“PAPER BOOKS ARE DYING” – I keep hearing that over and over again. In a way it makes sense, but in the last few years, when I started doing more serious research about small arms (serious meaning just one level above articles like “The Deadliest Nerf Gun On The Planet”), I realized that books still remain the best and most accurate source of information for a serious researcher. And books like “Vickers Guide: Kalashnikov (Volume 2)” add one more variable to the equation – high-quality pictures that you can’t really find anywhere else.

Vickers Guide: Kalashnikov, Volume 1 and Volume 2

Vickers Guide series of books was founded by Larry Vickers and photographer James Rupley. My fellow TFB writer Eric B already reviewed the first Kalashnikov book, Vickers Guide: Kalashnikov (Volume1), dedicated to AK variants in 7.62×39.

Originally intended to be a coffee table book with nice pictures and very little text, Vickers Guide evolved and now “Vickers Guide: Kalashnikov (Volume 2)” is definitely a valuable source of information for collectors and AK aficionados. To get the pictures, Larry and James traveled the world and got access to some of the most fascinating Kalashnikov collections. To get their facts right, they invited the best authors and subject matter experts with unique knowledge of the topic.

Vickers Guide: Kalashnikov (Volume 2) – chapter contributors

Our fellow TFB writer Miles shared the story of the nickname “Krinkov”, given to AKS-74U by Afghan mujahideen.

Lynndon Schooler, one of the most knowledgeable US researchers of Russian small arms, wrote two pieces about RPK light machineguns.

The book goes into quite a bit of detail when it comes to certain AK-74 features

Maxim Popenker, founder of https://modernfirearms.net/en/ website shared some of his knowledge about certain historical and modern Kalashnikov variants.

Zoltán Szőrös, leading Hungarian AK researcher wrote about Kalashnikovs from his country.

N.R. Jenzen-Jones put it all together without cutting out any valuable information. I also contributed to several chapters, it was a great opportunity to sort out some of the misconceptions that US Kalashnikov collectors have.

Larry Vickers, Sergei Gorbunov, weapon design engineer and author in Izhevsk, browsing through Kalashnikov factory weapon collection. Photo by Valery Moroz.

Obviously, I can’t be impartial talking about this book, but I am sure that if you love AKs you’re going to like this book, there is nothing like it when it comes to the quality of pictures and accuracy of historical information. You can order the book here: https://www.vickersguide.com/kalashnikov-vol-2