History (and related interesting facts)

Here are slow motion closeups of the internal workings of historically notable firearms of the 20th century and today.

First up, the AK-47, the most widely manufactured and used firearm of all time. It has seen action in countless conflicts such as the vietnam war, Iran-Iraq war and the current conflicts in Iraq and Syria to name but a few.



Next, we have the AK-47's successor in the Soviet/Russian armed forces, the AK-74. It's most notable difference is that it was chambered in the smaller 5.45x39mm cartridge(as opposed to the '47's 7.62x39mm) and it has seen action in the Soviet-Afghan war, the Chechen conflicts and the brief war in Georgia in '08.



Next, we have what's been nicknamed the "right arm of the free world", the most widely adopted Western military rifle of the cold war period, the FN FAL, which has seen action in the earlier Arab-Israeli Wars of the 60s and 70s, by India in the '65 and '71 wars against Pakistan, the Falklands war(by both sides) and the South African bush war by SA.



And lastly, we have the M1911, which was the standard U.S military side arm from 1911 until the 80's, and has seen action in WW1,WW2, Korea and Vietnam.