With a history stretching back to the closing days of the Second World War, the Avtomat Kalashnikova Model 1947, or AK-47 as it was to become known, transformed the modern day battlefield. Its simple, yet robust, design has permitted the AK-47 to perform effectively in practically any environment and in the hands of users with little to no training. Championed during the Cold War as an instrumental tool in the overthrow of colonialist and capitalist governments, the AK-47 (along with its underlying technology and tooling) was to become one of the Soviet Union’s most important exports. It would go on to play a central role in combat circling the globe, and has become the unofficial service rifle of “the insurgent.”

Interestingly, production of the AK-47 was relatively short-lived, as it very quickly underwent a growing number of design changes. By 1959, the “modernized” version of this rifle was born in the form of the AKM, and this platform would continue to evolve in the Soviet Union and in the hands of the various members of the Warsaw Pact and beyond. 

This First Volume of Vickers Guide: Kalashnikov covers the history and development of the wide range of 7.62x39mm variants of the AK-47/AKM family of rifles around the world – from the Soviet Union and Russia to Albania, Bulgaria, China, East Germany, Egypt, Hungary, Iraq, North Korea, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Vietnam, and Yugoslavia. In all, over sixty firearms are shown in incredible detail to give readers of all levels a new appreciation for this extraordinary firearm.

To properly cover this monumental topic, Larry Vickers and James Rupley assembled an international team of subject matter experts, including Ian McCollum of Forgotten Weapons and Rob Stott of The AK-47 Catalog, and traveled a record number of miles to visit collections in the U.S., Switzerland, and Russia. Vickers Guide: Kalashnikov presents this highly curated collection of firearms in never before seen detail on larger than life, wide format, full color prints in a linen covered hardback. Vickers Guide: Kalashnikov is the next best thing to having these exceptional collector grade firearms in your own personal collection.