A solid future for the Kalashnikov

Rumors are swirling that Russia will cease producing the ubiquitous rifle, but nothing better has yet come along.

Reports that the Russian Ministry of Defense has discontinued purchases of the legendary AK-74 assault rifle made headline news in the Russian media.

In fact, the Russian military stopped buying Kalashnikovs about 15 years ago, because there were too many of them. Both the army’s stockpiles and factory warehouses are overflowing with all versions of the rifles, as are the country’s armories. According to Russian experts, the stockpiles would supply several armies the size of Russia’s in addition to all the world’s armies combined. General Nikolai Makarov, the chief of the General Staff of Russia’s Armed Forces, indirectly corroborated those estimates several days ago

via A solid future for the Kalashnikov.