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Posted by: blaire576

Last update - 13:25 17/04/2006
AK-47 inventor: U.S. troops in Iraq prefer my rifle to theirs
By Reuters

Mikhail Kalashnikov, designer of the world's most popular assault rifle, says that U.S. soldiers in Iraq are using his invention in
preference to their own weapons, proving that his gun is still the best.

"Even after lying in a swamp you can pick up this rifle, aim it and shoot. That's the best job description there is for a gun. Real soldiers know that and understand it," the 86-year-old gunmaker told a weekend news conference in Moscow.

"In Vietnam, American soldiers threw away their M-16 rifles and used [Kalashnikov] AK-47s from dead Vietnamese soldiers, with bullets they captured. That was because the climate is different to America, where M-16s may work properly," he said.

"Look what's happening now: every day on television we see that the Americans in Iraq have my machine guns and assault rifles in their armored vehicles. Even there American rifles don't work properly."

Some U.S. troops in Iraq have reportedly taken to using AK-47s in preference to the standard-issue M-16. The Cold War-era gun, renowned for its durability and easy handling, is plentiful in Iraq.

Kalashnikov designed his first weapon in 1947 and is still chief constructor at Izhmash arms factory in Izhevsk in the Urals mountains.

The factory's director Vladimir Grodetsky told the news conference that around a billion rifles had been produced around the world using parts of Kalashnikovs or based on the same design, only 10-12 percent of which were made in Russia.

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Posted by: mpd61

They're reliable and forgiving, but that's not the whole story!

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Posted by: HousingCop

Quote:

Originally Posted by blaire576 Kalashnikov designed his first weapon in 1947 and is still chief constructor at Izhmash arms factory in Izhevsk in the Urals mountains.

Kalashnikov designed his first weapon in 1947........ based on the German MP-44, also known as Sturmgewehr-44, which is of the same basic design utilizing stamped steel. Coincidentally, these 2 weapons look earily similar.... Hmmmm, 3 years to pick apart a prototype and develop your own brand of the SAME WEAPON. Friggin' blowhard.

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Posted by: Channy1984

AK-47 is indeed a durable weapon. Nothing beats the HK-G36C though, plus I like the customization features for the M4 better than the AK-47 for some reason.

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Posted by: Killjoy

The only way I would take an AK-47 over an M-16/M-4 is IF I was somehow cut off from all supply and ordinance support and was running around like a guerilla. Look, I don't think any of these facts are in dispute:
-The M-16/M-4 is far more accurate than the AK series
-The peep sights on the M-16/M-4 are far better than the ancient ladder sights employed by the AK series.
-The M-16/M-4 is far more flexible platform than the AK series and can employ optics, lights, laser designators, etc. much easier.
-The M-16/M-4 has much better human engineering than the AK series, including an easier (and quieter) selector lever, easier mag release, and a much faster reload cycle. (ever try to cam one of those AK mags in under pressure?)
-The M-16/M-4 is less rugged than the AK series and demands more maintainance from its user. The AK is the weapon of the untrained peasant and demands virtually no maintainance.

I think Kalishnikov vastly oversimplifies the issue, once the M-16 worked out it's "teething" problems in Vietnam (caused by use of ball powder, lack of chrome plating the bore, and issuing the weapon without any cleaning gear or instruction) it proved to be an excellent weapon, serving our country well, longer than any other rifle. Many of its alleged problems have not been caused by the design, but by poor implementation and short-sighted planning on the part of the supply brass. I cite as an examples the universal issuance of the 62 grain armor-piercing round, meant to penetrate the modern body armor equipped first-world infantryman, but typically overpenetrating unarmored guerillas and insurgents. Also, issuing the M-4 carbine, a weapon generally designed for urban warfare or close-in combat (because in the 90's the Pentagon planners assumed ALL future warfare would be urban in nature) to troops in Afghanistan, where the broad mountain ranges offered targets at much longer distances than anticipated. This however, was a problem in planning, not in the equipment.

The M-16/M-4 is getting a bit long in the tooth, and is not perfect, but I don't see our soldiers tossing their rifles into the Tigris to trade them up for cheap Romanian or Chinese AK's. The M-16 will probably be phased out in the near future in favor of the SCAR, XM-8 or some other rifle, but to call it inferior to the AK is stupid. A friend of mine who spent years in the Middle East doing security work in Lebanon mentioned that the militias traded away their AK's for M-16s whenever they could.

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Posted by: creeperjeep

^ the airforce uses weapons?

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Posted by: Killjoy

I can think of a few; the GAU-8/A Avenger 30mm cannon, M-102 105mm Howitzer mounted in the AC-130H/U, and JDAM GBU-32 2000lb satellite-guided bomb come to mind...

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Posted by: dcs2244

I reckon the air corps does use weapons...just ask the citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki...or Dresden, even.

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Posted by: SGT_GRUNT_USMC

F*uck the AK-47.The AK is a weapon used by terrorists, communists, and gang bangers.The AR-15/M-16 is clearly the superior weapon.www.ar15.com

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Posted by: dcs2244

I saw a documentary on the History Channel the other night which detailed the development of the AR15/M16: they said the only reason scumbags use the AK is because they can't afford an M16.

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Posted by: BOSCO5O

I just got back from Iraq, and I never saw a Marine with an AK instead of an M-16. Some of the PSD guys had them because ammo was easier to get.

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Posted by: mpd61

Quote:

Originally Posted by mpd61 They're reliable and forgiving, but that's not the whole story!

See? I told you so! Thanks to all the real "riflemen" out here for setting the record straight.

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