AK-47s to be made in America?

[BamBam]

Can you spot the errors in this TIME magazine video?

http://time.com/3686315/ak-47-kalashnik ... n-america/

[FencepostError]

Without watching the video, I'm going to go for "those are 74s".

[snayperskaya]

Guy near the start is firing an AR, there's a guy running down the street holding what looks like a Fal (?), and two screenshots of an MP5/MP5 clone plus the guy says theres only one AK manufacturer in the world.Plus the fact that AK-47 production ended in 1959 with the introduction of the AKM.Also the small matter that AKs have been "built" in the US for years using US made receivers and "parts kits".The "AK-47s" being built (or planning to built) by RWC in the States under the name KalashnikovUSA aren't/won't be built under licence from KalashnikovConcern and has no permission etc from KalashnikovConcern as due to the sanctions imposed on Russian companies they are forbidden from even contacting the Russian factory.

[raybrown53]

Wow that was a POC video and a waste of 1min 44secs of my life. Utter drivel.

[Blu]

The "AK-47s" being built (or planning to built) by RWC in the States under the name KalashnikovUSA aren't/won't be built under licence from KalashnikovConcern and has no permission etc from KalashnikovConcern as due to the sanctions imposed on Russian companies they are forbidden from even contacting the Russian factory.

And you don't think there are ways around that? While they are forbidden from contacting the Russian factory I'm sure there are/will be ways of doing so indirectly. They are going to be making these "legally" so there has to have been some sort of contact made.

Because of economic sanctions imposed on Russia last summer following the country's military involvement in the Ukraine, RWC is prevented from importing more Kalashnikovs. So the firm will build the AK-style weapons and other firearms here instead, according to CEO Thomas McCrossin. Legally, it can do so -- provided there is no communication with the Russian company, Kalashnikov Concern, he said.

"In the second quarter of this year, we are going to start manufacturing here in the U.S.," McCrossin told CNN. "What I'm manufacturing are our own AK-47s and shotguns under the Kalashnikov brand."

[snayperskaya]

The "AK-47s" being built (or planning to built) by RWC in the States under the name KalashnikovUSA aren't/won't be built under licence from KalashnikovConcern and has no permission etc from KalashnikovConcern as due to the sanctions imposed on Russian companies they are forbidden from even contacting the Russian factory.

And you don't think there are ways around that? While they are forbidden from contacting the Russian factory I'm sure there are/will be ways of doing so indirectly. They are going to be making these "legally" so there has to have been some sort of contact made.

Because of economic sanctions imposed on Russia last summer following the country's military involvement in the Ukraine, RWC is prevented from importing more Kalashnikovs. So the firm will build the AK-style weapons and other firearms here instead, according to CEO Thomas McCrossin. Legally, it can do so -- provided there is no communication with the Russian company, Kalashnikov Concern, he said.

"In the second quarter of this year, we are going to start manufacturing here in the U.S.," McCrossin told CNN. "What I'm manufacturing are our own AK-47s and shotguns under the Kalashnikov brand."

Of course there's way round it but I can't see KalashnikovConcern granting them a licence to produce an "officially licensed" AK, especially with everything thats going on.......but I may be wrong, who knows?.

[Blu]

but I can't see KalashnikovConcern granting them a licence to produce an "officially licensed" AK, especially with everything thats going on

Dude, money talks and you can bet your last penny that somehow, some way Kalashnikov will get their cut of every gun sold. It's business mate and they aren't going to let a little thing like politics and sanctions get in the way of business. Besides, before the sanctions RWC was the sole distributor in the US so I don't see why not, the US is a pretty large market to lose.

[snayperskaya]

I know what you're saying and agree with you about the business thing.....but KalashnikovConcern would only have to secure a few military contracts (they are now gearing up for mass production of the AK-12 and 103-4 for the Russian military and a deal with India is in the pipeline) to counter what they'd lose from the US civilian market, much like the Russians did last year by signing a massive gas supply deal to with China that had been on the table for ten years but was swiftly signed at the first whiff of sanctions from the West.

[Blu]

I know what you're saying and agree with you about the business thing.....but KalashnikovConcern would only have to secure a few military contracts (they are now gearing up for mass production of the AK-12 and 103-4 for the Russian military and a deal with India is in the pipeline) to counter what they'd lose from the US civilian market, much like the Russians did last year by signing a massive gas supply deal to with China that had been on the table for ten years but was swiftly signed at the first whiff of sanctions from the West.

Hey just because they are gearing up for large military contracts that don't mean they aren't going to allow AK's being made in the States, like I said mate, money talks and we are talking a fair chunk of change here. Kalashnikov Concern has nothing to lose by it and everything to gain. Win win situation for them, they won't feel any heat if things go wrong plus the fact that they will be "legally" made in the US should tell you something.

much like the Russians did last year by signing a massive gas supply deal to with China that had been on the table for ten years but was swiftly signed at the first whiff of sanctions from the West.

Yeah hows that working out for them? Doesn't look as though it's helped much. http://www.forbes.com/sites/markadomani ... look-like/

Dude because of these sanctions by the US and the EU Russia is hurting to the point that they are now in recession.

[snayperskaya]

From the Forbes article

"But, at the same time, the graph suggests that we probably shouldn’t be making any exaggerated comparisons to the collapse of the Soviet Union or to the “end of Russia” as a meaningful international actor. If the forecasts are correct, and as noted previously they’re reasonably middle-of-the-pack forecasts, Russia’s economy by the end of 2016 will be about the same size as it was in the middle of 2011. Russia in 2011 certainly wasn’t any kind of overawing economic superpower, but it was a reasonably important country on the world stage. I don’t see any reason to suspect that the Russia of 2016 will be any different, even with all of the economic troubles. Anyone expecting Russia to simply disappear in a p**f of smoke will be disappointed."

From a news article regarding Kalashnikov USA;

"Kalashnikov Concern, the corporation that owns the primary Russian factory where AKs are produced, stated that it did not object to the manufacture of American-made gun. Representatives also stated that Kalashnikov Concern was not involved in RWC’s American venture.

“We aren’t working with them,” one spokesperson said."