Eugene Stoner and Mikhail Kalashnikov - Part 2 - Discussing the AK 

Transcription of his speech: Ladies and gentlemen. I have a job and I don't have time to brush and correct the translation in declared time. Still, in a week, I will finish this work. 0:53 this piece is also very simple. You should push on the magazine catch and move the magazine out. 1:10 Use your thumb to push the return mechanism and remove the dust cover 1:15 that’s a dust cover, you see. 1:16 after that you (?) pull off the return mechanism. 1:22 movements are simple - doesn’t take a college graduate, you see. 1:36 push the bolt carrier and bolt back 1:44 here, two parts 1:49 very simple by themselves (???) 1:50 you see, they fit like a glove. They cry to fit in the exactly right place 1:58 you can’t do it wrong 2:12 next. We have to pop off the gas tube 2:22 here the injection molding was used, just like in your model 2:23 forend has this plastic as well 2:42 and on the pistol grip 2:51 let’s say you need to fold the buttstock 2:52 God it’s tight! 2:55 you know, so it won’t pop off in accidentally. 3:04 like that 3:07 you can even fold it with a magazine 3:15 like that. With magazine. 3:23 magazine, as we discussed, has a semi-spherical form 3:35 higher curvature comes from the taper angle of the ammunition 3:45 (heard the interpreter) yeah, it’s a conical shape - that’s why we have this steep curvature here. 3:52 let’s put in on place - it’s on its place 4:00 in order to proceed with taking it apart we have to have a tool - 4:04 use the punch to tap out the pin and get it out 4:07 push the second pin (the one of the ejector) 4:14 then we have the firing pin and the ejector taken apart 4:20 I don’t have a punch with me, unfortunately, so I can’t show you 4:25 I’m sure you took it apart yourself, eh 4:45 what we have here - the trigger group 4:51 It’s very simple in its design 4:56 The trigger 5:00 then, we have a special catch and automatic-fire sear 5:08 thus, use the safety selector to switch the firing mode 5:25 let’s open it, shall we 5:39 this fire selector acts as a cover for the opening where the bolt handle goes through 5:50 it prevents dust from falling in this huge gap 5:57 sand, dust and so forth 6:02 we close it and see: no gap 6:08 so, it’s a coupling of functions that, sort of, had to occur necessitated by the mechanism operation 6:17 instead of using multiplicities of mechanism 6:21 so, this shield carries out three functions at once 6:26 covers the gap, switches the gun to single and automatic fire 6:45 you observe not the very first model 6:49 it’s an AKM 6:55 letter “M’ stands for “Modernised” 7:01 it’s a custom to designate models like that 7:07 if in a first model the receiver was made from a solid forging 7:23 here we see sheet metal stamping 7:27 here you can see it 7:29 it’s stamped in a shape of a sink 7:33 there 7:34 we have rails for the recoil mechanism 7:43 oh, for bolt carrier and bolt 7:54 we call this “the shroud” (it’s being stamped from the sheet metal (the flat)) 7:59 we, ugh, pin the trunnion, also made from flat, three from one side and three from the other one 8:15 buttplate is being fixed into the receiver and pinned through 8:35 on the first models even these “pullings” (strips of the folding stock connected to the butt plate) were made out of forgings (blocks of metal) and then slab milled in order to get this shape 8:48 that one is made from the flat. Sheet metal. 8:54 there are reinforcements in there spot welded in place 9:02 yeah 9:10 the butt plate is being pinned by rivets from this and that side but 9:12 in a way to allow for its rotation 9:21 let’s move on to this part’nj rfulf& 9:26 that’s a gas block 9:33 it’s being made from a forging 9:37 then we mill it 9:40 the front sight block 9:43 is also made from a forging with to be continued

This interpreter was really out of his league... Kalashnikov was so excited to describe all the parts, and he just couldnt keep up...

