Kalashnikov AK - 47 The AK - 47 is probably the most well - known and recognized assault rifle in the world . It was developed in 1947 by a Russian tank mechanic , Mikhail Kalashnikov . History . The Kalashnikov assault rifle , also known to the West as the AK - 47 ( Avtomat Kalashnikova - 47 , Kalashnikov automatic rifle , model of 1947 ) , and its derivatives , also known under the common name of AK , is the most prolific small arm of the 2nd half of the XX century . It had been and still is ( in more or less modified form ) manufactured in dozens of countries , and used in hundreds of countries and conflicts since its introduction . The total number of the AK - type rifles made worldwide during the last 60 years is estimated at 90 + millions . This is a true legendary weapon , known for its extreme ruggedness , simplicity of operation and maintenance , and unsurpassed reliability even in worst conditions possible . It is used not only as a military weapon , but also as a platform for numerous sporting civilian rifles and shotguns ( see Saiga semiautomatic shotguns , for example ) . The AK is an amalgam of previously known features and solutions , combined in the most effective way . The effectiveness , however , depends on the criteria used to measure it , and the key criteria for any and every Soviet and Russian military arm are : Reliability , Simplicity of operation and maintenance , Suitability for mass production . There never was any significant demand for good ergonomics or superb accuracy , though . The true story of AK began late in 1942 , when Soviet troops captured several specimen of the very new German MKb . 42 ( H ) machine carbine ( assault rifle ) , along with some 7 . 92 Kurz ammunition . By mid - 1943 the MKb . 42 ( H ) along with US - supplied M1 carbine were evaluated by Soviet experts , and it was decided on top level that similar weapons , firing the intermediate power cartridge , must be developed for Soviet army as soon as possible . The task of initial development of new ammunition was accomplished in rather short time . By November 1943 technical specifications for the 7 . 62x41mm cartridge , having bottlenecked , rimless case and firing 8 - gram pointed bullet , were sent out to all Soviet small arms design bureaus and organizations . By the spring of 1944 , there were at least ten designs of automatic weapons in the works ( not counting semi - automatic carbines that resulted in adoption of SKS and bolt - action carbines that went nowhere ) . In mid - 1944 , trials commission selected the AS - 44 assault rifle , designed by Sudaev , as the overall best , and ordered a limited production run for troops trials . Some AS - 44 rifles were manufactured in spring of 1945 , and these were evaluated by troops in summer of 1945 , just after the Victory in Europe . Troops generally liked the AS - 44 , as it has longer effective range compared to PPSh - 41 submachine gun , and provided better accuracy in semi - automatic fire . The problem was that AS - 44 was overly heavy ( more than 5 kg empty ) , and trials commission ordered next round of development and trials , which started early in 1946 . Enter Mikhail Kalashnikov , the young sergeant of Soviet tank forces , who , after being wounded in combat in 1942 , designed a prototype submachine gun while on medical leave . His first weapon was rejected on the grounds of complexity , but the designer himself was assigned to the Red Army ' s Small Arms and Mortar Research & Proving ground ( NIPSMVO ) near the Moscow to continue his education and work on other weapons . Here Kalashnikov designed a semi - automatic carbine , heavily influenced by American M1 Garand rifle . This carbine , while not successful by itself , served as a starting point for the first Kalashnikov ' s assault rifle , provisionally known as AK No . 1 or AK - 46 . In November 1946 the AK - 46 project was chosen for prototype manufacture along with 5 other projects ( out of 16 submitted to commission ) , and Kalashnikov was sent to the city of Kovrov ( also not far from the Moscow ) , to manufacture his weapon at the small arms factory there . The AK - 46 was gas operated , rotary bolt weapon that utilized short - stroke gas piston above the barrel , and two - part receiver with separate trigger unit housing and dual controls ( separate safety and fire selector switches on the left side of the trigger unit ) . In December 1946 new assault rifles were tested at NIPSMVO range , with AS - 44 being used as a control ( its development has ceased earlier in 1946 due to untimely death of the Sudaev , who was severely ill by the 