Special Sub-Topic: AK-47 and its extended family Click Here To Play: AK-47 and its extended family

Starting at the shallow end of the pool, in what year was the AK-47 issued to servicemen in the Soviet Union?

1947. If you didn't answer "1947", I hope you were simply expecting a trick question. In 1947, the first "Avtomat Kalashnikova" assault rifles were distributed to the Soviet armed forces. The limited distribution ended, however, when the Soviet Army decided to adopt the rifle as standard issue, in 1949. The various members of the AK family have since reached the farthest conflicts on the globe. Even the old AK-47 model, "grandfather" of the AK family of rifles designed over 60 years ago, still surfaces occasionally in 21st-century conflicts; not to mention its many variants!

The AK-47's first little "brother", known as the AKS, replaced its ungainly buttstock with a folding steel tube, which made the weapon much easier to handle in close quarters. What material was the stock of the AK-47 made of before this modification?

Wood. AK-47's were fitted with wooden buttstocks and wooden hand-guards, a common distinguishing trait that makes an AK-47 immediately recognizable even today. The "AKS" featured a Folding Stock borrowed from the design of the German MP40. A folding stock was exceptionally useful for troops in transport, for example inside the cramped cabin of an armored personnel carrier or on-board a helicopter.

In 1959, the Soviet Army was issued a completely new line of AK weaponry, known collectively as AKM. What does the "M" stand for, in both Russian and English?

Modernized. A "Modernized" AK had better accuracy and reliability, and was about 25% lighter! In addition, it was much easier to produce, resulting in MASSES of AKM's manufactured during the 60's and 70's. In fact, today, the AKM and the various models related to it are amongst the most common weapons in the entire world, and are estimated to be the most common of the AK family by far, even 50 years after its creation. The external appearance of the AKM is very similar to its predecessor.

While developing the AKM, Kalashnikov also developed a totally new variant called the RPK. The two models were introduced around the same time, in the late 50s. What purpose does an RPK serve?

Machine gun. The RPK featured a longer barrel, heavier construction, and a magazine feeder that is compatible with considerably larger magazines. This meant it could fire repeatedly for much longer periods of time than an AKM. It also had a built-in bipod for stabilizing the gun while lying prone. It effectively replaced the RPD, an aging machine gun designed during World-War II but missing the war by almost a decade. Like the AKM, RPK's are also considerably commonplace even in the early 21st century, due to the large numbers that were produced in the 60s and 70s.

The AKM family quickly won the respect of weapon designers world-wide. Many countries outside the Soviet Union made clones and variants of the AKM for their own military purposes. The Israelis, borrowing their ideas "third-hand" from a quality Finnish AK variant, made an entire line of AKM rifles adapted for arid conditions. What is the name of the Israeli AK variant?

Galil. The Galil family includes everything from a compact little carbine to a long-barreled machine gun. The Galil's most important modification, aside from its exceptional reliability, is its compatibility with NATO ammunition - specifically the 5.56mm caliber which is used by many assault rifles to this day. This is one of the reasons the Galil remained in service for an extended period of time, until replaced by more modern western weapons such as the M-16 and its many adaptations. Several versions of the Galil also supported the heavier 7.62x51mm NATO round, for full compatibility.

In 1974, Kalashnikov once again produced a series of rifles to replace the aging AKM. This was the AK-74 (no surprises there!). Which of the following is NOT an advantage that the AK-74 has over its predecessor?

It is shorter. Aside from many changes to its various components, the AK-74's greatest achievement was being chambered for the smaller 5.45mm round. This enabled the AK-74 to fire a bit faster and more accurately than its predecessors, not to mention the fact that smaller rounds are also lighter! Soon enough, there were AK-74 variants to replace ALL of the AKM-based models in service with the Red Army. Unfortunately, the AK-74 was about 5% longer than the AKM, but made up for it with plenty of folding-stock variants.

Of the following weapons, which is NOT a variant of the AK-74?

AKMSU-74. All those letters and numbers can get really confusing at times. Nonetheless, there is no such weapon as the AKMSU-74. An AKMSU is a prototype weapon based on the AKM. It was an extra-shortened version of the rifle, with both a folding stock and a shorter barrel. While it was probably never issued in the Red Army, the AKS-74U had the same properties, but based on an AK-74 rifle. Such a short weapon is extremely useful in close-quarters combat, and it has an increased rate of fire to compensate for its lack of accuracy.

One of the smaller but important differences between the AKM and the AK-74 is the material from which its butt-stock and hand-guards are crafted. While AKM variants had these fittings made of laminated wood, the AK-74 was the first weapon in the world to feature polymer (synthetic material) components that are much lighter and more durable.

false. In fact, it took a while before the AK-74's wooden parts were replaced with polymers, and by then Western gun manufacturers had already been implementing various plastics in their constructions for over a decade. Also, the earlier AK-74s were still produced with the trademark wooden stock and hand-guards.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Kalashnikov weapon manufacturer opted to continue its operations with an emphasis on two main goals: Replacing the aging AK-74 line, and creating AK's suitable for foreign markets. This resulted in a new series of AK's fit for the new millennium, called the AK-100 (or AK-10X) line. Which of the following guns was NOT part of that series?

AK-100. Aside from many modernized components, the AK-101 and AK-102 (designed in 1994) fired the then-standard NATO caliber of 5.56mm. This enabled production of the weapon for export to countries that had not previously used the soviet 7.62x39mm or 5.45x39mm calibers. Still, the AK-10X series also had variants that fired both types of Soviet ammunition.

Which of these calibers is NOT used by ANY of the AK-based weapons?

7.62x54R. The AK-47 was one of the first weapons to use the 7.62x39mm caliber, which effectively replaced the old 7.62x54R for assault rifles in the Red Army. The AK-74 introduced 5.45mm caliber, and there were several AKs developed since the 70s that used the western 5.56mm round. Still, the heavy 7.62x54R did not disappear from the scene - its size kept it in the game as a sniper-rifle round, which was used in the Russian SVD sniper rifle family. In fact, it is one of the oldest calibers still in use today, at over 100 years and counting! Thanks for playing!