Chortle  | 10 Nov 2009 5:57 p.m. PST |
Kalashnikov has been decorated as a "Hero of Russia" for "inventing" the AK47. Didn't he copy the German MP44? Inspired by his success I am now going to invent the K47 Kenneally-Kov rifle. Where is my medal? |
| Bayonet | 10 Nov 2009 6:02 p.m. PST |
Ahh, but you must admit the MP44 was nowhere near as popular as the AK. |
| Dr Mathias | 10 Nov 2009 6:17 p.m. PST |
I suspect many more people have met their fates at the ends of an AK. I wonder if any of Kalashnikov's relatives worried about ghosts, like Winchester's widow? :) link |
 Dentatus  | 10 Nov 2009 7:44 p.m. PST |
About time… I figured an honor like that would have happened long ago. |
| Patrick R | 10 Nov 2009 7:48 p.m. PST |
The mechanism of the AK-47 is more akin to the Garand than the MP44. Don't forget that the Germans possibly copied it from the Fedorov. link |
 Murphy | 10 Nov 2009 9:47 p.m. PST |
And AK's are ALWAYS a hot item in Bongolesia!!!! |
| artaxerxes | 10 Nov 2009 11:41 p.m. PST |
He never saw a cent in royalties, patent dues etc, for obvious reasons. He now gives his name to a brand of vodka, becoming more readily available in the West (anachronistic term, that one, in the week of the anniversary of the Wall coming down, but what might one use, instead?). |
| Tom Bryant | 11 Nov 2009 12:16 a.m. PST |
Not really, he designed it along different principles. As a student of engineering I am impressed by General Kalashnikov's ability to design an almost idiot-proof system for both the end user and the manufacturer. I'd love to meet him someday. |
| Barin1 | 11 Nov 2009 12:29 a.m. PST |
Correct, AK-47 looks similar to Stg 44, but the mechanism is different. Also, from the technology point of view, it is a completely different model – most of the details stamped, very few machined details, completely different alloys and heat treatment.
There's a link with a discussion (in Russian, but there's plenty of self-explaining pictures;) link |
| Martin Rapier | 11 Nov 2009 2:29 a.m. PST |
"Didn't he copy the German MP44?" How many times does this come up? No he didn't, even though the MP44 has a wood stock and a banana mag. The MP44 design didn't even survive postwar, the CETME/G3 family were dervied from the Mauser Stg 45. Anyway to echo the comments above, I'm not surprised. Kalashnikov designed a world beater. So, who designed the T55 then? |
| Barin1 | 11 Nov 2009 3:04 a.m. PST |
According to all sources I've seen, Leonid Nikolaevich Kartsev |
| Mooseworks8 | 11 Nov 2009 7:23 a.m. PST |
Didn't he receive honors or an AK day of some sort in Bongolesia? |
| cosmicbank | 11 Nov 2009 8:08 a.m. PST |
Didn't he receive honors or an AK day of some sort in Bongolesia?
I think there may be a sandwich there named after him.
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| Col Stone | 11 Nov 2009 9:08 a.m. PST |
The "Hero of the Russian Federation" is nothing new for him tho, having already gotten 2 Hero of Socialist Labor-medals =) |
| sergeis | 12 Nov 2009 5:02 p.m. PST |
Well, here we are again…
No- nothing to do with MP44- more to do with Fedorov's avtomat.
No he is by far NOT poor – being a laureate of all sorts of Soviet premiums he was doing very well during Soviet times, and he is doing very well now. He is 90yo- and still heading the AK bureau. As for the awards- I believe he indeed has a couple of stars already- one might be from his WWII tanker days, so another star with different name is no big deal for him… |
| Spectacle | 13 Nov 2009 12:57 a.m. PST |
The myth about Kalashnikov being poor comes from him being broke in the early 90s, right after the fall of communism when the Russian government was nearly bankrupt, and pensions weren't paid for months on end. |
| sergeis | 13 Nov 2009 3:28 p.m. PST |
Myth- exactly- he is still working! Possibly the salaries were not paid either to government defense contractors- but I am sure that was not an issue for him. He might have sold the rights to his name to some vodka company- that brand being NOT very popular anyways… |
| Col Stone | 13 Nov 2009 3:34 p.m. PST |
I think it's quite nice =) |
