Backyard AAR

AR/M4 AR General Discussion
1

I wanted to share the experience that I had at the family farm over the weekend. Having no LEO or Military experience under my belt I had been waffling back and forth between the AR platform and the AK platform as to what system that I wanted to focus on. So I decided to setup a little backyard test to see how they worked for me.

Target:
4 randomly placed standard Remington orange clay targets in various locations in the ditch behind the house.

Rifles:

  1. Polytech AKS-762 Side folder w/East German mags firing South African brass cased surplus
  2. Colt 6920 with carry handle sights w/Okay Alum mags firing a mixture of old XM193 (LC and Win)

Test setup:

  1. Load 2 magazines, one with 3 rounds and one with 2 rounds.
  2. Firing free hand from standing approximately 35 yards from targets.

Test sequence:

  1. Start with empty gun in ready position.
  2. Load and charge gun.
  3. Shoot targets until magazine empty.
  4. Swap magazines.
  5. Continue until all targets eliminated or ammunition expended.

Results:

AK

  1. Consistently hit 3 out of 4 targets.
  2. One run had round left over.
  3. Significantly slower, especially when following IAD of click, charge, click, reload.
  4. Even when changing to click, reload almost 2x as long to finish run on targets.

AR

  1. Initially with large aperature consistently hit 3 out of 4 targets.
  2. Changed to small aperature and always hit 4 out of 4 targets. 50% of the time I would have extra round left over and would advance on target until I could see a large enough section of clay target and fire and hit that.
  3. Magazine/recharging significantly faster. When gun locked back, roll inboard to verify locked back condition, drop mag/replace continue.

Conclusions:

For my personal use, I believe that I will be significantly more satisfied with my performance with the AR versus the AK. Even though I have significantly more rounds fired thorough the AK over the years than I do the 6920, I was significantly more “effective” with the AR than I was the AK. I believe that if I had a red dot instead of iron sights I would have been even faster.

2

Reading this makes me happy. Good on ya for going out and setting up a test to determine which platform works for you, rather than making a subjective choice based on aesthetics.

Now, go out and get some TRAINING! You’ll really start loving the AR.

This re-enforces the argument that those who get it are few and far between versus those who just don’t have a clue nor know where to find one. Thankfully most of the users here get it.