SALW Guide

Global distribution and visual

identification

AK-47 / AKM
Fact sheet
https://salw-guide.bicc.de
AK-47 / AKM SALW Guide

AK-47 / AKM
The AK 47 (Designed 1946-1948) is best
described as a hybrid of previous rifle
technology innovations: the trigger,
double locking lugs and unlocking raceway
of the M1 Garand/M1 carbine, the safety
mechanism of the John Browning designed
Remington Model 8 rifle, and the gas
system and layout of the Sturmgewehr 44. There are many variants. The weapons are used
by the former Warsaw Pact countries, and they are still in service with numerous armed
forces, both regular and irregular. The model and its variants remain the most popular and
widely used rifles in the world because of its reliability under harsh conditions, low
production costs.

Technical Specifications
Category Assault Rifles

Operating system Gas operated, rotating bolt with 2 lugs

Cartridge 7.62 x 39mm

Length 870 mm

Feeding Box magazine

Global distribution map

The data on global distribution and production is provided primarily by the BwVC1, but also
from national and regional focal points on SALW control; data published by think tanks,
international organizations and experts; and/or data provided by individual researchers on
SALW. It is not exhaustive. If you would like to add to or amend the data, please use the
website's feedback function.

1. Bundeswehr Verification Center

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SALW Guide AK-47 / AKM

Distribution

Global distribution list

The AK-47 / AKM is found in 122 countries according to our data.

Afghanistan (AFG) G Liberia (LBR) G

Albania (ALB) G Libya (LBY) G N

Algeria (DZA) G Lithuania (LTU) G

Angola (AGO) G Madagascar (MDG) G

Armenia (ARM) G Malawi (MWI) N

Austria (AUT) G Mali (MLI) G N

Azerbaijan (AZE) G Malta (MLT) G

Bangladesh (BGD) G Mauritania (MRT) G N

Belarus (BLR) G Moldova (MDA) G

Benin (BEN) G Mongolia (MNG) G

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) G Montenegro (MNE) U

Botswana (BWA) G Morocco (MAR) G

Bulgaria (BGR) G Mozambique (MOZ) G N

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AK-47 / AKM SALW Guide

Burkina Faso (BFA) G Myanmar/Burma (MMR) G

Burundi (BDI) G Namibia (NAM) G

Cambodia (KHM) G Nepal (NPL) G N

Cameroon (CMR) G Niger (NER) N

Cape Verde (CPV) G Nigeria (NGA) G

Central African Republic G N North Korea (PRK) G

(CAF)
Oman (OMN) G
Chad (TCD) G
Pakistan (PAK) G
Chile (CHL) G
Palestine (PSE) G
China (CHN) G
Peru (PER) G
Colombia (COL) U
Philippines (PHL) G
Comoros (COM) G
Poland (POL) G
Congo (COG) G N
Qatar (QAT) G
Croatia (HRV) U
Romania (ROU) G
Cuba (CUB) G
Russia (RUS) G
Czech Republic (CZE) G

Côte d’Ivoire (CIV) Rwanda (RWA) G N

G N

Democratic Republic of the Senegal (SEN) G

G N
Congo (COD) Serbia (SRB) G

Djibouti (DJI) G Seychelles (SYC) G

Egypt (EGY) G Sierra Leone (SLE) G

El Salvador (SLV) G Slovakia (SVK) G

Equatorial Guinea (GNQ) G Slovenia (SVN) G

Eritrea (ERI) G Somalia (SOM) G N

Estonia (EST) G South Africa (ZAF) G

Ethiopia (ETH) G South Sudan (SSD) N

Finland (FIN) G Sri Lanka (LKA) G

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SALW Guide AK-47 / AKM

Former Yugoslav Republic of G Sudan (SDN) G N

Macedonia (MKD)
Suriname (SUR) G
Gabon (GAB) G
Sweden (SWE) U
Georgia (GEO) G
Syria (SYR) G N
Germany (DEU) U
São Tomé and Príncipe (STP) G
Ghana (GHA) G
Tajikistan (TJK) G
Greece (GRC) G
Tanzania (TZA) G N
Guinea (GIN) G
The Gambia (GMB) G
Guinea-Bissau (GNB) G
Togo (TGO) G
Guyana (GUY) G
Turkey (TUR) G
Hungary (HUN) G
Turkmenistan (TKM) G
India (IND) G
Uganda (UGA) G
Indonesia (IDN) G
Ukraine (UKR) G
Iran (IRN) G
United Arab Emirates (ARE) G
Iraq (IRQ) G United Kingdom (GBR) G

