Shot my first AK yesterday...

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Candyman87

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So I'll admit I'm an AK newbie. I've shot AR's plenty of times before (but most of my rifle experience is with bolt guns) and I'm definitely familiar with .30 caliber guns.

The AK just feels weird to me. Not saying it's a bad gun by any means. I see its merits.

To me it's a weird mix of my Ruger 10/22 with the bolt catch and an AR. (Yes, I understand that both of which are predated by the AK47) but living in New Jersey, I see very few AK variants in these parts.

I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to shoot. I can see why it's the most popular rifle in the world. I can see how it's used by anywhere from kids to the elderly. For a .30 caliber round, the recoil isn't bad at all. It's easy to shoot semi-accurately.

To sum it up... first time shooting an AK, while it's fun to shoot and easy to shoot, there will not be one in my future. I'm glad I found someone who let me shoot theirs, but it definitely cemented me well in the AR camp.
 
I'm in the same boat.

There's a lot to like about a Kalashnikov, but I just couldn't warm up to them. Tried 4 times with 4 different variants, wound up selling or trading all of them.

I'm sure the right deal will come along at some point and I'll end up with another, but it's pretty low on my list. I'm just an AR guy, will be assembling the 10th one in my collection next week. Will probably one day grab a 7.62x39 AR upper to burn through all that x39 ammo I have that is very unlikely to disappear in my '54 Tula SKS, which goes through about 15 stripper clips every other year, then back on the shelf.
 
MachIVshooter said:
I'm in the same boat.

There's a lot to like about a Kalashnikov, but I just couldn't warm up to them. Tried 4 times with 4 different variants, wound up selling or trading all of them.

I'm sure the right deal will come along at some point and I'll end up with another, but it's pretty low on my list. I'm just an AR guy, will be assembling the 10th one in my collection next week. Will probably one day grab a 7.62x39 AR upper to burn through all that x39 ammo I have that is very unlikely to disappear in my '54 Tula SKS, which goes through about 15 stripper clips every other year, then back on the shelf.
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Sounds like a plan.

To be honest, I haven't gotten around to buying/building an AR either. But that's definitely on the 2015/2016 acquisition list depending on finances. But that will come soon... I'll be needing an AR platform in 5.56 with an extra .22LR upper and eventually an AR in 7.62x51.
 
I like AK's but cant disagree with your experience.

I think the AK in it's military form (Select Fire), is a different animal. I like the "74" Style muzzle breaks. They really work!
 
I've never got to handle a 47 yet, but a 74 was shockingly pleasant in my hands after I managed to figure out how to deal with the safety. :confused:

I would encourage you to try the 74 out as I hear it's a different feel than the 47, just my two cents on the matter. Definitely not my Colt LE though...
 
Prefer the SKSs, myself.

Buddy of mine has an AK with a bump stock, lays down a full auto rate of fire. It's controllable with a fore grip attached to the rail he has on it, but that's okay, I don't need to lay down any covering fire on the things I shoot. :rolleyes: I don't like pistol grips on rifles, though I have one SKS set up with a folder. It's a range toy. I don't like the remote safety on the AK. I just plain don't like the ergos. I shoot lefty and both my SKSs have ambidextrous safeties on 'em and the rifle has a camo Choate sporter stock on it, handles very well in the field though it's a might heavier than my Rossi 92 and doesn't carry nearly as well. But, I use it as a truck gun, general bum around gun. :D I've killed a couple of deer with it and I have a stash of surplus ammo for it. Just like the AK, it eats all that steel cased crap, and it's a bit more accurate than your average AK.
 
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MCgunner said:
Prefer the SKSs, myself.

Buddy of mine has an AK with a bump stock, lays down a full auto rate of fire. It's controllable with a fore grip attached to the rail he has on it, but that's okay, I don't need to lay down any covering fire on the things I shoot. :rolleyes: I don't like pistol grips on rifles, though I have one SKS set up with a folder. It's a range toy. I don't like the remote safety on the AK. I just plain don't like the ergos. I shoot lefty and both my SKSs have ambidextrous safeties on 'em and the rifle has a camo Choate sporter stock on it, handles very well in the field though it's a might heavier than my Rossi 92 and doesn't carry nearly as well. But, I use it as a truck gun, general bum around gun. :D I've killed a couple of deer with it and I have a stash of surplus ammo for it. Just like the AK, it eats all that steel cased crap, and it's a bit more accurate than your average AK.
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I guess that's another advantage of the AK that I can't take too much advantage of right now... cheap steel cased ammo is bi-metal and can't shoot it at our indoor range, so I was shooting PPU brass cased FMJ at $0.65 a round. Honestly, my .303 Brit is the same price to shoot.

