Historical Context

Cold War

A period of international geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR).

• AK-47

  The AK-47 is the most produced firearm in human history: Mikhail Kalashnikov's gas-operated assault rifle in 7.62x39mm, built around loose tolerances, a long-stroke piston, and an almost contemptuous indifference to mud, sand, ice, and neglect. Adopted by the Soviet Army in the late 1940s and manufactured with its descendants in the tens of millions, it armed the Warsaw Pact, both sides of dozens of insurgencies, and became a literal flag emblem — the weapon as twentieth-century geopolitics.

• M16 Rifle

  The M16 brought the assault rifle to the West: Eugene Stoner's AR-15 design in 5.56mm, built of aluminum forgings and polymer around a direct-gas action, light enough to carry all day and controllable in automatic fire. Its Vietnam introduction was marred by a self-inflicted reliability scandal, but the matured M16A1 recovered completely and became the enduring pattern for more than more than fifty continuous years of American service rifles — today's standard-issue M4 carbine is its direct descendant.