Doesn't that apply to stripper clips as well? You seem intent on proving they don't work as well yet when confronted with an AK part that obviously doesn't work as well as it's SKS counterpart you start using the same argument I used. Funny how that works.
I never said strippers dont work, they work fine, when you have good strippers, and youre practiced with them. The problem with the SKS strippers Ive used is, they are not very well made, and dont always work all that great. And again, you need to load the gun three times to equal one AK mag.
I never said AK's were perfect either, but simply pointed out that most of what people complain about, goes away with practice and familiarization, just like anything else, including the SKS.
I think the biggest problem in this respect is, many people have little experience with anything other than what they have, and hence what they have is "the best" (because its all they know) and everything they lack experience with, is junk or inferior. Nature of the beast I suppose.
BTW I wouldn't imagine anyone would have a need to load with stripper clips at the range.
Its how you load the gun, why wouldnt you practice that at the range, or any other time you load the gun?
The sole purpose of stripper clips and the chest pouches that carry them is to have lots of ammo available to load in case of extreme emergency.
Again, the gun was designed to be loaded with strippers, just like the Mausers, 03's, etc.
I see very little use for an AK other than that though. But an SKS lends itself to being made into a hunting rifle much better than an AK does.
Why? How?
Ill readily admit, I never hunted with my SKS's, but I have hunted things a couple of times with my AK's and AR's. They were not really my gun of choice, but they were what I had at the moment, and they worked just as well at that purpose as anything else.
Sure they are, until they arent.
They are toys, tools, and weapons, all depending on what youre doing with them at the moment. Any time youre having fun with them, puts them in the toy category to me, although lines can be blurred there, depending on what else you might find fun, and then they become multiple category guns.
You have made this far more personal than it should be. I have said the AK was a fine weapon but you didn't notice that.
You seem to be the one who has taken things personal. I never said the SKS was "bad", simply pointed out why I thought the AK was "better".
Please feel free to believe what you want "AK"103K.
Hey, I will.
You too.
Oh, and in case youre not up on your rifles, AK103K is an AK. Its a imported Russian Saiga Mark Krebs "restored" to an ("peon" legal) AK103 series rifle. The "K" is the chopped 14" barrel version. Great gun too by the way. Reliable and as accurate as all my other AK's (and SKS's).
I owned a Romanian SAR and just to be blunt about it the thing was a piece of junk. Again I'll take a true milsurp rifle over a cobbled together representation of an AK that has key parts stripped out and others added in. If it isn't full auto it isn't really an AK IMO. It's a rifle made for consumers much like some SKS models were (like the Cowboy Companion among others). I don't like those either.
Unfortunately for us "free" Americans, except for a very few tightly regulated and quite pricey items, we arent allowed to own certain things our government deems "scary", and if you want a representation of a certain platform, you have to deal with the watered down versions. "Most" of the auto type military rifles fall into that realm, so I suppose that makes all of them "not real" in your eyes.
Ive been lucky enough to get to shoot many of the "real" guns, and reality is, 99% of their (real world) use, is no different than that of their semi auto only versions, so Im not sure how that makes the semis, bad, because of it.
Now if you want to get back to the "toy" thing, the full autos are the "primo" versions when youre ready to "play" (good for "real" stuff too, if you know how and when to use it)
I do like a rifle that has proven to be incredibly reliable over the course of 20+ years. Even when my AK worked it wasn't as accurate. It also wasn't shorter than my SKS so there goes the stuff about being a better CQC rifle.
I like reliable (and accurate) firearms too. In fact, I cant abide those that arent, and they arent here long if I should encounter them. I still have a bunch of AK's, and even the dreaded and often maligned unreliable AR's (I must be lucky
).
In my experience, when people tell me the AK (or anything for that matter) isnt accurate, I dont generally look at the gun for the reason.
The only AK's that Ive personally encountered that werent accurate, were US made/assembled guns, or guns assembled in someones basement, from a kit. Had that same issue with a couple of AR's as well.
AK's made in the country of origin, like the SAR's and WASR's, while crude to some, usually shoot better than those assembled or "made" here in the US. Most of the imports are made in the same factories where they make the "real" guns.
As far as the "shorter" part, you must have one of those SKS's you dont like, since every "standard" SKS Ive ever seen, was longer than any AK with a standard stock Ive compared them to.
And....about the SKS/AK comparisons. Upfront....I have never understood the fascination that many shooters have with the semi-auto AK.
Magazines..stripper clips, reliability, accuracy, blah, blah, blah.......
Are you going to war? Are you going into battle any time soon?
No...I don't think so.
What is your most likely use for the gun? Not what you could do, not what others do, not what has been done......what are you going to do with it most likely?
The range.....you are going to take it to the range.
At the range you are going to shoot at some type of target.....or you are going to blast away and burn up ammo. If you are target shooting and accuracy is important to you....the SKS is the way to go. (If it is really important to you, the AR is the way to go, but that is another story.)
Magazines. I have an SKS....I did the magazine conversion.....bought high capacity mags.....what a waste. I went back to the fixed magazine and the stripper clips. Why? Because I found that I have no real use for a 20 or 30 round magazine....I am not in combat.
No argument with most of what you say here. Use your gun how you want. If you like the SKS, and who cares why, your business, thats fine. Just be prepared to hear opposing views that may not agree with yours, if you bring up somethng else "you" think is inferior.
As far as the "combat" thing. There was once a time in this country when people were encouraged by our government to practice and train with the rifles our troops used so they were prepared and familiar with their use, in case of war. These days, its not as common a thing.
Dont you think its a good thing, to at least be competent in the use of the weapons you do have (regardless of who made them), in the ways they were meant to be used, if for whatever reason, you might need to use them in that manner?
It used to be a thought in this country, that it was your responsibility to do so. Then again, look where we are today.
