AK-47
The AK-47, officially known as the Avtomat Kalashnikova (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is an assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov, it is the originating firearm of the Kalashnikov rifle, Kalashnikov (or "AK") family of rifles. After more than seven decades since its creation, the AK-47 model and its variants remain one of the most popular and widely used firearms in the world. Design work on the AK-47 began in 1945. It was presented for official military trials in 1947, and, in 1948, the fixed-Stock (gun), stock version was introduced into active service for selected units of the Soviet Army. In early 1949, the AK was officially accepted by the Soviet Armed Forces and used by the majority of the member states of the Warsaw Pact. The model and its variants owe their global popularity to their reliability under harsh conditions, low production cost (compared t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Assault Rifle
An assault rifle is a select fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge, intermediate-rifle cartridge and a Magazine (firearms), detachable magazine.C. Taylor, ''The Fighting Rifle: A Complete Study of the Rifle in Combat'', F.A. Moyer ''Special Forces Foreign Weapons Handbook'', R.J. Scroggie, F.A. Moyer ''Special Forces Combat Firing Techniques'', Musgave, Daniel D., and Thomas B. Nelson, ''The World's Assault Rifles'', vol. II, The Goetz Company, Washington, D.C. (1967): 1 Assault rifles were first put into mass production and accepted into widespread service during World War II. The first assault rifle to see major usage was the German StG 44, a development of the earlier Maschinenkarabiner 42(H), Mkb 42.''Firearms: The Life Story of a Technology'', by Roger Pauly. Greenwood Publishing Group. 2004. pp. 145–146 [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Mikhail Kalashnikov
Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov (10November 191923December 2013) was a Soviet and Russian lieutenant general, inventor, Military engineering, military engineer, writer, and small arms designer. He is most famous for developing the AK-47 assault rifle and its improvements, the AKM and AK-74, as well as the RPK light machine gun and PK machine gun. Kalashnikov was, according to himself, a self-taught tinkerer who combined innate mechanical skills with the study of weaponry to design arms that achieved battlefield ubiquity. Even though Kalashnikov felt sorrow at the weapons' uncontrolled distribution, he took pride in his inventions and in their reputation for reliability, emphasizing that his rifle is "a weapon of defense" and "not a weapon for offense". Early life Kalashnikov was born in the village of Kurya, Kuryinsky District, Altai Krai, Kurya, in present-day Altai Krai, Russia, as the seventeenth child of the 19 children of Aleksandra Frolovna Kalashnikova (née Kaverina) ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Kalashnikov Rifle
Kalashnikov rifles (), also known as the AK platform, AK rifles, or simply the AK, are a family of assault rifles based on Mikhail Kalashnikov's original design. They are officially known in Russian as ''avtomat Kalashnikova'' (), and informally as ''kalash'' in Russian. They were originally manufactured in the Soviet Union by Kalashnikov Concern (formerly Izhmash). Rifles similar to the Kalashnikov and its Soviet variants were later produced in many countries friendly to the Soviet Bloc, with rifles based on its design such as the Galil ACE and the INSAS also being produced. The Kalashnikov is one of the most widely used firearm A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...s in the world, with an estimated 72 million rifles in global circulation. List of AK rifles The o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
StG 44
The StG 44 (abbreviation of Sturmgewehr 44, "assault rifle 44") is a German assault rifle developed during World War II by Hugo Schmeisser. It is also known by its early designations as the MP 43 and MP 44 (''Maschinenpistole 43'' and ''44''). The StG 44 was an improvement of an earlier design, the Maschinenkarabiner 42(H). The StG 44 was the first successful assault rifle, with features including an intermediate cartridge, controllable automatic fire, a more compact design than a battle rifle with a higher rate of fire, and being designed primarily for hitting targets within a few hundred metres. Other rifles at the time were designed to hit targets at greater ranges, but this was found to be in excess of the range in which most enemy engagements actually took place. The StG 44 fulfilled its role effectively, particularly on the Eastern Front, offering a greatly increased volume of fire compared to standard infantry rifles. The StG largely influenced the Soviet AK-47, introd ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Kalashnikov Concern
JSC Kalashnikov Concern (; ), known until 2013 as the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant (; ), is a Russian Arms industry, defense manufacturing Concern (business), concern and joint-stock company headquartered in the city of Izhevsk in the Republics of Russia, Republic of Udmurtia as well as the capital city of Moscow. The concern designs and produces a wide range of civilian and military weapons including assault rifles, sniper rifles, designated marksman rifles, machine guns, squad automatic weapons, hunting rifles, shotguns, guided artillery projectiles, and a wide range of other precision weapons including remote controlled weapon stations, unmanned vehicles, and military robots. The Kalashnikov Concern produces about 95% of all small arms in Russia and supplies to more than 27 Country, countries around the world, making it the largest List of modern armament manufacturers, firearm manufacturer in Russia. Notable products include the Kalashnikov rifle, Kalashnikov (AK) assault r ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Intermediate Cartridge
