AKM or ARM?

[MT2008]

Originally Posted by MoviePropMaster2008

I noted the excellent work done on the A-Team page. However, when dealing with the AK variants the page lists the guns use as AKMs. Technically there were NO AKMs in the U.S. inventory in the 1980s. Only after the fall of communism did the federal restriction on owning any communist weapon get removed. All those guns were Maadi ARMs (the U.S. imported version of the MISR). Should we mention that all these guns are ARMs, not AKMs? It creates the false impression that we had access to real Soviet AKMs back in the 1980s when it was not true.

Just a question.

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.)

[MoviePropMaster2008]

Originally Posted by MT2008

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.

[MT2008]

Originally Posted by MoviePropMaster2008

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.

I don't mind the idea of mentioning in the text that the AKMs are Maadi ARMs if we know for a fact that they were. But there is a difference between mentioning it in the text, and the header. The classification on the movie page and the AK page should still be "AKM".