▁to ▁become ▁Kal ash nik ov ' s ▁most ▁famous ▁in vention . ▁While ▁developing ▁his ▁first ▁assault ▁rif les , ▁Kal ash nik ov ▁competed ▁with ▁two ▁much ▁more ▁experienced ▁weapon ▁design ers , ▁Vas ily ▁D eg ty ary ov ▁and ▁Georg y ▁Sh pag in , ▁who ▁both ▁accepted ▁the ▁superior ity ▁of ▁the ▁A K - 4 7 . ▁Kal ash nik ov ▁named ▁Alexand r ▁Z ait se v ▁and ▁Vladimir ▁De ik in ▁as ▁his ▁major ▁collabor ators ▁during ▁those ▁years . ▁ ▁Later ▁career ▁From ▁ 1 9 4 9 , ▁Mik h ail ▁Kal ash nik ov ▁lived ▁and ▁worked ▁in ▁Iz he v sk , ▁U dm urt ia . ▁He ▁held ▁a ▁degree ▁of ▁Doctor ▁of ▁Techn ical ▁Sciences ▁( 1 9 7 1 ) ▁and ▁was ▁a ▁member ▁of ▁ 1 6 ▁academ ies . ▁ ▁Over ▁the ▁course ▁of ▁his ▁career , ▁he ▁evol ved ▁the ▁basic ▁design ▁into ▁a ▁weapons ▁family . ▁The ▁A K M ▁( ), ▁first ▁brought ▁into ▁service ▁in ▁ 1 9 5 9 , ▁was ▁l ighter ▁and ▁che aper ▁to ▁manufact ure ▁ow ing ▁to ▁the ▁use ▁of ▁a ▁stamp ed ▁steel ▁receiver ▁( in ▁place ▁of ▁the ▁A K - 4 7 ' s ▁mil led ▁steel ▁receiver ) ▁and ▁contained ▁detail ▁improvements ▁such ▁as ▁a ▁re - sh aped ▁stock ▁and ▁m uzz le ▁compens ator . ▁From ▁the ▁A K M ▁he ▁developed ▁a ▁squad ▁automatic ▁weapon ▁variant , ▁known ▁as