I guess that's why my future father-in-law reloads for his AK. So he can shoot indoors when the weather is crappy. We'll bust out the steel cased ammo once it warms up.
 
I handload everything I own except 20 gauge and don't load 12 much anymore. I have dies in 7.62x39 and the two deer I killed were with handloads, though I really like the Wolf/Tula 154 soft points and how they perform on hogs. They're also quite accurate. I'd rather run an AK with that ammo than ANY .223 AR, for sure. .223 is rather worthless to me and stuff like .300 blackout has to be handloaded. There's ammo, but it ain't cheap.

Don't have restrictions at my range, which is behind my house. :D I live in the sticks.
 
Long time ago I hated them, Then BHO was about to be electedfor the first time so I bought one on the cheap more so as a investment then anything. Its a good gun for 50 +/- yds at 5-6" target. I dont thinkI haveevr shot it pst 100yds.

Wh it is, is avery reliable cheap to shot lage caliber rd.

I have one that I on't shot much and I recentl bult a SBR out of an M92 PAP pistol that is fun to shoot...

Overall I am still an AR guy myself.
 
I was the opposite. I started on the AK... got my first when I was 16. It was a great rifle for a teenage dumbass, because you could go out and buy the cheapest, crappiest rifle (which at the time still all had good Eastern bloc chrome lined barrels), the cheapest, crappiest mags (which at the time were steel surplus... this was pre-Crapco) and could buy the cheapest, crappiest ammo, and it would still run reliably... whether you cleaned and lubricated it regularly or not.

That recipe did not work out well when teenage me decided to try it with an AR. My first AR was the cheapest, crappiest DPMS HBAR carbine I could find. I used the cheapest, crappiest Israeli plastic mags I could find, and shot the cheapest, crappiest steel case ammo I could get my hands on... and of course it was a jam-o-matic and solidified all the gun shop rumors that were so prevalent at the time, about ARs being piles of crap. That experience kept me away from ARs for a long time, until I learned that not all ARs are made equal, and that a high quality one with good materials, testing, and specs will actually be very reliable as long as you keep it lubed and use good mags. Also after getting some experience and training, I learned the value of a modular and optics-friendly rifle that can be easily configured exactly the way you want it for a particular purpose. ARs are now my favorite firearm, and I own more of them than anything else by far. I have parted with all my AKs.
 
Long time ago I hated them, Then BHO was about to be electedfor the first time so I bought one on the cheap more so as a investment then anything. Its a good gun for 50 +/- yds at 5-6" target. I dont thinkI haveevr shot it pst 100yds.
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My SKSs will group 2.5 MOA, 5" at 200 yards. There are AKs I fired that wouldn't do 6 MOA, though 3-4 seems the norm. So, with that in mind, I never really got the hots for 'em, then add the awful ergos. Back when I bought my SKS paratrooper for 115 bucks and my SKS rifle for 75, AKs were going for under 200, more like 150 to 175. I wouldn't pay what they want for 'em, now, didn't think the price was that good considering, anyway, even back then. People just have to have 'em for the big, quick change magazines, I guess. Well, if you could hit with the damned thing, you wouldn't NEED all that firepower. :rolleyes:

My range toy SKS is set up with a 20 round chi-com fixed mag. My rifle is set up with a flush fitting 5 round fixed mag, though I can stick the 10 rounder in it if I deem necessary. I like being able to wrap my hand around it at the balance point, though, when I'm carrying in the field.

There are big mags that quick change from Tapco for the SKS. They claim these are good mags. I have no real use for 'em, though, sort of a waste of my money. But, to each his own.

Now days, SKSs go for 300-over 400 bucks depending on what they are. At those prices, I wouldn't buy an SKS either. I only bought the ones I have because they were cheap. I can buy a real hunting rifle in a real hunting caliber for 400 bucks. :rolleyes: I do have several bolt guns, though, in .257 Roberts, .308, and 7mm Rem Mag. I do prefer to tote the SKS in the truck, It's a military gun and rugged to the max and if I scratch it, so what? Everyone, even a Fudd like me, needs a gun like this. The lever guns, I have a 92, are kind of delicate, though they carry well in the field, but banging around in the truck cab, they can be damaged.

