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Mikhail Kalashnikov, designer of world's best automatic rifle, dies at 94
23.12.2013 | Source:
Pravda.Ru


http://english.pravda.ru/news/society/23-12-2013/126464-mikhail_kalashnikov-0/


Mikhail Kalashnikov, designer of world's best automatic rifle, dies at 94.

Mikhail Kalashnikov, the legendary small arms designer died in the Republic of Udmurtia today, on December 23rd.

"It's difficult and hard to realize that Mikhail Kalashnikov is no longer with us. One of the most brilliant, talented and progressive Russian patriots, who gave his entire life to serving the Fatherland has passed away," President of Udmurtia Alexander Volkov expressed his condolences.

Udmurtia's Health Minister Vladimir Muzlo said that the causes of death would be exposed after the autopsy. According to regulations of the Health Ministry, patients who die in intensive care are subject to autopsy.

Last week, it was reported that 94-year-old Mikhail Kalashnikov had been staying in intensive care unit of the republican clinical diagnostic center for a month, remaining in stable, yet heavy condition.

Kalashnikov is the designer of a system of automatic small arms that has been recognized as the world's best for half a century already. "I will be the first one  to shake hands with the one who makes a better automatic rifle," Mikhail Kalashnikov said more than 30 years ago.

Kalashnikov rifle is used in more than 100 countries; it is included on the list of most outstanding inventions of the 20th century. The name of Mikhail Kalashnikov was used to name the new concern that united Izhmash and Izhevsky Mechanical Works under one brand.

The father of Kalashnikov automatic rifle was hospitalized on November 17. In June of this year, Kalashnikov was hospitalized in Central Military Clinical Hospital in Moscow. Doctors conducted a series of medical procedures, and the designer returned home only in the beginning of September.

The world-famous gunsmith wrote several autobiographical books. He continued to work at the factory as the chief designer up to his old age. Mikhail Kalashnikov is the only person to be awarded with the title of Hero of Russia and twice Hero of Socialist Labor simultaneously."

He will be greatly missed.

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u185/krklek/zmisc/Mikail_Timofeevich_Kalashnikov.jpg (http://media.photobucket.com/user/krklek/media/zmisc/Mikail_Timofeevich_Kalashnikov.jpg.html)

http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt146/mortablunt/Guns/MikhailWithKalashnikov.jpg (http://media.photobucket.com/user/mortablunt/media/Guns/MikhailWithKalashnikov.jpg.html)

http://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/q581/Gothikus90/3233574752_39731c59e5.jpg (http://media.photobucket.com/user/Gothikus90/media/3233574752_39731c59e5.jpg.html)

http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu330/cthulhu19887/in%20soviet%20russia/e6f5aa84.jpg (http://media.photobucket.com/user/cthulhu19887/media/in%20soviet%20russia/e6f5aa84.jpg.html)

I would LOVE to get that AK-47 vodka "bottle"... Holy crap that's awesome.

R.I.P. Kalashnikov. I hear the rifles barely ever jam, which easily makes it the everyman's favored rifle.

Goodnight sweet prince

My Brother and I took some Vodka shots for him today. He loves the AK platform. Has Saigas in x39 and 5.45. Great inventor. Will be missed. Much thanks.

Rest in peace Mister Kalashnikov! He was a true genius. Received a Doctor Grade, without even attending technical school. Drafted his first weapon sketches while recovering from a WWII injury. Let us hope his legacy will be carried on in true Spirit. I'm afraid the vultures will rip Izhmash apart after his demise  :( "Hey who needs weapons anymore? Let's be a peaceful country!" Cursed Oligarchs!

I prefer an Uzi.

How true!

The Uzi is a submachine gun, while the AK is a true select-fire assault weapon; each with entirely different purposes and intents.

As far as submachine guns go, my personal favourites are the MAC 10 and the Thompson 1921/28 model.

I own both, properly registered, fully transferable as well as a select fire AK in 7.62x39.

