Kalashnikov AK-47 Assault Rifle Russian Gun

Kalashnikov AK-47Assault Rifle and AKM Assault Rifle

The original Kalashnikov AK-47 Assault Rifle was crafted out of rather expensive milled steel and with walnut stocks. There is no bolt-hold-open device when the magazine empties (in fact, if you find the bolt on your AK-47 Assault Rifle open and the weapon is not firing, it is definitely jammed). It is also not known for long-range accuracy. There are generally two basic variants of the AK-47: the standard AK-47 Assault Rifle with a wooden butt, and the AKS with a folding steel stock. There is a third variant, the AKT-47; this is a wooden-stocked version that has been modified to fire .22 Long Rifle ammunition, and used to lower training costs.

Kalashnikov AK-47 Assault Rifle

By 1959, the Soviets were facing a number of problems with the AK-47 Assault Rifle. One, the production methods used to make the AK-47 Assault Rifle was rather expensive. Two, every Soviet ally, client state, and insurgent movement was demanding the AK to replace its old weapons, which in some cases were pre-World War I vintage. Three, troops having to hump the AK-47 Assault Rifle were complaining a lot about the weight. Four, sight mounts for the new night vision scopes were either not found or difficult to retrofit to the AK-47 Assault Rifle. And five, the original batches of AK-47s were simply getting worn out due to extensive use and the slightly corrosive nature of the cleaning fluid the Soviets were using at the time.

Kalashnikov therefore did some extensive modifications to the AK-47 Assault Rifle. The quality of the steel was improved while the production methods were simplified to use stamped instead of milled steel; this allowed lighter steel to be used as well as bring down production costs. A recess was placed on each side of the magazine well to act as a guide during magazine insertion. A rudimentary muzzle compensator has been added to help with recoil (though this is largely counteracted by the lighter weight of the weapon). And the expensive woods formerly used in the AK-47 Assault Rifle were replaced by cheaper and lighter wood; in some cases, it is simply laminated plywood. The AKM is also capable of being fitted with a suppressor (in most cases, this is the PBS-1), and mounting a wider variety of optics. Like the AK-47 Assault Rifle, there are two basic versions of the AKM, the standard AKM with fixed wooden stock, and the folding-stock AKMS. There does not appear to be any Russian-made training version of the same sort as the AKT-47, though other countries have built such variants.

AK-47 Assault Rifle

Both the AK-47 Assault Rifle and AKM Assault Rifle have essentially the same gas operation, with a heavy bolt carrier group and a long-stroke gas piston. The bolt carrier rides on rails attached to the receiver, and uses a rotating bolt. Extraction comes in two phases. A curved cam ensures that the bolt rotates. The cocking handle reciprocates with the bolt carrier, as the cocking handle and bolt carrier are in fact one unit formed out of the same piece of metal. The parts of the AK have significant play in them (if you pick one up and shake it, it rattles like crazy), but not enough to stop the weapon from working. And this is part of the key to the AK’s reliability this play in the parts helps to a large degree to make the AK highly resistant to dirt and fouling.

The 16.34-inch barrel has threads at the muzzle just ahead of the gas block on the AK-47, these threads are normally hidden by a simple protector, while on the AKM, a simple spoon-shaped compensator is attached to help reduce muzzle climb. The threads may also be used to attach a blank firing adaptor, or even a special silencer designed for use on the AK-47 and AKM and for use only with subsonic ammunition. Furniture is largely of beech, though late-production versions of the AKM use a plastic pistol grip, and the folding stock versions have a steel-strut stock which folds underneath the rifle. Feed is mostly from the characteristic heavy ribbed steel 30-round magazines, though both the AK-47 Assault Rifle and AKM Assault Rifle can feed from the RPK’s 40-round magazines and 75-round drums. In addition, some recent-production 7.62mm magazines are of brick-red or black plastic or polymer.

AKM Assault Rifle

By 2006, most AK-47s had been replaced with more modern weapons (usually other AKs or weapons based on the AK) in most world armies. Many of the rest had been modified with anything from replaced worn-out parts to plastic stocks and better linings for the barrels. However, since there were probably over 50 million AK-47s and AKMs manufactured worldwide, there is a good chance that some examples from the original production batch are floating around somewhere. There are still huge numbers of AKMs in front-line use, and even more in units ranging from Category II Russian to militia units in Europe. They have been sold
by the mountains all over the planet.

A number of AK-47/AKM clones have been built in China, Eastern Europe, and later, the West, or imported from there. Most use the same barrel length. Some have new fore-ends with MIL-STD-1913 rails, and rails above the receiver. Bravo Arms in the US makes the Bravo 18 AKM. This is equipped with a Magpul CTR folding/sliding stock, handguards with six MIL-STD-1913 rails (with the top extended to the receiver), a selector reworked to not stick out so much, an ergonomic polymer pistol grip, and a stubby 10.5-inch barrel tipped by a unique, compact, spiral-cut flash suppressor.