Mao Zedong famously said, “Change must come through the barrel of a gun.” Without question, the gun that symbolized change for the 20th century was the AK-47. Technically called the “Automat Kalashnikova – 47,” the AK was everything its American counterpart the M-16 was not -- cheap, easy to manufacture, reliable and accurate, and it didn’t hurt that it just looked cooler. The AK became the standard weapon of USSR, China, and all of the Warsaw Pact nations. The ease with which it could be manufactured and its reliability in multiple weather types also made it a gun of choice for the various cold war revolutions. Hollywood also did their part, preferring its curved clip and natural wood stock to the more boxy and matte black M-16.
