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AK-47: Difference between revisions

From Internet Movie Firearms Database - Guns in Movies, TV and Video Games
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Revision as of 06:14, 25 May 2009

The AK-47 and variants are used by the following actors in the following movies, television series, anime, and video games:

NOTE: Please keep in mind that while "AK-47" is often a catch-all term for 7.62x39mm Kalashnikov rifles, most so-called "AK-47s" in movies - particularly American movies - are actually either Egyptian Maadi ARM copies of the highly improved AKM, or variants of the Chinese Norinco Type 56. Please check carefully to make sure that the rifle in question is a true AK-47 and not an AKM or a Chinese Type 56. When in doubt, it is probably safer to assume AKM or Type 56.

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Type I AK-47, hybrid stamped/milled receiver 7.62x39mm
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Type II AK-47 7.62x39mm (note stock mounting bracket)
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Type III AK-47 7.62x39mm

Specifications

Type: Assault Rifle

Caliber: 7.62x39mm

Capacity: 30, 40 round box magazines, and 75 round drum magazine.

Fire Modes: Safe/Full-Auto/Semi

AK-47

It is noteworthy that the U.S. government had a ban on all weapons imported from Warsaw Pact nations during the Cold War years (1947-1989). Communist nations which were not part of the Warsaw pact, such as Yugoslavia and Mainland China, were allowed to negotiate trade agreements with the U.S., thus the influx of Chinese AK type rifles and Yugo AKs (Zastava). The Maadi ARMs (the US version of the MISR) were allowed because Egypt was never a Communist country nor a member of the Warsaw Pact. But, as a result of this, virtually no U.S. movie has a real original AK47 prior to a certain date. The exceptions are, custom build ups after the mid 1990s when original AK-47 rifle kits were available (as was done on "We Were Soldiers", using original blueprints and US made milled receivers), and movies filmed overseas where foreign movie armorers had no such restrictions. This is particularly true for films made in Israel and some parts of Europe. This is not the case now, with the current crop of films made outside the U.S., mostly in the newly democratic Eastern European nations (Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Czech Republic, etc.) However, Russia has firmly blocked the export of their old AK-47 surplus guns outside of the country, having distributed most of them to client nations and guerrillas throughout the world in the previous five decades. So the AK47 one 'thinks' one sees may very well be a Poly Technologies Legend series AK (from China) or another AK Variant.

Film

  • VC in The Odd Angry Shot
  • Terrorists fighters in Jarhead (footage taken from Apocalypse Now)
  • P.L.O.Terrorists, Ugandan Army soldiers, Israeli Commando in Raid On Entebbe

Television

Anime

  • Islamic revolutionaries in an unidentified desert state and USSR soldiers seen in flashback in Noir

Video Games

  • Counter-Strike Online (as the CV-47. Now also has long magazine mode in Zombie 2 mode, but the reason of long magazine is 100 round, in here is 60 round only)

AKS-47

To be correct, the Russian name for this gun is simly AKS, not AKS-47.

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AKS-47 7.62x39mm

Film

Video Games

AKM

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AKM, Stamped Steel Receiver w/ slant muzzle brake 7.62x39mm
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Maadi ARM - most of the AKMs seen in movies during the 1980s were imported ARMs that were legally converted to full auto fire. This image is of an actual movie gun. The laminated buttstock was replaced with a hardwood one when the original stock was broken during a stunt. This example is also loaded with a 30-round bakelite plastic magazine - 7.62x39mm

The improved version of the AK-47, featuring a number of refinements such as a stamped receiver (as opposed to the milled receiver of the original AK-47), a slant compensator on the tip of the barrel (to reduce recoil), an improved gas tube (without vents), and use of lighter materials to reduce weight and simplify construction.

Most of the AKMs seen in Hollywood movies are actually Egyptian Maadi MISR copies, which were sold in the U.S. as the ARM in the 1980s - such weapons were first procured by Stembridge Gun Rentals for Red Dawn and subsequently re-used in numerous other motion pictures. The Maadi is almost identical to the original Soviet-built AKM, save for the markings, and is nearly impossible to tell apart.

Film

  • Soviet soldiers and the "Wolverines" in Red Dawn
  • Colombian drug cartel henchmen in XXX
  • Arcadia 234 inhabitants in Soldier (including one with an Dragunov-esque stock)
  • Iraqi soldiers, Shiite refugees, and the main protagonists of Three Kings
  • Bank robbers and gang members in S.W.A.T. (including two fitted with high-capacity drum magazines)
  • Mujahideen and the Russians in Rambo 3

Television

  • Abu Fayed's men in 24
  • Terrorists and Special Forces soldiers in The Unit (the latter fitted with tactical flashlights and silencers)
  • Drug dealers in CSI: NY (episode: "Snow Day")

Video Games

AKMS

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AKMS, stamped steel receiver w/ slant muzzle brake and under-folding stock - 7.62x39mm

Basically the same as the AKM, but the rear-trunion is altered with a swiveling mechanism to allow for the under-folding stock. The AKMS nomenclature also indicates that the rifle is not a milled receiver variant and has the AKM style of gas block, top cover, barrel assembly, front sight, and appropriate forearm furniture.