Israel (ISR) G United States (USA) G

Italy (ITA) U Uzbekistan (UZB) G

Kazakhstan (KAZ) G Venezuela (VEN) G

Kenya (KEN) G N Vietnam (VNM) G

Kuwait (KWT) G Yemen (YEM) G

Kyrgyzstan (KGZ) U Zambia (ZMB) G

Laos (LAO) G Zimbabwe (ZWE) G

Lebanon (LBN) G

Lesotho (LSO) G

Explanation of symbols

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AK-47 / AKM SALW Guide

Country of origin

Licensed production

Production without a licence

G Government: Sources indicate that this type of weapon is held by Governmental agencies.

N Non-Government: Sources indicate that this type of weapon is held by non-Governmental armed
groups.

U Unspecified: Sources indicate that this type of weapon is found in the country, but do not specify
whether it is held by Governmental agencies or non-Governmental armed groups.

It is entirely possible to have a combination of tags beside each country. For example, if
country X is tagged with a G and a U, it means that at least one source of data identifies
Governmental agencies as holders of weapon type Y, and at least one other source confirms
the presence of the weapon in country X without specifying who holds it.

Note: This application is a living, non-comprehensive database, relying to a great extent on

active contributions (provision and/or validation of data and information) by either SALW
experts from the military and international renowned think tanks or by national and regional
focal points of small arms control entities.

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SALW Guide AK-47 / AKM

Visual Identification
Characteristics Markings

AK 47 AKM

left view
left view

AK 47 AK 47

right view
right view

AKM AKM

right view
right view

AKM Kalashnikov & variants

001/md-01-300w.png
marking details (RUS)

right view

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AK-47 / AKM SALW Guide

Kalashnikov & variants Kalashnikov & variants

001/md-02-300w.png 001/md-03-300w.jpg
marking details (RUS) marking details (EGY)

Kalashnikov & variants 001/md-01-b-300w.png

001/md-04-300w.jpg
marking details (CHN)

Type: CHN Model 56 (AK47) Type: CHN Model 56 (AK47)

001/ws-02-300w.png
weapon specifics

weapon specifics

Type: Former Yugoslavia Zastava M 70 Type: Former Yugoslavia Zastava M 70

(AKM) (AKM)
001/ws-03-300w.png
weapon specifics
weapon specifics

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SALW Guide AK-47 / AKM

Type: Former Yugoslavia Zastava M 70 Type: AMD 65 (HUN)

(AKM)

weapon specifics

weapon specifics

Type: PA Model 86 (ROU) AK 47

weapon specifics
weapon specifics

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AK-47 / AKM SALW Guide

Ammunition
The following ammunition can be used by the AK-47 / AKM.

7.62 x 39mm
Bullet diameter 7.92 mm

Case length 38.7 mm

Overall length 56 mm

No information available.

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SALW Guide Annex

Annex
Tagging of Sources
We believe that our Guide should be as transparent as possible without endangering the
confidentiality of our sources. Rather than name the exact source for each unit of data, we
have created tags so that users can at least know whether the data comes from a primary
or secondary source, and by which medium it can or has been found. All incoming data is
validated and then tagged by the project team at BICC before it enters our database.

Sources are tagged according to the following criteria:

1. Primary Sources:
These are presentations of facts. They are proof of an SALW event (e.g. a transfer, sighting,
misuse, etc.) because the source was created at the time of the event itself. Primary
sources as usually original documents such as transfer authorizations, firearms legislation,
or academic journals presenting results of a study on SALW holdings in a particular country,
for example. However, they can also be information offered by a person with direct
knowledge of an SALW event or who has documented an SALW event at the time that it
happened.

