Kalashnikov dead at 94

[funkymonkey1111]

http://news.yahoo.com/kalashnikov-assault-rifle-designer-dead-94-162658834.html

[Zach O]

No way! What a bummer.

[Great-Kazoo]

wait for the AK buy it now ad's from CTD

[merl]

He was still alive???

[Skip]

Browning > Stoner > Glock > Kalashnikov

Yes, I said it. :)

[sellersm]

He was still alive???

That's what I thought! Bummer... Condolences to his family.

[mtnrider]

Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov was born on 10 November 1919 in western Siberia, one of 18 children.

Mom was a busy woman, holy crap!

[Ronin13]

Browning > Stoner > Glock > Kalashnikov

Yes, I said it. :)
You put Gaston in front of Kalashnikov? Surely you jest, blasphemer? [Coffee]

RIP- the only Commie I really liked, to be perfectly honest. He did create the most widely copied, used, distributed, and war proven rifle to ever grace this planet. I own one of his rifles... kind of (a Romanian version)

[hatidua]

Mom was a busy woman, holy crap!

-no cable TV in Siberia maybe?

[blacklabel]

-no cable TV in Siberia maybe?

Have to stay warm somehow.

[alxone]

wow , he lived to be 94 !! RIP

[Skip]

You put Gaston in front of Kalashnikov? Surely you jest, blasphemer? [Coffee]

RIP- the only Commie I really liked, to be perfectly honest. He did create the most widely copied, used, distributed, and war proven rifle to ever grace this planet. I own one of his rifles... kind of (a Romanian version)


Yes I jest.

Firing an AK won't cost you a finger.

[NightCat]

Muslims everywhere are upset lol

[strm_trpr]

Dang, Time to walk outside and fire my AK into the air!



























JK...

[mrghost]

Dang, Time to walk outside and fire my AK into the air!



JK...

Maybe his comrades will be giving him a 47-gun salute.

[mrghost]

Muslims everywhere are upset lol

When aren't they upset? [Coffee]

[sniper7]

I'm thankful for his contribution to my collection! RIP

[Dave]

Thankfully I have a Romanian made version of his contribution at home.

[Hound]

He served his country as we all do and his invention has saved more lives than it ever took.

[Singlestack]

Prolly died of a broken heart from the AK-74 - reportedly he hated it.

[wctriumph]

Browning > Stoner > Glock > Kalashnikov

Yes, I said it. :)

Uh, you forgot a couple: Garand and Mauser

[Bailey Guns]

Not to mention Smith, Wesson, Colt, etc..

[Bailey Guns]

He did create copy the most widely copied, used, distributed, and war proven rifle to ever grace this planet. I own one of his rifles... kind of (a Romanian version)

[bogie]

Just imagine the vodka that guy put down in his 94 years.

[UrbanWolf]

Prolly died of a broken heart from the AK-74 - reportedly he hated it.

Yeah he never acknowledged the AK-74.

[DOC]

He had his own Vodka brand. Not just rifles. I wanted to meet him too. But I was expecting news of his death before that was going to happen.

[Great-Kazoo]

He served his country as we all do and his invention has saved more lives than it ever took.

Which side were you on in SEA, Iraq, Afghanistan , Mogadishu, Somalia, Rhodesia, SA ?

[Great-Kazoo]

Mom was a busy woman, holy crap!

No snowmobiles back then. Lots of indoor time.

[zteknik]

Cпокойно отдохнуть..

[Ronin13]

"He did createcopy The most widely copied, used, distributed and war proven rifle to ever grace this planet."

By that I hope you're not inferring that he copied the Sturmgewehr 44... a common misconception as the AK was the most logical design Kalashnikov could have created (in his words at least). In which case the Stg 44 was not very widely used or distributed.

[Ridge]

He had his own Vodka brand. Not just rifles. I wanted to meet him too. But I was expecting news of his death before that was going to happen.

Kalashnikov vodka is a British product, but is not sold in the UK, as it promotes violence. It's reportedly a really shitty vodka.

[DOC]

It angers up the blood huh? I think I still want some.

[UrbanWolf]

"He did createcopy The most widely copied, used, distributed and war proven rifle to ever grace this planet."

By that I hope you're not inferring that he copied the Sturmgewehr 44... a common misconception as the AK was the most logical design Kalashnikov could have created (in his words at least). In which case the Stg 44 was not very widely used or distributed.

Actually the AR-15 has more similarities with the STG 44, grip--same, safety--same, mag release--same, magwell--same.

