[BenLurkin]

Many, indeed most, of those who wielded this weapon were evil. The firearm itself, however has a certain virtue to it. IMHO he can be proud of its design.

[UnklGene]

Old Mikhail did better than John Garand (M1), Congress was asked to give Garand $ for his famous rifle design and it's accomplishments. Congress said: "Drop dead!"

[The Duke]

Was the old Soviet Union really any more of a police state than we are quickly evolving into today?

[decimon]

Very few AK47s actually were made. The original gun -- the name is an abbreviation of Automatic Kalashnikov 1947 -- was designed that year and went into production in '49. It was soon tweaked and became the AKM. The M stands for modernized.

I thought the "M" stood for "machined" as opposed to cast.