Mikhail Kalashnikov dead

[Bill Hollinger]

Can't hardly not mention the death of the creator of the worlds most prolific battle rifle.

Mikhail Kalashnikov, Creator of AK-47, Dies at 94 - NYTimes.com

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[enfield303t]

Sure had the longevity gene and was surprised to hear he was the 17th child in the family.

[browningautorifle]

I often wonder if he could have guessed when he first bent the receiver, that the sun wouldn't set on his design? I doubt it shall...

[CINDERS]

I heard a figure of some 80 Million had been produced I do not know if this includes the copies, and another one was I read/heard it was an off shoot of the Stugg 44 from the second WW but then again I am relying on my grey matter and will probably get smacked again!

[Bill Hollinger]

I saw a show on the STG 44 the other day and they actually said it was based more on the Garand being that it had a rotating bolt. I thought that kind of a different point of view. The first type I AK47s were a hybrid of a milled and stamped receiver.


Then there was the milled and stamped.

[Peter Laidler]

When he was at Warminster, at the invitation of the UK Ministry of Defence, he was asked about all the talk that it was copied from this that and the other. He said that all firearms have 8 functions and he, like every other designer just used what was already in being and simple evolution/designs where it wasn't.

When asked about the similarity of the design with the MP44, he took one out of the rack and asked where the similarities were! End of story really.

I was often asked what weapon in the collection I'd have at home if the nation was in meltdown................ I used to say that If you walked out of your front door with an Thompson OR an AK47, cocked it so they could hear that metallic ring then told someone to leave your car alone, you wouldn't even have to fire a shot. The whole world would just KNOW what YOU had and moreover, just what you could do.........

[CINDERS]

One thing my brother in law told me from his paid holiday in Asia that you never forgot the sound of an AK 47 being cocked.
He went back @3 years ago this time as a paying tourist and thoroughly enjoyed the hospitality there.

One amusing story he did tell me was they were copping a rather rude stonking by the not so friendlies so he and a mate dived under a truck with no further ado, when it stopped raining mortar bombs they crawled out from under the truck and both went rather pale in his words.
Their place of refuge and safety turned out to be a lorry full of munitions which a direct hit would have seen me not telling you this rather ironical tale

[Brian Dick]

I saw him at the SHOT Show when it was in Orlando, Florida in 2000 or 2001, (can't remember which). He had a line of a hundred people waiting to get their picture taken with him and his infamous rifle. I always kicked myself because they had Vodka bearing his name in AK-47 shaped bottles and I never bought one for my curio cabinet!