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Weapon Of Mass Destruction (The AK-47)
Washington Post ^ | 11/26/2006 | Larry Kahaner

Posted on 11/26/2006 2:55:42 PM PST by HoldFast

By Larry Kahaner Sunday, November 26, 2006; B01

In the grand narrative of World War II, the Battle of Bryansk is a minor conflict, barely deserving of a footnote. But Bryansk has another place in history. It was there that a then-unknown tank commander named Mikhail Kalashnikov decided that his Russian comrades would never again be defeated. In the years following the Great Patriotic War, as Soviet propagandists dubbed it, he was to conceive and fabricate a weapon so simple, and yet so revolutionary, that it would change the way wars were fought and won. It was the AK-47 assault rifle.

The AK-47 has become the world's most prolific and effective combat weapon, a device so cheap and simple that it can be bought in many countries for less than the cost of a live chicken. Depicted on the flag and currency of several countries, waved by guerrillas and rebels everywhere, the AK is responsible for about a quarter-million deaths every year. It is the firearm of choice for at least 50 legitimate standing armies and countless fighting forces from Africa and the Middle East to Central America and Los Angeles. It has become a cultural icon, its signature form -- that banana-shaped magazine -- defining in our consciousness the contours of a deadly weapon.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: ak; ak47; akm; banglist; kalishnikov; miktim; rpk
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To: HoldFast

The democrat congress hasn't even been sworn in yet and their cheerleader press is already banging the gun ban drum.


41 posted on 11/26/2006 4:40:25 PM PST by aomagrat (I'm not as young as I usedtocould.)
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To: Muttering Mike

Any recommendations for a really high quality, accurate AK-47?
The standard stuff is okay, but is there a really good one?


42 posted on 11/26/2006 4:43:21 PM PST by Solitar ("My aim is not to pass laws, but to repeal them." -- Barry Goldwater)
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To: HoldFast

OH, Oh, I want one!

Oh wait, I already have one. Bummer.


43 posted on 11/26/2006 4:43:39 PM PST by Ruy Dias de Bivar (When someone burns a cross on your lawn the best fire hose is an AK-47.)
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To: edpc

***the AK is responsible for about a quarter-million deaths every year.***

Population control.


44 posted on 11/26/2006 4:44:48 PM PST by Ruy Dias de Bivar (When someone burns a cross on your lawn the best fire hose is an AK-47.)
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To: CrazyIvan

Above is the MP44 stripped to show components. The MP44 had a piston mechanism that taps gas from the barrel (same as AK). The sights are very similar. Differences in how the magazine is seated, and the swing-down handle/trigger.

45 posted on 11/26/2006 4:45:49 PM PST by SauronOfMordor (A planned society is most appealing to those with the arrogance to think they will be the planners)
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To: Ruy Dias de Bivar

Now that they are cheaper for a while, I think I'll get one too... Along with a chest full of hi-cap Glock and Ruger mags.


46 posted on 11/26/2006 4:47:45 PM PST by Poser (Willing to fight for oil)
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To: Farmer Dean

**The guy has pretty low standards for marksmanship if he likes the AK.Give me a HK91,FN-FAL,M1A or any number of good accurate rifles-leave that other piece of junk on the rack.**

That piece of junk works. It also makes the faint hearts we we their panties.

Life is a bummer when I have all the guns I need, but not all I want!


47 posted on 11/26/2006 4:48:01 PM PST by Ruy Dias de Bivar (When someone burns a cross on your lawn the best fire hose is an AK-47.)
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To: Paladin2
If the Iraqis are allowed one AK-47 per family, why not us in the US also?

Because then, we might revolt against our rulers.

48 posted on 11/26/2006 4:49:26 PM PST by elkfersupper
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To: edpc
Just imagine how many lives it must be responsible for SAVING each year....It's probably over a million in Africa alone...
49 posted on 11/26/2006 4:50:07 PM PST by tcostell (MOLON LABE)
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To: SauronOfMordor

The look may be similar externally, but it's a totally different operating design.


