Thanks for watching another episode of Loadout! We wanted to do our very best to do the AK justice, and it was a real privilege to get to see some real historic firearms as part of making this episode. Stay tuned as tomorrow (5th Dec) we have a bonus chat with Jonathan, breaking down a few of the examples and their lives in games, including a golden AK....So make sure to come back for that. We could never cover every part of the AK's future in one episode, but I hope this was an interesting spotlight on a little of it's history as well as it's life in games and pop culture. I appreciate you all watching and sharing your thoughts and hope you are enjoying the series.
@@IrregularDave next time ask Brandon Herrera who's shot more AKs than the entire British Royal Armory combined for input. I guarantee he would have loved to collaborate. Or is there a reason why you may have not wanted to?
It is indeed, but the point is that to the average movie-goer, especially in 1983 it works as one of many "stand-ins" for being an AK in cinema. Good movie gun knowledge though!
@@IrregularDave I totally get what you mean by that. Mixing the two up is a classic in and of itself. Just a little ironic letting it slip in a vid detailing how other pop culture has got it slightly wrong throughout time.
@@IrregularDave true and there was a massive problem whit getting the correct gun for a long time (be it one nation getting one or another another ones or juts any specific kind). remember a cold war movie (might have been golden eye) where its stated that every enemy was AK-47 / AKM. but what every single AK weapon shown was was a completely different gun that had revised some cosmetic job to at least look at bit more like the gun they said it was. I mean every single one (the hero AK, the bad guy AK, the AK closest to the camera and in focus in a group shot (this was usually the correct gun if they could at least get one copy) even here it was not the AK-47/AKM dressed as AK-47. nope every single AK in that movie was something else (some closer in look then some other but none was the correct one and this was at a time when there was a good amount of AK in existence).
Always loved AK's. The only issue I have with the old vanilla AKs is (for me personally) that the stock is a tad too short for me. But that's an easy fix.
It's pretty cool to see reference to one of my favorite old games, Conflict: Desert Storm. Not to sound full of myself, but it's a game I tend to think no one played except myself and a few friends. It has you commanding a squad of up to four troops (each individually controllable), and you can pick between American Delta Force and British SAS; this changes their voices and clothing. I'm rambling here, so I need to go play it again.
I would say more so because they’re the most proliferated Russia and china sell them a dime a dozen to any nation arming every third world country and ally they can
In regards to what Johnathan was saying, another thing pop-culture does tend to exaggerate a lot with the AK is its reliability/robustness. Sure it's a pretty sturdy rifle, but it's not jam and malfunction proof as people often seem to think. Nor is it particularly special in that regard, as modern day AR's are probably even more reliable. >__> _cut to boos and hisses_
I'm going to make a wild guess Being that I've seen a bunch of your videos in the last two days You still haven't name dropped this game ONCE Have you never played Spec Ops The Line?!?!? That game soooooo good (the campaign)
Even the massive numbers dropped in this video dont quite do the mass production of this rifle justice, of all the firearms that currently exist, 1/4 of them are some kind of AK.
Kalashnikov was in a T-34 in WW2 Russian service!?!? That was the worst place you could possibly be. Thinking about all the brilliant minds that died horribly in those metal coffins drives me crazy.
I'd like to mention XboxAhoy's video on the AK-47, made 8 years ago, tbh an undebatably better video than this one, along with every other gun coverage video in his series titled "Iconic Arms".
A type one will also have slightly different internals, be made from machined steel instead of stamped sheet metal, a diamond pattern grip, and won't accept modern AK mags
Czechoslovakia either were denied that AK data package or were allowed to make their own design (can't remember which it was but both are just as plausible)
@@ENKTDeeColon_and_randomnumbers The Czechs refused to adopt a Russian design as they had for their previous VZ-52, which wasn't even caliber compliant with the rest of the Warsaw Pact. The VZ-58 using the same ammunition, but no other parts compatibility was a compromise of sorts.
@@ENKTDeeColon_and_randomnumbers It was the latter, they were allowed to make their own design as long as they changed the round to 7.62x39. I love my VZ 58!
Copy/pasted from another of my replies on this point, but you're 100 percent correct. 👍 The point is that to the average movie-goer, especially in 1983 it works as one of many "stand-ins" for being an AK in cinema. It would do so again as the background weapons from the Lord of War Scene. There was a part in the script that talked about some of the other rifles that "sat in" for the AK -in terms of matching enough of the aesthetic that a cinema-goer would have the same emotional ties that they would to the AK - and fit in the story of the movie the same way. While that part of the script was cut down, I thought it still matched the visuals/narrative of the video, and perhaps now sits as either an ironic or fitting moment of "AK but not AK" usage in media haha
As a Russian speaker, I must remark that you said Metros "Kalash" is a changed name, and while technically yes, it isn't referred to as AK-47, this isn't exactly a change. "Kalash", short from "Kalashnikov" is genuinely what people call the AK in the post soviet space
@@KasumiRINA "Automatic Kalashnikov," "Kalashnikov," "AK-47," and the other variations are all trademarked. Kalash is not. A gun can be called something that isn't it's official name. Just like how the M1A1 Thompson sub machine gun can be called the "Chicago Typewriter," but that's not it's official name so it's therefore not trademarked. The name of the 1911 pistol and the name Colt are trademarks, hence why many games settle to use "Kolt .45" or something similar. Etc.
@@jeremy5602Trademarks dont prevent you from using the actual name, are you gonna get a cease and desist just over that? Thad be very dumb especially if you own thst gun.
@@jeremy56021911 is a firearm pattern, not a trademarked name. Colt is a firearm brand. Hence wh6 dozens of companies make 1911s, but nobody but Colt makes Colts.
I think the inevitable comparison between the SCAR H and AKM in games should be talked about more. They're fundamentally different types of weapon systems with very different roles IRL but they always end up playing those high damage, lower fire rate with long effective ranges if you can land your shots role and it's almost a necessity to have the SCAR-H if you're game has the 7.62 AK.
They did a video about the SCAR, as well, and pointed out how the H version is usually the one visible in games because it fills the role of the heavier "battle" rifle. The AK series is essentially included for similar reasons, making it a matter of dev choice which to include, so a lot of the commentary there would apply here as well.
@@dreadpirate677 from a game development perspective, I wouldn't add a scar l to a game. It's "just an M4 but Belgian". The scar h is, in a lot of ways, "FAL but modern", which is better than having two 556 assault rifles...
That's actually absurd as the difference in muzzle energy between AKM and M16 is four times smaller than between AKM and SCAR-H which should run against SVD really. You can even give it 20 round magazines (which are a real thing) and take down the scope.
Suggestion for a future episode - the SA80 series in gaming? Seems like a good one to have given that Jonathan's book goes into great detail on the real thing, and that the SA80 series has frequently appeared in games as an unlockable/special weapon since the '90s but very few games seem to get the details (visual look and / or handling drills) correct. E.g. the monstrosity of the "L86 LSW" in the 2011 Modern Warfare 2, (which was a hybrid L85 & L86).
@@timberwolfmountaineer873 I once stepped right into a vortex anomaly in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. It was one of my best "I'm glad I did not pick a L85A1" moments in gaming.
I will certainly keep it in mind :) I suppose it's an unusual one in terms of it's appearances in pop culture, but even folk who aren't super into firearms history I think still have some awareness of it's reputation from games, movies, TV etc!
OH MY GOD. I never thought I would see a reference to Conflict: Desert Storm. I loved those games growing up and it seems I was in a minority. So seeing such a reference warms my heart
I have all 4 games on Ps2 they are some of my favourites. I play them at least once a year. I wish they did a sequel to Global Storm so we could find out what happened to Foley.
I was pretty nostalgic for it, but playing the game for the footage used in the episode took a little shine off of that haha. The control scheme alone felt bizarre to me in 2022
I'd like to point out that the AKS-74U being miscategorized as an SMG isn't necessarily a miscategorization, since from what I've heard, the USSR officially designated the 74U as an SMG rather than a carbine.
@@mcintoshpc The categorization is not, just people's understanding of it. I'm sure the SMG part is more like a lost in translation type of thing. SMG defines pistol caliber full auto weapons. PDWs are compact weapons meant to fulfill a self-defense role such that helicopter pilots or tank personnel would require should they have to leave their vehicle but that is not restricted by caliber. By definition, the AK74U is a PDW, not an SMG.
Considering most "AK-47" 's are a completely different model to that, I wonder why the term kalasnicov isn't used more often, it just sounds way cooler, at least for me
At least in germany, "Kalaschnikov" or simply "AK" is the common name. I guess it's to some extent because most of us here don't really care about designation-names and stuff like that. (Luckily) We don't have such a "gun culture" here like in the US which would influence that.
