"The author has personally spoken to soldiers who have unearthed an AK after six months buried in the mud at the bottom of an African river, and fired straight through a magazine on full-auto without even cleaning the gun. (The AK barrels are also chromium-lined, and therefore incredibly resilient.) The furniture is similarly tough, whether the variant is fitted with a solid wooden stock or one of the folding metal types. Keep it clean and the AK will last a lifetime."