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The first American-made AK-47s are on sale in the US
Kalashnikov gets around US sanctions by producing the classic assault rifle in America
Gun collector Lynn Kartchner takes aim with an AK-47 assault rifle at his gun shop in Douglas, Arizona in 2008 Photo: Rruters/Tim Gaynor
By Raf Sanchez, Washington
6:10PM BST 02 Jul 2015
When Barack Obama banned the import of Russian-made AK-47s last year it was meant to be signal of American anger at the invasion of Ukraine.
But the makers of Russia's most iconic weapon have found an elegantly simple workaround: they are now making their guns in the US.
The first American-made AK-47s are going on sale in gun shops this week to the delight of some Kalashnikov enthusiasts who have been unable to buy their favourite weapons.
Produced under the banner “Russian Heritage — American Innovation,” the new weapon is technically called a US132SS but is based on the classic AK-47 design.
The American-made guns were born out of sanctions imposed by the US government last July on Kalashnikov Concern, the Russian maker of the AK-47.
Sales of Russian-made AK-47s skyrocketed in response and prices more than doubled as Americans rushed out to buy guns before the sanctions went into force.
"They pretty much cleaned us out," Blaine Bunting, president of the Atlantic Firearms gun store in Maryland, said last year.
An AK-47 assault rifle recovered near the body of Osama bin Laden
In response to the sanctions, Kalashnikov's American branch, known as Kalashnikov USA, began to transform itself from an importer of Russian guns to a manufacturer of American ones.
The first of those rifles are now on sale at gun retailers across the US.
While the announcement restores the flow of Kalashnikovs to American shops, some gun aficionados may turn up their noses at the new weapon.
Russian-made AK-47s are prized by collectors and considered much more valuable than similar guns produced in other former Soviet states. The American gun may be seen as similarly inferior.
"If you think wine, you think French wine. If you think Kalashnikovs, you think Russian Kalashnikovs," Mr Bunting said.
The American weapon is also made of black modern polymer which looks markedly different to the classic red wood and grey metal of the gun carried by the Red Army through the Cold War.
Kalashnikov USA insists it can make modifications to appease what it calls "AK purists" but the standard weapon will be based on the sleek new design.
Jesse Davis, a salesman at Bob's Gun Shop in Virginia, said the American Kalashnikov community was likely to be divided by the arrival of the new gun.
"There's two types of people in this industry," he said. "There's the older style who want everything done the classic way and then there's the modern types who like the tactical look."
His own verdict on the first AK-47s made in the USA? "It's pretty cool, I think. It's kind of a Call of Duty look."
AK-47 Kalashnikov: The firearm which has killed more people than any other
It is the weapon of choice for guerrillas, terrorists and rebels across the world and it is believed 75 million are in circulation around the world
A shepard with ash smeared face and armed with Kalashnikov, AK-47 rifle, Sudan Photo: Alamy
By David Blair
7:07PM BST 02 Jul 2015
No firearm of any kind has killed more people – or been more widely embraced as a symbol – than the AK-47 Kalashnikov. Emblazoned on the national flag of Mozambique and on the banners of Hizbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the AK-47 has become the weapon of choice for guerrillas, terrorists and rebels across the world.
No less than 75 million are in circulation, according to a World Bank study from 2007, accounting for almost 20 per cent of the entire global stock of firearms.
Every year, small arms kill between 20,000 and 100,000 people in the world’s conflicts. AK-47s account for a high proportion – and quite possibly the majority – of this human toll. In the 68 years since the first prototype, the AK-47 has, without question, dealt death to millions.
The weapon’s success – if that is the right word – owes everything to its designer, Mikhail Kalashnikov, who produced a new rifle for the Soviet Army in 1947. His invention was so robust that it could be used everywhere from the Arctic to the Sahara – and yet so simple that the rawest recruit, or the youngest child soldier, could use the weapon with deadly effect.
An AK-47 from Iraq, thought to be gold plated, is displayed at the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection in Atlanta
The AK-47 packs a terrible punch, firing a 7.62mm round which is considerably heavier than the British Army’s standard 5.56mm bullet.
A single lever on the right-hand side of the stock controls how the weapon is used. Push the lever two clicks down and the AK-47 becomes a machine-gun, firing automatic bursts. One click and the rifle fires a single shot at a time. Leave the lever in place and it makes the gun safe, preventing it from discharging if the trigger is pulled by accident.
Claudia Ochoa Felix, with her pink AK-47 assault rifle called her the 'Black Widow Maker', Claudia is believed to have taken over as the head of Mexico's deadliest drug Mafia gangs
Incidentally, those are the only rules that any terrorist or child soldier needs before taking up the AK-47. The rest will come with practice. Mr Kalashnikov’s design made only one compromise: he sacrificed range and accuracy in the interests of strength and simplicity. This means that his brainchild is no good for hunting animals or practising marksmanship – no good for anything, in fact, other than killing people.
But the market is the ultimate judge and here the numbers speak for themselves. Almost seven decades after it was first produced, the AK-47 still has a 20 per cent market share.
As a servant of communism, Mr Kalashnikov, who died in 2013, made no money from his invention. Had he been a capitalist as well as a master gunmaker, he would have been a billionaire.
