All-American Kalashnikov aims to beat sanctions

WHEN Barack Obama banned the import of Russian-made AK-47s last year it was meant to be a signal of American anger at the invasion of Ukraine.

But the makers of Russia’s most famous weapon have found a simple solution: they are now making their guns in the United States.

The first American-made AK-47s are going on sale in gun shops this week, to the delight of some Kalashnikov enthusiasts who have been unable to buy their favourite weapons.

Produced under the banner “Russian Heritage – American Innovation,” the new weapon is technically called a US132SS but is based on the classic AK47 design.

The American-made guns were born out of sanctions imposed by the US government last July on Kalashnikov Concern, the Russian maker of the AK47. Sales of Russian-made AK-47s sky- rocketed in response and prices more than doubled as Americans rushed out to buy guns before the sanctions went into force.

In response to the sanctions, Kalashnikov’s American branch, known as Kalashnikov USA, began to transform itself from an importer of Russian guns to a manufacturer of American ones.

The first of those rifles are now on sale at gun retailers across the US.

While the announcement restores the flow of Kalashnikovs to American shops, some gun aficionados may turn up their noses at the new weapon.

Russian-made AK-47s are prized by collectors and considered much more valuable than similar guns produced in other former Soviet states. The American gun may be seen as similarly inferior. Blaine Bunting, president of the Atlantic Firearms gun store in Maryland, said: “If you think wine, you think French wine. If you think Kalashnikovs, you think Russian Kalashnikovs.”

The American weapon is also made of black polymer which looks markedly different to the classic red wood and grey metal of the gun carried by the Red Army through the Cold War.

Jesse Davis, a salesman at Bob’s Gun Shop in Virginia, said the American Kalashnikov community was likely to be divided by the arrival of the new gun. “There’s two types of people in this industry,” he said. “The older style want everything done the classic way and then there’s the modern types who like the tactical look.”