Kalashnikov AK-47 Becomes Weapon of the Past

News Shooter

News Shooter

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Russia’s Izhmash Concern, the maker of the renowned Kalashnikov assault rifle, will unveil a new gun next year. The gun is said to replace the legendary AK-47 system designed by Mikhail Kalashnikov.

Vladimir Grodetsky, the general director of the enterprise, said at the round-table discussion devoted to the 90th anniversary of the legendary engineer that the specification of the new gun would make it 40 or 50 percent more efficient than its predecessor.

The AK-47 gun is nearly 60 years old. It is put into service in over 55 countries of the world. About 75 million units of this gun have been made in the world today; 40 million of that amount have been made in Russia.

The Kalashnikov gun has become a legend that generated a whole class of small arms. There are more than 100 types of Kalashnikov guns: AK-74M, AKS-74U (the shorter version), AK-101, a number of smaller versions – AK-102, AK-104, AK-105, as well as lightweight machine guns Kalashnikov LMG, PKT tank machine guns and other kinds of small weapons. All of them are based on the same automatics principle, which makes it a lot easier to teach soldiers to shoot and repair the gun.

Each and every Kalashnikov can be equipped with: optical, night, laser and collimator sights, rifle-attached grenade launchers, various types of cartridges and grenades. The modern-day AK-47 gun and all of its modifications is not just an assault rifle, but a whole small-arms system, which has earned the reputation of the most efficient and reliable weapon in the world.

However, the legendary AK-47 becomes history. This is a weapon of the wars of the past, a weapon for large and poorly trained armies. This is probably the reason why Russia’s Defense Ministry purchases small arms from other countries.

Russia has other assault rifles, beside Kalashnikov: AN-94 Abakan and AEK-971 guns, but they lag far behind the renowned “Kalash.”

Vladimir Grodetsky, the director of the Kalashnikov maker, said that the enterprise was working on a new AK line which would be unveiled next year.

http://english.pravda.ru/russia/history/02-11-2009/110250-kalashnikov-0
 
News Shooter said:
Russia’s Izhmash Concern, the maker of the renowned Kalashnikov assault rifle, will unveil a new gun next year. The gun is said to replace the legendary AK-47 system designed by Mikhail Kalashnikov.

Vladimir Grodetsky, the general director of the enterprise, said at the round-table discussion devoted to the 90th anniversary of the legendary engineer that the specification of the new gun would make it 40 or 50 percent more efficient than its predecessor.

The AK-47 gun is nearly 60 years old. It is put into service in over 55 countries of the world. About 75 million units of this gun have been made in the world today; 40 million of that amount have been made in Russia.

The Kalashnikov gun has become a legend that generated a whole class of small arms. There are more than 100 types of Kalashnikov guns: AK-74M, AKS-74U (the shorter version), AK-101, a number of smaller versions – AK-102, AK-104, AK-105, as well as lightweight machine guns Kalashnikov LMG, PKT tank machine guns and other kinds of small weapons. All of them are based on the same automatics principle, which makes it a lot easier to teach soldiers to shoot and repair the gun.

Each and every Kalashnikov can be equipped with: optical, night, laser and collimator sights, rifle-attached grenade launchers, various types of cartridges and grenades. The modern-day AK-47 gun and all of its modifications is not just an assault rifle, but a whole small-arms system, which has earned the reputation of the most efficient and reliable weapon in the world.

However, the legendary AK-47 becomes history. This is a weapon of the wars of the past, a weapon for large and poorly trained armies. This is probably the reason why Russia’s Defense Ministry purchases small arms from other countries.

Russia has other assault rifles, beside Kalashnikov: AN-94 Abakan and AEK-971 guns, but they lag far behind the renowned “Kalash.”

Vladimir Grodetsky, the director of the Kalashnikov maker, said that the enterprise was working on a new AK line which would be unveiled next year.

http://english.pravda.ru/russia/history/02-11-2009/110250-kalashnikov-0
Click to expand...

I don't think anything will ever outperform the AK47 as far as reliability. I guess we'll just have to see though [grin]
 
Seconded, AK is here to stay.

The 1911 has been around for 100 years, and it's only growing in popularity. A good tool is a good tool no matter what it's intended for.
 
