Kalashnikov and the Intermediate Round

After an unsuccessful attempt at a submachinegun and light machinegun, the young small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov did not lose hope, but began to design a new semiautomatic carbine for the new intermediate round. However, here too he was faced with defeat. Why did it happen, and what lessons did the future author of the AK learn from this?

Kalashnikov's Debut

If you ask a foreigner words he associated with Russia, "Kalashnikov" is likely going to be one of them. The famous assault rifle became one of the symbols of not only Russia and the USSR, but the 20th Century. The assault rifle's designer, Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov, also got a share of the glory. As it often happens, this glory was rather one-sided and often subjective. Let's try to get through the other creations of the designer who was defined by his best known work.

Schmeisser vs. Kalashnikov

There are quite a few brands in the world of weapons that are recognizeable even to the outside observer. One of them is the legendary "Kalashnikov", the AK-47. The assault rifle found a place in popular culture, computer games, and even on flags and coats of arms. However, arguments about its creator still don't die. There are those tho suspect that only German designers could have made the AK, and their labour was appropriated by the Soviets.

By Any Other Name

The AK is subject to a number of ongoing raging discussions, one of which had to do with its name. Some claim that there was no such thing as an AK-47, with the name of the gun being simply AK, later replaced with the AKM. Sound logic, but it is not confirmed by documents, which use the name AK-47 extensively. For instance, the manual.

Internal documentation uses the indexes AK and AK-47 to refer to the same item interchangeably. From a list of experimental works of the NKV for 1951:

"Increasing production rate and quality of mechanical finish on parts and assembly of new types of weapons. Development of new high production rate processes of finishing parts and assembly of the AK-47 system.

1. Development and agreement on blueprints.
2. Development of high production rate technical processes for mechanical finishing and control of AK-47 parts (factory #74 and NITI-40).
3. Development and distribution in the Q1 of 1950 of technical tasks for design of new equipment and modernization of old equipment. GSPI-7 is to receive a task for design of transport devices and planning (NITI-40 jointly with factory #74) by August 1st, 1950.
4. Development of transport devices, planning of equipment, and composition of technical-economical metrics (GSPI-7 jointly with the factory).
5. Production of harnesses, experimental trials and implementation of labour intensive processes (see topic 104-102 for equipment) in 1950.
6. Development of a project to organize and launch production of a new product (AK-47) and partial execution in 1950 (NITI-40).
7. Production and implementation of the remaining harnesses and equipment, as well as introduction by NITI-40 of new processes for the production of the AK-47 system, development of guiding materials for the organization of assembly line production.
8. Composition of a joint technical report."

4 pages later, we see:

"4. Execution of trials of an optical calibration system for the AK, correction of working blueprints, correction of the prototype in metal, correction of the optics, introduction of the device into production, composition of a technical report with trials and acceptance documents."

Via Yuri Pasholok.

Kalashnikov's Contributions

"Award Order

1. Name: Kalashnikov, Mikhail Timofeevich
2. Rank: none
3. Position: Veteran of the Patriotic War
   is nominated for the Order of the Red Star.
4. Year of birth: 1919
5. Nationality: Russian
6. Party affiliation: none
7. Participation in the Civil War and subsequent actions in defense of the USSR (where, when): Bryansk Front from June to November of 1941
8. Wounds or contusions in the Patriotic War: wounded in action
9. In the Red Army since: 1939
10. Previous awards: none

Brief and specific description of personal heroism or achievements: 

The nominee is a participant in the Patriotic War. He proposed the following inventions: a submachinegun and a machinegun. Their originality made a valuable contribution to the field of small arms design. 

On the orders of the GAU, the nominee solved a series of problems during the modernization of the Goryunov machinegun and designed his own carbine for the intermediate round.

The nominee earned the state award of the Order of the Red Star through his participation in the Patriotic War and resilient labour in the design of weapons.

Deputy Chair of the GAU Artillery Committee, Lieutenant General of the Engineering-Artillery Service, Berkalov

Chief of the Artillery Committee Department of Inventions, Engineer Lieutenant-Colonel Popkov

[illegible] October 1945."

Via Maxim Popenker.

AK Accessories

The accuracy of an automatic weapon is important, and many experiments were run on the AK platform to figure out if it can be increased. A number of experimental muzzle devices were built for this purpose. _tezka provided this picture.

Left to right: similar to stock type, brake-compensator, two chamber, flash suppressor, single chamber, reactive.

AK-74 Ballistic Tables

"Characteristics of dispersion for Kalashnikov assault rifles (AK-74 and AKS-74)

Bullet with a steel core

Shooting in short bursts, while prone"

High Capacity

I am sure that many of you have seen those comedic 100-round magazines for AK assault rifles that can barely feed 5 or 6 rounds without jamming up. What you probably didn't know is that the idea isn't exactly new.

These photos are from magazine trials of 30, 40, 50, and 100 rounds. The 100 round magazine was rejected, the 50 round deserved some improvements, and a recommendation was made to reduce the capacity of the 40 round magazine to 35 rounds.

Via tezka.

Small Arms Precision

In 1948, it was clear that the PPSh has served its time, and a new, more powerful automatic infantry weapon was necessary, using an intermediate 7.62x39 mm mod. 1943 cartridge. Several weapons were designed to Tactical-Technical Specification #3131 and tested along with their submachinegun ancestor and the German Sturmgewehr for comparison.

AK Trials

"Conclusions: 

1. The 7.62 mm Kalashnikov assault rifle with a model 1943 round satisfies requirement #3131 in reliability of the automatic system, lifespan of components, usage characteristics, and overall, and can be recommended for mass production and subsequent military trials.
2. The Kalashnikov assault rifle does not fully satisfy requirement #3131 in the category of precision. However, as when firing single shots it greatly surpasses the model 1941 SMG, and is equivalent when firing in fully automatic mode, the Kalashnikov assault rifle can be recommended for military trials with existing precision. 

Kalashnikov's First

"Self-loading carbine developed by Kalashnikov and Petrov, according to technical-tactical requirements from the GAU KA Artillery Committee #2941.

The carbine (right view) is shown on the photo."

Via Andrei Ulanov.

Kalashnikov vs. Schmeisser: For the Umpteenth Time

The installation of a monument to the famous Soviet and Russian arms designer, M.T. Kalashnikov, was followed by a whole chain of scandals. Recently, Yuri Pasholok pointed out an unfortunate mistake that was made by the sculptor, who placed an exploded diagram of a Sturmgewehr on the monument to the creator of the AK. All of this led back to the question that was answered for anyone who is even slightly interested in the history of small arms long ago. Nevertheless, serious flame wars broke out, so it's time to, once again, explain the differences in the two designs, and how it turned out that an unknown sergeant's gun ended up as a symbol of the USSR, which is still relevant in modern Russia.