american ak's

[Mosinguy]

On a related note, technically alot of the SKS' are American. Take a close look at the engraving on them at your LGS. Most SKS' I have seen are actually made in the states. VT or CT as I recall. I find it quite ironic.

Those are most definitely import marks. One has never been made in the US. They would easily cost more than an M1a due to the machining.


I've seen at least one SKS built here with parts from totally trashed SKS'. But that was a homebuild type deal using mostly imported parts.

 

[rgrimm01]

Better reliability in all conditions. More lead striking the target. Ability to strike a target hiding behind a wall, a car, ect and still have enough of the bullet to inflict damage to target.
Availability and cheapness of ammo and accessories. Rifles themselves under normal conditions are cheaper and still cheaper now than an AR. Accuracy is very good despite what you hear. Simplicity of the weapon. I can teach a 5 year old how to field strip and service and reassemble and fire the rifle. An AR is much more complicated and not as ergonomic.

I've used both in combat environments and I will grab the AK if I ever need to protect my life again.

That is an awesome answer. Thank you. I can remember it being said that during the Vietnam era, soldiers would throw down their m16s and pick up the aks. Reason being that aks looser tolerances made it more dependable under those conditions. Sounds like something of urban legend but possibly grounded in some fact. I thought they got the dependability issue worked out?

 

[Mosinguy]

That is an awesome answer. Thank you. I can remember it being said that during the Vietnam era, soldiers would throw down their m16s and pick up the aks. Reason being that aks looser tolerances made it more dependable under those conditions. Sounds like something of urban legend but possibly grounded in some fact. I thought they got the dependability issue worked out?

Same went for the Nazis in WWII on the Eastern Front. They'd abandon their Mausers with tight tolerances for Mosins, PPSh style small machine guns, and other Soviet arms because the Russian stuff worked much better in the dirt, snow, and blood of Hitler's failed Operation Barbarossa.

 

[Trigger Time]

That is an awesome answer. Thank you. I can remember it being said that during the Vietnam era, soldiers would throw down their m16s and pick up the aks. Reason being that aks looser tolerances made it more dependable under those conditions. Sounds like something of urban legend but possibly grounded in some fact. I thought they got the dependability issue worked out?

Thanks. They did work out a lot I the issues. One being they started issuing cleaning kits with the rifles, lol. Believe it or not they didn't at first.

And modern AR platforms are functioning great since they adopted the gas piston style, lol. I've seen more work than I've seen not. I'm not totaly against AR's. I love mine. Just not for close quarters fighting which is what id expect if shtf. Ill take an AK.

You mentioned the tolerances. I saw a video with Jim fuller of rifle dynamics talking about people who were building their own American made AK's and they were breaking and not working an they found out the reason is because they took the American idea of "let's improve the design and make it better" and used a better rivet. But it turns out those rivets didn't have any give to them and one reason the AK functions so well is because of its loose tolllerances. So they started using soft rivets I guess and had no problems. This is one reason I won't ever own an AK that has been bolted together.

I'm no expert on the aftermarket AK's, but the more and more I do learn the more and more I like it even better.

 

[Horse]

AK's have just as tight of tolerances as an AR. That is a misnomer by people that don't understand the differences between tolerance and clearance.

What the Kalashnikov design has that the AR does not is clearance. Lots of extra space for dirt and debris to move to that will not stop the function of the rifle.

Kalashnikovs also have a much different design with respect to how the bolt locks and unlocks resulting in much lower pressures and longer dwell time compared to most AR's.

These are the two major reasons for the increased "durability" of the Kalashnikov.
The fact that is has a much higher moving mass and duration of mass movement and the location of this mass as the action cycles is the major reason that Kalashnikovs are viewed as less "accurate" than AR's.

To put it more succinctly:
AK's are more accurate than you think they are.
AR's are more reliable than you think they are.

Why pick one over the other? Depends entirely on what you want, not on any inherent suprioriority of one over the other.

 

[Clay]

I have both...... granted I'm a LOT more invested in the AK platform

 

[Trigger Time]

AK's have just as tight of tolerances as an AR. That is a misnomer by people that don't understand the differences between tolerance and clearance.

What the Kalashnikov design has that the AR does not is clearance. Lots of extra space for dirt and debris to move to that will not stop the function of the rifle.

Kalashnikovs also have a much different design with respect to how the bolt locks and unlocks resulting in much lower pressures and longer dwell time compared to most AR's.

These are the two major reasons for the increased "durability" of the Kalashnikov.
The fact that is has a much higher moving mass and duration of mass movement and the location of this mass as the action cycles is the major reason that Kalashnikovs are viewed as less "accurate" than AR's.

To put it more succinctly:
AK's are more accurate than you think they are.
AR's are more reliable than you think they are.

Why pick one over the other? Depends entirely on what you want, not on any inherent suprioriority of one over the other.

Well I disagree and like I said I'm no expert myself and no offense but I'll take Jim fullers word for it. Also clearance isn't what makes an AK bend and flex the way it does when fired. It's design tollerances.
They are still built like a tank but meant to do what they do.

 

[indymeh]

I have both...... granted I'm a LOT more invested in the AK platform

Ding, Ding, Ding we have a winner. When in doubt buy both

 

[Horse]

Well I disagree and like I said I'm no expert myself and no offense but I'll take Jim fullers word for it. Also clearance isn't what makes an AK bend and flex the way it does when fired. It's design tollerances.
They are still built like a tank but meant to do what they do.

Correct - Jim is correcting his language for the laymen in his terms.
He knows a lot more than I do.

Flexing does indeed help things - one reason ill most likely never own a milled gun. But flexing is not a tolerance, it is a material property and primarily manufacturing cost savings one at that.

 

[warriorbob]

On the note of ak vs ar a true warrior has no favorite weapon. Ive both and I trade all the time. I can pick up an sks, ak, ar, m14, etc and have enough of a working knowledge to use it to save my life.