Look out Ian! Brandon Herrera is right behind you!

I remember my high school years in the USSR where we used to disassemble and assemble the AK-47.

Holy shit, just saw that Amazon Prime has 2 movies with Ian in them. "Heavy Machine Guns" and "Big-Ass Guns". Be watching both tomorrow.

Here in Indonesia our special forces have a slang for the selector switch on the AK for full auto they called it "Ok Banget"(OB) that mean great and for semi auto they called it "Ora Akeh"(OA) that mean decent

Totally took one of my AKs out of the safe to look at it while you talked about this type one.

Love that Ian's redoing these for maximum accuracy of information. This is the stuff FW is all about!

This brings back so much memories from the finnish army disassembling and cleaning my valmet rk62. It was a great rifle, accurate enough and not once did it jam or misfire whilst I had it. Super reliable.

a review of the PP-19 Bizon would be nice :D

5:20 We will set this [magazine] aside. *thump*

Kalashnikov said one of the big problems with the first stamped ak's was the heat treating and tempering of the receivers.

Ian, you never cease to amaze me how dedicated you are to providing the actual FACTUAL information about these awesome firearms, most don’t put that kind of effort into it like you do and it shows, much respect brother!

Awesome video, thank you once again Ian! The center support is directly behind the magazine well and almost contacts the "spine" of most conventional ak magazines in later pattern rifles when they are seated.

Your channel is very serious, fascinating, and great content,keep it up!

I love the smell of ak in the morning

Appreciate these type of history lessons , “ It needs to be told &taught “!!! Not forgotten nor faded away👍

Your best most seamless video yet. What an incredible background on this arm. Great!

The most iconic combat weapon of the second half of the last century.

Must be the best Sunday ever, four forgotten weapons videos and a Silverstone GP in less than three hours!!!

Another awesome video. You mentioned historians disagreeing with a theory. I would LOVE to see a video about the different theories and the cases for them. I have learned so much from your channel it was literally a no-brainer to patreon you. Thanks again for all your hard (and probably fun) work. :) You really do provide a great service to the community.

brandon harrera would cream himself if he ever even held this rifle lmao

Just watched Kalashnikov movie and now I have to rewatch these

who is binge watching all the re-up?

Thanks for making such good knowledgeable videos on firearms!

I served in the Soviet army, if my sergeant saw such dirt in weapons, I would be very severely punished!

The patina and bluing on this rifle is spectacular!

i never realised how beautyful these are...

I love how they did the skeleton for the pistol grip. Building to a price point, seems like how most modern manufacturers do now, curious.

Really cool to see an AK47 taken apart! We had Galils during my service and they are sort of a grandson of the AK47. The Galil (5.56) is based on the Finnish RK62, which is based on andused the same ammo as an AK47. They are really similar inside, but as far as taking apart goes, you can remove the gas tube and forward grip without any tools as well. Galils were also really reliable, blanks sometimes caused an issue but mainly due to the blanks compensator. Can’t remember a malfunction with live ammo that wasn’t because of a damaged casing or user error 😃

4 video updates, this must be an early birthday present. Thanks "Gun Gandalf"

I love the noise the guns make when they are assembled and dissembled

I hope there will be another errors to fix cause I will watch this as many times as you upload it. So beautiful.

FF is among the best channels on youtube: informative, interesting, clear of fanaticism. Someone said on another video that this is not only about firearms but history, business dynamics, marketing, design, politics etc.

Man my ocd went overboard when I saw how dirty the AK was

I read years ago in a comblock magazine that heat treatment of the stampings was an issue with the original stamped ak and premature failure was an issue

In Soviet Russia AK disassembles you.

Would've love to have got hold of a kit back when they were reasonably priced. I did build a nice Type III.

it would appear you misspoke at 8:10, "6 o'clock and 9 o'clock" instead of 3 and 9, but it's clear it's a very minor mistake and what was actually ment. Keep up the awesome videos!

damn you Ian i couldn't resist this one.

on the original Ak-47 it was a stamped metal dust cover that was a full millimeter thick and was smooth but that added weight to the gun and was harder to produce so then on the Akm the dust cover is half a millimeter thick and has rivets on top of the dust cover to keep it's strength and that also made it more easy to make and was cheaper but also on the Ak-47 on the gas tube there was little holes drilled into the gas pistons tube but on the Akm theres no holes in the gas tube at the end at the gas port is where the holes were all drilled

6:52 thats not a suffix, probably not worth to address but i thought id mention the difference. In numbering, prefixes come BEFORE the numbering, suffixes AFTER. So neither is actually part of the incrementing number itself. Suffixes and prefixes are used to give categories, for example WA00123 for Washington, number 123, the number increments, the suffix or prefix does not or does separately from the actual number, for example if there was a production run of 1000 guns, then another run of 1000 we could have AA1000 be followed by AB0001 So, it can be either part of the numbering, and not be a suffix or a prefix, or its a prefix giving some kind of category. EDIT: after further reading, if these AK's are numbered in Kurdish with cyrillic alphabet (they aren't afaik) then you could call this a suffix, since the reading direction of the serial number would be inverted.

