Ah, Sorry.
I can’t post in GD (less than 200 posts) so I don’t bother reading GD much.
It was said that Gene Stoner made enough money to buy an airplane; M.T. Kalashnikov couldn’t even afford a plane ticket.
True or not, it illustrates the gulf between the two worlds both men came from.
R.I.P.
ya well I guess Stoner should’ve dubbed it the AS-15 then…(automatic stoner…of course in todays society that might infer a different connotation). Or not worked for Armalite…
And before that an ally in the fight against Germany.
Way I see it he was a nobody, he didn’t send people to the Gulags and to the best of my knowledge never tortured or starved a population to death. During the war he probably suffered under communism to some degree or another like everyone else. And he certainly never profited like Stoner did.
But he still tried to offer some meaningful contribution and either designed, or at least contributed to the design of one of the most successful small arms in the world. A lot of US servicemen were killed with AKs made in Russia, but just as many were killed with AKs made in China.
So I’m gonna judge the man by the man and not by his country or government.
RIP.
RIP dude, you made your mark on the world for sure. As for enemy or not, I really doubt anybody on this site would have declined a chance to have a beer and chat with this guy. 
He tried to start a number of businesses. Last I’m aware of was his own vodka. No idea how it did.
He served his country honorably. If only that were more common here as well.
Merged the two threads.
My memory may be rusty, as it has been some years since I read the book, but… IIRC, CJ Chivers never made that connection.
While I do tend to believe that Schmeisser was heavily involved in the design of the AK-47 (something Chivers was ambivalent about) and Chivers made it pretty clear that Kalashnikov didn’t design the rifle in a vacuum or by himself, I think you’d be hard pressed to point out anything that the AK-47 and the StG-44 have in common, aside from their general mission/purpose and the use of similar intermediate cartridges.
Interesting show on the AK…
I actually have a bottle on the shelf in front of me.
I’d like to see it. Can you post a pic?
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I had a shot of Stoli when I read the thread.
We are all Men of our circumstances to some degree, you have to admit, he seemed to make the best of his.
From one old Tanker to another Salute!
There seems to be similarities between the AKM and StG44 stamped receiver construction (ie. the AKM has a barrel trunnion riveted to the stamped receiver and “the StG 44 trunnion is held in place by the stamped receiver being pressed into grooves” according to this article:http://www.forgottenweapons.com/ak-and-stg-kissing-cousins/ ). Also, any idea if the StG44 was designed for planned obsolescence like most Russian weapons? A long time ago, I read that the trigger group on the StG44 was riveted and could not be replaced (please correct me if I’m wrong as I never handled a StG44).
An article from my university library stated that the Russians claimed that Izhmash engineer Mikhail Miller simplified the machining process with the Type 3 AK-47 b/c the Soviets couldn’t mass produce the Type 1 AK-47 at the time (as the Soviets were good at producing simple stamped guns like the PPsh-41 but not ones that required more complex stampings like the StG44) and the Type 2 AK-47 was expensive to manufacture and wasted materials since “in over 120 operations a 2.65 kg block of steel was reduced to only 650 gm.” The article also stated that the Russians said Miller refined the stamping technology for the production of the AKM.
I assume that German designers who worked on the AK, such as Schmeisser, may have helped the Soviets (ie. Miller and the other people involved in developing advanced stampings) perfect the more advanced stamping technologies required for producing guns like the StG44 and AKM.
I haven’t had a chance to read the book ‘Sturmgewehr’ yet but Mr. Vickers said “that the Collector Grade book ‘Sturmgewehr’ highlighted Hugo Schmeisser and team working in Russia after the war” so you should definitely read that book if you want to know more about Schmeisser’s role and influence on the AK. https://www.m4carbine.net/archive/index.php/t-130348.html
RIP Mr. K
To me, the most telling indicator of his firearms genius is his lifetime body of work. He is credited with the AK47, a mechanical counter to show how many rounds your tank has fired, and the PKM. Of course, the team of captured German gun designers may have had something to do with that PKM.
For those of you not familiar with the Remington Model 8, have a look and tell me what you see. Model 8’s were in Russia in decent quantities before the development of the AK. The action of an AK screams ‘Model 8’. The general configuration is borrowed from the Stg.
Had he been an inspired genius, the likes of Maxim or Browning, he would have many more things credited to his legacy. He was a communist propaganda poster boy, nothing more. The Soviet Union used hero’s to inspire people, because they didn’t have capitalism to do it for them. His legacy is more of a statement about the Soviet era and experience than anything else.
RIP Mikhail Kalashnikov 1919-2013
He’s no enemy of mine, the only enemy I have are the people who want to take away my right to own what this man is credited for.
RIP