An intermediate cartridge is a rifle/ carbine cartridge that has significantly greater power than a pistol cartridge but still has a reduced muzzle energy compared to fully powered cartridges (such as the .303 British, 7.62×54mmR, 7.65×53mm Mauser, 7.92×57mm Mauser, 7.7×58mm Arisaka, , or 7.62×51mm NATO), and therefore is regarded as being "intermediate" between traditional rifle and handgun cartridges. As their recoil is significantly reduced compared to full-power cartridges, fully automatic rifles firing intermediate cartridges are relatively easy to control. However, even though they are less powerful than a traditional full-power cartridge, the external ballistics are still sufficient for an effective range of , which covers most typical infantry engagement situations in modern warfare. This allowed for the development of the assault rifle, a type of versatile selective fire small arms that is lighter and more compact than traditional battle rifles that fire f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Stock (gun)
A gunstock or often simply stock, the back portion of which is also known as a shoulder stock, a buttstock, or simply a butt, is a part of a long gun that provides structural support, to which the barrel, action, and firing mechanism are attached. The stock also provides a means for the shooter to firmly brace the gun and easily aim with stability by being held against the user's shoulder when shooting the gun, and helps to counter muzzle rise by transmitting recoil straight into the shooter's body. The tiller of a crossbow is functionally the equivalent of the stock on a gun. History and etymology The term stock in reference to firearms dates to 1571 is derived from the Germanic word ''Stock'', meaning tree trunk, referring to the wooden nature of the gunstock. Early hand cannons used a simple stick fitted into a socket in the breech end to provide a handle. The modern gunstock shape began to evolve with the introduction of the arquebus, a matchlock with a longer barrel an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Soviet Armed Forces
The Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, also known as the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, the Red Army (1918–1946) and the Soviet Army (1946–1991), were the armed forces of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1917–1922) and the Soviet Union (1922–1991) from their beginnings in the Russian Civil War of 1917–1923 to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. In May 1992, Russian President Boris Yeltsin issued decrees forming the Russian Armed Forces, which subsumed much of the Soviet Armed Forces. Multiple sections of the former Soviet Armed Forces in the other, smaller Soviet republics gradually came under those republics' control. According to the all-union military service law of September 1925, the Soviet Armed Forces consisted of the Red Army, the Soviet Air Forces, Air Forces, the Soviet Navy, Navy, the State Political Directorate (OGPU), and the Internal Troops, convoy guards. The OGPU was later mad ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Firearm
A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes containing gunpowder and pellet projectiles were mounted on spears to make the portable fire lance, operable by a single person, which was later used effectively as a shock weapon in the siege of De'an in 1132. In the 13th century, fire lance barrels were replaced with metal tubes and transformed into the metal-barreled hand cannon. The technology gradually spread throughout Eurasia during the 14th century. Older firearms typically used black powder as a propellant, but modern firearms use smokeless powder or other explosive propellants. Most modern firearms (with the notable exception of smoothbore shotguns) have rifled barrels to impart spin to the projectile for improved flight stabili ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Magazine (firearms)
A magazine, often simply called a mag, is an ammunition storage and feeding device for a repeating firearm, either integral within the gun (internal/fixed magazine) or externally attached (detachable magazine). The magazine functions by holding several cartridge (firearms), cartridges within itself and sequentially pushing each one into a position where it may be readily loaded into the gun barrel, barrel chamber (firearms), chamber by the firearm's moving action (firearms), action. The detachable magazine is sometimes colloquially referred to as a "clip (ammunition), clip", although this is technically inaccurate since a clip is actually an accessory device used to help load ammunition into a magazine or cylinder. Magazines come in many shapes and sizes, from integral tubular magazines on lever-action and pump-action rifles and shotguns, that may hold more than five rounds, to detachable box magazines and drum magazines for automatic rifles and light machine guns, that may h ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Soviet Army
The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under the command of the Commonwealth of Independent States until it was formally abolished on 14 February 1992. The Soviet Ground Forces were principally succeeded by the Russian Ground Forces in Russian territory. Outside of Russia, many units and formations were taken over by the post-Soviet states; some were withdrawn to Russia, and some dissolved amid conflict, notably in the Caucasus. While the Ground Forces are commonly referred to in English language sources as the Soviet Army, in Soviet military parlance the term '' armiya'' (army) referred to the combined land and air components of the Soviet Armed Forces, encompassing the Ground Forces as well as the Strategic Rocket Forces, the Air Defence Forces, and the Air Forces. After World W ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |