I have a multitude of ARs for various and sundry roles. I am now thinking of branching my collection out into different flavors of military style rifles. The order of purchasing I have in mind is such.
7.62X39 AK, I am think of an arsenal, but am looking for ideas.
FN/FAL or a SA M1A not certain which one, I had a M1A before nad regret selling it, but not certain I regret it enough to get another yet.
AUG or AUG clone.
There are several others I am considering, but that is down the line. Anyone want to distill some wisdom on my shopping list?
I have a
Yugo underfolder. It is nice. It is fun to shoot. It is borring in that fact that it is not as accurate as an AR, but it always goes bang. I think it would be good for any collection.
I like my older M1A. It is more accurate than I. I have been hunting with it. I can’t complain. But I think I will. I am not complaining about the rifle, but against ammo prices. I am lucky I stocked up before the prices jumped, but I hate to shoot it becasue I don’t see any more cheap 308 in the near future.
Your list is fine and it will grow for sure after you get what’s on your first list.
My non AR rifles:
AK - PolyTech X 3 (I’m going to get an Arsenal also)
IMI Galil AR
Steyr AUG A1 - X 2 a 20" standard model and a 16" M16 NATO conversion stock
SKS PolyTech
USGI M1 Garand from CMP
IMI Uzi .45/ 9mm carbine with Vector Grease Gun .45 mag conversion
I used to have a Springfield M1A National Match model and I built myself a Canadian FAL C1 type kit on an Imbel receiver but sold both during the AWB, I will replace them later on with DSA FAL and a custom built M1A Match rifle.
My first choice would be an AK variant, in 7.62x39 flavor. Simply because it is the preferred weapon of our enemies, and it makes a distinctive sound when fired at you.
Seriously, the AK. I have two semiauto 7.62 NATO guns (M1a and AR10) and they are expensive to buy ($1200 and up) and feed. No one who produces their own 7.62 NATO is using it for battle rifles…it’s all going to GPMGs. Therefore, $12+ for 20 rounds of 147gr FMJ makes for expensive shooting.
M1 Garands are cool, but unless you are a member of the CMP, buying ammo for it that you can shoot out of it gets expensive too. A Schuster adjustable gas plug will allow you to buy commercial .30-06, but .30-06 is even more expensive than .308/7.62 NATO.
DSA SA58 FAL PARA Tactical Carbine .308 Cal
16.25" Fluted Medium Contour Barrel with Threaded A2 Flashider
Shortened Gas System w/ Short Military Grade Handguard
FAL A2 Hampton Lower With Integral M16A2 Sight System
SA58/FAL LOP Side Folding 5 Position Adjustable SOCOM Stock
SAW pistol grip
Imbel Para FAL…I’ve beaten the crap out of this rifle over the years and it still works like a champ. Dirty, clean, dry, wet, it just doesn’t care.
Bulgarian AKS74…cheap to feed, 2-3MOA accurate, no recoil and very light.
Polish AKMS…just because science has proven that underfolders are twice as evil as fixed stock AK’s
Plus, I’ve got a plethora of fixed stock AK’s and a couple of fixed stock FAL’s in the safe for good measure. If you’ve got an AR, you really need an AK to balance the yin/yang in your collection.
After numerous ar purchases, eight or nine now i think, I have purchased an ar-10 sass from armalite and have begun to work on my ak collection. I have bought three so far an underfolder, a side folder and a straight akm, all romanian. I believe i’m going to get a belt fed rpd and a dragonuv and call it quits on the ak’s. I will eventually refinish them all to make them a litttle more russian. Next I will try to knock out the uzi’s and then onto the hk’s. Uzi wont’ be too big of a problem becasue there arent’ that many models. The hk’s will take a while. All in all i’m gonna have to find a sloty to throw in the barret of course 82a1 .50. And I think that will definately take priority over the psg-1.
Well that should occupy me for the next 2 to three years, lol
I forgot to mention the fal’s and i’m gonna save them for last because i’ll proly go with dsa adn i feel they will always be around and be the same price. The cheap other surplus guns may not alwyas be avaialbale and they may not always be cheap.
Maybe I’m just OLD but seems to me that Assault rifle originally meant a shoulder fired firearm of intermediate cartridge capable of select fire. IE: M-16, AK-47, MP44 etc.
While current popular media has taken “Assault Rifle” to include the semi automatic versions of “true” assault rifles I believe that the full power rifle cartridges fall into the “Main Battle Rifle” category. Being the M1, FAL, M-14, G3 etc.
Yes, the 7.62x51 caliber rifles would be clasified as Main Battle Rifles. The thread is titled “What non-AR should one own”. It doesn’t limit responses to assault rifles. Also, there is only one true “Assault Rifle”, the German STG-44. All others are merely assault-type rifles.
