Re: AR vs. AK
Pick up and shoot both and see. I want a rifle I can put to my shoulder, and not get out of position to use it. While keeping my shooting hand on the pistol grip, I want to push a button and have the mag drop free while my other hand is reaching for the next magazine. I wont to be about to have a NPI and without changing my grip, disengage the safety.
Accuracy?????? You can hit a man size target at 200 yards with an AK. Really. In combat, if someone is shooting at your at 200 yards I doubt they present a full body target. I want accuracy where I know I can hit head size targets to 300 yards.
As to home defence. I suppose either will do it, but I wouldn't want either. I want a pistol. Even in my LE days, I did a heck of a lot of building searches. I forwent the shotgun for my service revolver. A long gun gets in the way. You have doors to open, mirrors for peeking around corners, etc. And if you catch a bandit, the long gun is really in the way. Ever try to handcuff someone while holding a rifle or shotgun? No sir, in self defense I'll stick with my pistol/revolver.
We use to get intermetian snipers in SE Asia, hired to pop a round every now and then to keep us honest. The rule was, if they were using AKs leave them a lone for fear they would be replaced with someone with a Mosin.
You hear stories of soldiers tossing their M16s and grabbing an AK in the field. I call bull shit, you certainly wont do it in any patrol I'm on, here is why. This is from a friend of mine, his name and panel number is left out. What happened was he took an AK and was playing with it. Nothing sounds like a AK but an AK. Much different then a M16. And not always can you have eye contact with others in your unit. When an AK opens up, you're gonna fire at it. Just the way it is in the jungle. And if you didn't know, "misadventure" is a term used for Friendly Fire.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">SGT - E5 - Army - Regular
101st Airborne Division
Length of service 1 years
His tour began on Jun 24, 1967
Casualty was on Dec 8, 1967
In LAM DONG, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY
MISADVENTURE
Body was recovered
</div></div>
As to reliability. There is nothing wrong with the reliability of the M16 system, and I've shot them in some pretty nasty conditions. They never failed me. I'm not talking range work (thats another ball game altogether, where there is no compairson) I'm talking combat, in some of the nastest country you can imagine. The below picture will give you some sort of ideal. I also used them a lot in extreme cold, spending 20 years in the Alaska NG where we did most of our training in the winter. Not hard to keep a M16 going.
I contend that anyone who says the AK is better has never used either in combat. Sure there are more AKs used through out the world, its not because they are better, its because the Russians and Chinese gave them away by the millions.
