AK-47

name=AK-47

Development

The AK-47 was not the first assault rifle but was preceded by earlier Italian, Russian, and German MP 44 assault rifle designs. Mikhail Kalashnikov adamantly denies that it is based on the German model, though they share an external aesthetic. The AK-47 resembles the MP 44 in profile and layout; however, the internal mechanisms of the two are totally different. Internally, the AK-47 owes much to the M1 Garand Rifle. The double locking lugs, unlocking raceway, and trigger mechanism are clearly derivative of the earlier American design. Where the Kalashnikov rifle differs is in its simplification of those contributing designs and adaptation to mass production by relatively unskilled labor.

Related Topics:
Italian - Russia - German - MP 44 - Garand

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According to the story, tank sergeant Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov began imagining his weapon while still in the hospital, after being wounded in the battle of Bryansk. He had been informed that a new weapon was required for the 7.62 × 39 mm cartridge derived from the German 7.92 × 33K cartridge by Elisarov and Semin in 1943. Sudayev's PPS43 submachine gun was preferred to Kalashnikov's first attempt, but Kalashnikov redesigned the rifle after examining a German STG 44 in 1946. It has been suggested that Kalashnikov was chosen to lead a team of designers more for propaganda value due to his war-hero status rather than for his expertise. This choice would follow Soviet patterns in other industries.

Related Topics:
Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov - Bryansk - 1943 - PPS43 - STG 44 - 1946

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Such opinions are supported still by the circumstance that the Hugo Schmeisser, a Koryphaee in the area of automatic hand weapons was considerably in the draft to the German STG 44 involved, and actually reaches for the Second World War years in the USSR at that time as a weapon technical designer worked.

Related Topics:
Hugo Schmeisser - German - STG 44 - USSR

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