2. Secondary Sources:
These are interpretations or evaluation of facts. Secondary sources contain commentary
and analysis of SALW events that are documented in primary sources.

Sources are also tagged according to the dominant medium of delivery:

A. Written - the source is based on written words.

B. Oral - the source is based on spoken words.
C. Visual - the source is based on seen events or optical images.

These criteria make our tags two-dimensional. While the process of classifying sources is a
primarily subjective one, the project team at BICC has developed the following table to
serve as an example of possible sources within each category.

Table: Examples of sources on SALW distribution

Primary Secondary

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Annex SALW Guide

Written • Fact books • Wikipedia

• Weapons Transfer • Literature reviews
authorizations • Training or safety manuals
• End-user certificates on gun control, ammunition,
• Transcripts of interviews, legal physical stockpile security
proceedings, speeches/ management)
presentations, meetings, • Minutes of meetings,
conferences or symposia conferences, symposia
• Newspaper articles • Indexes (e.g. Global
• Written correspondence (e.g. Militarization Index)
letters, emails, text messages, • Newspaper articles
etc.)
Etc.
• Blogs
• Peer-reviewed journal articles
• Treaties, constitution, laws
• Records of organizations (e.g.
annual reports)
• Surveys, questionnaires

Etc...

Oral • Interviews with experts, • Speeches, panel

including radio or telephone presentations, etc. on data
• Legal proceedings provided by experts
• Speeches or interventions by
Etc...
experts or national
representatives in government
or international meetings

Etc ...

Visual • Artifacts (e.g. the weapons • PowerPoint presentations on

themselves, ammunition) results found by experts
• Photographs of weapons,
Etc...
ammunition, etc.
• Videos (e.g. YouTube, those
recorded by mobile phone)
• Television documentaries, news
reports

Etc ...

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SALW Guide About the Guide

Table: Example tags

Source (sample) Type of Medium of

source delivery

IHS Jane’s Weapons Infantry (2015-2016) primary written

Panel discussion of weapons use of non-state secondary oral

armed groups

Documentary on paramilitaries in Colombia primary visual

About the Guide

The Interactive Guide on Small Arms and Light Weapons is an open access tool,
designed to build knowledge on how to identify different types, makes and models of
commonly used SALW in organized violence; to collect data on the global and country-
specific spread of these SALW; and to describe some of their visual and technical
specifications.

The guide is not an exhaustive list of all SALW that are used around the world.

Global SALW control relies on, among other things, data and knowledge of the weapons
themselves. Our aim is that the Guide will be used to support national reporting duties on
SALW holdings; facilitate and ameliorate the collection of data on SALW; and increase
general knowledge of global distribution of SALW.

The interactive Guide was developed by BICC in close cooperation with the Bundeswehr
Verification Center (BwVC), and with the generous support of the Federal Foreign Office,
Germany.

Contact
Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies (BICC) gGmbH
Joseph Farha
Project Coordinator
Pfarrer-Byns-Str. 1
53121 Bonn
Germany

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Overall project coordination SALW Guide

E-Mail: joseph.farha@bicc.de
Internet: www.bicc.de

Zentrum für Verifikationsaufgaben der Bundeswehr (ZVBw) - Bundeswehr

Verification Center (BwVC)
Global Arms- and Proliferation Control Division
Major Laurentius Wedeniwski
Selfkant-Kaserne
Rue de Quimperle 100
52511 Geilenkirchen
E-Mail: LaurentiusWedeniwski@bundeswehr.org

Overall project coordination

Joseph Farha
Project Coordinator
Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies (BICC)

Responsible for all content (including photos):

Zentrum für Verifikationsaufgaben der Bundeswehr (ZVBw) - Bundeswehr Verification

Center.
Major Laurentius Wedeniwski: Small Arms and Light Weapons Guide (2016).

Responsible for design, editorial and technical implementation:

Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies (BICC) gGmbH.

Technical management: Joseph Farha
Programming: Rolf Alberth

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