Specifications
Weapon type:
Assault rifle
Weight:
3.47 kg (7.7 lb)
Calibre & Catrige:
7.62x39mm
Effective range:
400 m (440 yd)
Rate of fire:
Cyclic 600 rounds/min
Designed:
1946-1948
Designer:
Mikhail Kalashnikov
Manufacturer:
Izhmash, Norinco
Number produced:
75 million
Action:
Gas-operated, rotating bolt
In service:
1949-present
Muzzle velocity:
715 m/s (2,345 ft/s)
Bullets:
7.62x39mm
This Russian assault rifle is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova, also as Kalashnikov, AK, or in Russian slang, Kalash.
It was accepted by the Soviet Army in 1949 and later used by the majority of the member states of the Warsaw Pact.
Even after six decades the model and its variants remain the most widely used and popular assault rifles in the world.