I was a Type 07 Firearms Manufacturer with NFA for around twenty years and picked up some interesting stuff along the way which under the law I could keep when I closed up the shop.

Back in the late 90s I actually corresponded with the General through an interpreter and value the reply letters, signed by him more than you could know.

Why waltz when you can rock'n roll, I've always said!

My $.02.

;)

I have one of those bottles which I had a local liquor store order for me a while back.

It was sealed until the news of the General's passing.

I like to think that he would be happy to know that a product to which he had lent his name had been properly used.

;)

Well, maybe, but a car still gets you from A-B and guns still indiscriminately kill people.

gg brother

Just as much as spoons make people fat.

People make people fat, not spoons. And people kill people regardless of weaponry.

The Germans still claim that Kalashnikov got the inspiration for his AK-47 from their machine gun Sturmgewehr 44. I have studied this a bit, but found hardly any similarities between the two.

lol... I was expecting all sorts of people here... but this was a bit too much.. guns still indiscriminately kill people ..... as if the guns have artificial intelligence and fire on their own....  ;D

Well, I do confess that I own a firearm which may have been used for a bit of indiscriminate killing in the past.

It is a 1941 production John Inglis BREN gun, the proof marks of which show armourer service in both France and Belgium during the Second World War.  I named this gun "The Inglourious Basterd", borrowing a line from a movie because I thought it was slick.

Of course one of the Good Guys pointed the gun at Nazis and let fly, more or less indiscriminately, at least as far as ammunition use went but the targets were hardly chosen in an "indiscriminate" manner!

A BREN gun like mine:

http://i712.photobucket.com/albums/ww121/gorid_bull/bren004ym.jpg (http://media.photobucket.com/user/gorid_bull/media/bren004ym.jpg.html)

My $.02.

;)

Well, guns ARE made for killing. It just depends whether it's moral on who you are killing.

[/quote]Well, guns ARE made for killing. It just depends whether it's moral on who you are killing.
[/quote]

A very broad blanket statement as many firearms are specifically made for target use only.

My $.02.

;)

Many of them can be converted to a lethal one, if some one with enough technical knowledge puts in a few hours of effort.

 ;D

Then their makers have failed in most instances. It takes a lot of external variables to ensure a GSW (or multiple GSWs to the same person) is fatal.

Uh, not really.

A couple of .45 ACP 230 gr. hollow points in the "A Zone" tie things up rather well.

If that tactic fails for some strange reason, "Triple Tap" can be executed: Two the body and one to the head.

My $.02.

;)

Only a guarantee of death, if the person being shot is 1) still 2) not provided medical care

In other words, an execution.

There are more efficient means of execution.

Not in a dark alley.............................................

Not that I would know from personal experience or anything like that.

;)

There are the external variables. People don't just conveniently appear in dark alleys, then stand still to be murdered, and guns make a fuckton of noise even if suppressed. You need other people to actively (drive them into the alley, hold them down) and passively enable (don't call police, ambulance, or otherwise intervene) murders in alleys. Few will be cowed by a single man gunpointing them to a less safe place then they currently are.

What is the percentage chance that a person has for surviving, if he is hit in the head? 5%? 10%? or maximum 20%. So you can't say that they have failed completely.

I can't say what I didn't actually say. Read my bloody quote that you put there.

This first link is about as far as I have time to go in researching cranial GSW mortality. A quick skim finds it inconclusive on point, but instructive on how the non-fatal outcomes go.

http://www.surgicalneurologyint.com/article.asp?issn=2152-7806;year=2012;volume=3;issue=1;spage=98;epage=98;aulast=Lin#ref4
70,000 victims of GSWs resulting in 30,000 deaths annually, US
42.8% mortality rate overall

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/05/24/suicides-account-for-most-gun-deaths/
19,392 intentional self-inflicted fatalities by GSW in 2010, ensured by the inflictor controlling/removing external variables

http://lostallhope.com/suicide-methods/firearms
80% used a handgun
there are far fewer survivors with head wounds than chest or abdomen, obviously
whilst using a firearm to commit suicide is one of the most reliable methods, it is not failsafe

30000-19392=10608 fatal non-suicide GSWs
10608/70000=15% of GSWs are fatal in chaotic situations (including negligent discharges, which are most certainly not the intent of the makers, so decrease that percentage even more after including only intentionally killing others)


Once the frak again... then their makers have FAILED in MOST instances.