50 posted on 11/26/2006 4:52:51 PM PST by tcostell (MOLON LABE)
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To: GoldCountryRedneck

Gun porn!? Shudder. That's like posting a picture of Helen Thomas or the Evil One from Chappaqua and calling it cheesecake.
Now if you had posted a picture of an Arsenal, SA 7M milled receiver AK....(grin).


51 posted on 11/26/2006 4:53:14 PM PST by skepsel
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To: HoldFast

If the author of that crap ever goes berserk and comes after me with one of those horribly deadly AK's, I guess I'll just shoot back with my harmless little Remington Model 7 chambered for .308 Winchester that I occasionally use to shoot in the general direction of a deer. I figure I'll have a good long while to draw a bead as he tries to get close enough to hit me.


52 posted on 11/26/2006 4:53:53 PM PST by tickmeister (tickmeister)
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.

{The StG44 uses the "tilt" principle to lock the bolt similar to an SKS or an FAL.}

While the AK families use a rotating bolt to close the breech, vaguely similar to our M1 / M14.


53 posted on 11/26/2006 4:56:32 PM PST by labette (I'm not an expert, but I play one on Free Republic. You can too!)
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To: GoldCountryRedneck
That looks very similar to mine, except I have the beech wood stock instead of the laminate, and a black pistol grip.

Still more than enough to make the liberals I know tremble at the sight of it. (which to be frank, is kind of the point of owning one)

54 posted on 11/26/2006 4:56:38 PM PST by tcostell (MOLON LABE)
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To: HoldFast

"... a device so cheap and simple that it can be bought in many countries for less than the cost of a live chicken."

Not in this country.

The cheapest is the Romanian WASR-10, and it's over $300.00 in semi-automatic form with several required USA-made parts. And the price of ammo is now up 50%, from about $0.10 per round a few years ago to at least $0.15 per round, in quantity today.

Get some while you can. You can wait to get a chicken in every pot after the demonrats take over.


55 posted on 11/26/2006 4:57:17 PM PST by ChuteTheMall (Tagline: If you're reading this, I'm influencing your mind.)
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To: Ruy Dias de Bivar
"Life is a bummer when I have all the guns I need, but not all I want!"

Roger that!

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Model: BEST QUALITY SIDELOCK EJECTOR SXS

Gauge or Caliber: 577 NITRO

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56 posted on 11/26/2006 4:57:33 PM PST by Inge_CAV
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To: aomagrat

A gun ban will not pass congress. The Dems will then do like they did to get the 1968 Gun Control Act and the Clinton Assault weapons ban passed.
They will make it a part of an omnibus crime control package which will give huge sums of money to the states for crime control and "To protect our children".. Only then will many of the pro-gunners get on board. Greed.


57 posted on 11/26/2006 4:57:51 PM PST by Ruy Dias de Bivar (When someone burns a cross on your lawn the best fire hose is an AK-47.)
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To: KarinG1

Ditto my A-5.


58 posted on 11/26/2006 4:58:46 PM PST by Eric in the Ozarks (BTUs are my Beat.)
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To: edpc
I hate it when the AK, or any other weapon, just goes around firing itself and killing people.

I hate even more the number of news articles and tv reports that I have seen and read where the evil AK was the weapon of choice. Its just too easy to embellish the actual facts. One distant report here in Michigan a couple years ago initially reported that it was an AK-47 when in fact, after the smoke cleared, it was nothing more than a shotgun........of course you had to read closely between the lines of the follow-up article to actually see it........

59 posted on 11/26/2006 5:03:12 PM PST by Hot Tabasco (Elves are nothing more than evil little people who claim to work for Santa.)
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To: Ruy Dias de Bivar
"A gun ban will not pass congress."

You better not bet your ammo on that. Best to get your AK's, AR's, etc. now while you still can. For that matter any semi-auto may be banned -- as earlier noted -- since they are not "needed" for hunting purposes. My wish list includes a high capacity 10mm (only Glock makes 'em so far), and an AR-10 to compliment my collection of AK-47's. Of course then I'd need cases of 10mm and .308 too. Too many guns to buy, too little time and money -- thus some of us get twice the rifles and ammo with an AK-47 than with alternatives.

60 posted on 11/26/2006 5:05:35 PM PST by Solitar ("My aim is not to pass laws, but to repeal them." -- Barry Goldwater)
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