gun classification

[golden arhat]

just a question about guns such as the mac 11

if the ak 47 was made in 1947
the aks74u was made in 74 correct?

now
the mac 11 was definitley not made in 1911

is there something i'm missing?

[TenTigers]

ak47 was made by kalishnakov, mac 10's and 11's are made by ingram
different companies would have different reasons for their names and numbers.
My sig p228 was not made in 19228...um, yet.

[Reverend Tap]

The number in "MAC 11" is a model number, the full name of the weapon being the Military Armament Corporation Model 11 Advancement 1.

[xcakid]

Russians lack imagination, hence the name.

Avtomat = Automatic
Kalashnikov = Mikhail Kalashnikov the inventor
47 = 1947 the year it was accepted by the Russian military. Even though Mikhail invented the weapon during the 2nd WW and had a working protype earlier than 1947.

Incidently a semi auto Kalashnikov is NOT an AK47 as the media and general public believes. There are many variants of this. SAR and WASR are some of the designations. AK47 is reserved for the select fire version.

AK74 does not mean 1974. This was mainly a model number to designate a different caliber of this AK variant. Again Russians lack of imagination, transpose 47.

MAC 10 and 11 are just model numbers. Actually these numbers designate the different version of the gun itself. Each manufacturer will have its own way of designating model numbers. A Glock 22 is not a 22 caliber but rather a .40 caliber.

There are some weapons that do designate the year they were accepted into the military. The 1911 which is the single action .45 caliber used by the US military. Same with the 1908 rifle and the 1919 machine gun.

Luckily today the US military has gotten a bit more creative in naming their weapons.

M16 for their main battle rifle. Civilian version being the AR15
M2 for their .50 cal machine gun.
M denoting Military.

All in all, sometimes its just a name.

[Drake]

We use the M4 now.

[CLFLPstudent]

AK74 does not mean 1974. This was mainly a model number to designate a different caliber of this AK variant. Again Russians lack of imagination, transpose 47.

According to Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AK-74), the AK74 was introduced in 1974. Not saying the 74 doesn't designate 1974, but it would be a strange coincidence....

Also, didn't Kalishnikov 'borrow' the AK47 design from the german StG44?

-David

[xcakid]

According to Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AK-74), the AK74 was introduced in 1974. Not saying the 74 doesn't designate 1974, but it would be a strange coincidence....

Also, didn't Kalishnikov 'borrow' the AK47 design from the german StG44?

-David


Yeah he did "borrow" the design, but the bolt and gas system is totally different. The tolerances are much bigger. That is why you can bury that thing and still use it.

I am fairly certain 74 does not denote 1974. But then again, I could be wrong. And Wiki is not really known for historical accuracy. :cool:
If I recall correctly, they developed the AK74 5.45X39 cartridge in response to the 5.56 caliber of the M16 during the Vietnam war. Its a higher velocity round and has a tendency to spin around inside the human cavity, thereby causing more damage.

[xcakid]

We use the M4 now.

Not EVERYONE in the US Military is issued an M4. Certain units in the US Military (Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force) still use the M16. Sure there are more M4's issued due to the shift to a more urban CQB type combat.

Personally, I much prefer the M4 variant. :cool:

[Drake]

Not EVERYONE in the US Military is issued an M4. Certain units in the US Military (Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force) still use the M16. Sure there are more M4's issued due to the shift to a more urban CQB type combat.

Personally, I much prefer the M4 variant. :cool:

Well, yeah, I know that. But operational units use the M4. The M16A2 (or A4) is basically for support units that haven't caught up yet.

All of that will be changing over the next few years anyway. Contract time.

[golden arhat]

"Russians lack imagination, hence the name. "

i'd say coming up with a gun you can pretty much do whatever to and still have it work is pretty imaginitive aha


and for the person that tagged this thread as "google it asshat"

very often google gets it wrong
wikipedia etc

so i posted it here where i know a few gun enthusiasts post because they've been into guns for longer than i have and have wondered similar things