I may be mistaken but the front of the trigger guard, where the magazine catch is, also looks taller. I know the AKM has a flat piece of steel sandwiched in there. Great video! I've never seen a type one AK in person. Thanks Ian, John

I could be wrong, but if my memory serves me right, AKM recoil springs rod was flexible, multi part or something like that, at least the ones I have disassembled had that.

It seems like a big thing that doesn't get discussed a lot is a move from riveted stamped to later stamped AKs which I assume are spot welded stamped, particularly with so many of those rivets needing, or for whatever reason being ground flushed.

Fantastic video! Loved it!!!

That's the first time I've ever gotten to see a "type one", only ever heard about them, most of fifty years, including two decades in the Corps. Semper Fi, thanks.

Excellent video-thank you!!

a quintuple upload? my morning is made

I love you forgotten weapons!!!

Awesome video!

I noted you didn't mention, quite a few of the the biggest design changes . There are a few additional parts added mostly to the FCS, with the Type II and AKM. Mostly dealt with rate of fire and controllability. Many changes were made after the Type I. Many of the things that were ignored were directly related to the select fire system, so part of me thinks the exclusions were intentional. It would be a great video if you could have all four major variations, to compare. Thanks it was a fun video to watch 👍👊

Epic video! Love it in 2022!

This weapon is never forgotten

It’s still amazing that this rifle was developed in 1947. It still looks contemporary.

I like the fluted gas piston. Seems like a sneaky way to save a little weight.

The AK is a vary good weapon! It is one of my top 5 rifles to own!

Awesome knowledge

The AK is the Swiss Army Knife of military rifles. The OG of select fire rifles. My heart melts everytime I see, shoot or handle one.

I had another partial type 3 set that I made a grip skeleton for and used a type 1 grip. I LIKED THAT GRIP BUT SOLD THE PARTS OFF.

Very cool information

Живу в Ижевске и не знал об этих ранних моделях, надо же. Спасибо, Йен! Видео понравилось, я на самом деле увидел нечто, чего не видел :) I live in Izhevsk and I didn't knew about this early models! Thanks a lot, Ian!

The rear handle is made of a material that is called ( Tekstalit). It's a "Composite epoxy material" Very common in sovient production. Also, AK Bayonet is made of the same material. It's Strong and cheap to produce.

Great video. as always. Excellent shots of the all important "safety sear" as the Russians call it. I now see how the safety sear spring holds it's pivot pin in place, along with the hammer and trigger pivot pins-ingenious!-John in Texas

I have heard an alternate theory regarding why the USSR went to the milled Type II and III. The explanation was that the USSR had an urgent need for stamping machinery for higher priority items and to keep workers employed at the mills as they transitioned the industry to stampings, the AK was changed to a milled receiver. By 1959, they had stamping capacity, and in the intervening years, Kalashnikov improved the stamped design.

Great video

Forgotten Weapons Ian, I am pretty sure that what you constantly refer to as "Quality Control" issues are "Production Control" or "Production Quality" issues. Quality Control typically does not "create" issues /problems, rather it prevents issues /problems from being implemented /released out the door.

Great video .

Loved it great info

I had no idea how many differences there were between first production an AKM.

The most iconic gun of all time.

If I heard correctly, Izhevsk Arsenal is where that early AK was made. If so, they also made Mosin-Nagants as well as the stuff Ian cited. I know this because I have a 1943 Mosin-Nagant, with a clear Izhevsk Arsenal mark.

I have a VZ52 Police carbine (She' rifle- Czechoslavakia) in 7.62x39, with "A.K." stamped on the barrel shroud.

This is so cool

Beautiful !

Love your videos Ian. Do you have any interest in the history of larger weapons...crew serve mortars and such?

God i love the look of the Type 1

Great video as usual!

Very cool video

I love ak type rifles. My favourite is a genuine classic ak47, followed by an akm with dark black metal and a light shade of wood with a waffle mag.

nice review of my product, comrade!

I’m back !! 🗣 woot woot ! Great video broski 👍🏼

I have a 1956 Original AK 47 Russian, auto and semi too.