Kalashikov just didn't care if the translator could keep up with him, he just wanted to explain everything with such detail and presentation for his fellow gun engineer. And now that's history, which we will translate properly to know every word this legend said. Truly a incredible time to be alive.

Im from eastern europe but not fluent enough in russian to translate what kalshnikov is saying 100% but good enough to understand way more than the translator is saying. He talks very interestingly full of anecdotes and subtle humour, he sounds and constructs sentences like any eastern european educated old man. He reminds me of some of my engineering proffesors

Let me defend the translator for a second. This was 1990, there were not a lot of good translators out there who would speak both languages very very good. At least they were not easy to find. The guns and gun parts have very specific words for them and terms, which sound totally different in these two languages, so it's pretty much impossible to learn them by association. Many of these words are quite specific and it's difficult to remember them, as there are many and they are tricky. The translator actually asked Kalashnikov to slow down in the very beginning and give him some time to translate, which Kalashnikov simply ignored lol. Most of the things Kalashnikov was saying were something like "then you do this, then do that, then you twist this, then you open here, then you pull that, etc.", so a lot of times there was nothing to translate really. And at the end of the day, he probably was very nervous. That being said, they probably could have found a better translator, but it's not that easy. Partially it is understandable why he had such a difficulty with translation.

The irony that they brought him a Chinese AK!! He has stated on video elswhere that he wasnt pleased about the Chinese version

Since there does not appear to be a full translation in the comments, only partial, I have created my own. For ease of reading, I only put timestamps intermittently, rather than on each single phrase. It did not fit into a single comment, so I broke it up into two parts, the second part is in the replies to this one. 0:15 Just now, my colleague, Eugene Stoner, has graciously showed me his work. Let him have some patience, and listen as I tell him about my first work. This design is just as simple. You just need to press this lever and detach the magazine. Here, press down with your thumb onto the recoil spring assembly, and take off the cover. Here, the cover. Then, take out the recoil spring assembly. The movements are very simple, no need to finish an academy. Pull back the bolt carrier and bolt. Here, two parts. They're simple on their own. And each is almost asking to go to its place, they won't fit otherwise. Then we need to remove the gas tube in its cover. Here, as in your work, we use a plastic mould. Same plastic is on the handguard, and on the pistol grip. 2:47 Well, let's say you need to fold the stock. Oh wow, that's stiff. Well, it's made in such a way that it wouldn't open up accidentally. Like this... by the way, it folds even with the magazine attached. (translator: slower, let me translate, Mikhail Timofeyevich). The magazine, as we discussed, has a curved shape. The steeper curve depends on the cartridge's taper. The cartridge is tapered, so the shape is steeper. Here, let's put that where it belongs. It's right where it belongs. 4:00 To disassemble further, we need the kit - use a punch to take out this pin, then this second one for the extractor, and then we'll have the extractor and the firing pin disassembled. I don't have a punch here, so I can't demonstrate it, but I'm sure you've disassembled it more than once! But as it is, what can we see? Here we see the fire control group. It's very simple in its construction. The trigger, here's a special hook, and the sear for single or automatic fire. So, with this selector, we can go from single to automatic fire. 5:25 Here, let's open this up. This selector serves as well to close up this opening where the bolt handle passes. So this is done to prevent dust from getting inside this large gap. Sand, dust, etc. And when we close it up, we see that dust can't get in. So this combined function comes from a practical necessity. To avoid making some separate little parts for it, but instead make this little shield do pretty much three functions - close up the gap, select single fire, and automatic fire. 6:45 What you're seeing isn't the first model, this is the AKM. The letter M is there, meaning "modernized". This is our convention, M for modernized. Here, in the first model, the receiver was made from a steel block. In this one we see it's stamped, made into a sort of trough out of metal sheets. And we get the guide rails for the bolt carrier. We call it a "shroud", this stamped bit. On the front trunnion, we rivet it with three rivets on one side, and three on the other. On the rear trunnion, on the stock, we do the same, sliding it into the stamped receiver and fixed in place with rivets going all the way through. 8:33 On the first models even these bars were made from a block, milled out into shape. So you can see it's the same, now it's stamped from sheets, there are spot-welded reinforcements. And the butt plate is also on rivets, one on each side, but made to freely rotate. 9:20 Now, let's move on to this area. Here's the gas chamber. It's machined out of a steel block. The front sight post, also machined from a block. Here, we drill an opening, and insert the base of the front sight. This base has a threaded opening, and we screw the front sight in there with a special key, adjusting its height with the thread. Here is the rear sight, a tangent type, so to say. It's marked up to 800 meters. Well, I'll say it plainly, - you know this better than me, - that shooting at such a distance is very difficult. After all, this is an assault weapon. And perhaps this type of sight isn't needed. But the military men, be they ours or yours, will demand - give us this sort of large distance. But really, it'd be enough to have a selection from three distances, you don't need more than that. 11:45 Here, this one's also detachable, you turn this here... it's very stiff still, the cleaning rod should've been removed. Stiff. Then this band is moved away... here, we can use this... and the handguard is taken off. Here it is, stamped. Here, we too, used to put an aluminium heat shield. Because in hot conditions, during sustained fire, it heats up quite a bit, and burns the hand. You can't hold it. But on the latest models we worked this out in such a way that... you see, the handguard used to be made from wood, the upper from veneer, and this one from glued... like a thick plywood. And from that we had this sort of shape. And when we started to switch to plastic, we needed to make it so it didn't heat up any more than the wood. So in the latest models there are special grooves, to increase the cooling surface. 14:15 I'm showing you models that were made, let's just say, many years ago. Right now it's all made from progressive workpieces (note: I've no idea how to translate this term properly). It's casted. This part is cast (pointing at the rear sight block), this one (gas chamber), this one (front sight post), so all the details... and this one (rear trunnion), so all the parts are cast. This too (the hammer) is cast, you can see on this model it was milled from a block, on the new ones it's cast. So the weapon isn't staying still, when the laymen will look and say "the way it was in 1947, its shape hasn't changed since". 15:50 But actually, there was a lot of work done, to switch from the milled blocks to stampings, this wasn't a simple issue. We needed to keep the same durability, as we talked, when throwing, dropping, and so on. But on the outside, the shape is the same. And right now, the latest models in service in our army, they too have the same shape, but there was a lot of changes made. Same as you, I'm not getting off my horse, so to say, in regards to interchangeability and unification of design. See, everything that affects the design's effectiveness remains as is, almost without changes. 17:17 But of course, on the outside they look similar enough that laymen will say it's the same thing. So that's the short explanation of this model of the AK... or rather, an AKM. If you maybe have any questions for me, I'll be ready to answer them. You know, same as you, Eugene, I've had military men say they'd like a weightless weapon, we have the same demands. So in the latest models this cover is thinner material, the receiver is a thinner material. In some ways, we lose out - on durability, the robustness of the weapon, when we try to make it excessively light. 21:30 Right. Now I'll reassemble this weapon, and tell you about the reason I started working on designing firearms. I hold it like this. The bolt connects to the bolt carrier. It must be cocked. Place it in. Insert the recoil spring assembly. Place the dust cover. Like this. Insert the magazine. Right, that happens, that happens. This might not be the right magazine, it's not going in (translator: maybe the release lever is...) Alright, we'll leave this one to the side. So this is the weapon assembled.

Stoner gave up on translator and just learned russian.

From the limited words from the translator, and what You Tube can automatically translate, it seems like Kalasnikov was really going into some detail about the major manufacturing differences in the different AK's over time. From the early Type 2 AK-47's all the way up to the AK-100 series. He mentioned the changes in top cover design, the switch from a milled receiver to a stamped one, the original gas block, and front & rear sigh blocks being milled forgings and then later switching to castings, he even mentioned for the stock arms on AKS/AKMS were originally milled, but that the one he was holding (a Type 56-1) had stamped arms with reinforcements welded on the inside, while he points to the spot welds on the stock arms. Great stuff!

