AK-47

AK-47
AK-47
	AK-47 Type 2A with ribbed stamped-steel magazine and 6H2 bayonet
Type	Assault rifle
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Service history
In service	1949–present (worldwide); 1949–1978 (Soviet Union)
Used by	See Users
Wars	Hungarian Revolution of 1956; Colombian conflict; Moro Conflict; South African Border War; Indo-Pakistani War of 1965; War of Attrition; Six-Day War; Nigerian Civil War; Yom Kippur War; Ogaden War; Vietnam War; Laotian Civil War; Cambodian Civil War; Cambodian–Vietnamese War; Sino-Vietnamese War; Sri Lankan Civil War; Chadian–Libyan conflict; Afghan Civil War; Afghan-Soviet War; 1982 Ethiopian-Somali Border War; First Liberian Civil War; Second Liberian Civil War; First Sudanese Civil War; Second Sudanese Civil War; South Sudanese Civil War; Somali Civil War; Algerian Civil War; Abkhaz–Georgian conflict; Georgian–Ossetian conflict; Georgian Civil War; Tajikistani Civil War; Transnistria War; East Prigorodny Conflict; 1991–1992 South Ossetia War; War in Abkhazia (1992–1993); War in Abkhazia (1998); First Chechen War; Second Chechen War; War in Afghanistan; Iran–Iraq War; Gulf War; Lebanese Civil War; South Lebanon conflict (1985–2000); Yugoslav Wars; Croatian War; Bosnian War; Iraq War; First Congo War; Second Congo War; Mexican Drug War; 2006 Lebanese War; Russo-Georgian War; Insurgency in the North Caucasus; Northern Mali Conflict; Libyan Civil War; Second Libyan Civil War; Boko Haram insurgency; War in Donbass; Syrian Civil War; Iraqi Civil War (2014–present); Yemeni Civil War (2015–present); Saudi-led intervention in Yemen (2015–present); Conflict in Najran, Jizan and Asir
Production history
Designer	Mikhail Kalashnikov
Designed	1946–1948
Manufacturer	Kalashnikov Concern and various others including Norinco
Produced	1949–present
No. built	? 75 million AK-47s, 100 million Kalashnikov-family weapons.
Variants	See Variants
Specifications
Weight	Without magazine:; 3.47 kg (7.7 lb); Magazine, empty:; 0.43 kg (0.95 lb) (early issue); 0.33 kg (0.73 lb) (steel); 0.25 kg (0.55 lb) (plastic); 0.17 kg (0.37 lb) (light alloy)
Length	Fixed wooden stock:; 880 mm (35 in); 875 mm (34.4 in) folding stock extended; 645 mm (25.4 in) stock folded
Barrel length	Overall length:; 415 mm (16.3 in); Rifled bore length:; 369 mm (14.5 in)
Cartridge	7.62×39mm
Action	Gas-operated, rotating bolt
Rate of fire	Cyclic rate of fire:; 600 rds/min; Combat rate of fire:; Semi-auto 40 rds/min; Bursts 100 rds/min
Muzzle velocity	715 m/s (2,350 ft/s)
Effective firing range	350 m (380 yd)
Feed system	30-round detachable box magazine; There are also 5- 10-, 20- and 40-round box and 75- and 100-round drum magazines available
Sights	100–800 m adjustable iron sights; Sight radius:; 378 mm (14.9 in)

The AK-47, or AK as it is officially known (Russian: ???????? ????????????, tr. Avtomát Kaláshnikova, lit. Kalashnikov's Automatic Rifle), also known as the Kalashnikov, is a gas-operated, 7.62×39mm assault rifle, developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is the originating firearm of the Kalashnikov rifle (or "AK") family.

Design work on the AK-47 began in 1945. In 1946, the AK-47 was presented for official military trials, and in 1948, the fixed-stock version was introduced into active service with selected units of the Soviet Army. An early development of the design was the AKS (S—Skladnoy or "folding"), which was equipped with an underfolding metal shoulder stock. In early 1949, the AK-47 was officially accepted by the Soviet Armed Forces and used by the majority of the member states of the Warsaw Pact.