[Bailey Guns]

By that I hope you're not inferring that he copied the Sturmgewehr 44... a common misconception as the AK was the most logical design Kalashnikov could have created (in his words at least). In which case the Stg 44 was not very widely used or distributed.

Come on. The AK designers, including MK, looked at a lot of designs but didn't really copy any one in particular. Mostly I was just giving you a hard time cuz it's kinda fun!

[Coffee]

[Bailey Guns]

At any rate, Kalashnikov wouldn't even be qualified to sweep floors in John Browning's shop.

[KevDen2005]

At any rate, Kalashnikov wouldn't even be qualified to sweep floors in John Browning's shop.

+1,000,000

[osok-308]

RIP- the only Commie I really liked, to be perfectly honest. He did create the most widely copied, used, distributed, and war proven rifle to ever grace this planet. I own one of his rifles... kind of (a Romanian version)

My thoughts exactly, probably the only communist that I really would ever support, and only for his gun making skills.

[Ridge]

+10000! MK was a one trick communist Siberian pony. Browning is/was the God of firearms! His contributions: 1911, HP, Woodsman, A5, BAR, Ma Deuce, 1917, 1919, 1892, M4...

Over 100 patents, numerous cartridges, and an AMERICAN! Just saying...

MK: AK47, AKM, AK74, RPK, PKM, Krinkov, AK-101, AK-103

[colorider]

Years ago when my wife worked for Boker Knifes, she had the pleasure of taking him and his family to Epcot for the day. She spent the day with them and also spent 3 days with them at a trade show. Said he was a very humble man.

[beast556]

R.I.P. Mr Kalashnikov.

Kalashnikov is to Russia as Browning is to America. They bolth created awsome weapons for us to enjoy.

[Bailey Guns]

MK: AK47, AKM, AK74, RPK, PKM, Krinkov, AK-101, AK-103

That's like saying an AR is a "new" rifle/invention because it's chambered in a different caliber or has a different barrel length, isn't it? The AR-15, M16, SP1, M16 A1, M16 A2, M16 A4, M4, AR-10, etc... may have all had minor variations from the original but they're basically the same rifle.

I'm not knocking the AK or Kalashnikov's efforts, really. Obviously, the history of the rifle speaks for itself. But the man certainly wasn't in the same league as a firearms designer as John Browning. Not even close. Objectively, I'm not sure I'd even put him in the top 10 designers. His gun is a different story in terms of it's proliferation and longevity.

[Hound]

Which side were you on in SEA, Iraq, Afghanistan , Mogadishu, Somalia, Rhodesia, SA ?

The cold war was not only about nukes. They knew we 'had a gun behind every blade of grass' , we knew they were filled to the brim with AK's and SKS's. WWW3 would have been short and more bloody than all wars before it. The nuke option was MAD but so were direct conventional conflicts that would naturally spiral out of control. That is why we instead had proxy wars like Vietnam. Still costly but not on the same level as what could have been.

[Hound]

That's like saying an AR is a "new" rifle/invention because it's chambered in a different caliber or has a different barrel length, isn't it? The AR-15, M16, SP1, M16 A1, M16 A2, M16 A4, M4, AR-10, etc... may have all had minor variations from the original but they're basically the same rifle.

I'm not knocking the AK or Kalashnikov's efforts, really. Obviously, the history of the rifle speaks for itself. But the man certainly wasn't in the same league as a firearms designer as John Browning. Not even close. Objectively, I'm not sure I'd even put him in the top 10 designers. His gun is a different story in terms of it's proliferation and longevity.


The difference is in the equation...... Quality or Quantity. Browning produced some revolutionary, quality, accurate, high tolerance guns. Kalashnikov produced a revolutionary gun process, based on low tolerance and the ability to be made easily. Roughly synonymous with the philosophies of the WW2 Panzer/Tiger tanks vs the Sherman.

[Bailey Guns]

The difference is in the equation...... Quality or Quantity. Browning produced some revolutionary, quality, accurate, high tolerance guns. Kalashnikov produced a revolutionary gun process, based on low tolerance and the ability to be made easily. Roughly synonymous with the philosophies of the WW2 Panzer/Tiger tanks vs the Sherman.

I don't dispute the quality v quantity thing. There are advantages to both philosophies.

I certainly don't think he invented the process of mass manufacturing (I know you didn't use that word). Just to be clear, he may have adapted it to rifle production, but he didn't invent it.

[osok-308]

Gee, lotta numbers and letters for the same damn Communist conscript gun. Same shit, different day. Can't say that about JMB.