I love the energy between these two men. It was probably a highlight of both of their lives being able to talk weapon design with one of the few people they considered a peer and possibly admired. Kalashnikov especially became so animated and excited to discuss his design, his passion is palpable.

That translator had a very hard job to do. To be able to translate from English and to Russian is very taxing on the aspect of mental processing power. Even while being well versed in English and Russian it can still be a very daunting task to translate in such a short amount of time especially when you try to repeat multiple minutes of spoken words from memory and then translate as these weapon designers talked very passionately about their work. At 3:11 he asked Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov to please slow down. Massive amount of respect to the designers and the people who made this priceless moment captured on video. The highest level of thanks to our friend the translator in translating and not giving up to give non Russian and like versa non English speaking people the ability to witness and get a glimpse of these wonderful minds.

They should have some respect for Mr. Kalashnikov and Mr. Stoner, at least bring in a better translator. R.I.P. you legends!

Giving him a chinese rifle and a lazy translator was a fine touch, indeed.

I'm reaching out through my network to find a friend that knows fluent Russian, I'm going to get these properly translated and transcribed.

Seems to me like Eugene already knows exactly how that AK works and this politely listening

Wish we had a better translator, hope some one some day does it so we can get English captions.

So amazing to see alive two legends. Thanks for sharing this!

As a Russian speaker, the translator did a really piss poor job translating. When Mikhail starting talking about the story of how he created his rifle it’s very interesting and engaging to listen to, but the translator did a bad job translating and missed a lot of dialogue. I feel sorry for you non Russian speakers because Kalashnikov’s story is very engaging.

I love how Kalashnikov just takes down and shows everything and to be honest I really didn't need the translator to understand. Kalashnikov was that good a teacher! RIP to both these geniuses.

@4:15 translator: "Oh man, thats too complicated". Lol

These two legends are soon drinking vodka in heaven. But still on earth their masterpieces are use in good and evil.

Two of the greatest firearm designs in history. I didn't know that these two gentlemen ever sat down and discussed their respective weapons like that. People will say that they are evil but the exact opposite is true. They are both patriots and both went a long way towards making their country's stronger and safer. The AK and the AR have their enherent strengths and weaknesses, but both have been battle tested and stood the test of time.

Thank you Mr Stoner and Mr Kalashnikov for building 2 of the best rifles ever made. Rip 🙏

As I Russian, I feel deep shame and disgrace that the translator failed to translate so much. Especially Mikhails story of creating the AK during the war. I can only hope to God that they got the missed parts explained to them at a later point and that they met again before they died. Just as Mr. Kalashnikov used the simple tools he had; a schools pen, paper, eraser and a lack of any prior knowledge I will use Movie Maker on my pre-2009, barely working excuse of a PC to translate this wonderful conversation, so that at least people now, both Russian and English speaking can understand these talented mens stories like they, in those moments unfortunately failed to do. [Progress: 13% of Part 1]

The pure admiration they have for each other and their designs truly shows.

I thought it was hilarious when Kalashnikov would thoroughly elaborate in a thick Russian accent and Soviet dialect and then look Stoner in the eyes like "you understood that, right?"

The translator wasn't the best. Would love somebody to edit this with subtitles.

Amazing how people can be brought together by passions regardless of country of origin or politics. As an American I admire Russian weapon designs and the Russian people

Dude, you are amazing. Thank you so much for doing this!

