AR-15 v. AK-47?

[SteelyDan]

My two cents.

If you're shooting in some kind of competition where both guns are eligible, the AR is an easy choice. I don't shoot competitively, so that's not a factor. My interests are more along the lines of shooting soda cans for fun, improving skills at target shooting, and possible SHTF stuff. For those purposes, I would be equally happy to own either one. The AR is more accurate and you can carry more ammo. The AK is lighter, more reliable, and half the cost. Whatever. I like them both.

 

[TheOtherOne]

What about an AK-74 clone.

I absolutely love my Bulgarian AK-74! I don't know what it is about it, but it's such a fun gun to shoot.

Recoil is very minimal, I can bump fire without a problem and actually keep the muzzle from rising way up on me. Also, maybe it's just my imagination but the bullets seem to have an extra cool whiz sound to them as they go down range. I don't know how that's a benefit, but I like it

Ammo isn't quite as cheap as the AK-47, but still at about $120/shipped for 1,000 rounds it is reasonable.

 

[Tomac]

I've owned numerous AR's in the past, everything from stock SP-1's to a custom XM-177E2 and had problems w/all of them (yes, I know reliable AR's do exist). I just don't trust the AR platform for reliability the way I trust the AK platform. In the 15yrs I've owned AKs I've only seen a single failure and that was due to a dirty gas port coupled w/a recoil buffer (removing the recoil buffer restored function until the gas port was cleaned out). I took 2 SAR-2's (inexpensive Romanian 5.45 AK's I paid $225 each for) right out of the box (no cleaning, lubing or prep work except for checking the bore for obstructions) and proceeded to put 1,000rds through each of them w/o a single hitch. Now that's the kind of "out of the box" reliability I've come to know & love from the AK! Just load up the mags & shoot. No worry about gas ring orientation, which lube is right, am I using the right mag, does the mag have the right follower, etc. I don't consider myself anti-AR, just pro-AK (the AK serves my particular needs better than the AR).
Tomac

 

[Bacchus]

If, after reading the advice/opinions listed above, you decide to sell it, please PM me.

 

[gtmerkley]

I would realy like to see this Thread restarted althow It never realy closed. For I Plan to have both in the vary near future I'm talking Next week or so.

 

[Walkalong]

I have both and like both, but my Mini 14 is loaded and ready to go. Well, I do have a loaded mag laying by the AR in the safe too, but the Mini 14 is loaded and right there to grab first.

Which is better? Depends on what you want. They are very different animals.

 

[paratroop23]

Knew this had to be pretty old. Cheap ammo, I don't think there's such a thing anymore!!

 

[thebaldguy]

Don't sell anything; keep the AR and get an AK.

You can never do an accurate comparison unless you have both...

 

[benEzra]

I would like to buy an AK at some point in the future. However the guy who runs the short range at my local place makes people with AK's shoot from "the cage" because he is paranoid that any and every AK can and will blow up randomly while you are shooting it.

I KNOW he is biased, he is a very old guy and he hates anything not American-made. But still it makes me nervous because he was shooting before my dad was born and his advice is usualy very sound.

Any input here?

Sounds like he might have fallen for the MACV-SOG "Eldest Son" psyop and didn't get the word after the war that it wasn't true?

The operation involved operators behind enemy lines randomly planting C4-stuffed rifle cartridges and zero-delay grenades in enemy arms caches, accompanied by a whisper campaign by agents spreading the word that the weapons and ordnance coming from China were of poor quality and liable to blow up in your face if you used them. It was intended to undermine the VC's confidence in their gear.

 

[RockyMtnTactical]

Get what you like and stick with it.

I prefer the AR15 over the AK, but that's me.

In my opinion, both platforms are well proven and I know what I can expect from my AR15's. If I didn't trust them, I wouldn't own them.

 

[SnakeLogan]

The 7.62x39 is a much better round, but the AR has much better ergonomics.

My solution? By a 7.62x39 AR.

 

[kcshooter]

Don't sell anything; keep the AR and get an AK.

Exactly.
I love em both. I know, I know, you are supposed to pick one or the other, but I just can't.

 

[H2O MAN]

I had a new production LE 6920. It was real nice with very good fit and finish.
I sold it un-fired for more than I paid and purchased another pre-ban Chinese AK
I used the left over cash to buy a 100 round drum, some circle 10s and a Micro T-1

 

[custermustache]

If that AK is still for sale with all of those accessories for $250, I am in.

 

[RobertRogers]

In a long term situation, a really bad SHTF or something, the AK has definate advantages.

 

[kcshooter]

If that AK is still for sale with all of those accessories for $250, I am in.

Yeah, who wouldn't be? Unfortunately, this thread is four years old.

 

[vegasHeat]

1. Rugged, simple construction
2. Legendary reliability even under really nasty conditions
3. Cheaper ammo
4. Pistons are more better than teensy gas tubes
5. They tend to scare people just by showing up
6. Half the world's armies and three-quarters of the narco-militias and guerilla fighters can't be wrong
7. Liberals desperately want to ban them, so they must be okay
8. They're so manly I sometimes feel...uh...inadequate when looking at hi-cap banana mags
9. They're designed to be easily field-stripped, reassembled, and used effectively by half-drunk, half-frozen illiterate conscripts. That gives me hope I might be able to become at least semi-proficient.
10. they are just plain evil looking

 

[BBstacker]

Keep AR & get a AK. I have 2 AR's & 1 AK I enjoy shooting all of them. But for shear fire power I would use my FAL.