On June 10, 1807, the Izhevsk Arms Plant was founded, after 210 years the name of this plant is known all over the world. But then, back in 1807, in Izhevsk, on the banks of the small river Izh, only a modest arms office was founded. At that time, a small ironworks already existed in the city. Under the leadership of engineer Andrei Deryabin, the ironworks was merged with the arms factory. Already in the fall of 1807, the new enterprise began to produce the first weapon - a soldier's smooth-bore seven-line (caliber 17, 7 mm) flintlock. Since then, for more than two centuries, the Izhevsk gunsmiths have regularly supplied the Russian army with first-class models of small arms.
Reliability and ease of use are what makes the weapons of the Kalashnikov Concern unique. Since its founding in 1807, the Izhevsk Arms Plant (today the Kalashnikov Concern) has supplied the Russian army not only with firearms, but also with melee weapons. Since the Patriotic War of 1812, not a single major victory of Russian weapons was complete without products created by Izhevsk gunsmiths. Already in the first four years of its existence, the Izhevsk plant produced 2,000 flintlock guns, and during the Patriotic War of 1812, it managed to supply more than 6,000 guns for the Russian army, increasing the volume of production tenfold.
Already in the middle of the 19th century, the Izhevsk plant mastered the production of the first mass rifled rifle in Russia. And during the Great Patriotic War, gunsmiths from Izhevsk supplied a wide range of weapons to the active army: TT pistols, Mosin rifles (famous three-line rifles), aircraft machine guns, anti-tank rifles designed by Simonov and Degtyarev. However, the Izhevsk enterprise entered the history of the world arms business forever thanks to the machine gun created by Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov. His machine gun is called the most famous and massive example of small arms of the second half of the 20th century.
The final version of the AK was created in the summer of 1947, in the fall of the same year, this weapon successfully passed a series of field tests and was recommended for launch into mass production. It was decided to launch the release of the novelty at the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant. The advantages of the Kalashnikov assault rifle over other small arms systems were quite obvious. Even the creator of the no less famous American M16 assault rifle, Eugene Stoner, after a detailed study of the Soviet machine gun, was forced to admit its superiority in combat qualities, especially in convenience and simplicity in operation.
However, the most important advantage of the AK was its simplicity of design and, as a result, ease of assembly. There is nothing surprising in the fact that women have always worked on the main assembly line of Izhmash. A huge number of Kalashnikov assault rifles were assembled by gentle female hands. It is worth noting that the simplicity of the design, along with the unification of parts, is a distinctive feature of all developments of small arms from Izhevsk. More than two centuries ago, the founder of the Izhevsk arms factory, Andrei Deryabin, loved to arrange exemplary inspections: in his presence, workers disassembled several guns, mixed parts, and then assembled the weapons again. At the same time, each gun shot perfectly.
The same "trick", but with a Kalashnikov assault rifle in the 50-70s of the last century, was demonstrated by the leaders of the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant. Such an action made an indelible impression on the foreign delegations visiting the plant. As a result, the Kalashnikov assault rifle was and continues to be in service with armies or special services in more than 100 countries of the world.
Today the Kalashnikov concern, which became the legal successor of the Izhevsk arms factory, opened on June 10, 1807, is the largest Russian manufacturer of automatic and sniper weapons, as well as guided artillery shells and a wide range of precision weapons. In addition, the concern produces a wide range of civilian products: sporting rifles, hunting rifles, machine tools and tools. Concern "Kalashnikov" is the flagship of the Russian shooting industry, today it accounts for about 95% of the production of all small arms in the country. The company's products are supplied to more than 27 countries of the world.
Today, the concern includes three weapons brands: Kalashnikov - military and civilian weapons, Baikal - hunting and civilian weapons, IZHMASH - sporting weapons. A new area of activity for the concern is: unmanned aerial vehicles, multifunctional special-purpose boats and even remotely controlled combat modules.
Undoubtedly, the most famous product of the Izhevsk enterprise and the most recognizable Izhevsk brand in the world is the Kalashnikov assault rifle. Thanks to the ingenious simplicity of the design, as well as the unique combination of technical characteristics, this weapon was recognized as the best small arms of the twentieth century and is still in service with the security forces of the Russian Federation. Today the Izhevsk enterprise produces the fourth generation of Kalashnikov assault rifles - AK "hundredth" series: AK-101, AK-102, AK-103, AK-104, AK-105. Currently, state tests of a new assault rifle are being completed, which is already referred to as the fifth generation - AK-12. In addition, the Kalashnikov concern supplies special units of our country with sniper rifles SVD, SVDS, SVDM, SV-98, SV-99, and also produces weapons intended for arming law enforcement officers - carbine 18, 5 KS-K, submachine gun "Vityaz" and other models.