I remember reading that MK was a tanker and a mechanic/engineer and combined with his height is how he was assigned into the world of tanks (he eventually became a tank commander on the T-34), although being a tanker you become a mechanic indirectly, and if you already are, well now you have a new vehicle you will learn to keep maintenance on (it's a _never ending_ up hill battle). He was known for another thing (aside from inventing the AK). He was also a writer and a highly educated man. Being a tanker myself, I really thought it was interesting that he spent so much time on tanks bc you don't read or hear a lot about many famous people in history that were tankers (aside from Elvis Presley, Bill Dauterive, and Gen. Patton). This article I was reading (not wikipedia, something else, but idr what it was/the source) said that when he was tasked with creating a new main armament for the military, the way he thought of it/went about it was with the mentality that this will be a small machine (which yeah, obvi all guns are machines, but you know what I mean) as opposed to a gun or killing device or whatever. Oh he also is into poetry.

"Someday we'll turn the swords into plows, but until then there will be a need for our work" -best quote I've ever heard.

Bro, you're a legend for posting this series.

I mean this in the most sincere way, but Mikhail seems like a kid here. While Eugene simply explained features, history and problems he had with the AR15, Mikhail seems really energetic in trying to physically display his point.

I love getting this perspective straight from Mikhail. He wanted to work on peaceful things, but was chosen to build weapons after the German invasion. His comment about beating swords into plowshares was very telling... he wants peace, but understands the need for violence in order to get there. "Si vis pacem, para bellum"

Wish we would have gotten to see their combined invention

Well, it looks like Stoner himself understands Kalashnikov better than the translator does...

*click CC for closed captions, go to settings, go to closed cap settings, if auto translate is there choose your language, if not click Russian, then click auto translate* The translator sitting in with them couldn't order Vodka in a Russian bar let alone translate this excited inventor. You can tell he's SOOOO Plssed at the chinese AKM lmao. Mischa keeps muttering "Chinese trash" under his breath 😅

Very frustrating that the "translator" simply chooses not to translate what Mr. Kalashnikov says at times.

This is pure gold - thank for posting!

interesting thing about Mr Kalashnikov, he had spiritual struggle concerning his guns, causing so much death and suffering. Wish i can tell him, that he cannot control the actions of others and the government. If he hadn't made his gun, they would have just upgraded the SKS or something.

I like how it's a Chinese AK. If you look at the rivet pattern on the receiver, it is the triangle pattern only used by the Chinese. And a hooded front sight, also a Chinese thing.

I truly hope Mikhail had a good time while in the U.S.

my dad was a engine oiler on a merchant ship on the murmansk run and we had a sub mariner from the uboats that were sinking the ships, working in our local deli in the 60s. my dad introduced me to him and made sure i knew that they are soldiers and sailors, not politicians and there was only mutual respect. i did my time during the viet nam days, and our enemy, right in the threat assessment was the sino-soviets. politicians. m60 was shock and awe and almost useless on full auto. i never fired my M-16 on full auto, ever, not even at the range. i was surgical with it squeezing them off. you cant have optics that with go out of zero if you fall, or drop it, or the weather changes. and testing at the range even 2000 rounds wont be the same as that carbon build up left to rest in the high humidity and then reconstitute it with more hot vapors, its becomes goo. like the shellac the russians use to water proof the rounds, wont work on close tolerances for long. and i was taught to clear a jam by smacking the butt on a tree, didnt have no forward assist, or training wheels.

I love watching these videos every time. Such magnificent engineering feats by such amazing men. I will add Russian to my languages to learn so I can truly appreciate what Mr. Kalashnikov was saying. It's the only way to best watch this video.

It’s very frustrating that whoever set up this once in a lifetime very historical meeting seems to have either not shown the proper respect to Mr. kalashnikov by not supplying him with a proper translator and Russian built rifle or they bit off more than they could chew. Nevertheless I’m very thankful for this content, more than I can put in to words. Mikhail Kalashnikov invented my favorite rifle of all time and I’m blessed enough to own a few, the collection will continue until my last day I suspect. God bless Eugene Stoner & Mikhail Kalashnikov, their legacies will forever live on, their work still influences history even today and will continue to into the foreseeable future.

Bruh, this translator is sleeping on the job...

The two best arms men r gone now im glad this is up on here still thanks.

