History of the AK-47 and the AK-74

The AK-47 has the dubious legacy of being one of the most efficient assault rifles ever built. It and its successor, the AK-74, have seen action in numerous conflicts around the globe, and a number of variations have been constructed around their basic design. It was the official assault rifle of the Soviet Army, and continues to serve the Russian forces today. It remains a marvel of engineering, which has allowed it to spread far beyond the borders of the former Eastern Bloc.

Origins

The AK-47 has roots in the German army of World War II. The Germans first developed the concept of the assault rifle: a light submachine gun designed for use in relatively close quarters (300 yards or so). A Soviet weapons designer named Mikhail Kalashnikov began developing a variant assault rifle based on the American M1 Garand rifle. Early designs were encouraging, but it took some time before it was finally completed. In the meantime, the Soviets went with a rival design.

Mass Production

The final step entailed a redesign of the rifle in 1946, in order to improve its reliability. An assistant of Kalashnikov named Aleksandr Zaytsev made key changes. The resulting model, the AK-47, proved so reliable that the Soviet army officially adopted it in 1949. Production difficulties prevented large-scale distribution of the weapon until the mid 1950s.

The AK-74

While the AK-47 proved a staggeringly effective weapon--as did its lighter variant, the AKM--the Soviets eventually felt that an upgrade was necessary. Kalashnikov went back to the drawing board and produced a new version, the AK-74, in 1974. The primary difference was its use of smaller ammunition, which made it more accurate than its predecessor. Because the AK-74 was made from similar parts, broken components could often be interchanged with those of older AK-47s.

Proliferation

The proliferation of both weapons was accelerated during the Cold War. AKs were extremely cheap to manufacture, they held up well under adverse conditions and anyone with 15 minutes' instruction could learn to fire one accurately. An AK can last for decades before requiring replacement, and with various brushfire conflicts serving as playing fields for the two global powers, the weapons soon found themselves scattered across the globe.

Patenting

Russia, and more specifically the Izhevsk Mechanical Works, obtained a patent for the AK-47 in 1999. Under that agreement, no one could manufacture the weapons without its consent. However, the AK's design worked against it in that regard: Millions of guns have since been manufactured illegally, and criminal activities involving the gun have continued to flourish. The World Bank maintains that one in every five firearms worldwide is either an AK or a derivative.