Free Republic

On Wednesday—a day before the Malaysian airliner was shot down—President Obama quietly signed an executive order targeting Russian oil, natural gas, finance and defense companies. Hidden in the details, was a section that effectively bans AK-47s. As always, the devil is in the details, so read on for the straight scoop.

Mikhail KalashnikovThe creator of the Kalashnikov assault rifle agreed to let his name be used as a brand for a new arms corporation, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Sunday. The new group of companies will unite Izhmekh and Izhmash, two prominent state-owned enterprises in the republic of Udmurtia in Volga federal district. Mikhail Kalashnikov, who turned 93 on Saturday, personally authorized the use of his name for the new group, Rogozin, who oversees military equipment matters at the government, said on his Twitter. The Izhmash was manufacturing Kalashnikovs since the rifle first went into mass production...

Working with Team Russian Technologies, the Russian national practical shooting team, Izhmash has developed an update for their phenomenally popular semi-automatic shotgun, the Saiga 12. This modified shotgun, produced by the efforts of team captain Ilyin Vsevolod Kirisenko and Izhmash engineer Alexey Shumilov, has many updates to Saiga platform we're familiar with most. First and foremost it is not a "sporterized" shotgun. It is in full pistol-grip regalia, with a SAW-type grip, telescoping buttstock, and improved forearm. The buttstock follows the AR pattern and runs parallel to the shotgun bore and looks to be compatible with aftermarket AR-15 buttstocks. It...

The Russian firm Izhmash (Izhevsk Mechanical Works) holds the patents for the AK-47, and it is going broke because of all the illegal copies of its weapons being produced worldwide. Izhmash is having little success in trying to force companies in Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Israel, China and the United States to pay licensing fees for the AK-47s they produce. The typical defense is that it is a much improved rifle, with only a superficial similarity to the Izhmash AK-47. Some claim that Russia abandoned the AK-47 design in the 1970s, when they switched to the 5.45mm AK-74. Actually, the original...

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