Variants

Kalashnikov variants include:

1955 AK-47 Type 3

• AK-47 1948–51, 7.62x39mm — The very earliest models, with the Type 1 stamped sheet metal receiver, are now very rare.
• AK-47 1952, 7.62x39mm — Has a milled receiver and wooden buttstock and handguard. Barrel and chamber are chrome plated to resist corrosion. Rifle weight is 4.2 kg (9.3 lb).
• AKS-47 — Featured a downward-folding metal stock similar to that of the German MP40, for use in the restricted space in the BMP infantry combat vehicle, as well as by paratroops.
• RPK, 7.62x39mm — Squad automatic rifle version with longer barrel and bipod.
• AKM, 7.62x39mm — A simplified, lighter version of the AK-47; Type 4 receiver is made from stamped and riveted sheet metal (see schematic above). A slanted muzzle device was added to counter climb in automatic fire. Rifle weight is 3.1 kg (6.8 lb) due to the lighter receiver.
• AKMS, 7.62x39mm — Folding-stock version of the AKM intended for airborne troops. Stock may be either side- or under-folding
• AK-74 series, 5.45x39mm
• AK-101 series
• AK-103/AK-104 series
• AK-107/AK-108 series

Production outside of the Soviet Union/Russia

Military variants only.

Country	Variant(s)
Albania	Unknown. Others
	Automatiku Shqiptar tipi 1982 (ASH-82) Albanian Automatik Rifle type 1982 (Straight forward copy of Type 56, which in turn is a clone of the Soviet AKM rifle)[22]
	Tip C (Type C) Sniper Rifle
Bulgaria	AKK (Type 3 AK-47), AKKS (Type 3 with side-folding buttstock)
	AKKMS (AKMS) AKKN-47 (fittings for NPSU night sights)
	AK-47M1 (Type 3 with black polymer furniture)
	AK-47MA1/AR-M1 (same as -M1, but in 5.56 mm NATO)
	AKS-47M1 (AKMS in 5.56x45mm NATO), AKS-47MA1 (same as AKS-47M1, but semi-automatic only)
	AKS-47S (AK-47M1, short version, with East German folding stock, laser aiming device)
	AKS-47UF (short version of -M1, Russian folding stock), AR-SF (same as -47UF, but 5.56 mm NATO)
	AKS-93SM6 (similar to -47M1, cannot use grenade launcher)
	RKKS, AKT-47 (.22 rimfire training rifle)
China	Type 56
German Democratic Republic	MPi-K (AK-47), MPi-KS (AKS), MPi-KM (AKM), MPi-KMS-72 (AKMS), KK-MPi Mod.69 (.22-Lr select-fire trainer);
Egypt	AK-47, Misr assault rifle (AKM), Maadi
Hungary	AK-63D/E (AMM/AMMSz), AKM-63, AMD-65, AMD-65M, AMP, NGM 5.56
Iraq	Tabuk Sniper Rifle, Tabuk Assault Rifle (AKM/AKMS), Tabuk Short Assault Rifle
India	AK-47
Iran	KLS (AK-47), KLF (AKS), KLT (AKMS)
Finland	RK 62, RK 95 TP
Nigeria	OBJ-006[23]
North Korea	Type 58A (Type 3 AK-47), Type 58B (stamped steel folding stock), Type 68A (AKM-47) Type 68B (AKMS)
Pakistan	Reverse engineered by hand and machine in Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal areas
Poland	pmK/kbk AK (name has changed from pmK - "pistolet maszynowy Kałasznikowa", Kalashnikov SMG to the kbk AK - "karabinek AK", Kalashnikov Carbine in mid 1960s) (AK-47), kbkg wz. 1960, kbk AKM (AKM), kbk AKMS (AKMS), kbk wz. 1988 Tantal based on the 7.62 mm kbk AKMS wz. 81), kbs wz. 1996 Beryl
Romania	PM md. 63 (AKM), PM md. 65 (AKMS), PM md. 90 (AKMS), collectively exported under the umbrella name AIM or AIMS
	PA md. 86 (AK-74), exported as the AIMS-74
	PM md. 90 short barrel (AK-104), PA md. 86 short barrel (AK-105) exported as the AIMR
Serbia Former Yugoslavia	M64 (AK-47 with longer barrel), M64A (grenade launcher) M64B (M64 w/ folding stock), M66, M70, M70A, M70B1, M70AB2, Zastava M76,M77, M92, M21
Sudan	MAZ,[24] based on the Type 56
Vietnam	Chinese Type 56
Venezuela	License granted, factory under construction[25]

Certainly more have been produced elsewhere; but the above list represents known producers and is limited to only military variants. An updated AKM design is still produced in Russia.

Derivatives

Type 56 and AKS-47

The basic design of the AK-47 has been used as the basis for other successful rifle designs such as the Finnish Valmet 62/76 and RK 95 TP, the Israeli Galil, the Indian INSAS and the Yugoslav Zastava M76 and M77/82 rifles. Several bullpup designs have surfaced such as the Chinese Norinco Type 86S, although none have been produced in quantity. Bullpup conversions are also available commercially.