Instead of comparing him to John Browning, why aren't we comparing him to Eugene Stoner? Stoner invented several rifles as well, but he is not as accomplished as Browning either. Stoner made basically the same rifle with different features in the AR-15/AR-10/Stoner rifle. He did have the concept for the AR-7 as well, but same concept. I like both rifles, AR has its pros/cons just like the AK does. If Kalashnikov were not Russian, but an American, we may be arguing he was better than we are saying now.

[TFOGGER]

Funeral arrangements have been made....

http://www.duffelblog.com/2013/12/mikhail-kalashnikov-dead/


MOSCOW — Russia has announced funeral arrangements for Lt. Gen. Mikhail T. Kalashnikov, inventor of the AK-47 assault rifle.
“Comrade Kalashnikov will be buried in a pit of mud with full military honors,” said General-Major Saiga Molot, a spokesman for the Russian army. “After a week, we will exhume his body, clean it off, and put him back to work. We expect that there shall be no issue with his functions.”
Kalashnikov died of complications from a liver transplant operation. The liver Kalashnikov received was allegedly Romanian, but turned out to be a substandard Albanian version.



Read more: http://www.duffelblog.com/2013/12/mikhail-kalashnikov-dead/#ixzz2oPT6HNpT

too soon? Too bad![ROFL1]

[Bailey Guns]

He could easily be compared to Stoner. But even Stoner designed other weapons that weren't basically the AR-10 or AR-15. Stoner designed the Bushmaster 25mm cannon (what we now know as the M242) among other things.

[Bailey Guns]

Funeral arrangements have been made....

http://www.duffelblog.com/2013/12/mikhail-kalashnikov-dead/


MOSCOW — Russia has announced funeral arrangements for Lt. Gen. Mikhail T. Kalashnikov, inventor of the AK-47 assault rifle.
“Comrade Kalashnikov will be buried in a pit of mud with full military honors,” said General-Major Saiga Molot, a spokesman for the Russian army. “After a week, we will exhume his body, clean it off, and put him back to work. We expect that there shall be no issue with his functions.”
Kalashnikov died of complications from a liver transplant operation. The liver Kalashnikov received was allegedly Romanian, but turned out to be a substandard Albanian version.



Read more: http://www.duffelblog.com/2013/12/mikhail-kalashnikov-dead/#ixzz2oPT6HNpT

too soon? Too bad![ROFL1]

MK would probably laugh! I did.

[Skip]

[snip]

But the man certainly wasn't in the same league as a firearms designer as John Browning. Not even close. Objectively, I'm not sure I'd even put him in the top 10 designers. His gun is a different story in terms of it's proliferation and longevity.

Not in the same league...

http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/yy316/skip237/ColtM1911.jpg

[Hound]

I don't dispute the quality v quantity thing. There are advantages to both philosophies.

I certainly don't think he invented the process of mass manufacturing (I know you didn't use that word). Just to be clear, he may have adapted it to rifle production, but he didn't invent it.

Correct, that largely goes to Ford ;)

[Hound]

Um... The guys refurbishing Sherman's on that Discovery show might disagree with the Sherman tolerance issue. They were not happy when they tried to put two of them together to make one good one and bitched the entire show about tolerances and how the priority was get them out instead of use a measure. That being stated you missed my point and then backed it up. I was talking to quality vs quantity as a philosophy, which you seem to support. I was not going down the tolerances road for Shermans till you brought it up.

[hghclsswhitetrsh]

Comparing the two men is like comparing apples and oranges. RIP

[Jeffrey Lebowski]

Funeral arrangements have been made....

http://www.duffelblog.com/2013/12/mikhail-kalashnikov-dead/


MOSCOW — Russia has announced funeral arrangements for Lt. Gen. Mikhail T. Kalashnikov, inventor of the AK-47 assault rifle.
“Comrade Kalashnikov will be buried in a pit of mud with full military honors,” said General-Major Saiga Molot, a spokesman for the Russian army. “After a week, we will exhume his body, clean it off, and put him back to work. We expect that there shall be no issue with his functions.”
Kalashnikov died of complications from a liver transplant operation. The liver Kalashnikov received was allegedly Romanian, but turned out to be a substandard Albanian version.



Read more: http://www.duffelblog.com/2013/12/mikhail-kalashnikov-dead/#ixzz2oPT6HNpT

too soon? Too bad![ROFL1]

Haha, I just came over to post the same. [Beer]

[Graves]

Browning > blah > blah > Kalashnikov

Yes, I said it. :)

Slap yourself. :)

[Bailey Guns]

Sorry, I get a little defensive when commie bastards are enshrined. Peace.

