AK-47

The AK-47 which is short for the Russian word for Автомат Калашникова образца 1947 года is an assault rifle featured in the game Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

History
During World War II, the Germans created the basic assault rifle concept which became useful in longer range than the submachine guns and could shoot more bullets than the rifles could.

When the Russian Mikhail Kalashnikov was injured in the Battle of Bryansk it led him thinking of his own assault rifle. Soon after working with other designs, Kalashnikov entered a competition for a new firearm that would use the the 7.62 x 39 mm cartridge which was developed by Elisarov and Semin in 1943. One requirement in the competition was that the weapon was reliable in the muddy, wet, and frozen condition of the Soviet frontline. So using the design of the PPS-43 Kalashnikov designed the "Mikhtim" won after it was dragged throught mud, sand, and dust and still was able to fire without jamming. The "Mikhtim" was the prototype for the development of a family of firearms which culminated in the AK-47 in 1947

There were difficulties in the beginning of the production of the AK-47 because the first models had stamped sheet metal receivers and difficulties were encountered in welding the guide and ejector rails. But instead of halting the production, a heavy machined receiver substituted for the original receiver. Because of these problems the Soviet Union couldn't distribute a large number of the firearms to their soldiers.

Soon in the year 1978, the Soviet Union began replacing the AK-47 with a newer design called the AK-74, a 5.45x39MM caliber Assault Rifle, which began being sent to Eastern European nations until the Soviet Union collapsed which slowed the production of many of the Russian weapons.

Despite this, the AK-47 and all it's myriad of derivatives are still used and produced by 55 National Armies and countless insurgent and Guerrilla groups, The AK design has also been recently modernized with the AK-101 Series, offering rifles of various sizes from 5.56x45MM, 5.45.39MM and 7.62x39MM. There are also many rifles influenced by the Kalashnikov design, such as the Swedish 62/76, Israeli Galil and the Indian INSAS, among others. Because of this, the AK is likely to be a partaker in the battlefield well into the foreseeable future, already over sixty years after Kalashnikov first sketched the design in 1944. To this day, the AK is not only the most widely produced assault-rifle in the world, but possibly the most frequently produced firearm of the 20th Century.

To many, the AK-47 is also considered a counterpart to the American M16 and the two are frequently compared.

The AK is also a symbol in popular culture. The AK is seen on both the flag and coat of arms of Mozambique and is also on the coat of arms of East Timor and Zimbabwe. It is also on the flag of the Shi'a Muslum political and paramilitary group Hezbollah. The motto for the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps is Kalash, a shortened form of "Kalashnikov" and is also a name for boys in some African Countries. It is also frequently used as a symbol of the criminal culture and portrayed as the 'Bad-Guy Gun' in movies and literature, portrayed as a Status Symbol in the Hip-Hop culture and is even used by criminals in reality. The most famous example of the last was in 1997, during the North Hollywood Shootout, where bank-robbers Larry Phillips Jr. and Emil Matasareanu engaged patrol and SWAT Officers of the Los Angeles Police Department. Larry and Emil wore body armor and fired automatic weapons with armor-piercing ammunition--most famously a pair of AK-47's. Over 1300 rounds were fired by the Bank Robbers before finally being stopped. Despite numerous injuries to police and civilians, the only fatalities were Larry and Emil. Another time the AK entered popular media was in the aftermath of Operation Iraqi Freedom, where U.S forces secured a palace owned by Sadamn Hussein they discovered a gold-plated AK-47 and Dragunov.

Game Info
The AK-47 can be picked up by the enemy in single player mode and is the most frequently used enemy weapon of the game. The assault rifle can also be used in the multiplayer mode in COD4, capable of being customized with a silencer, Red Dot Sight and an ACOG sight. The AK is also one of six weapons that comes with with a golden paint scheme, the other five being the M60E4, the Desert Eagle, the Dragunov, the Mini-Uzi and the M1014.