Further information: list of weapons influenced by the Kalashnikov design

Licensing

Russia has repeatedly claimed that the majority of manufacturers produce AK-47s without a proper license from IZH.^[26][27] The Izhevsk Machine Tool Factory acquired a patent in 1999,^{[clarification needed]} making manufacture of the Kalashnikov rifle system by anyone other than themselves illegal.^{[17][dubious – discuss]} However, nearly one million AK-47 assault rifles are manufactured without a license each year.^[4]

Illicit trade

Cambodian AKM with black furniture

Throughout the world, the AK and its variants are among the most commonly smuggled small arms sold to governments, rebels, criminals, and civilians alike, with little international oversight.^{[citation needed]} In some countries, prices for AKs are very low; in Somalia, Rwanda, Mozambique, Congo and Ethiopia, prices are between $30–$125 per weapon, and prices have fallen in the last few decades due to mass counterfeiting. Moisés Naím observed that in a small town in Kenya in 1986, an AK-47 cost fifteen cows but that in 2005, the price was down to four cows indicating that supply was "immense".^[28] The weapon has appeared in a number of conflicts including clashes in the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia.^[29]

After the Soviet retreat from Afghanistan, the Soviet Army left quantities of weapons including AKs which were subsequently used in the civil war between Taliban and Northern Alliance and were also exported to Pakistan. The gun is now also made in Pakistan's semi-autonomous areas (see more at Khyber Pass Copy). It is widely used by tribes in Africa like the Hamar, amongst others.^{[citation needed]}

The World Bank estimates that out of the 500 million total firearms available worldwide, 100 million are of the Kalashnikov family, and 75 million of which are AK-47s.^[30] Mikhail Kalashnikov addressed the United Nations in 2006 at a conference aimed at solving the problem of illicit weapons, saying that he appreciated the AK-47's role in state-sponsored defense but that counterfeit weapons carrying his name in the hands of "terrorists and thugs" caused him regret.^[31]

Cultural influence

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China and the United States supplied arms and technical knowledge to numerous client-state countries and rebel forces. While the United States used the relatively expensive M-14 battle rifle and M16 assault rifle during this time, it generally supplied older surplus weapons to its allies. The low production and materials costs of the AK-47 meant that the Soviet Union could produce and supply client states with this rifle instead of sending surplus munitions. As a result, the Cold War saw the mass export, sometimes free of charge, of AK-47s by the Soviet Union and Communist China to pro-communist countries and groups such as the Nicaraguan Sandinistas and Viet Cong. The AK design was spread to over 55 national armies and dozens of paramilitary groups.

The proliferation of this weapon is reflected by more than just numbers. The AK is included in the flag of Mozambique and its coat of arms, an acknowledgement that the country's leaders gained power in large part through the effective use of their AK-47s.^[32] It is also found in the coat of arms of Zimbabwe and East Timor, the revolution era coat of arms of Burkina Faso, the flag of Hezbollah, and the logo of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Western cultures, especially the United States, have seen the AK-47 most often in the hands of nations and groups the United States condemns; first the Soviet Army, then its Communist allies during the Korean and Vietnam Wars. During the 1980s, the Soviet Union became the principal arms dealer to countries embargoed by the United States, including many Middle Eastern nations such as Syria, Libya and Iran, who were willing to ally with the Soviet Union against U.S. interests. After the fall of the Soviet Union, AK-47s were sold both openly and on the black market to any group with cash, including drug cartels and dictatorial states, and most recently they have been seen in the hands of extremist factions such as the Taliban and Al-Qaida in Afghanistan and Iraq and even FARC guerrillas in Colombia. The AK-47 has thus garnered a reputation in Western nations as a symbol of anti-Americanism, and has gained a stereotypical role as the weapon of the enemy. In the United States, movie makers often arm criminals, gang members and terrorist characters with AKs.

In Mexico, the weapon is known as "Cuerno de Chivo" and is commonly asociated with Drugs Cartels and Local Mafias. Many mexicans folklore groups named it with their songs.

In 2006, Colombian musician and peace activist César López devised the escopetarra, an AK converted into a guitar. One sold for US$17,000 in a fundraiser held to benefit the victims of anti-personnel mines, while another was exhibited at the United Nations' Conference on Disarmament.^[33]

Kalashnikov Museum

The Kalashnikov Museum (also called the AK-47 Museum) opened on November 4, 2004 in Izhevsk, a city in the Ural Mountains of Russia. The museum chronicles the biography of General Kalashnikov, from his childhood to proletarian hero. The Museum Complex of Small Arms of M. T. Kalashnikov, a series of halls and multimedia exhibitions devoted to the AK-47 assault rifle and its offspring. The museum complex has been drawing on average 10,000 visitors a month. The museum serves as Russia's monument to an infantry weapon and to the workers who have made it for 61 years.

“

It presents the guns and their history with civic pride and a revived sense of national confidence. Think of Izhesvk as the Detroit of Slavic small arms. The exhibitions, ranging from static displays of weapons to plasma-screen video presentations showing the guns' use in recent decades, reflect a laborer's affection for what has long flowed from nearby foundries and assembly lines. Much of the material is also viewed through the life of Gen. Mikhail T. Kalashnikov, the man credited with designing the weapon in secret trials in 1947, and who still lives a few blocks away.[34]

”

"We emphasize the peaceful side of this story," said Nadezhda Vechtomova, the museum director. "We are trying to separate the weapon as a weapon of murder from the people who are producing it and to tell its history in our country."