Film

  • A Mexican terrorist in Hulk

Television

Video Games

AKMSU

Chopped and shortened AKMS underfolder, made to resemble the AKS-74U except that it is still a 7.62x39mm gun.

NOTE: The AKMSU was never manufactured by the Soviet Union, infact the pictures of one available are from a Pakistani made gun. This one model featured an under-folding stock and a thumbhole grip under the barrel. Most of the so-called "AKMSU" carbines seen in Hollywood movies, such as A Man Apart and Bad Boys II, are actually full-size AK variants that have been converted with Krinkov parts kits; many feature side-folding AKS-74U-style stocks that the real Pakistani made model didn't have.

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AKMSU (Crvena Zastava M92) 7.62x39mm

Film

  • Haitian gang members and a Cuban Army soldier in Bad Boys II (the soldier using one with an AKS-74U-type folding stock)
  • Terrorists in The Kingdom (fitted with AKS-74U-type folding stock)

Television

  • Various characters in The Unit (with AKS-74U folding stocks)

Norinco Type 56

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Norinco Type 56 (fixed stock variant) with under-folding bayonet ("pig sticker") which was standard on PLA-issue Type 56s - 7.62x39mm
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Norinco Type 56 (Imported into the U.S. as the Norinco AKS-47 or AKS-47 Sporter) - 7.62x39mm. Rather than having the underfolder pig sticker Bayonet assembly, this has the standard Bayonet lug underneath the gas block as the AKM and later variants.
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Norinco Type 56-1 (under-folding stock variant) - 7.62x39mm
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Norinco Type 56-2 (side-folding stock variant) - 7.62x39mm
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Norinco Type 56 (Imported AKS-47 into the U.S.) with Chinese 75 Round Drum Magazine - 7.62x39mm

The Chinese Type 56 rifle (manufactured by China North Industries Corporation, or Norinco) is by far the most commonly-seen AK derivative in Hollywood productions, both film and television. They are frequently seen impersonating Russian weapons in many films, since the Russians never sold a civilian AK model in the U.S. (or Europe) during the latter half of the 20th century. Most of the movie prop rental houses in Hollywood had dozens if not hundreds of Chinese AKs - mostly the Type 56s (7.62x39mm version) or the similar Type 84s (5.56x45mm version). These were usually semi-automatic civilian versions (commonly designated "AK47S" or "AKS47" by the importers), in many cases converted to full-auto by Class III manufacturers.

There are three main variants of the Type 56 - the standard Type 56, which has a fixed stock, the Type 56-1, which has an under-folding stock, and the Type 56-2, which has a side-folding stock. Most fixed-stock Type 56 rifles have an under-folding spike bayonet, known as the "pig sticker"; this rifle is often seen in movies about the Vietnam War, and is correct for NVA throughout most of the conflict. Quite a few of the Type 56s seen in movies also have AKM-style slant compensators fitted; this was a common feature on semi-auto Type 56s exported to the U.S., but NOT the full-auto military model.

The easiest way to tell when an AK-type rifle seen in a movie or TV show is a Chinese Type 56 is by looking at the front sight; Chinese AKs have a distinctive full-circle ("hooded") front sight that no other AKs (including those made in Russia) have.

Film

  • Numerous N.V.A. and V.C. soldiers and fighters in Platoon
  • North Korean soldiers in Die Another Day (including a few made to look like AKS-74s)
  • Militia fighters, refugees, Cameroon border guards, and Paul Francis as Danny "Doc" Kelley in Tears of the Sun (Type 56 with and without bayonet, Type 56-1 with and without AKM-style muzzle brake)
  • Black September terrorists, PLO gunmen and Israeli commandos in Munich
  • Libyan Army soldiers and Lori Petty as Pvt. Christine Jones in In the Army Now (type 56 with AKM-style muzzle brakes, with & without underfolding bayonets, Type 56-1 wityh AK-74-style muzzle brake)

Television

Video Games

Norinco Type 84S

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Norinco Type 84S - 5.56mm
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Norinco Type 84S Underfolder Model - 5.56mm
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Norinco Type 84S "Target" Rifle - 5.56mm. Basically a standard Norinco Type 84S with a slightly longer barrel. This variant was ready for export after the 1989 US import ban, so it is mostly seen in Canada. It has an 18.5" barrel and was not really seen in the U.S. Gun market.
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Norinco Type 84S Match Rifle - 5.56mm. Norinco was stuck sitting on a pile of 21" RPK barrels chambered for 5.56mm when the door slammed shut on U.S. imports in 1989. Norinco saved money by mating their 21" long RPK-style barrels to their stockpile of 84S Folding Stock receiver bodies and thus exported the Type 84S Match to countries such as Canada and Australia. Canada would suffer their own import ban on 'frightening looking guns' in 1995. Australian gun owners would suffer such a fate in 1997.

