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DEVELOPMENT AND INFLUENCE OF THE KALASHNIKOV RIFLE 1947 TO PRESENT TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Illustrations........................................................................................................................................................iii Abstract.........................................................................................................................................................................iv Glossary.........................................................................................................................................................................v Introduction The M43 Cartridge The Need for Assault Rifles The Development of the AK-47 Attributes of the AK-47 The Development of the AKM The Development of the AK-74 The Development of the AK-100 Series LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Parts of an AK Assault Rifle Gas-Operated Piston System Cartridge ABSTRACT This paper covers the evolving requirements of warfare that led to the development of the Kalashnikov AK- 47 assault rifle, the design of the rifle itself, the later development of the AKM, AK-74, and AK-100 series rifles, and the reasons behind each firearm's design. It will also cover the influence of the rifle on the world at large. GLOSSARY • Caliber – The thickness of a bullet. This can be measure in two ways: caliber (decimal fractions of an inch, so .45 caliber is a bullet .45 inches wide at its widest point) or in millimeters (a 7.62mm bullet is 7.62mm wide at its widest point). “Higher caliber” refers to a thicker, and usually more powerful bullet. • Cartridge – The entire assembly of a bullet; both the metal slug that is actually fired, and the metal casing that holds it near the gunpowder propellant. It is usually measured in dimensions such as 7.62x39mm, which means a bullet 7.62 millimeters wide, and a casing (not including the bullet) that is 39 millimeters long. See the diagram at the bottom of the page. • Intermediate Cartridge – A cartridge that is more powerful than a pistol or submachine gun cartridge, but is less powerful than a battle rifle cartridge. It has an effective range somewhere between the two types, and is commonly used in assault rifles and carbines. It is meant to have adequate stopping power, but also be controllable on automatic fire, a hallmark of an assault rifle. • Effective Range – The maximum distance at which a firearm is expected to perform reliably and accurately. • Stopping Power – A bullet or firearm's ability to disable a human target immediately. A bullet that causes a wound not immediately fatal, would have low stopping power. A bullet that caused a wound that immediately killed or disabled a human target, would be considered to have high stopping power. • Receiver – The housing for the mechanical parts of a firearm. • Recoil – The reactive force of a bullet being fired. When a bullet weighing several grams is launched from a barrel at more than one thousand feet per second, the energy kicks the gun back against the user. Recoil is generally seen as detrimental to accuracy, especially during automatic fire when many bullets are shot in rapid succession. • Semiautomatic – When a firearm shoots one bullet per pull of the trigger. The trigger must be released, then pulled again, to fire another shot. • Izhmash – The company that manufactures Kalashnikov rifles, located in Russia. • Magazine – A detachable metal box that holds bullets and feeds them into the weapon using spring power. Made to be quick and easy to reload. • Sight Radius – The distance between the forward and back sights of a gun. The further apart they are, the more precise they are, for the reason that distant objects are smaller and thus allow for a more precise shot. • Furniture – In the context of firearms, these are cosmetic or ergonomic parts of the firearm that are not related to its actual mechanic function. Usually used in reference to the material used, such as a firearm with wooden furniture. • Bipod – A metal stand, usually attached to the underside of a firearm, that can be set against a fixed surface to steady the weapon and aid in aiming. • Gas-Operated – A weapon that, when fired, siphons some of the gas pressure that propels the bullet. It uses this pressure to prepare the next round to be fired, by use of a pistol or other mechanical action, allowing automatic fire. INTRODUCTION This paper will cover the events that necessitated the development of the Russian Kalashnikov assault rifle, the process of its development, the development of its later models and derivatives, and it's impact worldwide. The Kalashnikov assault rifle has been produced in greater numbers than any other firearm. Its simplicity and quantity have made it a favorite of conscript armies around the world. THE M43 CARTRIDGE The Soviet RPD machine gun, developed in 1944, was the first firearm to use the new M43 