It's OK. Now he's a good commie.

[trlcavscout]

He has killed more Americans then Obama, so far.

[wctriumph]

20 things maybe you didn't know about the AK-47

http://www.thedailysheeple.com/rip-kalashnikov-20-facts-you-may-not-have-known-about-ak-47-and-its-creator_122013

Fail-safe, simple to use and cheap to produce – the world’s most popular weapon, AK-47, will long remain a monument to its late ‘father,’ Mikhail Kalashnikov, who died in Russia on Monday aged 94.
1. Mikhail Kalashnikov, who was a tank commander during World War II, began his career as a weapons designer after a shoulder injury during the Battle of Bryansk. While in hospital in 1942, he overheard wounded soldiers complaining about Soviet rifles and decided to change that.
2. The first Kalashnikov rifle was produced in 1947, bringing its creator the Stalin Prize and the Order of the Red Star. The AK-47 has been the standard issue assault rifle of the Soviet and then Russian army since 1949.
3. Durability, low production cost, availability and ease of use are the features, which assured AK-47 global success. Kalashnikov’s creation performs in sandy or wet conditions that jam more sophisticated weapons. The designer called it a “symbol of the creative genius” of the Russian people.
4. The AK-47 has made it into the Guinness Book of Records as the most widely spread weapon in the world, with 100 million Kalashnikov rifles currently in use.
5. Military and special forces in 106 countries around the globe from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe are now armed with AK-47s.
6. Russia not only distributes the Kalashnikov rifles all over the world, but also licensed its production in over 30 other countries, including China, Israel, India, Egypt and Nigeria.
7. It is believed that AK-47s have caused more deaths than artillery fire, airstrikes and rocket attacks combined. An estimated quarter of a million people are gunned down by bullets from Kalashnikovs every year.
8. But Mikhail Kalashnikov himself never experienced self-reproach about the blood spilled with the help of his invention as he created AK-47 for protection. “I sleep well. It’s the politicians, who are to blame for failing to come to an agreement and resorting to violence,” he said in 2007.
9. Relative cheapness has always been one of the most important advantages of AK-47. The average global price of the assault rifle was estimated at $534 in 2005, according to Oxford University economist Phillip Killicoat. Though in African countries the price of AK-47 is on average $200 cheaper.
10. Osama bin Laden always had a Kalashnikov rifle with him during his video appearances. According to some reports, it was the US, which gave the Al Qaeda founder his first AK-47 to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan.
11. During the Vietnam War, many American soldiers gave up their M16s for the more reliable Kalashnikov rifles, which they picked up from dead enemies. Even now, the US marines carry AK-47 magazines with them because of how common the weapon is.
12. The image of AK-47 appears on the flag of Mozambique as well as coats of arms of Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso (1984-97) and East Timor. The Kalashnikov rifle is also present on the flag of Lebanese militant organization, Hezbollah.
13. The parents in some African states name their babies ‘Kalash,’ which is another nickname for the Kalashnikov assault rifle, according to a documentary by Russia’s Channel One.
14. Russia’s top basketball player, Andrey Kirilenko, born in the city of Izhevsk, which hosts the Kalashnikov rifle factory, has played under No.47 in the NBA and was nicknamed ‘AK-47.’
15. Egypt has immortalized the AK-47 by erecting a giant monument, portraying a barrel and bayonet of a Kalashnikov rifle at the Sinai Peninsula.
16. A gold coated Kalashnikov assault rifle was recovered by US troops from the weapon collection of former Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein.
17. Coins dedicated to Mikhail Kalashnikov and his creation were issued not only in Russia, but also in such a peaceful place as New Zealand, which marked the rifle’s 60th birthday with special two-dollar pieces. They came in cases shaped after the AK-47 magazine.
18. French newspaper, Liberation, has named AK-47 the most important invention of the XX century, with the Russian rifle leaving the atomic bomb and space flight behind.
19. Mixing vodka, absinth, lemon, cinnamon and sugar is the recipe for the Kalashnikov shot drink. There’s also a Kalashnikov vodka brand, which has been sold in bottles resembling the shape of an AK-47 since 2004.
20. Colombian artist, Cesar Lopez, has transformed a dozen of AK-47s into guitars, with then UN General Secretary, Kofi Annan, getting one of the musical instruments as a gift in 2007

[tawm]

Those interested in a pretty realistic/detailed portrayal of Kalashnikov and his story should really read "The Gun".