Mikhail Has Passed

[planeflyer21]

Dude did a great service to his nation, even when the government didn't treat him so well at times.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/mikhail-kalashnikov-inventor-of-ak-47-dies-at-94/2013/12/23/624e40be-6bf5-11e3-b405-7e360f7e9fd2_story.html?wprss=rss_world

[Boerboel guy]

He was an awesome man. Shots up to him tonight for sure.

AK's and tannerite this weekend.

[washguy]

I wont be toasting him....but I will toast the many thousands of US servicemen that have been maimed or killed by his nasty azz weapon Wash

[planeflyer21]

Plenty of US servicemen saved by his weapon too, when their issued junk didn't work.

 

When he was asked if he couldn't sleep because of all the people his weapon had killed, he said something like "I sleep. It's the politicians who fail and take people to war."

 

That's where I lay the blame too.

[survivalshop]

He ripped off the idea for this rifle from the German STG 44 any way , even though he said they are not alike , pure BS.

Edited December 24, 2013 by survivalshop

[george_995]

A lot of technology was borrowed/stolen from the germans. Soviet and American missile programs, and jet engines. But don't ask the Ancient Aliens curator's about that. <dontknow>  <lmao>

[jrtMA]

Plenty of US servicemen saved by his weapon too, when their issued junk didn't work.

 

When he was asked if he couldn't sleep because of all the people his weapon had killed, he said something like "I sleep. It's the politicians who fail and take people to war."

 

That's where I lay the blame too.

Very true brother...I have spoken to old friends that still serve and they and their fellow soldiers have needed to pick up a AK and put it to good use, on the rare occasion. I understand some of the contempt that I'm sure many have but it was and still is a brilliant weapon. Like many, it now usually depends on who is making it though since there is a lot of garbage out there.

[Nereus]

Times have changed. Americans immortalizing a communist douche who created a weapon to kill Americans...

[washguy]

Times have changed. Americans immortalizing a communist douche who created a weapon to kill Americans...

Well said brother :) Wash

[unforgiven]

Times have changed. Americans immortalizing a communist douche who created a weapon to kill Americans...

Copy that brother,fuk that red bastard.I will NEVER own a comblock firearm.Just my 2 mags.

[blue109]

RIP

[jtallen83]

Love him or hate him his genius can't be denied.

[Nereus]

Yeah Hitler was genius as well...

[98Z5V]

^^^  Exactly.  Nobody is pissed at Eugene Stoner.  They were both very, very smart men, no matter what side they were on.  What they have done has been steps of evolution - that we are enthusiasts of. 

 

I praise Mikhail for what he accomplished. <thumbsup>

 

EDIT - My "exactly" was for jtallen, not the above post...  FWIW...

***  jtallen, welcome aboard, brother - we need more Rangers in here to crack some heads.  :bat:

Edited December 27, 2013 by 98Z5V

[Nereus]

Looks like the Ragnar got hizself a groupie :banana:

[98Z5V]

I'm one, too - fcuk with us and see what happens. 

 

We break schit.  <thumbsup>

[Nereus]

You break it I drown it... <outtahere>

[98Z5V]

A single Ranger can break an anvil in a sandpit.  It's not a subtle tactic.  <laughs>

[survivalshop]

The only comparison between him & Mr. Stoner, is the two are associated with the most common battle rifles.

Mr. Stoner designed a completely space age battle rifle( like no other rifle ) & the commie just took an already designed rifle & made minor changes to it .

As I said above , just look at the German rifle & the AK, even internally . He copied it just like they have done with every thing else. 

Edited December 27, 2013 by survivalshop

[planeflyer21]

The only comparison between him & Mr. Stoner, is the two are associated with the most common battle rifles.

Mr. Stoner designed a completely space age battle rifle( like no other rifle ) & the commie just took an already designed rifle & made minor changes to it .

As I said above , just look at the German rifle & the AK, even internally . He copied it just like they have done with every thing else. 

 

Mr. Stoner did what many other firearms designers did…combined features from already established firearms and combined them into one system.  Nothing in Stoner's design that became the Armalite Rifle was original, from direct impingement gas system to straight line recoil to aluminum action and synthetic furniture.