1945 ) . As an initial result of these tests , the AK - 46 was selected for further development by trials commission , with two more weapons selected for further evolution being rifles from designers Dementiev and Bulkin . The second round of trials , which included three weapons ( AK - 46 by Kalashnikov , AB - 46 by Bulkin and AD by Dementiev ) , resulted in rejection of the improved AK - 46 , which was inferior to other rivals in many aspects . Despite that failure , Kalashnikov , using his contacts and support from some member of trials commission ( whom he knew from his earlier work at NIPSMVO in 1943 - 46 ) pursued the head of the trials commission to review the results , and finally got a green light to continue his development for next round of trials . Following the technical failure of the AK - 46 , Kalashnikov and his companion designer Zaitsev ( who was a staff weapons designer at Kovrov plant ) decided to completely rework the design , using successful technical solutions borrowed from various weapons , including direct competitors . For example , the long - stroke gas piston , attached to the bolt carrier , along with captive return spring assembly and receiver cover were apparently inspired by Bulkin ' s AB - 46 rifle ; the idea of large clearances between bolt group and receiver walls , with minimum friction surfaces , was inspired by the Sudaev ' s AS - 44 , the safety / dust cover lever was copied from Browning designed Remington model 8 hunting rifle etc . It must be noted here , that such copying and borrowing of ideas was actually encouraged by the trials commission ( and the whole Soviet ideology ) , as all intellectual property in USSR was considered to be property of ' the people ' , or the state . Thus , any state - owned intellectual property could ( and must ) have been used to the benefit of the people / the state by anyone . And creating a new , most effective assault rifle for the victorious Soviet army was certainly on the top of the list of things , beneficial for the Soviet state at the time . After extensive tests , conducted in December 1947 - January 1948 , which included slightly improved Dementiev KB - P - 410 , Bulkin TKB - 415 and all - new Kalashnikov AK - 47 rifles , results were somewhat inconclusive . The AK - 47 was found to be most durable and reliable out of three contestants , but it also dragged behind the other two in the accuracy department , especially in full automatic ( which was , and still is considered the primary mode of fire for assault rifle in Russia ) . In fact , the only weapon that fulfilled accuracy requirements was the Bulkin AB - 47 / TKB - 415 , but it had certain problems with parts durability . After lengthy discussion , trials commission finally decided that the better is the enemy of the good , and it is advisable to have not - so accurate but reliable weapon now , rather than to wait indefinitely for accurate - and - reliable weapon in the future . This decision ultimately lead commission to recommend AK - 47 for troops trials in November , 1947 . It was decided that the production of the new weapon must be commenced at Izhevsk arms plant ( now Izhevsk Machine building Plant or IzhMash in short ) . Kalashnikov has moved from Kovrov to Izhevsk to help with production of the new weapon , which commenced in mid - 1948 . Official adoption followed late in 1949 , with standard nomenclature being ' 7 . 62mm avtomat Kalashnikova AK ' ( 7 . 62mm automatic carbine Kalashnikov ) . At the same time , a folding buttstock version was adopted for airborne units use , as ' 7 . 62mm avtomat Kalashnikova skladnoy AKS ' ( 7 . 62mm automatic carbine Kalashnikov , folding ) . It must be noted that the original design of the receiver , which was assembled from stamped steel ' box ' with large machined steel insert pinned at the front , caused a lot of troubles at factory . The technology ( equipment and labor ) level of the time resulted in extremely high percentage of rejected receivers due to misformed walls , improper pinning of parts , bad geometry etc . After critical revision of the process at the factory it was calculated that it will be more economically feasible to return to the ' old - school ' machined receivers . New , machined receiver was designed by one of factory ' s staff designers , and after approval by military , it was put into production at IzhMash in 1951 , under the same basic designation . Through the following years , design of AK incorporated many minor changes and updates , but it was the experimental Korobov TKB - 517 assault rifle ( tested by Soviet army in mid - fifties ) that