February6, 2007:
Gun runners worldwide were shocked late last year when the found the
price of the favorite ammunition, the 7.62x39 (diameter and length, in
millimeters) round used in the AK-47, doubled in price. For decades, this
7.62x39 was the cheapest rifle ammo available, selling for as low as ten cents
per round. Even the highest quality ones rarely sold for more than twenty cents
a round. But suddenly, hardly anything was under twenty cents, and the reason
was massive orders from the United States. The Americans were laying in
supplies for their Iraq and Afghan allies. Both of these nations had been
working down supplies left over from Cold War era stockpiles, but all that
stuff was pretty much gone, and there was still lots of fighting going
on. Moreover, those crazy Americans were insisting that Afghan and Iraqi
security personnel learn to shoot their AK-47s accurately. That took a lot of
ammo.
The
7.62x39 round has an interesting history. It was developed during World War II,
for the SKS, a "light rifle" (or "carbine") to arm combat support troops. The
United States had a similar weapon, the M-1 Carbine, which fired an even weaker
7.62mm (.30 caliber) round. The 7.62x39 was basically a shorter version of the
standard 7.62x54 Russian rifle round. Most nations had one of these "full
powered" 7.62mm rounds for their rifles and machine-guns. The Germans also developed
a short rifle round, the 7.92x33. But this round was used in the first assault
guns, the Sturmgewehr 44. At a glance, this weapon looks like an AK-47, but it
is less reliable and sturdy, and quite different mechanically. The Russian
AK-47 appeared in 1947, and became immensely popular. Not because of its
accuracy, but because the weapon could deliver automatic fire that was easy to
control (the rifle did not jump around as much as other automatic rifles), and
the weapon rarely jammed. Since the Russians did not give their troops much
practice shooting their rifles, it was important to have one that a soldier
could just "spray and pray." This tactic actually made military sense.
Moreover, experience revealed that nearly all infantry firefights were at ranges
of under 500 meters (and most of those were under a hundred meters.) The
7.92x33 round was accurate at ranges of under 500 meters, and that was all that
was needed.
When
the Germans introduced the Sturmgewehr 44, on a test basis, in 1943, they sent officers
to observe how the weapon, and its users, performed in combat. It was found
that even inexperienced troops felt more confident with that much fire power.
They also noted that a few dozen German soldiers firing their Sturmgewehr 44s,
were often nearly invincible. The Russian troops were either hit, or dived for
cover, and the Germans won the fight.
That
sort of thing went both ways. For over a year, German troops had been on the
receiving end of this, as masses of Russian troops were armed the PPD
submacinegun. This weapon fired the even weaker 7.62x25 round, which was
basically a pistol round. The bullet from the 7.62x25 would more often wound
than kill, and it took several hits to definitely bring down an enemy soldier.
But a few hundred Russian troops armed with the PPD (usually equipped with a 71
round drum magazine), firing at German positions, certainly caused the Germans
to keep their heads down. The more powerful 7.92x33 German assault gun round
was more likely to hurt the victim, and better at shooting through walls, doors
and floors. After World War II, Russia developed the AK-47, and used the
7.62x39 round they already had. The 7.62x39 had similar performance to the
Sturmgewehr 44s 7.92x33 round. The AK-47 was more durable, and cheaper to manufacture.
Fifty
years ago, an American inventor (Gene Stoner) came up with a new assault gun
design, using a high powered 5.56x45 round in what became the M-16. This 5.56mm
round was lighter, with a hundred rounds weighing 3.5 pounds (with magazines). This
compared to 6.1 pounds for a full size 7.62x51 round, or 4.7 pounds for the
AK-47s 7.62x39. Lighter ammo, meant you could carry more ammo. That's important
to the infantry, because they have to haul their weapons and ammo around the
battlefield.
But
after Vietnam, things began to change. The United States went for an
all-volunteer army, and that meant troops who were in longer, and could be
better trained to use their weapons. It became customary to use automatic fire
only in emergencies. The M-16 was more useful firing single shots, and the 30
round magazine meant you could do so for a long time before having to reload.
Here, the less accurate AK-47 was at a disadvantage. But not for the people who
were most often using AK-47s. The end of the Cold War in 1991, put tens of
millions of surplus AK-47s on the world arms markets. Most of the people who
ended up getting those weapons had little military training, and preferred the
"pray and spray" of full auto fire.
But
American troops found that the AK-47 was accurate enough for close combat. Not
as accurate as the M-16, but accurate enough. American Special Forces would
often carry AK-47s on missions where they could get ammo from dead opponents,
and not give themselves by firing M-16s (which made a sound quite different
than that of the AK-47). The the Russians stopped using the 7.62x39 round in
the 1970s (and switched to the 5.45x39 for their version of the M-16), and many
other major armed forces have followed suit. But the 7.62x39 remains popular with
irregular troops. Over 70 million weapons (mostly AK-47 clones) have been
manufactured in the last sixty years, and the majority of those weapons are
apparently still in working order. Thus the large quantity of 7.62x39 ammo
still being produced. But these bullets are mostly going to people who shoot,
rather than aim. That's what the AK-47 is good for, but other, lighter, assault
rifles, using faster moving rounds (like the 5.56mm) are more accurate, use
lighter ammo, have proved more popular with troops who aim their fire.