AK-47 Gets No Respect.

[SilverState]

It's just like the high end 1911 guys who have no respect for Glocks...

For me, I have both (ARs and AKs...1911s and Glocks)!

 

[Pigspitter]

At $20 a pop you wouldn't need to reload, just buy another rifle

 

[yongxingfreesty]

nothing wrong with AKs. need a little variety

 

[ClickClickD'oh]

Well, now that I've been properly informed that the AK platform is no good for hunting, I'll just go out to the freezer and let the venision back into the wild...

 

[dglockster]

Maybe the links below will help with the respect issue:

http://www.warriortalk.com/showthread.php?t=33277


#1 Battle Rifle According to the Discovery Channel
It's the AK. What else?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvrG4T2K4sE

 

[MechAg94]

Parts of that article almost sounded like a bore teenager talking abou yesterday's fashion.

AK's are good guns, but I guess in some places they are not the latest bling so if you don't have a foreign rifle, you aren't connected.

 

[HorseSoldier]

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).

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

I didn't bother to read the Strategy Page "article" (which are consistently of debatable -- at best -- quality), but if they're saying AKs in Afghanistan are there because of the Egyptians and Israelis, they're neglecting to mention how the US and our allies (well, the Saudis, whatever we'd call them) paid for them . . .

On the idea that the AK is a crappy hunting weapon -- it'll do the job. They're popular with poachers in assorted places. An AK shooting FMJ ammo might not be the first choice for an American or western European deer hunter, but I don't think it would be hard to put food in the pot with one.

 

[Logan5]

While the AK-47 is famous, it is not all that popular once users have some money and a little choice. Such has been the case in Afghanistan, where drug gangs can now afford expensive American, European and Israeli weapons. A top line Western sniper rifle can cost over a thousand dollars, and an old G-3 (a Cold War era 7.62mm long rifle) or more modern weapon of the same caliber can be had for less.

Wow, that's totally crazy, because it's the opposite here right? That supply and demand stuff is crazy! The free market works on the NATO and Warsaw pact smallarms alike! Invisible hands strike again!!!

Anyone carrying an AK-47 is looked down upon, because a beat up model can be had for less than $20. 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).

If I were some kind of militant with an AK in the dark end of Unsavorystan, and someone made fun of my AKM and brandished his slightly less clapped out G-3... I'd stick the muzzle under his chin and hold the trigger down 'till his beard burned off, because that's what maniacs do to morons who make fun of their assault rifles!!! Making fun of a lunatic's gun works a lot better over MS Live than it does "IRL". These guys aren't sweet old fellers hanging out in rocking chairs around the cracker barrel talking about shotgun chokes and bird dog puppies.

In many countries, like Lebanon or Colombia, late model AKs (of different calibers) cost as much as Western weapons ($500-$1,000). In Pakistan, there are so many cheap AK-47s coming across the border from Afghanistan that the price is under $300. In parts of the world where there used to be a lot of action, but there is no longer much, and there was no large-scale turn-in of weapons, there are a lot of elderly, and cheap, AK-47s available. In Uganda, you can get an AK-47 for less than $200. In Cambodia, it's under $50.

Wait, let's try this a 2nd time... If the market is flooded, and demand is down, what does that do to the price of goods? Seriously, vendors never pulled this kind of BS in Everquest! Strategypage has discovered an eternal verity of the human condition! Doff your caps, gentle folk.

One problem with the AK-47 is that it's a lousy hunting weapon, unless you fix the sights, or practice, and burn a lot of ammo (which costs about 20 cents a round, not cheap for a part of the world where most people live on a buck or two a day). The AK-47 is mainly good for shooting, at close range, people who are not moving much. Wild animals are more elusive, and require a more precise firearm to bring down.

The High Road Response:
That argument is instantly, transparently stupid. I apologize, I've been back and forth on this one for hours, but that's just a stupid assertion.

 

[biscuitninja]

This article is full of FAIL. Its one of the best rifles out there. Simple, powerful, reliable and CHEAP. Respect? If you need to go into a building and spray down a whole of things and people, yea, its good. IMHO it was never meant to hunt animals at long range. Only people at short ranges.
good luck
-bix

 

[SaMx]

strategypage usually has really poorly written and poorly thought out articles.

 

[collateral]

whether the AK is popular and respected or not, it has proven itself in probably more conflicts than any other weapon. Whether or not its fashionable to carry a Kalashnikov in some countries doesnt matter. I know Id carry one!