet Army as “7.62 mm Kalashnikov assault rifle (AK).”
The use of AK-47 in video games
Other than the famous Counter Strike & Battlefield franchise, there are several other shooting/fighting war games with AK-47 in use.
- Left 4 Dead
- Call of Duty
- Project IGI
- Far Cry
- Medal of Honor
The weapon penetration is not identical in all the games, but acquaintance of AK-47 is evident. Now, these comes in different colors, prints & design.
AK-47 in Military
104 countries use AK-47 for their Military & Army, though only 55 countries have officially acknowledged. The statistics of arms manufacturing reveal that until 2009, close to 100 million AK-47’s were produced all across the globe. The country of origin, Russia, only accounts to 10% of the total manufactured AK-47 around the world.
The average price of AK-47 ranges between $500-1200, depending upon the locality & availability.
Mikhail Kalashnikov passed away in 2013 following a gastric hemorrhage. The Kalashnikov group in 2013 were also declared bankrupt and taken over by a private group for $41 million.