Thank you for these Stoner/Kalashnikov videos!

Imagine standing in front of the man who designed the rifle and attempting to put the heat shield/hand guard on incorrectly.

Anyone who knows russian, please make a full translation and add the subtitles. You'll be a hero of all mankind.

You can see him getting frustrated at the fact that he finally has somebody who can understand what he is built and there's a language barrier between the two of them

What an incredibly beautiful day, to see two historic icons side by side talking of their work.

MK: the translator just mumbled 3 words in english... he's probably done. "Пдлщшыимбячждзщхцйуадвдвлтвьалажыдвьаьаьадабмьвдудьудаьпьпдаьвьалптададпщадыьж да ад" Translator: "uhh..." MK: ...done. *inhales* "Фывпрджжузызфдвтатвдсдвьвжсьс..."

Thanks for posting these. Really great videos.

I love both Eugene Stoner and Mikhail Kalashnikov

I wish we could get a full transcript of Kalashnikovs comments. He was very passionate about his work. Translation not very good.

Kalashnikov: I consider it is not an offensive weapon but a defensive weapon. Straight from the man himself... the gun-grabbers have no idea.

4:17 me when i get a new job

I speak russian and ukrainian and the amount of missing information that the translator missed is bad.

So nice to see both legendary rifle designers talking about their rifles. Absolut treasure!

brandon hererra needs to see this if he hasn't already.

18:58 assemble a AK wrong in front of the master lol

I wish they’d put subtitles and just cut the translator out

The part that bugs me about the debate (not just talking this video) between which firearm is more sophisticated when disassembling or reassembling, But the AR15/M16 isn’t that bad. If anything, there are parts of the M16 that you *dont* have to bother disassembling because they don’t take much fouling at all. With the AK47, the amount of necessary parts that you need to remove is the dust cover, recoil spring, bolt carrier, bolt and gas tube. With the M16, the amount of necessary parts that you need to remove is the Bolt carrier, charging handle, Firing pin retainer, firing pin, Bolt retainer, bolt and *maybe* the buffertube/recoil spring if it’s that bad (I’m not gonna count them separately, they’re not easy to pull apart and it’s hardly ever necessary to disassemble it anyway). The point that I’m getting at is that the amount of parts for disassembly are similar and the only argument that people have (AK47 fangirls obviously) against the M16 is that some of the parts for disassembly are significantly smaller and hard to find if lost, but I would argue that a man shouldn’t field strip his weapon and place parts willy nilly in the first place. Just so we’re clear, I own both a Colt AR15 and a M70 AK and love them both, I bought the M70 recently and unfortunately for over a thousand dollars, which should show my dedication and respect to the rifle on its own but I know that people aren’t gonna listen to that. I see the AK47 as what it is and nothing more, a crucial chapter in firearms technology and we all know that any military weapon can’t be cutting edge or best the winner forever, something has to give and something is going to incentivize things to change. I know that one day, my AR will one day be looked at as piece of history or as a vintage weapon rather than a modern one because that’s just how the cookie crumbles which I don’t mind at all. Nobody’s a winner in this argument because to be honest, both weapons are starting to be looked at as pieces of history rather than being new or cutting edge. For Christ sake, even the M16A4 was replaced in the Marine’s for reasons that I can’t understand till this day but again, it was bound to happen sooner or later because standards change even when they’re strange.

The saddest part of this entire clip is the thought that of what these two great nations might have achieved had they combined their creativity in the pursuit of a better world :(

This is actually very interresting. My countrys defence forces have its own AK variant, inside is exactly the same, just some production differences in looks and the rear sight is on the back plate. I understand Kalashnikovs explenation just by looking and some simularities in techical speach!

oh man I feel bad for that translator, because Mikhail is just in the zone describing everything, the translator has no time to really translate. Plus gun speak between the two languages is hard to translate. я умею понимать немного русских языка, но тут михал говорил очень быстро и использовал много редких слов я ещё не знаю. Если бы кто-то мог добавить субтитры на этом видео, будет отлично!

