The Ak47: Workhorse of War

Because of such wide distribution of the AK47 by the Soviet Union, the weapon has reached the hands of virtually everyone and anyone in every nation; there have been more AK47s and derivatives manufactured and distributed than any other one weapon in human history. In fact it has been said that the AK47 has appeared in every war since it was adopted by the Soviet Union, and if one accounts for derivatives as well it is most likely a true statement. Still today, the AK47 is faced in battle by US and allied soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it was also in the hands of the Vietcong and North Vietnamese Army during the Vietnam War; it is the favored weapon of soldiers and terrorists, as well as governments and rebels alike.

The Non Communist-Friendly AK47

Of all the AK47 derivatives, the ones that were born out of countries not allied with the Soviet Union can be quite interesting to look at as far as history and design. The Galil, for instance is an Israeli designed and produced assault rifle that utilizes the basic design of the AK47 with some fairly NATO inspired attributes, it is interesting to note that it is a weapon born out of both sides of the Cold War, a sort of Yin and Yang balance that creates an amazingly well perfected weapon.

The Galil runs off of a modified AK47 receiver and uses essentially the exact same internal parts and mechanisms, but fires the NATO standard 5.56 x45 millimeter round, (earlier versions fired the then NATO standard 7.62 x51 millimeter round,) and unlike the AK47 which uses adjustable V-notch style sights, the Galil utilizes the more NATO friendly L-shaped flip up peep sights, similar to that of the American M16 assault rifle. In fact, the Galil can even take an adapter so it can directly accept and fire from M16 magazines. Unlike the AK47 and M16 magazines that hold 30 rounds however, the Galil standard magazine holds 35 rounds of 5.56 x45 millimeter NATO.

While the Galil is a derivative of the AK47, and takes some of it’s attributes from more NATO friendly weapons like the American M16, it is indeed a very unique weapon and has some features unique in itself, for instance a bipod that folds into the fore grip of the rifle that doubles as not only a wire cutter but a bottle opener as well. However, it is not the only AK47 derivative born out of a country not allied with the Soviet Union or other communist nations, there are other examples of such weapons too, some lightly borrowing from the AK47s design and some heavily, including but not limited to the FNC assault rifle from Belgium, and the Swiss SG550 assault rifle.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the AK47 is one of the most widely used, produced, and brandished weapons of modern history due to it’s ingenious design, ease of use, and inexpensive price, it has been a force to be reckoned with on every battlefield it has fought on and has been since it’s birth sixty years ago. It’s time tested design guarantees that it will continue to be seen for a long time in future wars and conflicts and with its world wide diversity, it will probably never disappear from the hands of fighters world wide.