In the end, it's what ya want that counts. :D You don't need to justify it with an actual USE. I shoulda picked up an AK, I guess, when I could get one for a buck 50. Shoulda, woulda, coulda. I'd never shoot the thing, though. Just don't care for 'em. Never will own an AR either, don't care for 'em. I'm just a Fudd.
 
I have a couple of AK's and AR's, and like them both. Both are accurate and reliable, contrary to somewhat common beliefs. Each is its own critter as well, and tends to work best if you leave them what they are and learn to work/shoot them.

Personally, I like the AK's just that much more, and would tend to grab one first, if there was a choice. They just shoulder and shoot a little more naturally for me.

I think a lot of the complaints with any of them come from a lack of experience and familiarity with them. Spend some quality time, and become intimate with them, and I think youll find most of the "issues" go away, as you become familiar with them.

My experience has been, that both platforms will shoot about the same, especially when fitted with a red dot, and shot realistically, comparable guns too of course.
 
I have AKs and love em. A tad more recoil than ARs, true but much less "needy" when it comes to maintaining them and I actually find the controls of an AK much more intuitive than those on an AR.
 
I'm not a AK Fan Boy at all. I have 2 but prefer the AR any time, any day.
The AK might have the reliability factor for a full auto rifle but the AR beats it in every other class and I'm not so sure the AK is that much better in full auto.
I love the ergonomics of the AR and they are like a Lego set of firearms. The AK just isn't.
 
Oh what the heck, I haven't posted this one up in a while.

They're surprisingly controllable.

[YOUTUBE]Li5EcyksD2I[/YOUTUBE]

(Me and a 75 round drum)
 
Do your hands look like this, then?
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Naw, I got short stubby fingers, and I can work everything with my hand on the grip. Mags even drop free. :)

If youre having trouble, maybe its not the gun. ;)
 
My first bought rifle was an Arsenal Bulgarian milled AK. Sometime later at a range a fellow swapped me his bushmaster rifle for awhile. After a few rounds I was solidly cemented in the AK camp. To each their own. Who uses a safety on an AK? Its not easy enough to just rack the slide?
 
I use the safety, why wouldnt you? Its easy enough to just swipe it off with your middle finger.

Depending on how youre carrying the gun, you can do it a couple of ways. With your finger, or your thumb. The thumb is the "quiet" way.
 
Here's how to make the safety "thumb accessible" on an AK, they also have an ambi safety. They also create a "bolt hold open" which I personally don't care for.

I will say, owning my AR made me like my AK more. Different strokes for different folks. I just got a mini draco yesterday, I think I'm gonna have a lot of fun with it.:D
 
The AK's dont need a BHO. Its really very simple, the gun stops running, or you reload, you always work the charging handle. That way you know the gun is always loaded.

Ive had AR's not lock open on empty more than a few times, and a lot more than Id like to remember. If I do a mag swap on one that wasnt locked back, or the gun goes dead, it gets reloaded like an AK.
 
Standard procedure for me is to carry empty chamber then rack the slide to fire. Why go with one in the chamber all the time when its faster to rack the slide than to use the safety?
 
Naw, I got short stubby fingers, and I can work everything with my hand on the grip. Mags even drop free.

If youre having trouble, maybe its not the gun.
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Point being that manipulating the safety requires you to remove one of your hands from the firing position, unless you are a 7'5" basketball player with 6" long fingers.

The AK's dont need a BHO. Its really very simple, the gun stops running, or you reload, you always work the charging handle. That way you know the gun is always loaded.
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The recoil impulse is different when the bolt locks open; you darn sure know when your AR is dry. AK pretty much feels the same as the other 29 times it slammed home.

Ive had AR's not lock open on empty more than a few times, and a lot more than Id like to remember. If I do a mag swap on one that wasnt locked back, or the gun goes dead, it gets reloaded like an AK.
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Magazine problem (or running really weak ammo that is barely cycling the action). Using quality GI mags or Pmags and any ammo other than Tula, I don't ever recall the bolt failing to lock back on empty with an AR.
 
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