Translation directly from Mr. Kalashnikov "Fucking Norinco"!

Lol they translator said this is too complicated for me to say.

the really cool part is Stoner and Kalashnikov kind of get the firearm technologies before the translator comes up with the words. I do understand and translators will struggle with technical languages used, especially without google and modern techs, but the gun designers really figured out the terms themselves

I love how passionate kalashnikov is about his design, didn’t care if the translator could keep up lmao

i wish i knew what he was really saying and im sure Stoner did too

while he was quite optimistic, as many Russians were before the horrible financial meltdown in Russia during the 90s, I was still touched by Mikhail Kalashnikov's words at the end there. He clearly isn't a man who simply became an arms designer because it was cool or for the money - it was a morally weighed decision. His desire to see a more peaceful and positive use for the AK is a good one, and I hope that Kalashnikov has made much progress in this pursuit since 1990.

How can the two most notorious weapon designers who enabled so many conflicts and deaths through their design provide such a wholesome conversation

Great videos love the interviews

It's 2024 can we please get someone to translate Mr Kalashnikov in better english?... I am dying to understand every word he said because he seems super passionate.

Почитав комменты, я рад, что много англоязычных ребят, смогли перевести текст на английский лучше чем переводчик на видео. Т.к переводчик упускает самое интересное, а именно его мелкие детали в речи, которые показывают насколько добрый Калашников и причину по которой он решил создать оружие. Передает его опыт жизни и т д.

This is pretty excellent but I wish these two could have communicated a little better, it actually seems to me Mr. Kalashnikov wanted to legitimately have a real conversation with Stoner.

Ha should have done a collab rifle. Would be legendary.

❤️ both 👏

The ak used in the video a chinese AKS, the commercial export version of the type 56-1, the plastic furniture means it was probably imported by Clayco

Very educational and entertaining! Now bring on Paul Maurer and JM Browning!

Was it really that difficult to get a real Russian AK in the 90's or at least a version from Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania? Was a Chinese clone really the best they could got?

I'm really glad that I speak Russian and English so this gem of a video is just amazing to see. But I do feel bad for Eugene stoner but them again the two men know both guns inside and out .

Guys don’t blame the translator, Kalashnikov speaks fast and in a lot of specific gun terms, it seems the translator simply doesn’t know them in English, from around the 19 minute mark he also tells Kalashnikov something about disassembling the gun "…like in the army" so I assume he does know the parts (at least in the ak) just not how to translate them well and quickly

6:20 "деталюшки"))))))

Eugene didn't speak Russian, Mikhail didn't speak English, But they both spoke gun so they understood each other.

Translator of the year.

Perhaps someone fluent in Russian and familiar with AKs could properly translate everything Mikhail says. Max Popenker or Anastasia Gorbunova?

2:12 either he had thumbs that could kill or that gas tube retainer removed itself because it knew who was touching it. I always have to use the cleaning kit to pry that damn thing open

Thank u for translation

ушла эпоха, ушли люди, остались только черти, значит заслужили

It's like the Aliens landed and met up with some disinterested people instead of the learned folk that were supposed to be there to get all we needed to know from them before departure.

I highly doubt this is the first time either of them have seen these rifles and thought about them.

After watching this I am now confident I too can have a career as a translator :)

Very nice, thank you!

Feels good to be fluent in Russian and English at the same time.

Such Immensely Incredibly Humanistic History Amazing Wonderful event Two of the Greatest Engineers in Modern Small Arms History Just Vibing in 1990 Virginia, America Nerdily explaining Gun Trivia to Eachother The Freedom Of Man Know’s No Bounds The Comfort Of Man Know’s No Bounds

Dude, if I was Kalashnikov and I ended with a question like that, just for everything to be cut off I would have been PISSED

Vodkas on the house! What a special treat!