Kalashnikov
AK-47, Soviet assault rifle, possibly the most widely used shoulder weapon in the world. The initials AK represent Avtomat Kalashnikova, Russian for “automatic Kalashnikov,” for its designer, Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov, who designed the accepted version of the weapon in 1947.
Almost from the moment of its official adoption by the Soviet military in 1949, the AK-47 was recognized as being simple to operate, rugged, reliable under trying conditions, and amenable to mass production. Built around a 7.62-mm round with a muzzle velocity of some 700 metres per second, it had a cyclic firing rate of 600 rounds per minute and was capable of both semiautomatic and automatic fire. A long curved box magazine held 30 rounds, and a separate gas-return tube above the barrel held a piston that was forced back upon firing to activate the mechanisms that ejected the spent cartridge and cocked the hammer for the next round. The AK-47 was manufactured in two basic designs, one with a wooden stock and the other, designated the AKS, with a folding metal stock. Beginning in 1959, the AK-47 was replaced in first-line Soviet service by the AKM, a 
Kalashnikov assault rifles remain the basic shoulder weapons of many armies that once had political and military ties to the Soviet Union, and they have long been the favoured weapon for many guerrilla and nationalist movements throughout the world.
The symbolic value of the AK-47 to such movements is demonstrated by its presence on the coats of arms of numerous countries as well as on the flag of Mozambique. It has been estimated that some 100 million AKs have been produced—fully half of them outside Russia, and many of those under expired Soviet-era licenses or no license at all. A full range of weapons that can trace their design history back to the AK-47 are produced by the Izhmash armaments company in Izhevsk, Russia.
