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Mikhail Kalashnikov: Inventor of AK-47 Dies At 94
necro81 writes "Lt. Gen. Mikhail T. Kalashnikov, an arms designer for the Soviet Union, creator of the AK-47, passed away today at age 94. Kalashnikov was born a peasant and entered the Soviet Army as a conscript. However, the self-taught tinkerer had an aptitude that took him far. The AK-47, his best-known creation, was praised for its reliability and low cost; attributes that have made it the most successful firearm ever, seeing use in homeland defense, rebellion, terrorism, and untold massacres. The inventor was himself ambivalent about the uses his creation had seen, but was nevertheless proud of his contribution to his country, where he is praised as a hero."
It's not something you'd want in a hunting or sniper rifle, but for the intended purpose it works great.
intended purpose - Killing humans on a battlefield.
I'm part of the gun crowd and I just shake my head when my brehtren try to justify owning these things or AR-15/M4s saying they use them for: hunting, target shooting and the worst one - self defence. They're shit for all of those things. They are over priced crap that uses crap rounds: .223 and that funky 7.62 that the AK uses. SHIT unless you need to kill people. There are plenty of semi automatic rifles that are much better suited for civilians - and even military use too but they're too expensive for outfitting an army. The AK and AR are cheaply made shit for military use. The only reason they are so expensive now is because of the demand from stupid people who think Obama is going to ban them.
The only TRUE reason for a civilian to own those things is because you want to own them for the sake of owning them.