AK-47 Gets No Respect.

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Strategy Page is kindly notorious for... shoddy research, sometimes. I'm doubting the premise that AK users are looked down on by the majority of folks. I expect that a certain amount of snobbery exists, but not to the extent this article seems to indicate.

Still, I'm sure you can find some POS AKs made out of pot metal and Taiwanese paperclips, with sights so far off that a STEN would look like a precision weapon in comparison... with those, you might be better off mounting a bayonet to the rifle and throwing it like a javelin at your target.
BTW, I must remember to do that in a Carbine class. :p
 
Did they forget to mention that all of these AK-47's that could not hit the broad side of a barn probably have shot out barrels and were probably maintained last right before they were shipped to Afghanistan twenty years ago?
 
on the other hand, part of why these crummy places are probably settling down is because these secondhand AKs are filtering out into the populace to the point everybody's armed, and an armed society is a polite society. At least, once the darwinian process eliminates the rude ones.
 
I like the quote "When you absolutely, positively, must kill every mother#@%&* in the room, accept no substitutes". I confirmed that while playing Call Of Duty 4 Modern Warfare (I know, it's just a game), because I kill a lot of people in that game with the AK-47, than any other gun.

BTW: I trust my life to my cheap Romanian WASR10. It looks beat up, but it works!
 
For many people they just can't handle the recoil and like the one shown in the pic by MDeViney are not easily shot (as mentioned but all the bravado boys will say different) The 223 is better if you really compare. I have seen so many threads for the AK and against the AR.
Refreshing to see others have finally come to realize it is an old weapon (good for its time and place and 3rd world counrties) but in reality not todays.
I was surprised when I was in Mexico about 20 years ago and every govt tough had a HK in his hand "rifle' and an HK pistol in his belt. The private sector had junk, for weapons. These AK bash and AR bash get a lot of ink.

:D
 
Guns that are plentiful and cheap are usually looked down upon by those that can afford harder to get, more expensive weapons. Just the way of the world. It's a status symbol kind of thing. That's what I'd take away from the article. Folks that can drive Porsches just might look down upon those driving a beat up Tercel, no matter how reliable the Tercel may be, and it's not news that they would not willingly drive a Tercel when they can drive a Porsche.
 
I really doubt if many of the purchasers of $1000 US style sniper rifles are going to be getting much better performance than the AK they had a few years before
 
I have a lot of respect for the AK but is isn't a scoped hunting rifle, a hunting rifle, or a FAL.

It is what it is.
If that is what you need then there is no better tool.
But if you need a scoped hunting rifle, get a scoped hunting rifle.
Personally, I don't need an AK.
My other guns cover everything I would need the AK to do so there isn't any reason to have another rifle and the ammo and mags for it.
 
The pipeline...

Afghanistan is full of AK-47s, thanks to the Russian army, the Egyptians, Israelis (who all sent in assault rifles during the 1980s) and the Taliban (who brought in more in the 1990s).
Click to expand...

Don't forget about the US. The Mujahadeen were anti-Soviet, and therefore heavily financed by the US.

Larry Kahaner has written a book, recently published by Wiley, entitled, "AK 47". I found the book very interesting and reasonably balanced. I recommend it if you are interested in getting a picture of the AK's role in recent history.
 
For many people they just can't handle the recoil and like the one shown in the pic by MDeViney are not easily shot (as mentioned but all the bravado boys will say different) The 223 is better if you really compare. I have seen so many threads for the AK and against the AR.
Refreshing to see others have finally come to realize it is an old weapon (good for its time and place and 3rd world counrties) but in reality not todays.
I was surprised when I was in Mexico about 20 years ago and every govt tough had a HK in his hand "rifle' and an HK pistol in his belt. The private sector had junk, for weapons. These AK bash and AR bash get a lot of ink.
Click to expand...

HQ,

Of course the .223 is an apple & the 762x39 is an orange and I like my sweet apples.:D However I also have a couple of oranges too:evil:

I agree, the AK is the most popular third world country weapon around, even today it's still easy to strip down,wipe clean and continues to fire in adverse operating conditions ,sand, water mud etc. So how does that out date its usefulness in todays world?