cartridge. It was later used in the Soviet SKS carbine, and later the AK-47 assault rifle. The M43 cartridge was developed as an intermediate cartridge in 1943, after a meeting of the Technical Council of the People's Commissariat for Armaments. The M43 cartrige was meant to provide a middle ground between the 7.62x54mmR round, used by the Mosin-Nagant rifle, and the 7.62x25mm Tokarev round used in the PPSh-41 submachine gun. This shortening of cartridge, but maintaining of caliber, is also seen in the first assault rifle, the German STG-44, which used a 7.92x33mm cartridge, shortened from the 7.92x57mm cartridge used by German rifles of that time. The purpose of this intermediate cartridge was threefold: • Being smaller and lighter, it allowed the infantryman to carry more ammunition. • It had less recoil, thus making it more viable for automatic fire. • It was more suited to the range that most firefights took place in (usually 400 meters or less). THE NEED FOR ASSAULT RIFLES As World War II drew to a close, great advances were made in weapons technology. The Germans were the first to create a “true” assault rifle. The STG-44 combined the merits of a rifle (strong in long-range combat) with those of a submachine gun (more firepower). The catalyst for this shift was evidence that most firefights took place in closer quarters (under 400 meters)1; thus, a longer-range rifle was not as necessary for infantry combat. On the other hand, automatic fire, an attribute of submachine guns, was. In fact, soldiers in World War II often carried a mix of rifles and submachine guns. The assault rifle was an attempt to unify both weapons into a single type of firearm. An assault rifle is characterized by the following attributes: • It fires an intermediate cartridge. This is a cartridge more powerful than a submachine gun cartridge, but less powerful than a true rifle cartridge . The advantage here is a cartridge with adequate stopping power, but without rough recoil that detracts from accuracy. In the STG-44, this was a 7.92x33mm cartridge. In the AK-47, this was a 7.62x39mm cartridge; very similar dimensions. This is in contrast to the 7.62x54mmR used by the Mosin-Nagant rifle that was standard issue for many Soviet soldiers in World War II. Such a cartridge had too much recoil to be suitable for an automatic weapon. • It has selective fire. This means that a soldier can flip a switch to change from semi-automatic (one bullet fired per trigger pull) to fully-automatic (bullets will fire rapidly as long as the trigger is held down). This further allows the assault rifle to function as a hybrid of rifle and submachine gun. • It must fire ammunition from a detachable box magazine. This is effectively a metal box, filled with bullets, usually attached to the underside of the rifle. It uses compressed springs to feed bullets into the weapon. It is easy to reload, making it optimal for an individual infantry weapon. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE AK-47 Mikhail Kalashnikov began designing firearms while in the hospital, after being wounded in combat in 1941. His first designs were for a submachine gun and light machine gun; neither of these were accepted by the Soviet military. However, Kalashnikov's skills were noticed, and he was assigned to the Central Scientific-developmental 1 This concept was as old as 1918, when Hauptmann Piderit published a paper stating this point. Firing Range for Rifle Firearms of the Chief Artillery Directorate. In 1944, Kalashnikov submitted a design for a carbine with a gas-operated system very similar to that of the American M1 Garand rifle. His design lost to the SKS carbine, but parts of the design, especially the long-stroke piston mechanism, were used later, when he designed the AK-47. After World War II, the Soviet army was looking for an assault rifle to equip their army. In 1946 they held a design competition, which Kalashnkov entered with a prototype called the “Mikhtim.” His entry won, and was the first in a series of prototypes that culminated in the AK-47 itself. The AK-46, Kalashnikov's later prototype, was selected after tests in December of 1946 at the NIPSMVO range. It won out over five other prototypes that had advanced to the later stages of the design trials. Two more weapons, by designers Dementiev and Bulkin, were also selected. The next round of trials resulted in the AK-46's rejection; however, Kalashnikov used some of his influence to remain in the trials longer. He changed his design during this time, borrowing ideas for the long-stroke gas piston from Bulkin's AB-46 protoype. He borrowed the idea for the fire selector switch from the Remington Model 8 hunting rifle, an American firearm. Much of the spaciousness of the design, meant to prevent jamming, came from the AS-44 automatic rifle, developed by the Soviets in 1944. What may seem like blatant plagiarism, was actually encouraged, as intellectual property was considered property of the state by Soviet dogma.