January 16, 2014 - 22:47 AMT
Kalashnikov signs contract to sell 200,000 firearms to Canada, U.S.

Russia’s Kalashnikov gun maker has signed a contract to sell up to 200,000 firearms annually to customers in the United States and Canada, the company said Thursday, Jan 16, according to RIA Novosti.

The contract was signed with the Russian Weapon Company, an American dealer of Russian firearms, at the 2014 SHOT Show in Las Vegas, the largest annual hunting and shooting trade show in the world.

“Under the terms of the agreement, the Russian Weapon Company has the exclusive right to distribute hunting and sporting weapons under the Izhmash and Baikal brands in the U.S. and Canada,” Kalashnikov spokeswoman Yelena Filatova told journalists.

“The volume of sales will be 80,000 to 200,000 guns per year,” she added.

Kalashnikov has been working closely with RWC for two years and sells more than 90 percent of its civilian export models to American consumers.

The Kalashnikov Concern, one of the world’s largest firearm producers, is the maker of the AK-47 assault rifle and its military derivatives. The company also produces a wide range of civilian guns for sport shooting and hunting.