[MaDuce]

Given the volatile relationship between the USA and USSR throughout the 2nd half of the 20th century it's easy to forget the real purpose behind the AK-47. The USSR was fighting for it's life as were the people who designed it. Remember that; in some battles, for every 100 men that went in only one survived. Imagine living and fighting under those conditions. He was a desperate man under the utmost dire circumstances. Although mechanically the gun is significantly different then the STG-44 and much closer to the SKS, the last thing anyone was thinking about was who is ripping off who's idea. In fact, the gun in general is a rip off of the SKS (just a cheapened up SKS with a rotating bolt and configured as an assault rifle) but I don't recall ever hearing Sergie Simonov complain about it.

 Furthermore, in a time when the USSR was; in many places reduced to rubble, full of dead rotting bodies and a general "post apocalyptic" environment, the gun being used by terrorists, criminals etc. couldn't have been something they were at all thinking about. On top of all that, the USA was the USSR's ally at the time. Even when the cold war got started, you need to look at it from his perspective. We're a superior country pointing nukes at him and his loved ones.

From what I can gather it seams the man was much more in love with peace then his weapon. In an interview he once said something along the line of wishing he had been famous for inviting a tractor or something like that rather then a weapon of war. His weapon has become the icon it has because of other people using it for purposes it was never intended for.

 The man had a talent and he used it to protect his loved ones in the best way he could. May he rest in peace.

[survivalshop]

I think your time frame of events in the good old USSR are a bit off, but the SKS was also a rip off of the STG 44 . They, just like the USA didn't think a long mag. jutting out of the bottom of the rifle helped in there much pronounced parades in Moscow. I suggest you look at the two rifle components more closely , sure there are differences , but the main firing & gas system components are very close .

 

The AK 47 is the next step up from the SKS & every one knows it, the detachable mag. with its 30 rds. was necessity for the time & finished off the transformation to a STG 44 , which the Germans knew would be a game changer in war , at the time , they just couldn't get the numbers of them out , because of the ass hole in charge at the time thought that wars are won with bolt action rifles , that is documented.

 

Just as the M1 Garrand  helped win for us because of its fire power compared to a bolt gun. 

 

I don't blame them from ripping off a sound design , but to celebrate him for what he had a hand in making, is to me odd. I will not take any thing away from it , the AK 47 works for what it was meant to do & does it with a inexpensive design , which is why its so prevalent around the world , more than it being a precision weapon .

 

Another thing you should think about is they  (Russa ), made up more crap for propaganda then we will ever know . What is true or made up , including who really made the design , to me , is suspect.

[MaDuce]

Mikhail Kalashnikov's genius was in simplifying and cheapening up the system and believe me, that's the part of firearm design that really takes creativity. Little; if anything in the AK as a whole was brand new.

 

 The problem with calling it a rip off of the Surrmgewhr is that there were multiple similar actions around at the time, both Russian and German which makes it hard to say who is ripping off who when a multitude of new guns share the same general features. Whether or not you can call it's Assault rifle configuration a rip off of the Sturmgewhr is a different and MAYBE a more questionable story.

 

 The first assault rifle was actually a Russian gun called the Fedorov Avtomat though in terms of structural configuration (handling) it was basically just a big PPSH. The only MAJOR structural changes the Sturmgewhr or AK-47 really brought was smaller ammo, gas pistons and a pistol grip. So ultimately the Sturmgewhr and AK-47 were both the results of a build up of technology.

 

 One good and highly overlooked point I think you were trying to make is the fact that Mikhail Kalashnikov was part of a design team (of which he wasn't always the chief of) and that his design was NOT the brain child of him alone (I see more Sergie Simonov in the design as a whole then Mikhail Kalashnikov) as well as many other people who's names are lost to history.

 

 In any case, the real genius of the AK-47 is it's simplicity and ease of manufacturer although even that wasn't entirely new.

 

As far as timeline goes, the AK-47 was comissioned in 1947 but it was designed during the war and the USSR WAS on our side at that time. If what you are talking about is the role the SKS played in all of this, I think a more realistic perspective of the events is that both sides were taking what they could out of a single scrap pile of weapon technology. I think it was more a case of everyone using bits and pieces of everyone's technology then this gun being a rip-off of that gun. This is something I can relate to well. I designed a gun (which finishing hconstruction of has been on hold for a year or more now) that LOOKS like a "Lamborghiniized" Desert Eagle and DOES share some features with the Desert Eagle but is also influinced by the AR-15 (even shares 2 parts with it), Beretta M9, AK-47 and several other guns. I can't imagine Mikhail Kalashnikov or any gun designer then or now NOT doing the same thing.

Edited December 30, 2013 by MaDuce