It was presented for official military trials in 1947, and, in 1948, the fixed-stock version was introduced into active service for selected units of the Soviet Army.

The model and its variants owe their global popularity to their reliability under harsh conditions, low production cost (compared to contemporary weapons), availability in virtually every geographic region, and ease of use.

During World War II, the Sturmgewehr 44 rifle used by German forces made a deep impression on their Soviet counterparts.

[18][19] Introduced in 1959, the AKM is a lighter stamped steel version and the most ubiquitous variant of the entire AK series of firearms.

[17] Mikhail Kalashnikov began his career as a weapon designer in 1941 while recuperating from a shoulder wound that he received during the Battle of Bryansk.

[31] Kalashnikov submitted a gas-operated rifle with a short-stroke gas piston above the barrel, a breechblock mechanism similar to his 1944 carbine, and a curved 30-round magazine.

[36] Once the manufacturing difficulties of non-milled receivers had been overcome, a redesigned version designated the AKM (M for "modernized" or "upgraded"; in Russian: Автомат Калашникова Модернизированный [Avtomat Kalashnikova Modernizirovanniy]) was introduced in 1959.

The AK-47 was designed to be a simple, reliable fully automatic rifle that could be manufactured quickly and cheaply, using mass production methods that were state of the art in the Soviet Union during the late 1940s.

The AK has excellent penetration when shooting through heavy foliage, walls, or a common vehicle's metal body and into an opponent attempting to use these things as cover.

The fire selector is a large lever located on the right side of the rifle; it acts as a dust cover and prevents the charging handle from being pulled fully to the rear when it is on safe.

[53] The reason for this is that a soldier under stress will push the selector lever down with considerable force, bypassing the full-auto stage and setting the rifle to semi-auto.

[53] To operate the fire selector lever, right-handed shooters have to briefly remove their right hand from the pistol grip, which is ergonomically sub-optimal.

For the AK-47 combined with service cartridges, the 300 m battle zero setting limits the apparent "bullet rise" within approximately −5 to +31 cm (−2.0 to 12.2 in) relative to the line of sight.

With the introduction of the Type 3 receiver the buttstock, lower handguard, and upper heat guard were manufactured from birch plywood laminates.

[56] AKS and AKMS models featured a downward-folding metal butt-stock similar to that of the German MP40 submachine-gun, for use in the restricted space in the BMP infantry combat vehicle, as well as by paratroops.

The early slab-sided steel AK-47 30-round detachable box magazines had 1 mm (0.039 in) sheet-metal bodies and weighed 0.43 kg (0.95 lb) empty.

[43] The later steel AKM 30-round magazines had lighter sheet-metal bodies with prominent reinforcing ribs weighing 0.33 kg (0.73 lb) empty.

[63] A second-generation steel-reinforced dark-brown (color shades vary from maroon to plum to near black) 30-round 7.62×39mm magazine was introduced in the early 1980s, fabricated from ABS plastic.

The current issue is a steel-reinforced matte true black non- reflective surface finished 7.62×39mm 30-round magazine, fabricated from ABS plastic weighing 0.25 kg (0.55 lb) empty.

[66] All current model AKM rifles can mount under-barrel 40 mm grenade launchers such as the GP-25 and its variants, which can fire up to 20 rounds per minute and have an effective range of up to 400 meters.

The AK-47 was designed to be a cheap, simple, easy-to-manufacture rifle,[75] perfectly matching Soviet military doctrine that treats equipment and weapons as disposable items.

[76] As units are often deployed without adequate logistical support and dependent on "battlefield cannibalization" for resupply, it is more cost-effective to replace rather than repair weapons.

A private company Kalashnikov Concern (formerly Izhmash) from Russia has repeatedly claimed that the majority of foreign manufacturers are producing AK-type rifles without proper licensing.

[100][101] The AK-47's accuracy is generally sufficient to hit an adult male torso out to about 300 m (328 yd),[102][103] though even experts firing from prone or bench rest positions at this range were observed to have difficulty placing ten consecutive rounds on target.

[106] The single-shot hit-probability on the NATO E-type Silhouette Target (a human upper body half and head silhouette) of the AK-47 and the later developed AK-74, M16A1, and M16A2 rifles were measured by the US military under ideal proving ground conditions in the 1980s as follows: Under worst field exercise circumstances, the hit probabilities for all the tested rifles were drastically reduced, from 34% at 50m down to 3–4% at 600m with no significant differences between weapons at each range.

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China, as well as United States and other NATO nations supplied arms and technical knowledge to numerous countries and rebel forces around the world.

In contrast, the Russians and Chinese used the AK-47; its low production cost and ease of manufacture allow them to make AKs in vast numbers.

The museum complex of Kalashnikov's small arms, a series of halls, and multimedia exhibitions are devoted to the evolution of the AK-47 rifle and attracts 10,000 monthly visitors.

For example, Western works of fiction (movies, television, novels, video games) often portray criminals, gang members, insurgents, and terrorists using AK-47s as the weapon of choice.

[208][page needed] In 2006, the Colombian musician and peace activist César López devised the escopetarra, an AK converted into a guitar.