The Development of the AK-47; The Revolutionary Rifle

Previously, I talked about the US army rapidly replacing the M14 with the M16, to quickly sum that decision; It was not the function of the M16 or the coolness of it that set about the replacement of the M14, but the M14's weight and the use of 7.62 NATO. 

In the Soviet Union, however, the same thing happened. Albeit, for a different reason. In 1943 Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov began the designing of a new semi-automatic rifle that could use the new 7.62x39R cartridge. This would be the SKS, standing for "Samozaryadny Karabin sistemy Simonova" or "Self-Loading Carbine of the Simonov System". This rifle would quickly find its way into full-scale adoption. I've heard conflicting accounts for why the Soviets so quickly chose the SKS as their main battle rifle, but the two explanations I've heard that make the most sense to me are;

• The Soviets were aware of the great advantage the M1 Garand gave the Americans on the western front, and quickly hurried to adopt a self-loading rifle of their own

• Before the war the Soviets were developing the SVT-40, but later realized that not only was that rifle too expensive to produce in large quantities. It was also impossible to control, far too long for what was optimal, and generally disliked by the soldiers who used it on the eastern front. So, they pivoted to the SKS, which addressed all of the preceived issues of the SVT-40

The SKS was formally adopted in 1949, 8 years before the M14 was adopted by the Americans. It is a tilting bolt self-loading rifle operated by a gas piston, and fed from a 10-round internal magazine. Many SKS rifles were produced with an attached folding bayonet.  



Mikhail Kalashnikov designed the AK-47 Type I, during the second world war after receiving a minor injury in combat. He took inspiration from the projects of other Soviet arms designers, and directly copied some of the parts he liked most from rifles like the AS and the SKS. Because of this the AK and the SKS share a lot of features. Most notably, the gas pistons, the caliber, sights, and general barrel length. 



The AK-47 Type I was made with a milled lower receiver, and did not feature any strengthening ribs for the top cover. The lower was found to be too expensive to produce, and the cover was considered "too weak". Thusly the AK-47 was updated in the Type II, also known as the AKM, with a stamped lower receiver and a reinforced top cover. Otherwise, the two versions of the rifle are the same. 

So, now, why did the Soviet Union pivot from the SKS - an already stellar rifle - to the AK? To put it simply, the two were meant to coexist; the SKS was a battle rifle, and the AK was intended as a replacement to the submachine gun concept. But, everyone who used the AK - be they soldiers, or trialers - adored the AK and found it to perform just as well (if not better) as the SKS. The AK entered widescale adoption in 1947 and was promptly exported along with the SKS to all of the USSR's political allies. 

The fire rate and the 30-round box magazines were seen as incredible advantages by the Soviet's military commanders, and fit nicely into their budding mobile warfare doctrine. While the SKS was relegated to lower echelon troops, the AK was put into the hands of every soldier in the Red Army. This was, of course, proven in Vietnam. Where the Vietcong had a great advantage over the American G.I.s, who used 20-round box magazines.

In the early 70's the Ministry of Defence of the Soviet Union asked for the AKM-47 to be both modernized and lightened, likely after seeing the development of the M16. Kalashnikov answered by developing the 5.45x39mm cartridge, simplifying the gas system, and replacing various parts with either plastic, or sheet metal. In a comparison of weight, the AK74 weighed roughly 2 pounds less in its standard configuration. Though that might not seem like much of a reduction (for reference it went from being a 9 pound rifle, to a 7 pound rifle), soldiers gladly welcomed the slight improvement to their combat load. As well, a rail was added to the lefthand side of the lower receiver, that could accept optics. Such as the PU line of scopes used since the second world war, or the Soviet Union's experimental night vision system.

Depicted: Soviet Airbourne Troops (VDV) with the folding stock variant of the AK74


The Soviet-Afghan war was the 'trial by fire' of the AK74, the rifle was beloved by Red Army soldiers and by insurgents alike. Likewise the 'trial by fire' for the AK47 came only a few years before in the Vietnam war, in the hands of the Vietcong. Both of these wars proved to all the greatness of the Automat Kalashnikov design, and propelled Mikhail Kalashnikov from being a national hero, to a god of firearms design in the eyes of millions across the entire world. And this is where I'll end this blogpost; expect more like this - and a continuation of the development of the AK platform in future posts. Thank you for reading.