@@kabardino1337 Yep. I see the gun culture in the US quite sceptical and would not want that in my country. But that seems to be a difference in mindset and culture in general. And I respect these differences. :)
I've heard the 100 million count for the number of AK-47s in the world very frequently. However, I've also heard there may be more than 3x as many (so 300 million) when you take into account the number of unassembled spare parts out in the world. If you put them all together into functioning AKs, you get another 200 million. So the number is something like 250-300 million total. Supposedly. It's impossible to actually know.
Well you have to take into account that like ten different countries were making exact copies at any given time and trading between each other. It's hard to tell in ledger reports if it was domesticly made ak47s or something from a Soviet factory. Making it all the harder to count especially considering that probably a half of them weren't made in the Soviet union and thus have a much less record keeping.
The book keeping and accounts of that period of time perhaps not being the most accurate or reliable certainly doesn't help there haha. And yet even with all the ifs and buts, it's pretty amazing that it's still well and clear the most produced firearm.
As the receiver of an ak doesn't really wear out there would be no point in making a "spare part" for that and the receiver is generally considered "the gun" it is the component where the serial number is printed. And if an AK has a warped barrel or rusted gas tube generally they aren't replaced as the effort to replace those components costs more than just getting a new AK. It's not the price of the components that is the issue... It's the cost in man hours. So I think the production number is quite reflective of the actual total practical number.
@@Treblaine There are plenty of spare AK receivers and parts kits out there. And the receiver is the "registered part" in the United States only. Because that's where the fire control group is located and the US government is obsessed with banning full auto weapons (which is pathetic but that is a whole different story) Pretty much every other country in the world uses the pressure bearing parts, such as the barrel and bolt, as the "registered part" for a firearm. And many countries don't even have a "registered firearm database" and make random spare parts for all kinds of firearms all the time. Point is, there are definitely more AKs out there than any other firearm, and much more than we could ever attempt to count.
@@corkbulb2895 But were they made AS spare receivers or was an entire AK built (as part of the 100 million count) and after being cannibalized for parts you're left with just a receiver? A lot of research has gone into analysing the strength of armies and how many rifles they have, the 100 million number for AK rifles is quite accurate. I have no doubt you'll find boxes full of AK rifle components somewhere but where did they come from? They were far more likely cannibalized from damaged AK rifles that left the factory as whole rifles than factories were producing components for one of the most overproduced firearms in the world. Now if some of the 100 million AK rifles are so damaged that they are cannibalized for parts then you cannot reassemble any parts to increase the total number of AK rifles. "Pretty much every other country in the world uses the pressure bearing parts, such as the barrel and bolt, as the "registered part" for a firearm." No they don't, they registered the component that HOLDS the pressure bearing parts, not barrel or bolts which are replaceable. In the case of all AK variants it is the receiver which holds the pressure bearing parts like the barrel and bolt. I makes no difference in this matter as the receiver both holds the barrel/bolt AND the trigger mechanism.
What i found funny about MW2019, is that it's an actual AK-47, or at least a milled AK, which is kinda funny to me, because i think that would be very rare for the insurgents in that game to get a hold of. But i guess Activision just wanted to do an "well actually" when they made the AK...
My biggest pet peeve is when games call a AKM or AK-74 a “AK-47” and when games call the AKS-74u a smg when it was designed as a sub machine gun but its a carbine version of the AKS-74N.
Does the letter "N" have something to do with night vision? "S" indicates a folding stock. "U" indicates a short barrel. But what about "N?" Don't night vision scopes for AKs use the same dovetail mounting system as other optics?
Kinda surprised the Heartbreak Ridge AK scene wasnt in this. "This is the AK47, the preffered weapon of your enemy. It makes a very distinctive sound when fired."
The Soviet/Russian AK models and the American Browning M2, Two guns that will somehow be still with us when we are exploring the stars and have laser weapons.
We're literally already on the way of replacing them with 5.56 because ammo is lacking. 5.45 is exotic enough and the older bullets used in 47s and AKMs (7.62x39, no to be confused with NATO 7.62x51)are no-go and are only used for training and territorial defense units.
No matter how you slice it...strictly speaking...technical...scientific... It is considered one of the most basic of tools... The Hammer... ...the Sickle... the *AK47!*
Harry Turtledove wrote a book about people going back in time and giving the American Confederacy crates of Kalashnikov rifles. The premise of the whole story required a gun that was easy to learn and maintain, as well as being available in mass quantities uptime, so there really wasn't any other choice.
