| I said I would talk about real guns and I am! | | | | Red Army. |
| Everybody knows about the AK-47, but not much | | | | Kalashnikov didn't stop with the AK-47; he became |
| about its technical information or the man behind it. I'll | | | | General Designer of small arms for the Soviet Army, |
| start off talking about the man; Mikhail Kalashnikov | | | | and developed several other machine guns, which |
| (born November 10, 1919). Kalashnikov should be a | | | | were used but never became as famous as the |
| familiar name, because the AK-47 is sometimes | | | | AK-47. Despite his success, he has lived in the same |
| referred to it as that. Anyways, Kalashnikov was | | | | place since 1949, and has pursued other interests. For |
| born to a poor peasant family in a small village | | | | example, he has his own brand of vodka, which is |
| located in Altai Krai, a part of Russia. He was an | | | | sold worldwide. |
| engineer for a train depot for awhile, and that is | | | | What Kalashnikov is somewhat upset about is the |
| where he picked up his knowledge of mechanics. | | | | widespread use of his weapon by terrorists. Because |
| After being drafted and serving in the Red Army for | | | | of their durability yet high power, they are terrorists' |
| three years, he was sent home because he was | | | | weapon of choice, and have been used to kill |
| badly wounded. As he recovered in the hospital, he | | | | hundreds of innocent people. However, he does not |
| started working on gun designs, and after he healed | | | | regret making the weapon, as he feels that the |
| he went to work for a Russian Institute. There, he | | | | positive effects it has had outweigh the negative. |
| designed many innovations for tanks, and his | | | | Ironically, he has become deaf from firing the AK-47 |
| accomplishments earned him a promotion and more | | | | so many times, and even more ironic, he does not |
| resources. He made use of those resources to design | | | | get any money from the huge sales of the weapon. |
| his most famous creation, the "Avtomat Kalashnikova | | | | Kalashnikov survives on the money he made years |
| model 1947″ (English translation). Two years | | | | ago and a small state pension paid to him periodically. |
| later, the weapon was already implemented into the | | | | |