4 ms·

It's not even 100% clear that it's really "Kalashnikov's Rifle". It appears to share its pedigree with a number of German firearms from the WW2 era, the design

It's not even 100% clear that it's really "Kalashnikov's Rifle". It appears to share its pedigree with a number of German firearms from the WW2 era, the designers of which just so happened to "immigrate" to the Soviet Union in 1945. The Soviets wouldn't have found it very palatable to field a weapon designed by Germans, and the story of a common soldier designing one of the great battle rifles of the 20th Century and being elevated to a Hero of the Soviet Union as a result is great propaganda. I'm not asserting that the man had nothing to do with it, don't get me wrong. It's just very obviously not the work of one individual's mind, and given the context of the era we should probably take a critical view of the official story.

spurgu 4y ago
"Standing on the shoulders of giants". Very few things in recent centuries have been invented from scratch.
simonh 4y ago
While the latter was a clear inspiration, the AK operating mechanism is very different from the Stg 44 I believe you are referencing. There are plenty of disassembly videos on YouTube you can check to see differences. They’re no more similar than is say the AR15. On the other hand Kalashnikov worked with other soviet weapons designers and some features of the AK are clearly borrowed from some of their designs. There are plenty of records, schematics and eye witness accounts of the weapons development and military trials at various stages, and no Germans were involved.
- Ekaros 4y ago
  Stg 44 from what I can see can clearly be called German. That is rather complicated in engineering. Unlike AK which is exceedingly simple. I think only thing is the inspiration for class of weapon which time had clearly come. Something beyond sub-machine gun. With decent single shot accuracy.
  - simonh 4y ago
    Indeed, the Russian military was explicitly trying to develop a weapon like the 44. First they developed the 7.62x39 cartridge and then developed a weapon to use it. Kalashnikov had been working on a sub machine gun design and then adapted it (redesign really) to the new cartridge.
- Ancapistani 4y ago
  I immediately thought of the Stg 44, but while my memory is foggy, I do remember that that wasn’t the rifle that the AK drew from in inspiring the actual action itself. Ergonomics and overall layout, sure - but the action was another gun, that I can’t remember right now. Getting older sucks sometimes, but it beats the alternative!
  - baybal2 4y ago
MichaelMoser123 4y ago
The PPSh-41 was also inspired by a weapon from Finland, but still the Soviet designer Spagin had to make a lot of adjustment. For example they used stamped parts, in order to make it easier to produce the weapon in great numbers. Something similar must have happened with the AK-47 as well. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PPSh-41 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PPSh-41
jakearmitage 4y ago
That is a very widespread notion, but even though the StG 44 looks like the AK, the operating mechanism is inspired by the M1 Garand. Kalashnikov himself mentions the Garand as an inspiration: https://www.amazon.com/Kalashnikov-Arms-Edward-Clinton-Ezell/dp/0889352674 https://www.amazon.com/Kalashnikov-Arms-Edward-Clinton-Ezell... You can see a comparison done by a popular AK builder/engineer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4l33puWET0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4l33puWET0

spurgu 4y ago

"Standing on the shoulders of giants". Very few things in recent centuries have been invented from scratch.

simonh 4y ago

While the latter was a clear inspiration, the AK operating mechanism is very different from the Stg 44 I believe you are referencing. There are plenty of disassembly videos on YouTube you can check to see differences. They’re no more similar than is say the AR15. On the other hand Kalashnikov worked with other soviet weapons designers and some features of the AK are clearly borrowed from some of their designs. There are plenty of records, schematics and eye witness accounts of the weapons development and military trials at various stages, and no Germans were involved.

Ekaros 4y ago
Stg 44 from what I can see can clearly be called German. That is rather complicated in engineering. Unlike AK which is exceedingly simple. I think only thing is the inspiration for class of weapon which time had clearly come. Something beyond sub-machine gun. With decent single shot accuracy.
- simonh 4y ago
  Indeed, the Russian military was explicitly trying to develop a weapon like the 44. First they developed the 7.62x39 cartridge and then developed a weapon to use it. Kalashnikov had been working on a sub machine gun design and then adapted it (redesign really) to the new cartridge.
Ancapistani 4y ago
I immediately thought of the Stg 44, but while my memory is foggy, I do remember that that wasn’t the rifle that the AK drew from in inspiring the actual action itself. Ergonomics and overall layout, sure - but the action was another gun, that I can’t remember right now. Getting older sucks sometimes, but it beats the alternative!
- baybal2 4y ago

MichaelMoser123 4y ago

The PPSh-41 was also inspired by a weapon from Finland, but still the Soviet designer Spagin had to make a lot of adjustment. For example they used stamped parts, in order to make it easier to produce the weapon in great numbers. Something similar must have happened with the AK-47 as well. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PPSh-41 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PPSh-41

jakearmitage 4y ago

That is a very widespread notion, but even though the StG 44 looks like the AK, the operating mechanism is inspired by the M1 Garand. Kalashnikov himself mentions the Garand as an inspiration: https://www.amazon.com/Kalashnikov-Arms-Edward-Clinton-Ezell/dp/0889352674 https://www.amazon.com/Kalashnikov-Arms-Edward-Clinton-Ezell... You can see a comparison done by a popular AK builder/engineer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4l33puWET0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4l33puWET0