Without a doubt, it is the AK-47 rifle. Whether in military or civilian garb, this rifle is a solidly build reliable shooter. Its ease of manufacture, operation, and maintenance have made it popular in every third world shit hole as well as some more civilized environs.
My experience with the AK, aside from my military training involved finding an Egyptian Maadi at a pawn shop. Some one had attempted to modify the thumb hole stock. The Maadi, already ugly was now far uglier. The dealer parted with it for a small pittance. I cleaned up some of the mess the first owner had made of the stock, then took it to the range. Shoot, misfire. shoot, misfire. I discovered that it would not load from the left side of the magazine. I tried different mags, but no luck.
After some time, I located a Romanian model, the one I have now, and traded the Maati for it. At last, a basic old reliable AK-47.
I'm not all that impressed with the rifle for several reasons. first, the length of pull is too short. I realize that the rifle was designed for eastern bloc soldiers who by virtue of their superior diet are smaller then the average American, so I'll live with it. Second, the sights. As you can see, this one has been modified just a teeny bit. I added a aftermarket top cover from NcStar purchased at KJERGAARD SPORTS near Ivanhoe Minnesota. Steve is one of the Midwest's best dealers for anything guns.
The AK is a fun all around gun to shoot. It is tough, reliable, and battle tested. Given the choice between it and an AR though, I pick the AR. Spike had a comparison on recently, Taliban vs IRA. The IRA have adopted the AR, replacing their AKs. IN Spikes testing, the AR was far superior, and I'd agree.
The 7.62X39 is a good cartridge. It looses power out past the 200 meter mark though. Most combat occures in close though, so that is not as important in combat as it would be for hunting.
If you are looking for a gun that is cheap to shoot, fun and durable, you have a few choices. you can go with any .22 rifle out there, or you can pick up an AK.
2 comments:
I'll take the AR in most cases because what (who) I'm hunting is usually wearing a stinkbeard of sorts be it a stinkybearded varmit or pedestrian varmit in my neighborhood.
I love the 7.62x39 round and my Mini 30 has treated me well, but for overal performance, the AR has made such improvements over the years that I wouldn't wipe my ass with the AK.
Just my opinion...
BTW, I would love an AK, but the pussy liberal senators in my state won't allow a law abiding citizen like myself to own on, so I'm pretty happy with my Marlin Mod. 60 .22LR tube-fed at this point. COI is going to be pretty dissappointed when they find out that I used it for an anchor in the kelp beds off La Jolla shores when I was fishing for Yellow Fin Tuna...
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