Quicksand Fans

Recently I have seen in the news that one very special man was hospitalized because of health problems (that the doctors promise to cure). His surname is quite well known in the world. He is Mikhail Kalashnikov. That very Kalashnikov. He is 94 now, and I sincerely hope he will recover. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Kalashnikov

I hope he sees this and feels better.

And he never made a penny from his most famous design.

That's nothing to screw around with at his age, glad to see he's getting taken care of.
AK is on my to buy list. The real deal is actually more expensive than a lot of AR's in the states due to the import laws. You can pick up a Chinese or Yugo knockoff for less but they just aren't the same.

I hope he's well and out of hospital soon. That is a brilliant man.

Lomax wrote:And he never made a penny from his most famous design.

It would have been funny if he had.

He was probably paid in shekels.

dlodoski wrote:

Lomax wrote:And he never made a penny from his most famous design.

It would have been funny if he had.

He was probably paid in shekels.

It would depend on how many shekels. One shekel is currently worth about $.28 (US)

Lomax wrote:And he never made a penny from his most famous design.

This is not quite right. He had no own business, that's true. Basically, no Soviet people could have any private business legally. We don't speak about illegal businesses, right?

As a lead designer, with all his regalia, he surely was getting a very high salary on Soviet measures. And he definitely had certain privileges (very likely - a personal car with a driver, elite apartment, "dacha"). Of course, it is not what his colleague would have in western countries. But in comparison with average Soviet people, I believe, he belonged to elite.

Of course, 20 years ago everything have changed. And he, probably, remained the same. But according to Wikipedia, his grandson lives in Germany and has a business, basically, selling his famous name. And Mikhail Kalashnikov holds 30% share of that business.

dlodoski wrote:He was probably paid in shekels.

No, no, not in shekels! His design was used by Palestinian and Egyptian Arabs

Ironic that a man who created the weapons that sent more bullets flying at Americans by far than any other person or company is so respected here. He has lived his life sincerely devoted to pursuing his craft and defending his country. Best of luck to him.

My love of well designed firearms crosses all political boundaries. I can't hate a man for building a good product in the defense of his country even if that man is or was on the other side.