To sum up:
Guns have NOT successfully inflicted mortality most of the time, and the minority of time that they have, it is partly due to negligence, and mostly due to suicide, neither of which are intended by gun makers. Suicide may not be moral in a religious sense, but nevertheless should be respected as a human right, if the inflictor doesn't cause physical or financial harm to others.

I think this deserves its own post...
From military tactics and defense contractor perspectives:
Tactics: If you wound the enemy, their comrades come to their aid, either stop shooting at you, or their accuracy and movement drops as they are trying to cover/extract them. Then you can wound even more of the enemy as they are distracted, inducing their surrender. If you kill the enemy, their comrades will usually abandon the body and remain as much of a threat to you as before you killed their comrade. Mourning/martyrdom comes after getting revenge/out alive yourself.

Defense contractor: War that ends with the swift termination of sufficient enemy life by small arms and ammo thereof isn't profitable.

Same goes for defense contractors selling to civilians for self-defense. Criminals already fear armed citizens, because they have self-preservation instincts. They statically shouldn't fear death as we see above, but certainly fear pain and imprisonment. But imagine if self-defense GSW mortality rates approached 100% after guns (or rather ammunition, for backward compatibility) were truly made to kill. Criminals are vastly outnumbered, and murder, a small percentage of all victimful/real crime, is primarily gang or personal-related. Look at the trend of "gun control" law removal correlating with decreased crime, and then watch that trendline go vertically downward if being a real criminal had only 2 ends: certain death or imprisonment. After an initial spike in sales, it would similarly flatline, as you won't see criminals all choosing to murder first, commit the lesser crime later; they will either be killed, kill themselves, go legit, or be imprisoned, and no so much need for guns if real criminals are gone, is there?

It is in the manufacturers' own interest that their most-used products are as ineffective at inflicting death as possible.

The AK-47 is a prime example of this. It shoots fantastically reliably, but inaccurately. Great for suppressive "spray and pray" fire, but misses moving targets most of the time, and when it does hit, fatal wounds are only by luck. If I had a death wish, I'd rather face a scoped large caliber rifle than run around in the middle east or Africa.

I heard it was a stupid accident while cleaning his weapon ...

lol... he was 94 years old, but he was still very active and regularly practiced his targets. 

Pure bovine scatology!

My experienced-based $.02.

;)

When I think of guns I think of hunting arms.  Yes, made for killing, but somehow I had just never connected the "killing PEOPLE" thing with guns until I ran into it in adulthood.  To me it seems flatly insane to even consider aiming a gun at a person, and I can't imagine owning one specifically for that purpose.  But this may be because I grew up between the boondocks and the sky in a place where violent crime and the need for violent self-defense  was practically unknown but everybody had a few shotguns for bird hunting, a few big rifles for deer hunting, a few small rifles for small game hunting, a little pistol for barn varmints, a big pistol for walks in bear country, etc... 

Now I live in a large city, and the *PRIMARY* purpose of firearms as considered around here involves the potential of using them against people.  I find that more than a little disturbing, and simply don't own firearms anymore because I no longer have land on which to hunt.  A few years ago someone broke into my house in the middle of the night and I overhanded a bowling ball at him.  Knocked him down, broke a couple of ribs, incapacitated him until the police arrived.  He did manage to break a marble tabletop with his head when he went down, but that's acceptable losses.  Bowling balls are as effective as a gun at the kind of ranges you need for home defense, and much less legal trouble. 

I think it's already been established that you are able to control all external variables when you shoot guns, so full-auto AK inaccuracy doesn't matter at point blank/still target range.

The gun pictured is featured in one of my favorite movies: Lock, Stock, & Two Smoking Barrels.