spurred further development of AK . The Korobov TKB - 517 assault rifle was a great deal lighter than AK , about 1 / 3 cheaper to manufacture , and significantly more accurate in full automatic fire . This lead the Soviet army to issue new requirements for a lighter and more effective assault rifle , which were formulated in 1955 . These requirements were also complemented by requirement for a companion squad automatic / light support weapon ( light machine gun in Russian nomenclature ) . Trials for new weapons were held in 1957 - 58 . Kalashnikov team from Izhevsk submitted an improved AK with new type of stamped receiver and other minor improvements , which competed against a number of weapons from other design teams from the Kovrov and Tula . In technical terms , the Kalashnikov entry fared about average in these trials , with certain rival weapons proving to be more combat - effective and less expensive to make . The trials commission , however , decided again that the better is the enemy of the good , and recommended the improved AK for adoption due to its proven performance and familiarity to the industry and troops . It was officially adopted in 1959 as the AKM ( Avtomat Kalashnikova Modernizirovannyj - Kalashnikov Automatic rifle , Modified ) along with companion RPK squad automatic weapon / light machine gun . The key changes in AKM , as compared to AK , were the introduction of the stamped steel receiver instead of the milled one , and improved trigger / hammer unit , with added hammer release delay device ( often incorrectly referred as a rate reducer ) . Other changes were the redesigned , slightly raised buttstock and the pistol grip , and the addition of the removable muzzle flip compensator . This spoon - like compensator is screwed onto the muzzle and utilized the muzzle blast to reduce muzzle climb during the automatic fire . The compensator could be replaced by the screw - on " PBS - 1 noiseless firing device " , generally known as a silencer . This silencer requires a special , sub - sonic ammunition with heavier bullets to be used . Another change from AK to AKM was a slightly improved rear sight , with settings from 100 to 1000 ( instead of the 800 on AK ) meters . Both 800 and 1000 meters , however , are way too optimistic for any practical use , since the effective fire is limited roughly to 300 – 400 meters , if not less . In the 1974 , Soviet Army officially adopted the 5 . 45mm ammunition and the appropriately chambered AK - 74 assault rifle as its new standard shoulder arm . The AKM , however , was never officially declared obsolete and removed from service , and is still in Russian army stocks . Some non - infantry units of the Russian Army are still armed with 1960s vintage AKM assault rifles . There ' s also an increasing interest in the 7 . 62mm weapons since many troops were disappointed by the effectiveness of the 5 . 45mm ammo during the local conflicts in the 1990s . Some Russian special forces troops ( mostly police and Internal Affairs Ministry ) , currently operating in Chechnya , are using the venerable 7 . 62mm AKM rifles . The AK and AKM rifles were widely exported to the pro - Soviet countries and regimes all around the world . Manufacturing licenses along with all necessary technical data packages were transferred ( for free or at nominal fee ) to many Warsaw Pact countries ( Albania , Bulgaria , China , East Germany , Hungary , North Korea , Poland , Romania , Yugoslavia ) . Certain ' non - communist ' , but friendly countries , such as Egypt , Finland and Iraq , also received manufacturing licenses . At the present time , despite the world - wide proliferation of the small - bore ( 5 . 56 / 5 . 45mm ) weapons , many companies still manufacture 7 . 62mm assault rifles for military or police use ( for example , there ' s an AK - 103 , made in limited numbers by the IZHMASH in Russia ) . Also , production of the semi - automatic only civilian AK derivatives is continued in many countries , including Russia , Bulgaria , Romania , China and others . AKM assault rifle . The AKM is a gas operated , selective fire assault rifle . The gas operated action has a massive bolt carrier with a permanently attached long stroke gas piston . The gas chamber is located above the barrel . The bolt carrier rides on the two rails , formed on the receiver walls , with the significant clearances between the moving and stationary parts , which allows the gun to operate even when its interior is severely fouled with sand or mud . The rotating bolt has two massive lugs that lock into the receiver . Bolt is so designed that on the unlocking