The Five Greatest Firearms Inventors of the 19th Century

**AK-Gunner** · 12-03-2021, 13:47

Originally Posted by janfred

Where is Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov?

Not born yet...

**Cockroach** · 12-03-2021, 15:19

Originally Posted by AK-Gunner

Not born yet...

Bwahahahahahahaha. I snorted coffee!

**Againstthegrains** · 12-03-2021, 15:38

And after Kalashnikov, what is new and revolutionary that has been brought to the table?

**Theunsb** · 12-03-2021, 15:59

Glock

**KK20** · 12-03-2021, 16:00

Originally Posted by Theunsb

Glock

HK was there about 18 years earlier..

**KK20** · 12-03-2021, 16:01

Originally Posted by Theunsb

Glock

HK was there about 18 years earlier..

**M43** · 12-03-2021, 18:52

Originally Posted by Againstthegrains

And after Kalashnikov, what is new and revolutionary that has been brought to the table?

Not much on an AK is new and revolutionary. Safety and much of the firing mechanism is Remington model 6 (If memory does not fail me)
The piston is basically a Garand piston sitting above the barrel instead of below; and rotating bolts were nothing new (Garand and a few others had those years before)
And the sights are Mauser.

What the AK is, is an extremely well executed combination of already good design concepts.

The thing what made the AK ground breaking was its cartridge. Before 7.62x39 the only choice was underpowered (for combat) subgun / HG cartridge SMG's or overpowered (for what actual combat requires) rifle cartridges. AKs allowed high volumes of fire / fire continuity and mobility like an SMG does but it had decent reach and practical accuracy for actual battlefield conditions.

**TStone** · 12-03-2021, 19:45

Originally Posted by M43

The thing what made the AK ground breaking was its cartridge. Before 7.62x39 the only choice was underpowered (for combat) subgun / HG cartridge SMG's or overpowered (for what actual combat requires) rifle cartridges. AKs allowed high volumes of fire / fire continuity and mobility like an SMG does but it had decent reach and practical accuracy for actual battlefield conditions.

The AK round was based on the German 7.92x33 round designed for the Sturmgewehr 44. So, that wasn't really ground breaking either.

**M43** · 12-03-2021, 20:29

Originally Posted by TStone

The AK round was based on the German 7.92x33 round designed for the Sturmgewehr 44. So, that wasn't really ground breaking either.

Exactly. I would go as far as saying the whole concept of the AK was an answer to the STG 44. (Even though the STG 44 is mechanically worlds apart from the AK)