Even after almost seven decades, the model and its variants remain the most popular and widely used assault rifles in the world because of their substantial reliability under harsh conditions, low production costs compared to contemporary Western weapons, availability in virtually every geographic region and ease of use. The AK-47 has been manufactured in many countries and has seen service with armed forces as well as irregular forces and insurgencies worldwide, and was the basis for developing many other types of individual, crew-served and specialised firearms. As of 2004, "Of the estimated 500 million firearms worldwide, approximately 100 million belong to the Kalashnikov family, three-quarters of which are AK-47s".

History

Origins

During World War II, the Sturmgewehr 44 assault rifle used by German forces made a deep impression on their Soviet counterparts. The select-fire rifle was chambered for a new intermediate cartridge, the 7.92×33mm Kurz, and combined the firepower of a submachine gun with the range and accuracy of a rifle. On 15 July 1943, an earlier model of the Sturmgewehr was demonstrated before the People's Commissariat of Arms 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. In the 1960s, the Soviets introduced the RPK light machine gun, an AK-47 type weapon with a stronger receiver, a longer heavy barrel, and a bipod, that would eventually replace the RPD light machine gun.

Concept

A Type 2A AK-47, the first machined receiver variation

Mikhail Kalashnikov began his career as a weapon designer in 1941, while recuperating from a shoulder wound which he received during the Battle of Bryansk. Kalashnikov himself stated..."I was in the hospital, and a soldier in the bed beside me asked: ‘Why do our soldiers have only one rifle for two or three of our men, when the Germans have automatics?’ So I designed one. I was a soldier, and I created a machine gun for a soldier. It was called an Avtomat Kalashnikova, the automatic weapon of Kalashnikov—AK—and it carried the date of its first manufacture, 1947."

The AK-47 is best described as a hybrid of previous rifle technology innovations. "Kalashnikov decided to design an automatic rifle combining the best features of the American M1 and the German StG44." Kalashnikov's team had access to these weapons and had no need to "reinvent the wheel". Kalashnikov himself observed: "A lot of Russian Army soldiers ask me how one can become a constructor, and how new weaponry is designed. These are very difficult questions. Each designer seems to have his own paths, his own successes and failures. But one thing is clear: before attempting to create something new, it is vital to have a good appreciation of everything that already exists in this field. I myself have had many experiences confirming this to be so."

There are claims about Kalashnikov copying other designs, like Bulkin's TKB-415 or Simonov's AVS-31.

Early designs

Kalashnikov started work on a submachine gun design in 1942 and with a light machine gun in 1943. "Early in 1944, Kalashnikov was given some 7.62×39mm M43 cartridges and informed that there were several designers working on weapons for this new Soviet small-arms cartridge. It was suggested to him that this new weapon might well lead to greater things, and he undertook work on the new rifle." In 1944, he entered a design competition with this new 7.62×39mm, semi-automatic, gas-operated, long stroke piston, carbine, strongly influenced by the American M1 Garand. "The rifle that Kalashnikov designed was in the same class as the familiar SKS-45 Simonov with fixed magazine and gas tube above the barrel." However, this new Kalashnikov design lost out to a Simonov design.

In 1946, a new design competition was initiated to develop a new assault rifle. Kalashnikov submitted an entry. It was gas-operated rifle with a short-stroke gas piston above the barrel, a breech-block mechanism similar to his 1944 carbine, and a curved 30-round magazine. Kalashnikov's rifles AK-1 (with a milled receiver) and AK-2 (with a stamped receiver) proved to be reliable weapons and were accepted to a second round of competition along with other designs.

These prototypes (also known as the AK-46) had a rotary bolt, a two-part receiver with separate trigger unit housing, dual controls (separate safety and fire selector switches) and a non-reciprocating charging handle located on the left side of the weapon. This design had many similarities to the STG 44. In late 1946, as the rifles were being tested, one of Kalashnikov's assistants, Aleksandr Zaitsev, suggested a major redesign to improve reliability. At first, Kalashnikov was reluctant, given that their rifle had already fared better than its competitors. Eventually, however, Zaitsev managed to persuade Kalashnikov.

1955 AK-47 with a milled Type 3A receiver showing the milled lightening cut on the side above the magazine that for Type 3 receivers is slanted to the barrel axis

In November 1947, the new prototypes (AK-47s) were completed. It utilized a long-stroke gas piston above the barrel. 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)".