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Alright guys, here is your Russian firearm thread.
I'll address some history, mechanics, use dynamics etc.
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Alright, here we go:
HISTORY
Mosin Nagent M-91
Although ugly as sin and cheap to buy ( sometimes as little as $39.99 ), the Mosin Nagent M-91 has probably made more determination of the worlds fate then any other rifle has all on it's own.
M-91 stands for: Model 1891.
Based on the massive Berdan II black powder rifle, it was introduced in the the Russian armed forces in 1891 and was adopted by many armed forces who made many variants of it.
It was a scrawny and "funky" looking rifle, yet high quality for it's time and chambered for the 7.62x54 Soviet cartridge, the .300 Win Mag of it's day.
Although affective in combat, the high quality made it hard to keep up production of, and was extremely short in supply in WW II, so much that they often pared Russian soldiers up in to teams of 2 and 3, with only one Mosin Nagent rifle among them.
Between late September of 1942 and early February of 1943, the M-91 would make as large of an impact on the fate of the world as the Normandy Invasion. The bloodiest battle in the history of mankind, and ultimately one of the most important began at the industrial City of Stalingrad, marking the beginning of 4 1/2 winter months of pure hell on earth, ultimately claiming an estimate of one million, forty thousand lives, leaving only sixty thousand survivors.
Had the Russians lost this battle, the Soviet Union would have been at Hitler's disposal and Normandy probably never would have happened.
Despite the high efficiency of the German army against Russian troops, they found themselves at the mercy of Russian snipers, armed with Scoped M-91s, who hid in rubble and killed German commanders crippling entire German units. The most famous of all were, Anatoly Chekov, who made an extremely vast range of kills ( over 200 ) and Vassili Zaitsev who made the most important, including German sniper Heinz Thorwald, an event which inspired the movie: Enemy at the Gates.
Although the last major use of the Rifle ( as far as I've herd of ) dates to the 1950s, the rifle is well used for various purposes to this day.
SKS
The SKS was created by Sargie Simonov in 1945, as an attempt to put an affordable semi-auto main battle rifle in to soldiers hands. It was used throughout the later part of WW II and on through the cold war. It is chambered for the 7.62x39 Soviet cartridge, which was designed for the gun.
AK-47
AK-47 stands for: Avtomat Kalashnikove model 1947. It was created by Mikhail Kalashnikove in 1947. Although often compared to the SKS, it was ultimately based on the German STG-44 assault rifle and possibly the utmost pioneer of .22 Caliber combat rifles, originally chambered for the 5.45x39 Soviet cartridge.
The first dependable model was to high in quality and expensive to mass produce as they wanted to, therefore, later modifications were made to reduce the cost of production. They also made later models in 7.62x39 Soviet. Over time, the Kalashnikove action had found it's way to other east European countries and to the middle east and Asia, ultimately resulting in hundreds of different AK variants, including: The Romanian AKM-74, the Russian AKM-74U, the Norinco ( Chinese ) MAK-90, the Maddi ( Egyptian ) AKM-104 etc.
Despite it's lack of accuracy, in the Viet Nam war, it had proven to be highly affective against US troops armed with the newer, much higher quality M-16 rifle, where US troops often abandoned their M-16s for AK rifles taken from dead enemy troops.
The Kalashnikove action, legendary for it's strength, reliability and insensitivity to dirt and abuse, became the central basis for virtually all East European military automatic rifle actions including the SVD ( Dragunov ) Sniper rifle, PK series machine guns Saiga shotguns and the higher quality Vepertm rifles only to name a few.
The Kalashnikove style action is used still to this day by both civilized and 3rd world military forces.
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FAQ
* Q. What are the most common Russian military cartridges?
A. 5.45x39 Soviet, 7.62x39 Soviet, 7.62x54 Soviet, 7.62x25 Tokarev, 9x18 Makarov, and 14.5 ( pretty much the same thing as the .50BMG.
* Q. Are all AKs full-auto?
A. No. Most civilian ones are semi-auto, and military ones have different rates of fire. AKs are very common in my life, and when I here of an AK rifle, I think of a semi-auto rifle.
* Q. Is the AK the best combat rifle in the world?
A. Different strokes for different folks. In short, no. The newer HK assault rifles, such as the SL-8, G-36, M-91 etc. are better then AKs in every way. Lighter, better balance, tougher, more reliable and accurate.
