Mikhail Kalashnikov in his final days wrote to the head of Russia's Orthodox church shortly before his death, stating he was afflicted with spiritual torment. Kalashnikov, who died 23 December, 2014 aged 94, told Patriarch Kirill he felt responsible for the millions of deaths caused by his revolutionary assault rifle. He wrote... "My spiritual pain is unbearable. I keep asking the same insoluble question. If my rifle deprived people of life then can it be that I as a Christian and an orthodox believer, was to blame for their deaths?"
The Kalashnikov AK-47 was widely used by the communist forces of North Vietnam during the Vietnam war, however, many were manufactured in China with a lower grade metal alloy and the overheating barrels were prone to warping when cooled quickly in hard combat (eg. rain or being dropped in water) . The weapon then became grossly inaccurate. A visit to any war museum in Cambodia or Vietnam this day and you can see the Chinese made AK-47 weapons where the warp of the barrels can be vividly seen without close scrutiny.
Kalashnikov assault rifles are in service with 55 foreign armies.
In total AK consists approximately of 95 parts.
The Kalashnikov assault rifle is depicted on the arms of East Timor, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, on the flag of Mozambique, and also on the coin of the Cook Islands.
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