Battle field accuracy is plenty accurate for AK47 semi auto function. Those that get center punched from that round die immediately. Those that get hit in an extremity and live are crippled for life. Close quarter its auto function is very impressive the round itself does well in defeating a variety of covered firing position as does the .223 just not as well. (It's a simple matter of physics)

Is it a good choice for hunting? no not at all. However if needed it will put meat on the table w/in a 100 meters or so.

As for the Mexican Government funded forces I fully agree with you on thier armament. However, the "Cuerno de Chivo" (AK-47) is the #1 choice of the Frontera cartels. And, they do love to send thier message with the "Cuerno."

Just google something to the effect of Cuerno de chivo / caborca? it'll give you an idea of the popularity.... When frontera starts to sing ballads about it ..well anyway enough said..Im drifting :)

Youtube video..
http://www.yourjapan.jp/watch-video/770QTK8x-_s/antrax8/cuerno-de-chivo-caborca.html

The AK will always be around The AK fits the budget of 3rd world The AK will always be the "Timex Watch" of assualt weapons. "It takes a beating and keeps on ticking!"

Peace
Steel Talon:cool:
 
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One of the problems with the AK47s in the middle east is that they are not all made by arms manufacturers. For every arsenal manufactured AK47/ AKM that is over there how many more were handcrafted on a piece of railroad tie from metal salvaged from a junk car? The ones that were manufactured by an arsenal were either made in peace or in war, and the quality and tolerances go up and down accordingly. The countries that did make them were not all authorized to do so, and if they weren't then where did they specs for the rifle? The AK is the closest thing I have seen to an open source rifle, and because of that the rifle quality varies from great to questionable at best.
 
Since the fall of the Soviet Union almost all 3rd world countries have an abundance of AK-47s. The middle east is flooded with them, not just Afganistan but every middle east country with the possible exception of Israel. For example, in any African country there are so many AK's that you can buy one for just 2 chickens. Alas, many African places still use the old fashioned form of trade. Just 2 chickens is VERY cheap. To put it into perspective a wife is considered a belonging worth about the same as a good hunting dog here in the states and a lot of the Africans buy their wives with 1-5 cows depending how good of a wife their getting and how bad they want them. An automatic assault weapon for 2 chickens in comparision to a good hunting dog (equivalent) for 2 cows? Yeah, the 3rd world countries everywhere (across the pond) are just flooded with them, not just Afganistan.

The AK-47 does however get respect. Many years ago in (I believe) LA a couple guys dressed in flack jackets and pants and brought AK-47s with many drum clips of ammo and robbed a bank and waited for the police to show up. (suicide by cop) The police showed up and they turned the neighborhood into a war zone. Many many cops were hurt that day. One guy ran out of ammo and pulled out his pistol, he got that pistol shot out of his hand by a sniper so he picked it back up again and shot himself in the head. His buddy was shooting at several police coming around the side of a truck he tried hijacking but one of his AK rounds bounced off a curb next to him and killed him. That day the AK-47 got ALOT of respect.
 
If you like semi auto rifles such as the AR etc then an AKM is a must for your collection. You can use it to see what you'll be up against or join the dark side. Either way you need an AK!

AKM003sm.gif
 
strategypage is not the best page out there. they tend to do a real good job of printing whatever ever their drunken uncle told them.
 
I always hear elitist jerks who rub off to their AR's or HKs or little kids who just log into youtube and spout out nationalist or counter-strike related garbage about the AK sucking as a rifle in contrived comments. Also, to whoever commented on the Ak's old design, keep in mind that the original AK and the original AR are only ten years apart.

I dont see why people keep comparing M16s to AK47s anyway. You're basically comparing a 1950's weapon to a weapon that has been modified numerous times in the past 40 years, and both always had different purposes from the their very birth. If you want to actually compare something (assuming you could even compare just the AK to the M16) then compare something like the AK74 or something from the AK-10X series to a modern composite-based M16 instead. That would make more sense.
 
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