Kalashnikov says Iraq shows his gun is still best

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Easy-8

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Kalashnikov says Iraq shows his gun is still best

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Mikhail Kalashnikov, chief designer of Izhmash Concern, a Russian firearms producer, poses with the latest model of his rifle during a news conference in Moscow April 15, 2006. Kalashnikov is the designer of the AK-47 assault rifle (an acronym for "Avtomat Kalashnikov model 1947") which became operational in the Red Army in 1949. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin (Sergei Karpukhin)

Apr 17, 2006 — MOSCOW (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.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1850517
 
lol Wow, he really has lost his mind.

Some units, esp. mech had taken to using the AK, and it had and has nothing to do with the reliablity of the M16. You'd be hard pressed to find more AKs in US personnel's hands over there than M16s/M4s.

I wonder what he's smoking, 'cause I want some!:mrgreen:
 
I saw a report on CNN that said that shortly after the invasion, there was a shortage of M-16/M4 espically amongst 2nd line troops (non infantry roles) who were being used in foot patrols. Some guys on patrol had nothing but their M9 Service pistol. So certain people were given AK's as there was nothing else. But that was back in 2003, I havent heard of anything similar since then, certainly not of US troops trading their M4 for a AK-47.

And even if true, whats the big deal? Soldiers have been using captured equipment for years. In WWII, Many US troops acquired MP40s, prefering it to the M3. Germans were particularly fond of the PPsh-41, resistence movements relied heavily on pilfered German weapons...
 
zander_0633 said:
Well, you can't deny that AK-47 is the most used gun in the world!
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Yea, because the most of the world won't spend much for defense so they go for the main advantage of the AK-47: inexpensiveness.
 
Yes,AK series is the best gun.
As long as the gunpowder system gun is used, AK series would be used eternally.
AK-202 may exist in the 22nd century.
 
Sandy the weapon is as accurate as a spitball beyond 150M how the hell can you claim its the "best"... or is this sarcasm?
 
I think you've got to give credit where credit is due.

The AK-47 is cheap, its powerful, its easy to maintain, its extremely reliable. Its only real drawback is its accuracy at long range. But then again most groups that use it are not exactly the worlds greatest marksmen. Its generally used as a 'spray and pray' weapon.
 
The AK was a break threw. You can't destroy it! drag it in sand, dirt, mud or whatever and you can still use it. Try that with a M-16! It has powerful rounds which give it some nasty recoil which is the sole drawback. The AK is two things:

1. High in demand
2. High in supply

This is why it is the most used assault rifle in the world.
 
Easy-8 said:
The AK was a break threw. You can't destroy it! drag it in sand, dirt, mud or whatever and you can still use it.
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Yeah, you can destroy it.

It has powerful rounds which give it some nasty recoil which is the sole drawback
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It has a lot more drawbacks than just recoil. lol

The AK is two things:

1. High in demand
2. High in supply

This is why it is the most used assault rifle in the world.
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Biggest reasons? Plenty to go around and cheap.

Mmarsh said:
I saw a report on CNN that said that shortly after the invasion, there was a shortage of M-16/M4 espically amongst 2nd line troops (non infantry roles) who were being used in foot patrols. Some guys on patrol had nothing but their M9 Service pistol. So certain people were given AK's as there was nothing else. But that was back in 2003, I havent heard of anything similar since then, certainly not of US troops trading their M4 for a AK-47.
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It had nothing to do with a shortage of M16s. No one was outside of the wire on patrol without an M4/M16, except for the occasional officer. The report you are probably refering to has to do with the Mech units that had been issued the longer M16s but started using the AK47s because there weren't enough available M4s.

All CS/CSS have issued M16s or M4s, from cooks to supply guys.
 
The thing with "US" units using AKs ... he must have mistaken pictures of footage of eastern european troops that were in Iraq who were outfitted with American gear like the Humvee and American style helmets but were using AK-74s and the such for the service weapons.
Occasionally you come across pictures of the Slovenes who usually fit this description. I don't know if they went to Iraq, but the Slovenians did have a presence in Afghanistan.
 
I've actually seen video of a US soldier firing an AK-47 in Iraq...of course that doesn't mean he actually used it in combat.

Vietnam vets I've talked to have used everything from Bren guns, to RPGs, to an old PPSh and beyond. Were they better than US hardware? Not necessarily, but they were available in the moment when they were needed.
 
Easy-8 said:
The AK was a break threw. You can't destroy it! drag it in sand, dirt, mud or whatever and you can still use it. Try that with a M-16! It has powerful rounds which give it some nasty recoil which is the sole drawback. The AK is two things:

1. High in demand
2. High in supply

This is why it is the most used assault rifle in the world.
Click to expand...

7.62x39 does NOT have nasty recoil... It is just a little bit more powerful than 5.56, but still a long way behind 7.62 NATO...
 
Perhaps PJ he did mean "break" "threw" as in it broke and rather than fix it they threw it away and picked up another one.
:)
 
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