Kalashnikov Rifle: Symbol of an Era

Saturday marked the tenth anniversary of the death of Mikhail Kalashnikov, the WWII veteran who became one of the USSR and Russia’s best-known small arms designers. The AK-47 was Kalashnikov’s most famous design, and remains the mainstay of nearly 100 armies across Eurasia, Africa and Latin America. Learn more about the iconic rifle with Sputnik!

Mikhail Kalashnikov was a self-taught weapons designer who created the legendary ‘Avtomat Kalashnikova’ (lit. Kalashnikov’s Automatic Rifle’) based on experiences he and his fellow soldiers had on the front lines of the Eastern Front in World War II. The engineer wanted to build a solid and reliable weapon, and most importantly, one that wouldn’t be plagued by jamming so common to machine guns and assault rifles of the era.

Introduced into service with the Soviet military in 1949, Kalashnikov’s 7.62-mm assault rifle design exceeded all expectations, proving notoriously difficult to jam, with the gun’s 800-meter effective firing range, 600 rounds/minute rate of fire and heavy caliber packing a punch which made it extremely deadly, particularly in conditions of urban warfare.

Soviet AK-47s and over a dozen variants produced by other countries quickly spread like wildfire around the world, becoming popular among both militaries and armed groups, who appreciated the rifles' simple construction and legendary durability. Over 100 million Kalashnikov rifles of various models have been produced to date. They have been so ingrained into the popular psyche that they are pictured in the flags of several nations, and are even the word for “assault rifle” in some languages. The rifles and their many variants continue to be used by nearly 100 militaries around the world.