The AK 47 (AK.A The most well known assault rifle ever)

USSR Flag

What weapon pops into your mind first when you think of assault rifles? The M16? The FN Scar? The Famas maybe? Or do you think of the AK 47? The AK 47, unlike the rest of the AK family, has become quite famous in modern times.
The Soviets manufactured thousands of AK 47s in preparation for the seemingly inevitable war with the US and then stashed them in weapons dumps. However when their economy crashed and the USSR fell they were stuck with all the rifles and a huge deficit. In an attempt to raise money and rid themselves of the AKs, the Russians sold the majority of the weapons to black market arms dealers and various insurgents all over the world. Like so many things in life this weapons dealing has become a popular subject for social commentary and documentaries including the popular film Lord of War. I was hoping to include a clip from the movie in which the main character is purchasing caches of AK 47s from a Russian arms dealer, but I could only find the clip in Spanish. Very sorry about.

 

Of course the purpose of this post was not to discuss the decline of society and all that jazz. I'll leave that to the politicians and Fox News. The AK 47 has become a very popular weapon over the years. In fact it has become so very popular that Kalashnikov, the company that originally manufactured the weapon, has complained that others are producing "boot-leg" AK 47s.

AK-47

The AK 47 is a defining point of the Cold War and Soviet Russia. When the Russians are included in a game they always run around with AK 47s blasting things to bits. The majority of semi-modern FPS games include the AK 47 as a playable weapon or at the very least a reference in-game to the gun. The AK 47 also has a very prominent place on the big screen making numerous "cameos" in movies and televisions series. Rarely does a single weapon earn a following like the AK 47. One car dealership in Texas even went so far as to offer a free AK 47 with the purchase of a car. Imagine that, Texans rollin' around in their pickup trucks with AK 47s in the cab. But I digress. The AK 47 is one of the most popular weapons ever and very likely will remain that way for years to come.
HyperSmash