semiautomatic rifle of, 155, 184, 186, 217
Sinia Brigade, 372
Sioux, 58–61
Sitting Bull, 58–61
Six Day War, 12, 341, 444
Skerrett, J. S., 30
Skoda machine gun, 109
SKS (
Small Arms Weapons Systems (SAWS) test, 293–94, 303
small-caliber, high velocity (SCHV) rounds, 276–77, 353, 439
Smith & Wesson, 41
Smithsonian Institution, 150, 194–95
smokeless propellants, 74, 92, 122, 135, 196
sniper rifles, snipers, 385
ammunition of, 3, 161–62, 166
of Dragunov, 16, 166
pilfering and illegal transfer of, 370
in World War I, 121, 123, 125, 135
Sokolov, Yury M., 243
Sokolovsky, Tuvia, 350
Somme, Battle of the, 131–35, 137, 164–65
Soviet-Afghan War, 10–11, 13, 381, 383, 412
Soviet Union, 1–9, 141–61, 174–86, 206–24, 351–54, 356–62
and AK-47’s design and development, 3–8, 145–46, 148–54, 207, 269, 292, 308, 360, 433
AK-47’s precursors and, 155
AK-47’s publicity and, 211
and AK-47’s testing and demonstrations, 3, 199, 287, 290, 294–95
AK-74 and, 353
and AK and AK-type rifle production and distribution, 3–4, 12, 185–86, 190, 192, 194–95, 201–3, 207–8, 219–20, 227–28, 246–47, 249–50, 259, 265, 268, 273, 309–10, 340–42, 349, 353–54, 357–59, 361, 364–65, 407–10, 412, 435
AKM and, 353, 359–60
AK rifle’s symbolism and, 14, 385
and alleged secrecy about Kalashnikov, 401–2
and ammunition of automatic rifles, 165–66
atomic bomb tested by, 1–3
collapse of, 152, 190, 207, 220, 365–66, 369, 371, 398, 401, 403–4, 406
collectivization in, 1, 156, 171–72, 177, 354, 405
contests for military equipment designs in, 144–47, 150–54, 158–61
European satellites of, 214–15, 218–23, 237, 245, 273, 342, 348, 365, 368
family of arms built around AK-47 by, 242–43
foreign policy of, 159, 201–4, 213–24, 226, 237–43, 248, 250, 255–56, 265, 342–43, 348, 356–57, 361–62, 365, 368, 380–81, 399, 407, 436
German invasion of, 4, 146, 155–57, 159, 164–65, 168–69, 176–80, 182, 185, 199, 209, 238, 343, 358
Germany occupied by, 159
Kalashnikov’s awards and honors in, 209–11
Kalashnikov’s education and, 174
Kalashnikov’s legacy and, 405
Kalashnikov’s official biography and, 7, 176–83, 190, 195, 210
Kalashnikov’s public duties and, 401–3
Kalashnikov’s social persecution and, 244–45
Kalashnikov’s submachine gun designs and, 181–82
legacy of, 152–53, 413
M-16 and, 353
NIPSMVO and, 143–44, 345–46
nuclear programs of, 1–5, 148, 203, 359–60, 407–8
October Revolution and, 156, 168, 170, 193, 351
and pilfering and illegal weapons transfers, 366–67
propaganda in, 7, 9, 17–19, 150, 156, 176–79, 188, 190–91, 195, 211–12, 404
and purchase prices of AK rifles, 383
purges in, 156, 159, 168, 210, 212–13, 348
reliability of historical sources in, 7, 17–19, 429
U.S. arms race with, 153, 169, 253–54, 256, 259, 272–73, 276, 353
weapons manufacturing in, 153, 157–59, 167–69, 352–53
weapons standardization of, 203–4, 214–15, 249, 364–65
World War II and, 4, 143–44, 146, 153, 155–59, 164–66, 168–69, 174–83, 185, 199, 202, 209, 212, 214, 221, 224, 238, 280, 343, 358, 436
Spain, 53, 89–90, 384
Spanish-American War, 92–97, 107–8, 117, 228–30, 424
ammunition testing and, 229–30
casualties in, 95, 230
Gatling guns in, 90, 92–93, 95–97, 228, 252
SPIW (Special Purpose Individual Weapon), 272, 290, 296
sporting rifles, 399
Springfield rifles:
ammunition of, 60, 166–67, 169–70
M1903, 252–53, 271
Model 1873, 60
stockpiling of, 355
“Spring Offensive, The” (Owen), 136
squad automatic weapons (SAWs), 363
Srebrenica, 220
Stasi, 247–48
Stage (Statistical Corporation), 246
Stakhanov, Aleksei, 403
Stalin, Joseph, 1–6, 18, 144, 146–48, 153–54, 156–60, 169–71, 185–86, 206, 210–13, 219
agricultural policies of, 171
and AK-47’s design and development, 5–6, 154, 158, 160, 201–3, 341
and AK-47’s production and distribution, 3–4, 8, 201–3, 216
AK-47’s symbolism and, 14, 341
contests for military equipment designs of, 158, 160
