AR-15 vs SKS Poll

[Pilot]

If it were a survival situation in which I had to hunt game to stay alive, I'd take one of my Russian SKS and the 7.62x39 cartridge. I'd think it would be hard to kill a deer or larger game with the 5.56, but I'm sure its been done.

 

[middy]

I'd think it would be hard to kill a deer or larger game with the 5.56

But a .243 will kill them everytime, eh?

I've seen a deer killed with a single round of .223, and heard of many more.

I've also seen a coyote run over by a car, jump up and run away (well, limp quickly away), only to be brought down by a single round of .223.

Don't tell me people are tougher than coyotes. A "varmint" round seems to be adequate for humans, if many combat veterans are to be believed.

 

[cslinger]

I am not a hunter but do not poachers use the .22LR very commonly since it has such a small sound signature?

I am not saying this is humane, I am not saying it is right, I am just saying that in a survial type situation with a few skills killing a deer with a .223 should be no problem.

Chris

 

[Too Many Choices!?]

1st off, A solid neck shot with .223, is just as good as a heart shot with 7.62x39

With less meat loss... 2nd, I doubt the game warden will be working checking mag capacity and caliber selection, when the SHTF...

3rd, I can follow up shot in less than a second with an ~6" dispersion, off hand, from the original shots point of impact, out to 100yds with iron sights...If I can't take even a medium-large white tail deer, at ~100yds with two shots and after addin my 3-9xmagnification scope, I need more help than a bigger bullet will offer

Too Many Choices!?

 

[UberAmerican]

Sks For Sure!

My choice would be the SKS..... because I own one.

 

[FlyinBryan]

i own both, my sks is the version that accepts the ak mags, and its fun to shoot.

but its really not even a contest in my opinion.

the ar is far superior in every category that matters to me:

precision
accuracy
available goodies

i keep hearing how you can shoot an sks or an ak packed full of mud.

i dont pack mine with mud.

sometimes a fun thing to do is put maple syrup on a target and hang it on the 100yrd range and give the flies 5 mins to find it, then blast them.

it makes targets really last a long time.

 

[kingjoey]

SKS

 

[jdc1244]

I own no ARs nor do I pan to. An SKS will do fine: very accurate and reliable in all conditions and it can be reloaded quickly with stripper clips.

 

[springfield30-06]

I would take the AR-15. First off, I own one... Second, I was in the military and am very familiar with it.

 

[CannonFodder]

If we're talking about total SHTF where it might be a while between the next time we can clean, and the terrain will be tough: SKS all the way. It'll just keep on running. And, in a pinch, you can use it to hammer tent spikes. Or as a mighty club. Or a spear. And then as a rifle again.

In fact, if I ever got shot while holding one, I fully expect the rifle to yell at me in Russian to get up and stop being such a pansy.

 

[sixgunner455]

AR15 is my favorite centerfire rifle. I also have a Yugo SKS. It weighs twice as much as my lightweight carbine.

I mostly shoot my 10/22. It's a money thing -- 20 rounds of 5.56 cost as much as 500 rounds of .22lr.

The last time I shot that SKS was last summer, before I finished building my AR.

 

[possum]

i have a bushmaster and i would take that if i could only have one rifle to last me. capacity accuracy, etc. plus that is what i trainined and most prefecient with.

 

[The Swede]

AR. Accuracy. American made. And like FlyinBryan I don't pack my weapons with mud.

 

[10-Ring]

My vote went AR s

 

[jpwilly]

The AR is the superior weapon!

But the SKS is no slouch and would serve well enough in SHTF. But it is long and heavy. The sights are only good enough...with enough practice you would have no problem putting lead on target with either.

Me I'll take the better faster sights, lighter rifle, 30rnds per mag and supurb accuracy of the AR any day.

Odds are in SHTF tactics would win the day and that includes having the proper rifle.

 

[35 Whelen]

IMHO, the AR is a much, much better built, more accurate weapon. But let's face it, bigger bullet = quicker death. Period. I'd have to go with the SKS.
35W

 

[FlyinBryan]

but the ar bullet will reach you faster.

and an exploded head is an exploded head. both will result in this.

i dont shoot heads though. i shoot targets, balloons, rocks, cinder blocks, and stuff like that.

my buds and me often smear a little aunt jamima on a target and shoot the flies that land. we use 6x24 variable power scopes from 50, sometimes 100 yrds. its a lot of fun. sometimes butterflies land on them and when you hit a butterfly, they kinda go poof, into powder.

to do this with an "out of the box" rifle, the secret is to make sure the first 2 letters are "ar" and whats left should be "15".

lol, im just hackin' on ya, but really,,,,,it is fun to chase a fly across your target, its like this:

boom boom boom boom splat.

 

[High Planes Drifter]

I'll take AR.


"Now thats a fight'n rifle".

 

[Funderb]

I voted sks,
because I know how to shove 10 rnds into the mag,
then empty said mag into a 1.5" circle at 50 yards in
about 7 seconds.
I also know that .30 inches is bigger than .223 inches,
and that I'd rather hit someone with a baseball bat than a pool stick.

just my humble opinion...
oh, and the report of an AR is horribly annoying. I prefer the more endurable loud low "BOOM" of the sks as opposed to the
high-pitched, piercing, "BEHHHC" of the AR.

 

[guntotinguy]

I have both a RRA AR-15 Entry Tactical .223 and 2 SKS's a Yugo and a Russian.To me the AR would be more 'convenient' and for distance fire,but this one with the 'thread question' would be hard for me to decide.Right now it would be the AR but different situations call for different SHTF 'on site' judgement calls.

 

[coondawg47]

Since were talking SHTF and I don't have the U.S. Military support machine anymore, I would choose the SKS. As accurate or better than most of the M-16/M-4s that I carried over 25 years of military service. Did carry an A-2 that was truly outstanding for about two years until PCS. I never have fired one of those modern AR-15s hand built and all with every do-dad known to man attached to every square inch of the front hand guards. I really wouldn't want to try rushing and rolling with all that crap attached to my rifle, probably scar me for life, and break expensive things off the rifle. One mans Cadillac is another mans Pinto. Either one would get the job done.

 

[Acheron]

I voted AR.


I would have voted SKS but I own a Yugo M59/66. That thing is way too clunky to be carrying around all the time.

Now if I had a Russian SKS, that would be a different story.

 

[scubie02]

take the sks, then take the money you would have used for the lifetime of cleaning supplies for it and buy the AR, because you probably won't ever have to clean the SKS...

 

[JWarren]

I wonder if Shrinkmd remembers starting this poll.

When there is no more room in Hell, dead threads will walk THR.

hehe...


-- John

 

[Greenspartan117]

I pick an AR-15. I live in California and have to have a slightly modded AR, with a mag lock device, prince 50 or bullet button, or to use grandfathered hi-caps, use a monsterman grip.