The AK-47: the world’s favourite killing machine

The AK-47: the world’s favourite killing machine

The first Kalashnikov assault rifle was invented by Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov whilst recovering from injuries sustained during fighting in the Second World War. Its first incarnation was the AK-47, named to coincide with the year of its entry into active service (1947) 4. Whilst production of the original AK-47 largely ceased in the mid 1950s, modern variants continue to be produced in many parts of the world. It is
estimated that there are somewhere between 50 and 70 million Kalashnikov assault rifles spread across the world’s five continents.

The Kalashnikov remains the preferred weapon for many armed forces, rebel groups and armed gangs because of its proven reliability and widespread availability. The AK-47 in particular is robust and simple to operate, with only minimal working parts. AK-47 weapons are produced in their tens of millions throughout the world, and were also supplied in their millions to various regimes during the Cold War, making them cheap and obtainable from numerous sources. Production and supply of ammunition (7.62 x 39 mm) is
equally prolific, including hundreds of millions of units stored in surplus stockpiles in many parts of the world.

The AK-47 is a semi-automatic military assault rifle and is designed to be operated by highly disciplined and well-trained infantry. However, in untrained and unaccountable hands it is used dangerously and abusively – when this occurs in populated areas it can often result in civilian carnage. It can be fired in single shot mode or can be set for automatic fire by the simple operation of a lever located near the trigger mechanism. In
automatic mode, the AK-47 can be fired at a rate of 600 rounds per minute as long as the trigger remains depressed, although its magazine can only store 30 rounds, which will empty in a little over 3 seconds. The weapon has a maximum range of 800 to 1,000 metres, but is only really guaranteed to be accurate when used by a trained marksman up to a range of about 400 to 600 metres. At excessive ranges (over 1,000 meters), an assault rifle can still cause tremendous  injuries, due to the severe wounding and maiming effects of slow moving unstable bullets on the human body.

In Afghanistan for example, the severe ‘yawing’ effect of the Kalashnikov bullet when it enters the body can be seen clearly on the streets of Kandahar, Heart, and Kabul, where non-fatal wounds resulting from the turning of the round in human flesh have produced thousands of disabled people and amputees. In 1959, the AK-47 was upgraded by its original Russian manufacturers to the AKM model, which made it slightly lighter and cheaper to produce. In 1974 a new variant was introduced, the AK-74 which was basically a re-chambered AKM variant to take the newer 5.45 x 39 mm calibre ammunition, the Russian equivalent to the standard 5.56 x 45 mm NATO standard round .The most modern family of Kalashnikov weapons is the AK-100 series.

The Kalashnikov assault rifle was designed during the Second World War and produced originally as the AK-47, for use against conventional armies by soldiers subject to military law. Since then the AK-47 has been diverted from its intended purpose and is now part of an often unregulated flow of assault weapons which has catastrophic consequences for civilian populations in the developing world.

‘People often ask me whether I feel guilty about human suffering that is caused by the attacks with AK-47. I tell them that I designed the gun to defend the Russian Motherland from its enemies. Of course I feel sad and frustrated when I see armed skirmishes with the use of my weapon also for conduct of predatory wars and for terrorist and criminal purposes. But it is not the designers who must ultimately take responsibility for where guns end up; it is governments who must control their production and export.’ 

General Kalashnikov, inventor of the AK-47 assault rifle.