Thread: AKM or ARM?
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Old 09-25-2012, 05:25 PM
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MoviePropMaster2008 MoviePropMaster2008 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MT2008 View Post
If you look at the AKM entry on the AK page, it says the following (written by yours truly):

"Most of the AKMs seen in Hollywood movies are actually Egyptian Maadi MISR copies, which were sold in the U.S. as the ARM in the 1980s - such weapons were first procured by Stembridge Gun Rentals for Red Dawn and subsequently re-used in numerous other motion pictures. The Maadi is almost identical to the original Soviet-built AKM, save for the markings, and is nearly impossible to tell apart."

In other words, "AKM" as we use the designation on IMFDB pretty much refers to a type of weapon: it's how we refer to anything that LOOKS like an AKM and can't be told apart from an AKM. It's the same reason that we call all Chinese AKs "Type 56s" even though the ones seen in U.S. movies came from a half-dozen different importers who used other designations (such as Type 56S, AK47S, AKS-762, etc.)
But we know for a FACT that these were ARMS. Just like the ones in Red Dawn (1984). You are right about the type 56. Clayco, Norinco and Poly Tech imported stuff with a plethora of names. But if we know for sure, I think we should at least mention in the text that we know it to be that.
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