snayperskaya wrote:
I know I am biased but the AKM (not the early Ak-47) has got to be the best rifle as it is tough, reliable, easy to use and maintain and is widely available.You can teach a person to load,fire and maintain it in 3 hours (the muscle memory will last a lifetime) and it can be used by anyone from 8-80.The AKM and its variants are the real Weapons of Mass Destruction out there on the battlefields of today.No matter where there is conflict you will find a Kalashnikov, whether it is a Somali with beat up milled receiver 47 or a Spetsnaz trooper with a Ak-105 in the Ukraine.
You could say the same about any weapon. The AK's proliferation has absolutely nothing to do with the "all round greatness" of the rifle, but everything to do with the Soviets and their allies, and later Russian politics.
"Reliability" comes from tolerances so sloppy that even mediocre quality ammunition will make it work. But they certainly do suffer from stoppages. The ergonomics are appalling. The folding stock version is one of the most uncomfortable weapons I've ever shot. An intermediate cartridge that's no good after 300yds, but that's not important as the short sight radius does nothing to aid accuracy.
Thankfully our enemies have not been equipped with better weapons or we would have had a lot more casulaties!
The Rk62, R4 and Galil are vastly improved AK designs, but they still fall short... Even the best small arms designers in the Soviet Union, the Czechs, based their rifle on the outward appearance of the AK only. Internally they are utterly different....
On top of which, it's a strong possibility that Kalashinikov didn't even design the weapon that has imortalised him! Kalashnikov did develop an SMG whilst recovering from wounds, but it was never adopted. It did get him moved into the armaments arena of the Soviet Union, and the eventual AK bears no resemblance at at all to his initial design.
But what's better Soviet propaganda? A tractor come tank mechanic, son of a peasant brought up hunting with his father's gun to feed the family, whilst recouperating from sustained war wounds, hears from his comrades the victories they could win with a rifle like the Germans, then goes on and designs the rifle that will save the Soviet Union!
Or, a weapons designer who developed his first semi auto in 1930, then had a rifle adopted in 1936, with a design that showed influences of John Garands ideas, then after the war has a second rifle adopted whilst refining a design again which has Garand influences, hailed as the Saviour of Soviet rifles? Simonov, he designed the rifle that bears another mans name.
There is very strong evidence that the myth surrounding the rifle and the man who made it, is more myth than any would have thought....
