However, what most people identify as an AK-47 is usually an AKM.
Do you know the difference between the AKM and the AK-47?
Ah, Beto, bless his heart.
While the AK-47 and AKM (top) share a common lineage, they are different rifles. For collectors, the distinctions between the two is very important.
Beto would face some unique challenges in trying to take Americans AK-47s.
There are admittedly at least 20 million AR-15s in circulation in America.
In the world of gun control, semantics are everything.
Can you tell if these communist militants are armed with AK-47 or AKM rifles? The photo was taken during the Rhodesian Bush War circa 1979. Image: © IWM CT 124
Well-intentioned gun folk on our side are not much better.
Actual AK-47s are actually vanishingly rare on this side of the pond.
What most people mean when they say AK-47 is AKM.
The AK-47 has some very distinct features that differentiate it from the later AKM-pattern rifle.
Thats the etymological issue we will dissect today.
And lets also get one other point out of the way here on the front end.
AK-47 Origin Story
Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov was born a peasant, the 17thof 19 children.
While there are similarities between the rifles, there are significant differences. Shown here is what we call the Type 3 AK-47. It is built around a heavy, milled receiver
Though he never advanced past 7thgrade, Kalashnikov fancied himself a poet and published several books on it.
Such was life in the Soviet Union.
During WWII, Mikhail Kalashnikov was aT-34 tankcommander in the Soviet military.
How much Kalashnikov may have borrowed from the German StG44 is the subject of much debate. It almost certainly served as an inspiration for his rifle design.
After being wounded in the shoulder during the Battle of Bryansk, he was remanded to a field hospital.
So, I designed one.
I was a soldier, and I created a machine gun for a soldier.
The Type 3 receiver has a long shallow groove machined into both sides to save weight.
His first rifle prototypes were completed in the fall of 1947 and underwent troop trials in early 1948.
This weapon was formally adopted in 1949 as the AK-47.
Those early AK-47 rifles were built around a stamped steel receiver.
The AK-47 (bottom) served alongside the previous SKS until production could catch up with demand.
Production of these weapons began in 1951.
For many people, this change is the main difference between the rifles.
This is the modernized version that found its way around the world.
Bulgarian Special Operation Forces (SOF) soldier conduct combat marksmanship training in Germany. Shown armed with an AKM variant. Image: Specialist Gertrud Zach/U.S. Army
This brings us back to Beto ORourke.
According to this somewhat artificial lexicon, AK rifles fall into four broad categories.
Each category could be had with either fixed or under-folding stocks.
The AKM sports a stamped steel receiver that was fairly easy to produce in quantity. Both guns use the same magazines but the stocks are not interchangeable.
The bang out I was the original stamped receiver version introduced in 1949.
The punch in 2 receiver was cut from a massive steel forging.
The production run for the throw in 2 spanned between 1951 and 1957.
The stamped receiver of the AKM can be readily identified by the pressed-in dimples that hold the magazine steady.
This was the most common milled receiver AK.
The later AKM hit the streets in 1959 and orbited around the now-perfected 1mm stamped steel receiver.
AK rifles have since been produced around the globe in a bewildering array of sub-variants.
Egyptian models were also available.
The stamped receiver of the AKM sports pressed-in dimples that help steady the magazine.
The buttstocks of the two guns mount via different geometries and are not interchangeable as a result.
Both stocks include a compartment for a cleaning kit in the back.
The AKM stocks are of laminated wood, also helping differentiate them.
The forearms are interchangeable but are of disparate design.
The AK-47 handguard is flat on the sides, while the laminated AKM version features prominent palm swells.
The original furniture on the Polytech Legend is cut from Chinese chiu wood.
The muzzle nut on the AK47 is flat and unremarkable.
Both rifles include a cleaning rod underneath the barrel.
Both rifles are chambered for the 7.62x39mm cartridge.
The cartridge features a rimless, bottlenecked case measuring 39mm long and a bullet diameter of 7.62mm.
It is known for its reliability, ease of production, and effectiveness at short to medium ranges.
Denouement
AK rifles are ubiquitous around the world.
If a selective-fire Kalashnikov costs as much as a nice car, then put down roots and settle down.
Beto ORourke clearly hasnt a clue what a real AK-47 rifle is.
In the expansive lexicon that describes Comrade Kalashnikovs remarkable rifle, we find a perfect example.
