madmike
Member
A-stan would be a lot different without the AK. Or the SMLE.
At what I suppose is almost 67 years now, I would guess the total service life of this rifle is in its mere infancy, and that some insurgent in some s-hole somewhere (if not still national armies) will still be using the AK hundreds of years from now.
No he most certainly was no John Browning. John Browning was a true genius. A prolific innovator. He invented several of the most iconic guns on the planet (various Winchester levers, the 1903, the 1911, the Auto 5...the Ma-Duece!!!). Kalishnikov was a talented machinist and engineer that, as noted above, had his real passion around farm equipment (which in and of itself is a very good thing). The success of Kalishnikov came from the fact that the thing he built (he really didn't invent it technically) worked real well and more importantly, the East Bloc manufactured hundreds of millions of them.It was birthed in Cosmoline.
He was no John Browning. Browning single-handedly designed dozens of weapons, including most of the US's WWI small arms, and some that are approaching a century and a half.
Mikhail headed a team that designed one very effective rifle, based on the designs of two others.
But I'll still toast him.