They didn't try Shark Tank?
/johnny
So are we going to have AK Big Box stores here in the US soon?
Kalashnikov was the head of the design team that AFTER THE WAR designed the AK-47.
Of course another member of the design team at Izmash was the German Hugo Schmeisser.
By August 1945, the Red Army had created 50 StG44s from existing assembly parts, and had begun inspecting their design. 10,785 sheets of technical designs were confiscated by the Soviets as part of their research. In October 1945, Schmeisser was forced to work for the Red Army and instructed to continue development of new weapons.
Schmeisser’s brilliance continued to impress the Red Army, and he, along with other weapons designers and their families, was relocated to the USSR. On 24 October 1946 the German specialists rode a train to Izhevsk in the southern Ural Mountains, where a center of Russian firearms development was located.
Schmeisser was one of 16 Germans for which a special department (no. 58) was created at factory number 74, later known as Izmash. Schmeisser was appointed as one of the five designers of the group, together with Kurt Horn and Werner Gruner (both from Grossfuss) and Oscar Schink (from Gustloff), under the formal leadership of Karl Barnitske (also from Gustloff). There is some evidence that Schmeisser was uncooperative with the Soviets because he received the most negative review by his Soviet handlers in this group of five German designers. In these Soviet reviews, Schmeisser was described as a “practical man”, who invoked his lack of formal training whenever he was presented with any design problems. Initially Schmeisser was given a salary of 5,000 rubles per month, but this was cut after two just months to 3,500 rubles, and a month later to 2,500 rubles. These official Soviet reports match the memoirs of Yevgeny Dragunov, who described Schmeisser as afflicted by chronic lung disease and not engaging in much activity, unlike Gruner, whom Dragunov described as brilliant man, who had contributed considerably.
Schmeisser worked in Izhevsk until 1952 when he and other German specialists returned home to Germany. With short notice, his stay in the Soviet Union was extended beyond that of the other weapon specialists by a half year. He finally returned home on 9 June 1952. Schmeisser died on 12 September 1953, and was buried in Suhl.
Per Wikipedia.
“Vyatskie Polyany Machine-Building Plant MOLOT” builds AKs and Is already a joint stock company.
The Sestroyetsk Arsenal burned to the ground in the 1920’s
Russia’s largest weapons producer has struggled to be profitable in the post-Cold War years, and now 49 percent of the Kalashnikov Group will be sold to private buyers for nearly $41 million.
Mikhail Kalashnikov, the designer of the world’s iconic firearm transferred the brand rights to the newly formed weapons venture. The brand is estimated to be worth $10 billion.
Now I realize the Kalashnikov firm is in debt, but there is no way 49% of it could be sold for a mere $41 million if the brand itself is worth $10 billion. The math just doesn't work. And for good reason. There are hundreds of thousands of unused mint condition AK-47/AK-47M/AK-74 rifles sitting in arms depots all around the world. Not to mention the million or more used variants still in use and available for sale. The family and similar variants are still manufactured in a dozen or more countries. No way is the AK-47 brand worth anywhere near $10 billion.
Does anyone know who owns the remaining 51%?
They didn't try Shark Tank?