MP3 retrofit makes AK-47s more in tune with the times

It takes a particular eye to look at the ammo clip of an AK-47 and see a vehicle for art. But in an odd twist on the “swords to ploughshares” theme, a British company is selling an MP3 player that defangs the Kalashnikov -- at least temporarily. The AK-MP3 jukebox player fits in the rifle’s ammunition clip and comes with stereo headphones, a carrying pouch and storage space for 9,000 songs.

The unusual component sells for $600 with 300 audio books preloaded, or $350 if unloaded. “For the last four years we have been testing and selling different MP3 jukeboxes preloaded with our audio books,” says Ruslan G. Fedorovsky, who sells the device at https://www.audiobooksforfree.com/kalashnikov/Ak-mp3.asp.

“One day two years ago we had been sitting, drinking vodka with our good friends from neighboring company FCU Connections Ltd. They are also a Russian-British company, the biggest importer of Kalashnikov replicas into Europe. Mostly ex-Russian officers. They just received the latest samples of their products, among them several types of new shortened ammunition clips for Kalashnikovs. As soon as we looked at them we realized that they are ideal to accommodate HDD-MP3 players of the Korean manufacturer IC Korea.”

Sales have been running between 1,500 and 2,000 units per month, Fedorovsky says. Several units were shipped to military officers in the U.S. and also to a European embassy. “We have many strange orders,” he adds. Ten units were sent to a villa near Bogota, Colombia, and seven, he claims, were stolen by Moroccan terrorists in France but eventually recovered.

“This is our bit for world peace,” jokes Andrey Koltakov of Bonifaciy, a partner, on the website. “Hopefully, from now on many militants and terrorists will use their AK-47s to listen to music and audio books.... They need to chill out and take it easy.”