I know I know, another hypothetical question

F

Fyaman22

Inactive
So I am a firefighter. You know firemen spend a lot of time together. Well one of my brothers at work explained that the m1 gerand has killed more people than any other gun in history. I explained that 1 in 5 guns ever made is an ak-47. I need some help here. Don't get me wrong the m1 is an all American rifle that I have the upmost respect for. But the ak has been around almost as long and is still a frontline firearm for quite a few countries. not to mention the mass genicides, holy wars, cival wars and actual wars the ak has been in. Hypothetically speaking, who comes out on top for deaths over all. Any and all good points would be much appreciated. I have to put this one to rest! Thanks guys
 
I go with the AK-47. Still as you mentioned a very popular rifle with the 3rd world countries, and who kills more than them?.
 
I can't imagine why I would care what gun has killed more people. Dead people are a tragedy, not a means to glorify a weapon.
 
Death is a tragedy? Well, yes, but it’s a fact of life. Since more than two people inhabited the earth, mankind has been killing each other, and that’s not going to stop any time soon.

I have always been with the belief of the following;

The weapon that has killed more humans than any other, the sword / edged weapon.
The firearm that has killed more humans than any other, the AK47.
 
Unless you have scholarly references - you have no idea.

If you look at the causalities in WWII on the Eastern Front, the tremendous loss of life in China at the hands of the Japanese, etc. - that probably swamps after WWII losses to other small arms.

While the AK is widely dispersed, can it compare to those major involvements?

So, the first guy was just blowing gun guy BS and follow up should involved legit research.
 
Contrary to popular beliefs, I find this subject to be interesting. So I spent the past hour or so searching the net. (That's an hour I'll never get back) :( I could not find a list of firearm types with estimated deaths. I did find on the Washington Post web site that the AK47 can be linked to 16.5 million deaths world wide. I seriously doubt the M1 has numbers that high.

I guess a person could spend a day or two searching this subject, and maybe, just maybe come up with some sort of a list. Anyone game? I don’t have that kind of time.
 
the Washington Post web site that the AK47 can be linked to 16.5 million deaths world wide
Click to expand...

It MUST BE TRUE, its on the INTERNET!
:rolleyes:

First off, I would be leery of the term, "linked".

The Mauser 98 can be "linked" to ALL the ALLIED casualties in WW I and WWII, in Europe, at least, as well as all the concentration camp deaths and all the other "ethnic cleansing". For most of the 20th century, a significant portion of the world was killing another significant portions of the world with some rifle of Mauser 98 design or influence.

Even to this day its still in use, in some form in the back corners of the world, although the AK has supplanted it by a large margin. For the duration of the cold war, the two main Soviet exports were Communist "advisors" and AKs. And a lot of people accepted the advisors so they could get the AKs.

How linked is linked?
 
I don't see how you're going to get 'stats' for this. It's not like it was a sporting event with a statistician recording the details. You could say that each weapon was in service from X until Y with Z country, that country was involved in XX number of conflicts, YY people were killed by all means in those conflicts, and therefore ZZ probability that they were killed with the weapon in question.

It's an exercise in futility.
 
That’s why the laws of probability were invented. I would think someone would be able to guesstimate use of the weapons of this subject. During my search earlier today, I saw an estimate of 66 million deaths linked to WW2. How’d they come up with that? Was it really 66 million? Could it have been 56 million? Or maybe 76 million? Once you hit 30-40 million, things get foggy? I imagine we will never know.
 
My guess is that it's going to be hard for any other firearm to equal the slaughter accomplished by the Maxim machineguns (and variants thereof) during WW I since they were used on both sides and by many, if not most, participants.

For shoulder-fired weapons, I would think it would be between the Mauser 98 (and variants) and the AK-47. Remember, some estimates put Russian military deaths in WW2 at nearly half the total for all participants.
 
Garand vs. Kalishinikov. I would vote for the AK.
I probably wouldn't rate the M1 in the top five, it was used for a relatively short time by only a few armed forces.

What about the British Brown Bess, which served the British empire for about 120 years?
 
Ah - let's see if someone comes up with some real historical insights. We have at least made it clear that the Gerand (sic) speculation seems to be a touch of the mark. :D

I'd see like to see the reference to 16.5 million gun causalities after WWII. I don't think the major wars in Asia and the Middle East had that high a count but could be wrong. Are they referring to the constant wars in Africa? Lots of those genocides are just chopping up people. I recall one charming country bought a half a million machetes just for that.
 
It MUST BE TRUE, its on the INTERNET!

Point taken. So I guess everything on TFL is false including your post?
Click to expand...

Not exactly. Assuming its all false is as bad as assuming its all true. Always look for confirmation (which is what you are doing now) for anything posted, including mine! :D

Again, I say, it comes down to how you "link" the gun to the numbers.

In WW II, casualties came from artillery(including mortars), crew served weapons (machine guns) and then individual weapons, in that order. Casualties from individual aimed fire is even further down that list.

BUT, you can make a LINK (although a very tenuous one) between the rifle and the casualties, if you are willing to stretch reality enough.

One classic example of stretching reality is casualties from the Atomic bomb. Estimates at the time were around 60,000 killed. (note that am earlier firebomb raid on Tokyo killed 80,0000). BUT, everyone alive in Hiroshima on Aug 6 1945 and who has since died has been added to the list of "people killed by the atomic bomb". ON somebody's list, anyway....

That's a LINK.
:D
 
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