AK-47

Most retarded morons say the AK shoots the 7.62 and relate it to the 7.62x51mm NATO, which is used as a sniping round, hunting round and light or heavy machine gun round. The AK-47 (Avtomat Kalashnikova, or "Automatic Kalashnikov") uses the 7.62x39mm Soviet round, first fielded in the Russian light machine gun, the RPD. The purpose of using "intermediate" rounds like the 7.62x39mm, the 5.56x45mm, and the 5.45x39.5mm is to reduce the weight that a soldier carries into battle or to increase the amount of ammunition the soldier can carry. A 7.62x39mm round weighs less than half the weight of the Russian standard power rifle round, the 7.62x54mmR. Thus, by switching to the smaller round, a soldier can carry more ammunition and thus produce more kills. The smaller round also has less recoil and makes less noise and flash when fired from shorter weapons. The AK-47 was invented by Mikhail T. Kalashnikov, originally, in 1945. Kalashnikov was a Russian tank commander who was wounded in WWII. During his recovery, he studied automatic weapons such as the MP-40, the StGw-44, the PPSh, and basically any automatic weapon he could get his hands on. He submitted his design to the Russian high command in 1945. It underwent several improvements to make it cheaper and faster to produce, and was finally approved in 1947. Full scale mass production started in 1949. The AK-47 uses a system of operation known as "Rotating bolt, long stroke recoil" system. It is called "long stroke" because the gas piston is attached to the bolt carrier, and moves all the way back with the bolt carrier and all the way foreward with it. For comparison, the SKS rifle uses the short-stroke style of operation, where the gas piston moves back only around a centimeter before hitting the op-rod (operating rod), which then hits the bolt carrier, unlocking it. The "rotating bolt" part comes from how the bolt locks into the weapon. Some guns, like the SKS, have the bolt lock into the reciever. This is a decent form of operation, but the reciever must be made of a strong matereal to support the pressure against the bolt when firing. A stronger reciever is more expensive and takes longer to make. Thus, the AK-47 uses a rotating bolt system of operation, where the bolt locks around the barrel. Since the reciever is under much less strain during firing, it can be made of cheaper, thinner matereal and can be stamped instead of milled. The AK-47 is extremely reliable because it has loose tolerances. Because of this, dirt and oversized rounds of ammunition will almost never stop it, and also, loose tolerances mean that replacement parts can be obtained from practically any source and work. However, loose tolerances also mean less accuracy. The AK-47 is simple, reliable, and durable. Weight: Fixed stock variant, 9 pounds. Barrel length: 16.3 inches. Ammunition type: 7.62x39mm Soviet Firing rate: 700 rounds per minuite (fully automatic variants) Magazine capacity: 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 45, 50, 55. Drums can be had in 75 and 100 round capacities. Over time, the AK has advanced and become used in almost every role possible. An AK used in the Light Machine Gun role is the RPK-47 or RPK-74. An AK used in the sniping role (and chambered in 7.62x51mm NATO, 8mm, or 7.62x54mmR) is the Romanian PSL or Yugoslavian M-76. An AK used in the Personal Defense Weapon role is the AKS-74U, seen carried by Bin-Laden. An AK used in the pistol role is usually called an AKP, most models of which are made in America for the civilian market in semi-automatic mode.