Harry Harrison did a similar premise a decade before Turtledove did. The story was called "A Rebel in Time" and the story's villain goes back in time to give the Confederates the Sten gun, which is an even simpler gun to make than a Kalashnikov.
I love Turtledove's "The Guns of the South"! Especially the scene where...Robert E. Lee...first hears the Kalashnikov fire in semi-auto offscreen at a rate compatible to standard musket fire...then Minuteman-style "rapid" fire of like 3 rounds per minute...then the rifle's actual automatic fire rate that stuns him 😉
I must admit your AK-47 and it's designer name pronunciation is pretty decent, I've heard that name butchered countless times) Kinda surprised actually. Your channel is decent too, I've started watching it mainly because of your collaboration with Jonathan Fergusson, I look forward to see more of that kind of content.
Shouldn't be that hard to pronounce Hugo Shmeisser, the guy who actually made it while his russian overseer who was an uneducated peasant took all credit and never actually invented a thing in his life he.
Important, but understandably not included in the video, detail about Metro and Stalker for why they have *so many* AK's, they are set in Russia and Ukraine respectively and are made by Ukrainian studios, though both studios have moved out of Ukraine for safety reasons.
There's few things in life I am sure about. One of them is: The AK47 from that game you played is not an AK47. Jokes apart, they always tend to be either a not-so-accurate AKM, or for the sake of pedantism: some Norinco model.
Soldiers don't use the AR15 it's a M16 or M4 I know that it's not that big of a deal but it gets old hearing it's a weapon of war when it has no full auto switch
I always found it odd that someone would go through the effort of modelling an AKM as closely as possible, studying hundreds of images of the AKM in detail, getting every pin right, getting the muzzle device mostly right, showing it has a stamped receiver etc etc then label it AK-47 and slap an aftermarket siderail on it. I'm looking at you, CSGO devs
The nomenclature can get very convoluted. I have A WASR-10, but I just call it an AK or an AKM. AK just translates to Automatic Kalashnikov so you can't really go wrong with that.
Before EFT i never like the look on AKs with those wooden parts, but after EFT its one of my favorite gun to look at, it just look so good in that game + moddability
Physically based rendering did wonders, especially for models that are right in your face and even more so for wood that often looked like plastic before.
I think this kind of content is where gamespot can continue to carve out its own niche. I don't much care for the game news or reviews as I already follow a number of different channels where I can get that kind of content. Everything with Jonathan Ferguson has been great and this series is a nice addition as well.
Please upvote this. 7.52x39 cartridge is not "more powerful," it's an obsolete thing that is worse than 5.45 (or 5.56) in so many ways, it fell out of use almost entirely here.
it's funny how it's "Invasion of Ukraine", but "operation in Iraq". Or "Operation in Syria". Or "Operation in Afghanistan". Well... you get the idea. At least they call Vietnam war a war, but still I've never heard "Invasion of Vietnam".
8:28 That's not an AK of any variety in the hands of James Bond. It's a Czech Vz.58V. Apart from sort of looking alike and using the same cartridge, they are totally different weapons, that use different methods of operation. Ask Johnathan, he'll tell you. :)
"Why is the AK-47 the most iconic gun?" "With over 100 million made" Well, gee. One in every 5 guns in the world is an AK-47, or some derivative there-of, be it a later model or a foreign model. That, right there, is the reason.
12:02 at least in my country we say kalash (kalaš) more often than AK or AK-47. Actually if you just called it an AK it would take us some time to figure out what you're talking about because we always call it kalashnikov (kalšnjikov) or kalash for short. So it's not made up, it's a real nickname for the gun and a completely normal way to call it in most slavic countries.
@@dazzaMusic different caliber too. 47 = 7.62x39mm, akm = 7.62x39mm, ak74 = 5,45x39mm You're probably talking about the system itself rather than those specifics, but it is an important distinction xD
@@dazzaMusic not really the ak-74 has a stamped receiver chambered in a different round 90 degree has block a different thread pitch for the barrel and other differences i don’t care to list
2:26 Halo: perhaps being a sci-fi fps franchise, there is absolutely no signs of a ak-47 inspiration in any of the guns, maybe the dmr from reach, 4, and 5 or the vk commando from infinite.
The best part of that Lord of War scene was, as if to highlight the AKs cheapness, that those rifles were real, not props, because it was cheaper to buy them bulk than buying AK props.
