The Kalashnikov rifle: Naked trademark licensing (“I take them into my hands and, my goodness, the marks are foreign,” [General Kalashnikov] said of the knockoffs the Soviet Union once championed. “Yes, they look alike. But as to reliability and durability — they do not meet the high standards of our military” at its bloodiest).
UPDATE: Much more, and done better, here. Also a good piece about the man and the weapon here and here*.
NEW AND IMPROVED KILLING POWER: The AK-47 (i.e., the Avtomat Kalashnikov 47 — does that mean you could buy one here?) as “Most Important Weapon Ever” (via Instapundit).
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*”A unique design feature of the AK-74 . . . is an air-space (about 5mm long) inside the jacket at the bullet’s tip. . . [T]he air-space does serve to shift the bullet’s centre of mass toward the rear, possibly contributing to its very early yaw. This shift of lead occurs asymmetrically and may be one reason for the peculiar curvature of this bullet’s path in the last half of its path through tissue. Only in a shot with a long tissue path, like an oblique shot through the torso, would this curved path be evident; it doesn’t really add anything to wounding capacity, but might cause an occasional confusing path through tissue.”