I don't think the AK is going anywhere in at least my life time. It's cheap, it's easy to build, it's reliable as hell, it's easy to strip and clean, and any idiot can figure it out.
 
This article is a little odd. The AK74 replaced the AKM (47 family for non AK people) in the Soviet military.

The AN-94 was also hyped as a awesome new AK design. Its supposedly a great gun with some very unique features but its has a complicated mechanism and is hard to maintain in a Russian area battle field.

Don't believe the hype till it comes out, and is battle tested!
 
5.45X39 has beeen the Soviet standard cartridge since they entered Afganistan.
 
Since it is not mentioned in the article it may be the AK 107 or similar design

http://world.guns.ru/assault/as07-e.htm


" The AK-107 and AK-108 represent a significant change to the Kalashnikov operating system originally designed in the late 1940s. The new rifle features a balanced system that functions along the lines of Newton’s third law of motion, which states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This system uses a recoil-dampening countermass mechanism with two operating rods that move in opposite directions, thereby providing “balance”. One operating rod, the upper, has a gas piston facing forward while the bolt carrier also has a gas piston. The gas tube at the forward end of the handguard is double-ended to accommodate the two rods. The enlarged gas tube cover of the upper handguard guides both rods in their travel.

When the rifle is fired, gas is tapped from the gas port to enter the gas tube, driving the bolt carrier to the rear and the counter-recoil upper rail forward. The critical timing of the reciprocating parts is accomplished by a star-shaped sprocket that links and synchronizes both components, causing both to reach their maximum extension, or null point where forces are exactly equal, at exactly the same instant. The felt recoil is therefore eliminated, enhancing accuracy and assisting control during fully automatic fire. The travel distance of the AK-107 reciprocating parts is less than other Kalashnikov designs, so the cyclic rate is higher at 850–900 rounds/min rather than 600 rounds/min on other AK rifles. However, as the felt recoil is virtually eliminated, the manufacturer claims that accuracy is enhanced, especially during burst fire. An enhancement of 1.5 to 2 times has been reported."


e83cid.gif
 
Its kind of like saying that an electric screwdriver is the next best thing in screwdrivers - but I know damn well that I can always depend on the old fashioned hand powered screwdriver that has been used for a thousand years ... and you can bet I will always have a need for them which is why my toolbix is full of them and not electric ones.
 
derek said:
One hell of a run. I still don't think it's going to go any where.
Click to expand...

I'll second that. Nigerian police run around with ancient AK's with the finish worn off. They also run around with old British Sten guns.

Simple cheap weapons that just work will always be used.
 
The AK has been a thing of the past since the AN-94. Unfortunately no one seems to have formed the AK that it is now obsolete. [laugh]

My guess is no matter if the russians beilieve the AK is a thing of the past... there will be AK's on the battlefield proving the opposite for a very, very long time.
 
Nautilus said:
The AK has been a thing of the past since the AN-94. Unfortunately no one seems to have formed the AK that it is now obsolete. [laugh]
Click to expand...

The AN-94 has been out for over 10 years, and never took off. The AK-74 is still the primary rifle of the Russian military. The AN-94 will never take its place, either.
 
Mikhail Kalashnikov is a rare genius that comes along once in a great while.

Others like him are John Moses Browning, Samuel Colt, Peter Paul Mauser, Gaston Glock, and Daniel Baird Wesson.
 
MagnumAl said:
I second that! Russian AK's will hopefully flood the used gun market now!
Click to expand...

No big deal if they do because we'll never see any military variants imported to the US. Most we can do is grab a Saiga here and there and only "sporters" are available in Mass.[sad2]
 
theGringo said:
Would John C. Garand qualify for that pantheon?
Click to expand...

One hit wonder.

His development was revolutionary for a short (albeit hugely important) time in history. But it did not have the far reaching effect that the arms developed by the people I mentioned have had.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
MagnumAl said:
I second that! Russian AK's will hopefully flood the used gun market now!
Click to expand...

If the SKS and various Mosin Nagant rifles are any indication, our grand kids might see those AKs on the market in their life times. If the Russians stay true to form, their AKs will be rearsenalled and go into long term storage "just in case".

I wonder if Cosmolene will be as hard to remove in the future as it is now? [smile]
 

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