Saiga-12 performance 340, photo: kalashnikov.com
On the basis of the world-famous Kalashnikov assault rifle, quite a few samples of civilian weapons were created. On the basis of the AK "hundredth" series and other small arms in Izhevsk, three completely new samples of civilian products were designed - "Saiga-MK107", "Saiga-9" and "Saiga-12 performance 340". In 2015, the concern presented a new development - the Saiga-12 rifle, version 340. The smoothbore rifle, created by designers from Izhevsk in close cooperation with the leading athletes of the Russian Practical Shooting Federation, has already proved its reliability, the weapon is completely ready for any tests. Saiga-12 proved this during the World Championship in practical rifle shooting, which took place in Italy in 2015. For the first time, all Russian medalists won a landslide victory in the open class, taking part in the competition with this particular gun, which not so long ago began to be sold at retail.
Probably, today in the territory of the former Soviet Union there is not a single hunter over 30 years old who did not once hold in his hands one of the guns fired in Izhevsk. Izh-17, Izh-18, Izh-27 and Izh-58 could be found anywhere - from Kamchatka to Turkmenistan. These hunting rifles have faithfully served both amateur hunters and hunters. Mass serial production of smooth-bore hunting weapons began in the capital of Udmurtia in the middle of the 20th century. At the same time, the choice of models compared to today was very limited.
In the near future, the modernization will affect the MP-155 model (reliable operation of the bolt group, ergonomics, increased wear resistance), MP-43 (ejector, new stock, modified firing mechanism, fuse and swivels), MP-27 (improved appearance, new bed), "Los-7" (ergonomic bed, new coating of metal parts, changing the pitch of the grooves, increasing the reliability of the magazine fastening), "Bars-4" (changes are similar to the "Los-7" plus the introduction of new calibers). In turn, the modernized Izhevsk-made hunting rifles and carbines will be gradually replaced on the market or supplemented by new, promising developments of local gunsmiths, for example, MP-144/142 and MP-234.
Hunting rifle MP-155, photo kalashnikov.com
Also, for many years, the Kalashnikov Concern (formerly Izhmash) has been the leading domestic manufacturer of sports weapons and the only enterprise in our country that produces rifles for biathletes under the Biathlon-7 brand in various designs. The first sporting rifle was created in Izhevsk back in 1949, the work on it was supervised by the designer Evgeny Fedorovich Dragunov. Since 1950, Izhevsk has launched the production of well-proven various types of sports weapons, with the help of which a large number of world records have been set by several generations of Soviet and Russian athletes and sportsmen from some other states, as well as a large number of top Olympic titles have been won.
If you are in Izhevsk on June 10, be sure to visit the Izhmash Museum, which in honor of the 210th anniversary of the founding of the Izhevsk arms factory (today the Kalashnikov Concern) and the 190th anniversary of the museum is holding an Open Day. On Saturday, June 10, everyone will be able to visit the museum's expositions for free, which are dedicated to the life of the great designer of small arms Mikhail Kalashnikov and the history of the creation of the most famous assault rifle in the world - the Kalashnikov assault rifle, as well as to get acquainted with more than two centuries of weapons production in Izhevsk. On June 10, the museum will be open for free and will be open to visitors from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. Museum address: Sverdlova Street, 32 (Armourers Square).
Museum building
Today the collection of the museum presents a very rich, two-century history of the Izhevsk Arms Plant, which is revealed through the exhibits. The collection of the museum includes more than 350 samples of cold and small arms, as well as about 30 motorcycles that were previously produced at the enterprise. In the collection of the museum you can see old prototypes of machine tools, rifles and rifles of the 19th century, air cannons and machine guns of the 20th century, in the collection of motorcycles there is an original prototype of the Izh-1 motorcycle produced in 1928.
Today the museum occupies the oldest building in Izhevsk. Over the years, within its walls there were a cash pantry, a guardhouse, a kitchen with a dining room, and even a local forestry.
