Mikhail Kalashnikov has died. He was 94.
It's probably difficult to overstate the impact of the AK-47 and its descendants. The Red Army adopted the AK-47, a true assault rifle, at a time when the obstructionist clowns in the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps were digging in their heels and insisting that our army stay with a full-power "battle rifle".* Yes, the Germans had developed the first true assault rifle, but the Russians made it durable, cheap, and practicable.
The Duffel Blog's article.
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* They have a record of fucking up rifle designs that is two centuries long.
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2 comments:
It's telling that even Armalite went with a forward gas system like the AK, in their second design the AR18.
It's sad the Army didn't adopt that design. England had no problem with it.
w3ski
Amazing. I had heard of Kalashnikovs, the Weapon of /C/h/a/m/p/i/o/n/s/ choice in the '80s, but had no idea the guy was actually still alive. Which makes two Russians famous for particular weapons who died of old age.
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