rotation it also makes a primary extraction movement to the fired case . This results in very positive and reliable extraction even with dirty chamber and cases . The rotation of the bolt is ensured by the curved cam track , machined in the bolt carrier , and by the appropriate stud on the bolt itself . The return spring and a spring guide are located behind the gas piston and are partially hidden in its hollow rear part when bolt is in battery . The return spring base also serves as a receiver cover lock . The cocking handle is permanently attached to the bolt carrier ( in fact , it forms a single machined steel unit with carrier ) , and does reciprocate when gun is fired . The receiver of the AKM is made from the stamped sheet steel , with machined steel inserts riveted into the place where required . Earliest AK - 47 receivers were also made from the stamped and machined parts , riveted together , but this soon proved to be unsatisfactory , and most of the AK ( made between 1951 and 1959 ) rifles were made with completely machined receivers . The receiver cover is a stamped sheet metal part , with stamped strengthening ribs found on the AKM covers . The relatively simple trigger / hammer mechanism is loosely based on the 1900s period Browning deigns ( much like the most other modern assault rifles ) , and features a hammer with two sears - one main , mounted on the trigger extension , and one for the semi - automatic fire , that intercepts the hammer in the cocking position after the shot is fired and until the trigger is released . Additional auto sear is used to release the hammer in full auto mode . The AKM trigger unit also featured a hammer release delay device , which is served to delay the hammer release in the full auto fire by few microseconds . This does not affects the cyclic rate of fire , but allows the bolt group to settle in the forwardmost position after returning into the battery . The combined safety - fire selector switch of distinctive shape is located on the right side of the receiver . In the " Safe " position ( topmost ) it locks the bolt group and the trigger , and also served as a dust cover . The middle position is for automatic fire , and the bottom position is for single shots . The safety / fire selector switch is considered by many as the main drawback of the whole AK design , which is not cured in the most of derivatives until now . It is slow , uncomfortable and sometimes stiff to operate ( especially when wearing gloves or mittens ) , and , when actuated , produces a loud and distinctive click . There ' s no bolt stop device , and the bolt always goes forward when the last shot from the magazine is fired . AKM is fed from the 30 rounds , stamped steel magazines of heavy , but robust design . Early AK magazines were of slab - sided design , but the more common AKM magazines featured additional stamped ribs on the sides . Positive magazine catch is located just ahead of the trigger guard and solidly locks the magazine into the place . Insertion and the removal of the magazine requires slight rotation of the magazine around its front top corner , that has a solid locking lug . If available and required , a 40 round box magazines of similar design , or the 75 rounds drums ( both from the RPK light machine gun ) can be used . Late in production plastic magazines of the distinctive reddish color were introduced . AKM rifles were issued with wooden stocks and pistol handles . Late production AKM rifles had a plastic pistol grip instead of wooden one . The wooden buttstock has a steel buttplate with mousetrap cover , that covers the accessory container in the butt . The AK buttstock are more swept - down than the AKM ones . The folding stock version had been developed for the airborne troops and its had an underfolding steel shoulder stock . These modifications of the AK and AKM were designated the AKS and AKMS , respectively . AK were issued with the detachable knife - bayonets , and the AKM introduced a new pattern of the shorter , multipurpose knife - bayonet , which can be used in conjunction with its sheath to form a wire - cutter . All AK and AKM rifles were issued with the canvas carrying slings . The sights of the AKM consist of the hooded front post and the U - notch open rear . Sights are graduated from 100 to 1000 ( 800 on AK ) meters , with an additional " fixed " battle setting that can be used for all ranges up to 300 meters . AKM rifles also can be fitted with the 40mm GP - 25 grenade launchers , that are mounted under the forend and the barrel . Grenade launchers had its own sights on the left side of the unit .