Beautiful

Thanks, Gesus.

IGI 1 still use them. And they are glorious.

I wrote a paper in college on the AK-47 and the Soviet arms industry. The very real world view at this point for the soviets was that they would flood the colonial world with these weapons to bring communist revolutions. It’s why they are built so rugged and why they’re designed to be mass produced beyond what even the Soviet Union would need. This strategy was driven mostly by political and social factors. What they ignored were the military and economic realities. First they were basically giving away these weapons instead of trading them for resources. While they did get some return it was a very one sided trade that often did not pay off. The second issue was devoting so much attention and resources to producing weapons prevented their economy from actually meeting the needs of their own people. The desire to turn the rest of the world communist meant that they spend at one point nearly 25% of their GDP towards arms production and a massive portion of this was for export. The planned economy put more emphasis on exporting weapons than producing cars and other good for their own population. The AK seems to almost be an analogy on this. A rugged and well built machine built to fight a war that never happened. At the peak the Soviet Union produced 100 million of these, yet the average citizen didn’t own a car.

Thank you very much for this very informative video, I have got a question I own ak47 type one, and in the matter of extracting the round while on safe, I extactly can do it with it, is that an actual feature of it and they got it before the yugos, or it is a defect in the safety or the extractor? I will greatly appreciate it if you answer it. Warm regards and thank you Ian for the precious information you provide. Please if anyone has an answer then put it on guys as I haven't seen it on any type one before and haven't find it on any source online

My dad is a Machinist. Personally we prefer SKS over AK because neither of us has been able to get consistent accuracy from any AK variant as SKS. When Ian says "that worked" referring to type II. I could hear my dad 30 miles away saying "well duh". Though shouldering and carrying a tank turret isn't feasible in battle unless you are Jesse Ventura. I would love to someday own a type 1&2

7:00 "Г" es la letra "G", por "года/goda".

wow that bolt and bolt carrier look almost brand new

Any chance you could add errata when you do these updated videos? I'm curious what you changed but I have to make time to watch your videos the first time as it is.

That Type-1 example is B-E-A-UTIFUL. Compared to most folks, I've seen a lot of T1s, and none compared to the condition of this one! It's remarkable!

I would love to have a AK type 1 and an AR 10. Thats literally the best of both worlds. You're a lucky man if you own the first AR and the first AK I am very jealous of you

So this a original ak-47 not an akm it's a miracle it survived this long

It would be great, if you would make a comparison video with the Type 1 and the Type 2.

Great video so far, just want to add some corrections. #1 Type 1/2/3 are incorrect names for the models. These AK's were called at Izhevsk with № and comment. Something like AK №1 stamped, AK №2 with lightened barrel box. AK №3 with a folding stock etc. #2 How Schmeisser could have helped with the stamping process if 1. He was a designer, not a technology process engineer. 2. Haenel company for which he worked did not produce stamped parts 3. Stamped parts were made at Merz-Werke company and later assembly process was performed at the Haenel, ERMA, Sauer&Sohn and Steyr 4. If he didn't have an education as the engineer-technologist and his company didn't have experience in stamping how could he have helped at Izhevsk 5. Strictly speaking, stamping technology required for Stg-44 is quite different than one for an AK because of the locking mechanism and different energy of the cartridge (plus its different, German way of making stuff). I would understand if you would have compared Sudaev's AS-44(АС-44) and Stg-44 stamping technologies somewhat because both of these were made out of thin steel sheets. These are comparable 6. 7.62x41 (initially) and 7.62x39 are new cartridges at a time and quite different from US 7.62x33 and German 7.92x33 cartriges, so how Germans could have helped with manufacturing process of the type of gun which used unknown cartridge for them with unknown energy parameters. German stamping 'traditions' are different than the Russian ones. Simply speaking these are tubes vs boxes. Even guns like G3 have quite a distinct manufacturing process than anything else made in Russia or US for example. In addition, AKM's used new sorts of steels, and relatively thicker ones to start with. 7. If you say that's a theory, its better to provide maybe Russian or German documents (these are available) which justify your point. Theory without any documentary support is nothing more than assumption. I'm sorry if my comment sounds a bit too rude I will be glad if anyone could provide me a memoirs, documents or anything documentary that could prove a point stated in the video, because that's relatively interesting topic

funny to think that the first issue magazines were made with thicker and more durable steel than the guns itself.

It's... Beautiful

OMG, a dream arm

Izehvsk built quite a few mosins too. They were a pretty major factory in their day.

Mosin Nagants were manufactured at Ishevsk, as well as at Tula.