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In 1916 plans for a
lightweight self-loading rifle were created by Vladimir
Grigorevich Federov one of the Czar's arms designers.
During this time many armies of the world were working on
self-loading lightweight rifle projects following the
introduction of the automatic pistol and machinegun.
Federov's idea was to use low-powered rounds to minimize
recoil and wear on the rifle. However only a few of Federov
Automat's were created and used in WW I. By 1943 the
USSR had adopted a cartridge designed by N.M. Elizarov
and B. V.Semin. The new 7.62x39mm round was designated
the m43. The new round had less power, was shorter, and
rimless. Soon after the word went around to Soviet
designers that a new self-loading rifle was needed for the
new round. This eventually led to the birth of the
AK-47.
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The AK-47
replaced the Soviet rifle the SKS45 designed by Simonovs that
was in use during W.W.II. The AK-47 was designed by Mikhail
Timofeyevich Kalashnikov and had only the equivalent of a
Russian high school degree. In 1938 Kalashnikov was
drafted into the Soviet army. He became very
interested in the operation of firearms and apparently a
genius was awakened in him. In 1941 Kalashnikov was
called to active duty and became a tank driver. He
fought in the battle of Bryansk while the battle raged his
tank was hit by a shell wounding Kalashnikov in the arm.
During his hospital stay he studied all the firearms books he
could get his hands on. Due to the seriousness of his would he
was allowed to spend six months on leave in his home town of
Alma-Ata. Kalashnikov spent his time designing a sub
machine gun with his machinist friend Zhenya Kravchenko.
In 1946 Kalashnikov sent off the drawling for a new gas
operated rifle based on the m43 cartridge to the Main
Artillery Commission in Moscow. The committee decided
that his design had merit and gave him the go ahead to create
several prototypes. From 1946-1948 work progressed on
the Kalashnikov rifle, progress was slow with changes having
to be made every step of the way. In 1949 one of
Kalashnikovs rifles was accepted as the Soviet Army's AK-47
(Avtomat Kalashnikova Obrazets 1947) namely the AK-47 today.
Kalashnikov then left the military and started work at a
factory where he designed server different models of the AK-47
and other spin-offs of other machine guns.
Source:
AK-47 The complete Kalashnikov Family of Assault Rifles By
Duncan Long.
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