Nearly identical to the Chinese Type 56 (seen above), but chambered in 5.56x45mm. The Type 84 was imported and sold with an AK birdcage flash hider and had a deep polished factory blue. It is often seen impersonating the AK-74 in movies and TV shows. Several other variants of the 84S Rifle (that are mostly unfamiliar to American Gun Owners) were victims of the 1989 Import Ban that barred most new 'assault rifles' from entering the United States. These rifles were thus mostly exported to Canada and Australia, and as a result, appeared in television shows or movies that were filmed in those countries. Listed here are two of the variants seen in Canadian or Australian television (the Target and the Match versions). If it were not for Canadian or Australian movie armorers, most of us in the U.S. would never have known these variants existed.

Film

  • Multiple mobsters in Hollow Point (with Type 56 fixed bayonets)

Television

Zastava M70

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Zastava M70AB2 folding stock rifle - 7.62x39mm (non-standard pistol grip)

The Zastava M70 was the Yugoslavian variant of the Russian AK-47 (later AKM), however, it utilized a strengthened lower receiver, more akin to the RPK than the AK-47/AKM. It also has other design variations which make it immediately recognizable from it's Russian cousin. Some of the variants also have finned barrels to aid in heat dispersion. It was made by Zavodi Crvena Zastava (Red Banner Plant), now Zastava Oružje / Zastava Arms in a Yugoslavian (now Serbian) city of Kragujevac. It was most widely used and seen in the Wars in the 1990s of the former Yugoslavian republics - Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro (Slovenia and Macedonia were not a major combatants in the fighting). Yugoslavia also sold them to many countries such as Iraq (which produced a licensed copy known as the Tabuk, which lacked the grenade-launching sight) and Kuwait.

The Zastava M70 was produced in the following variants:

  • M70 - milled receiver, fixed stock
  • M70A – milled receiver, underfolding stock
  • M70A1 – milled receiver, underfolding stock, mount for night or optical sights
  • M70B1 – stamped receiver, fixed stock
  • M70AB2 – stamped receiver, underfolding stock
  • M70B1N – stamped receiver, fixed stock, mount for night or optical sights
  • M70AB2N – stamped receiver, underfolding stock, mount for night or optical sights
  • Variants M70B, M70AB and M70AB1 also exist, but they are rare and their specifications are unclear.

The Zastava M70 was seen in the following:

Film

Television

Video Games

AMD-65

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Hungarian AMD-65 - 7.62x39mm

Film

Television

AK-101

Modern Russian AK rifle full size. 5.56x45mm

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AK-101 5.56x45mm

Video Games

  • Battlefield 2 (with two magazines taped together "jungle style", with and without GP-30 grenade launcher)

AK-102

Modern Russian AK rifle carbine. 5.56x45mm

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AK-102 carbine 5.56x45mm

Video Games

AK-103

Modern Russian AK rifle full size. 7.62x39mm.

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AK-103 Modern Russian AK rifle 7.62x39mm

Video Games

  • Thomas Jane as Frank Castle in The Punisher (as the "7.62mm Assault Rifle", available with red dot sight, upgradeable to 75-round drum magazine)

AK-104

Modern Russian AK rifle carbine. 7.62x39mm.

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AK104 carbine - 7.62x39mm. This is a blank adapted motion picture gun and the buttstock is a replacement and the magazine is a Bulgarian Waffle pattern. I will resubmit this photo when I get the correct buttstock and the black synthetic 7.62 magazines.

Film

  • One of Taha's thugs in District B13 (with muzzle brake removed and fitted with Romanian side-folding stock)

AK-107

Video Games

  • ArmA II (available with GP-30 grenade launcher, Kobra red dot sight, and PSO-1 scope)

AK-108

AEK-971

Ultra modern day Russian assault rifle. Chambered for the 5.45 round. AEK-972 chambered in 5.56x45mm NATO, AEK-973 chambered in 7.62x39mm.

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AEK-971 5.45x39mm

Video Games

WASR-3

A Romanian AK clone in 5.56x45mm.

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A US imported Romanian WASR-3, 5.56x45mm.

Film