THE GUN – History of the Kalashnikov Rifle or AK-47

Roseburg, OR --(Ammoland.com)- It is the most notorious, widespread, and lethal firearm in the world – Kalashnikov AK-47 Rifle.

Created in the Soviet Union at the start of the Cold War, the automatic Kalashnikov rifle, or AK-47, as it was first called, was a breakthrough weapon – a cheap, simple, and reliable device that allowed ordinary men to kill other men without extensive training or undue complication.

It was used to crush anticommunist uprisings in Eastern Europe, to battle American troops in Vietnam (who found it far superior to the early versions of their own M-16s), and as a symbolic statement by Osama bin Laden in his first taped message after the attacks of September 11, 2001. Today it remains a leading cause of battlefield deaths for American soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq, and terrorist-training records show that an introduction to the Kalashnikov is often to be the first class given to the young Islamic men who sign on for the Jihad.