* Q. I herd their is such thing as a shotgun AK. Is this true.
A. Yes. It's called the Saiga. They make it in 12 gauge and 410 gauge.
* Q. Is Mikhail Kalashnikove still alive? If so, what kind of guy is he?
A. Last I checked, he is still alive. I have seen interviews with him and him interacting with people. Seams like an average Joe.
* Q. Do they make a .22LR AK?
A. Yes. Armscor makes an AK-22.
* Q. Are Original Mosin Nagent rifles available to US citizens on the market?
A. Yes. Big 5 Sporting Goods carries them.
* Q. What is the difference between the German and Russian Makarov pistol?
A. Their are quite a few. The main ones are that the Russian one usually comes with adjustable sights and can take double stack magazines.
* Q. Is the 9x18 Makarov the same thing as the 9mm Luger/Para?
A. No. The 9mm Luger is the 9x19. The .380ACP is the 9x17, so the 9x18 is perfectly in between the 9mm Luger and .380ACP.
* Q. Is it true that the Russians used a magnum powered semi-auto handgun.
A. You could say that. The 7.62x25 Tokarev is well considered a magnum powered handgun round, and has been used by the Russians.
* Q. What was the finest rifle ever used by the Russians?
A. Like anything, it depends upon what for. In general, I myself find the SVD to be the finest.
* Q. What is the finest pistol the Russians ever used?
A. Alike the above, it all depends. I THINK the Russians used the CZ-52 at some point. If so, I would say that would be it, hands down. If not, then probably a cross between the Makarov and the Tokarev.
* Q. Is the Makarov pistol simply called the Makarov, or is their another name for it?
A. The real name for it is the Baikal IJ-70.
* Q. Did the Russians ever make SMGs?
A. Yes, they made some of the finest ever. One older model is called the PPSH-41. They also make one that is just as good ( maybe even better ) called the Bizon.
The PPSH-41 was made in 7.62x25 Tokarev. The Bizon is made in .380ACP, 9x18 Makarov, 9mm Luger and 7.62x25 Tokarev.
* Q. Is Russian military ammo really damp, blackish, or is that just for movies?
A. The Russians use steel cased ammo for economic reasons. It has a dark green ( almost grayish ) corrosion resistant coating on it. They also sometimes use a cheaper, thinner brass, although you usually see this in the hands of middle eastern forces.
* Q. Do the Russians make any hunting ammo for civilians that fit military rifles?
A. Yes, they have a few companies who do, although most of them are nothing more then military surplus ammo with holes drilled in the tips. Wolf and Bear are the most common companies who make this ammo, although others do as well.
* Q. Are their any Russian companies who make airguns?
A. Yes, IZH, and Anics make airguns.
* Q. Is it true that AK-47 Ammo bounces around in peoples bodies when they hit?
A. In short, no. Any bullet can change course upon impact, and the 5.45x39 is no exception in either direction.
This rumor generally comes from 2 sources. One is that .22LR and .22 Magnum bullets have been known to swish around in peoples skulls and be a bit better about course changing then most bullets. The other ( and most relevant ) is that the 55gr 5.56 bullet was designed very specifically to work with the M-16s rifling to rotate when traveling, causing it to split in to two pieces of twisted metal upon impact with bone, which then will spin around through the targets body like blenders wrecking havoc. However, this round will only do this when fired from the M-16/AR-15 and only 55gr or lighter ball bullets.
* Q. What is the overall best combat rifle round?
A. Opinions differ. To the best of my studies and experience, I would have to go with the 8mm Mauser, followed closely by the 7.62x51 NATO/.308. Unfortunately, few good combat rifles exist in 8mm Mauser, while many exist in 7.62 NATO.
* Q. Are their any bullets ( Russian or not ) that are listed as one caliber but are truly another?
A. Yes. The .380ACP is actually .355 ( .36 Caliber ), the .38 Special is actually .357 ( .36 caliber ), the .44 Magnum is actually a .430 ( .43 Caliber ) and the .50BMG is actually 510 ( .51 Caliber.
Their are many others, but that's just a few.
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but I see at least 2 mistakes. First, AK-47 and Sturmgewer-44 have absolutely diffrent scheme. Second, they make Saiga in 12, 20, and .410 gauge.
Originally Posted by 44 Canon 
It was a Russian cartridge 
How very mean of you, Pravit. How many more typos and grave grammatical crimes have been committed by others in this very thread?
