NOVANEWS
and they’ll be getting the band back together in Russia…
“After the collapse of the great and mighty Soviet Union so much crap has been imposed on us, especially on the younger generation,” he said. “I wrote six books to help them find their way in life.”He said he was proud of his bronze bust installed in his native village of Kurya in the Siberian region of Altai. He said newlyweds bring flowers to the bust. “They whisper ‘Uncle Misha, wish us happiness and healthy kids,’” he said. “What other gun designer can boast of that?” — Mikhail Kalasnikov
“Blame the Nazi Germans for making me become a gun designer. I always wanted to construct agricultural machinery.”
by Michael Farrell
Big news out of Russia: Kalisnikov is dead at 94. Given that he wasjust trying to make a cheap, dependable rifle for the masses so the USSR could bitchslap the Nazis, he probably did more to change the third world than anybody else except Mohammed and the guy who invited Coca Cola. Actually, seems that as human beings and Soviet Arms Makers go, he was a reasonable guy — working for him was considered a pleasure compared to everybody else in the whole goddamned country. He just kept turning out billions of the goddamned things and was one of the few efficient parts of the Soviet Military-Industrial complex. You wouldn’t want to take an AK to shooting events in the Olympics and it wasn’t all that accurate but it wasn’t supposed to be. They’re lead spray guns…but, for their particular type of house painting, they’re probably as good as it gets. Now, if you want to hit somebody more than 200 yards away, wait til they get closer. One interesting thing, a bit of insight into the Russian military mindset, is that the weapons have always been chambered 1/100th of a millimeter bigger than the applicable NATO round. Thus, they could shoot 7.62mm US and NATO if they captured some, but we couldn’t shoot their rounds…paranoia, lack of confidence in their logistical system and who knows what else.(The Soviets measured their industrial output not by units produced but by tons of material used…used a million tons of steel, built 20 tanks. Way to inflate results while giving lots of room for crooked dealings but “it is according to plan.” When someone in American business says that, it’s helpful for your sanity’ sake to ask what plan? You may be surprised…)
