The AK-47 is not a device of aggression … I devised this machine-gun for the security of my country.
Mikhail Kalashnikov, April 1997
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Oppenheimer’s creation was a lot flashier than Kalashnikov’s, and he still has the better quote regarding his own weapon; quoting the Bhagava-Gita:
“I have become Shiva (sometimes translated as ‘Death’), Destroyer of Worlds.” And his weapon has killed far less than Kalashnikov’s.
Mikhail is completely correct, the AK is NOT a device of aggression, it is simply a device. It makes a fine paperweight and passable furniture.
Mauser couldn’t look into the future and see that the Nazi’s would use his m98 to conquer half of Europe.
Garand couldn’t look into the future to see the M1 being “lend/leased” to Greece.
A gun maker/designer has no control over what his government does with the design.
“Passable furniture?” I’m trying to envision using the AK as a chair. I suppose you could set the butt on the ground and straddle the magazine while leaning back against the barrel.
Dunno about furniture, but I’ve seen AKs turned into artwork, and supposedly they can also be made into primitve guitars (don’t ask me how; I just heard it once).
It is kind of sad/ironic that an ex-member of the Red Army understands that inanimate objects are morally and emotionally neutral better than our own citizens…
Despite being someone who by his engineering efforts facilitated the Soviet Union’s imperialistic totalitarianism, M.K. appears in interviews to be a very reasonable person. He is a good example of the honest man surviving in a dishonest system. While I cannot compare him with Solzhenitsin or Sharansky, I would be comfortable breaking bread with him much more so than with Gorby or Putin.
When people say his AK design has killed more people than atomic weapons, they are likely correct. I have a cheap Model 53 (Chinese version of a Model 44 Mosin) for a truck gun. It likely served in Mao’s army before becoming surplus. The stigma of the previous user does not follow the artifact.
“Dunno about furniture, but I’ve seen AKs turned into artwork, and supposedly they can also be made into primitve guitars (don’t ask me how; I just heard it once).”
http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2006/03/guitar_made_from_ak47_the_esco.html