Round you would use in your AK in a SHTF sittuation?

What bullet type would you use in a SHTF sittuation in your AK?

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Huntin', I'm concerned about clean, ethical kills. Don't want to waste meat, either.

If I'm in a situation where the above concerns are not at issue, I'm gonna use whatever's most likely to ruin a Bad Guy's day. Soft Points and Hollow Points seem to me to be the way to go. Two or three hits aren't gonna bother me, either.

I'm not affected by any Conventions...

Since I don't have an AK/clone, I figure that whateve '06 load is good for Bambi is good for Bad Guys.

Art
 
Wasn't Barnual made at the Uly plant? Or am I thinking of Silver Bear?
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Its my understanding that Barnaul is now being distributed under the Silver Bear label. I havent been able to get Barnaul for quite awhile now, at least not under that label. The cases of Barnaul I have are marked "JSC Barnaul Machine-Tool Plant"
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Silver/Brown Bear, and Barnaul is/were made at Barnaul

http://www.gzanders.com/bearammo/barnaul.html

Ulyanovsk made Sapsan. I don't know if it made any other imports.
 
From a terminal performance standpoint...it is hard to pass up the 115gr Hornady VMAX. From what I hear, they stopped making the loaded ammo a long time ago, and even the .310-.311 VMAX is hard to find. So it would be a handloading option only at this point.


2,500fps 115gr VMax must make a nasty, nasty mess on internals.
 
Forgot to add....it's nice to figure out the "most effective" bullet for a particular platform, but the truth is, the one that is most reliable in feeding is best, and that's the number one priority.


Beyond that, how you use the rifle, how you maintain it, and your skill level are far and above beyond any magic-bullet issues.


Just having an AK is 99% of the game in itself. Anything available for it is going to do serious damage. Worry more about skills and ability, and getting more rounds on target. The thug in your home at 3am isn't going to notice the difference between an FMJ or a HP. It is all the same. Remember, anything worth shooting, is worth shooting more than once!
 
The thug in your home at 3am isn't going to notice the difference between an FMJ or a HP. It is all the same. Remember, anything worth shooting, is worth shooting more than once!
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Thats why I cover all my bases, regardless of caliber. :)

f30b0579.jpg
 
Dont tread, I called up hornady and they said they stopped making it because everyone buys AK ammo in 1000 round+ quantities and they were getting murdered by the 10c a round crew. Just wasnt worth it.
 
That sucks!

Thanks for the input though Beerslurpy.

Maybe now that Wolf is $150 a case (at best) and possibly rising...maybe the "market" will be more hospitable to the fancy stuff in x39?

Only thing holding that back is the nature of AK owners. Most are AK owners because the rifle/ammo combination was dirt cheap, yet reliable, powerful, and very useful for any imaginable domestic issue. They're not your handloading types. They're your find it, buy it, shoot it types who don't care about all the details. Hate to stereotype, but most AK guys like things simple.

I think that could change, IF AK owners could be made to appreciate something more effective. The case would have to be made, and tests shown that their magic-bullet is better. People are always interested in a better bullet. Look at this thread for example.

There is a fanatical demand for Hornady TAP, which for those of you who don't know, is the fancy top-performance self-defense loading for .223. It doesn't get much better than that, and people pay to have their defense magazines loaded with those.
 
Hate to stereotype, but most AK guys like things simple.
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I am a sterotypical AK owner and I take no offense at that.

I use the cheapest "effective" ammo I can find whether it's 12 guage, x39, 30/30, .357mag, or 22LR.

Staying with that approach I also prefer revolvers, pumps, bolt actions, and leverguns to any semi auto. The only semi I currently own is an AK clone, because I know it will work 99.99999% of the time.


Keep it simple, stupid... Army training sir! :D
 
I suppose

I suppose I prefer FMJ. I like being able to penetrate door jambs and such. The most accurate 7.62X39 I ever shot was some Egyptian military surplus. I had to stop shooting it because it was VERY hot and the cases suffered all sorts of wacky looking damage upon ejection.

I still remember wistfully the splendid accuracy the Egyptian ammo had coming out of my Chinese SKS at the time.
 
Hate to stereotype, but most AK guys like things simple.
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The best thing about the AK is its retardedly simple action, and hence reliability. Take a big oversized gas piston, smash the big heavy carrier into the rear of the gun, use a big strong spring to give it speed on the way back, and the big heavy carrier is good for stripping the next round. The whole gun is like some pissed off carpenter using a 4lb hammer for a finish nail. "Its gonna work this time no matter what damn it!" Everything else is secondary.

So the stereotype makes perfect sense considering the rifle in question. I fit the mold. I dont hand load, and I got into AKs for all the reasons you stated. If ammo becomes super expensive, it might be time to look at something else.
 
I heard this in another thread, "Life begins at 30 (caliber)" I love the 7.62x39 round, and will not stop buying it anytime soon in the near future. I have close to 2000rds right now. Even if it magically went up to a dollar a round, I would still shoot it, I've based all my shtf loadout around my MAK-90 and Yugo sks. I'll just cut back on my shooting habits. Here's my game plan right now: shoot one or two boxes at the range. Buy 2 boxes for every one I shoot. Buy all I can if I find it less than $4.00 a box. Rather than burn through it, if I treat the rifle shooting it like a target gun, I'll get great groups, still not target grade, but good shooting none the less.
 
Hate to stereotype, but most AK guys like things simple.
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Not a stereotype, I agree (at least for this AK guy), I have tried to "get into" reloading, but it just seemed to take some of the simple fun out of it. Eh, when I get my 30-06 later this year (ya got to get an 06 in 06!) ill probably start working on some hand loads for it, but I don't think i'll really ever reload for the AK, save the price goes up to 300 a case.

-DR
 
This brings up a rumor I heard/read/was told, from somwhere. It went like this, all mil-spec 7.62x39, regardless of bullet weight is loaded to give the same trajectory. Or, the speed is adjusted depending on bullet grainage to ensure they match as close as possible. The reasoning was to allow the graduated sights to be used with any available com-block mil-spec ammo.

What I know of Eastern Block reliance on redundancy and inter-changeablity, it seems plausible.

I have yet to test this, anyone notice a different point of impact with various surplus 7.62x39 ammo?
 
I have yet to test this, anyone notice a different point of impact with various surplus 7.62x39 ammo?
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I would love to test that theory, right now i only have 154gr sp here in kansas, all my other ammo is back home. But i will get right on that as soon as possible. I appreciate the idea.

I would like to thank everyone for there input, thanks for all the outstanding responses. By the poll it looks like the FMJ won out, but in review there are many that believe, that what ever is near by or on hand would be the way to go, i agree, anything of the .30 cal variety will do the trick! Thanks again for your participation!
 
123gr HP - but only by a narrow margin.

Well... I have several SKS and mine feed anything 123gr made by communists anywhere with utter reliability.

I almost said FMJ - because that was what it's designed for. That being said, though, I don't plan to shoot at even thin-skinned vehicles and figure it'd be more likely I'd have to shoot at thin-skinned bipeds. I know the HP isn't worth much as an expanding bullet, but they feed just fine in my rifles and if I had to choose, I'd take a bullet that MIGHT expand over one that I knew wouldn't. That being said... I'd be happy to use the ball ammo it was designed to shoot.
 
I was one of the soft pointers. The way I see it, I am going to try to avoind firefights as much as possible. Hopefully, the only time I shoot the AK is at four-legged food stufs. I think the softies would be better for that.

I would be acceptant though of having a mag full of softies and FMJ for the rest of it.
 
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