As it stands today, there are about 75 million AK rifles around the world.
Mikhail Kalashnikovs Avtomat Kalashnikova has proven to be effective and extremely popular.
Rose By Another Name
For a long time, U.S.
Ordnance mislabeled the AK-47, and in so doing they essentially minimized the new weapon.
Most of the early U.S. reports about the AK-47 refer to it as a submachine gun.
It is, of course, a rifle, and it took U.S.
Ordnance a long time to accept it as such.
Curiously, the AKs 7.62x39mm ammunition was described as medium-sized 7.62 ammo.
Later documents and photo captions from U.S. Perhaps this strange labeling was simply following suit, as U.S.
Along the way, the Soviets also used a considerable amount of captured small arms.
Early issues held up mass production for the Red Army as well as multiple Warsaw Pact nations.
Closing the Range
During the 20thcentury, infantry combat ranges decreased dramatically from conflict to conflict.
Instead, the Red Army turned to submachine guns, particularly the PPSh-41 (chambered in 7.62x25mm Tokarev).
The PPSh-41 is a simple design.
The PPSh-41 is rough and crude, but they shoot fast and work well.
Entire units would be equipped with this submachine gun.
With copious amounts of short-range firepower in the hands of their troops, the Soviets adapted their doctrine.
Once in tight quarters, the firestorm of Russian lead was withering.
Bear in mind that 80 percent of Germanys combat casualties in World War II came on the Russian front.
He was smart enough to look at several important influences notably the German Sturmgewehr, the StG44.
Kalashnikovs AK-47 design featured many features similar to the StG44.
Thankfully, that never occurred, but the M14 and AK-47 still exchanged fire.
In these early days, the AK-47 was more commonly found in North Vietnamese regular army units.
Ballistically, the M14s 7.62 NATO round is more powerful and offers greater range.
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