I decided to post this in light of the “AR mythology” thread. We always hear about how indestructible they are, etc…etc… and for the most part I agree.
But, when you are an armorer tasked with keeping hundreds of them running and resources are thin (mostly due to GOI) bullshit it makes things a challenge.
Recently we had a bad round of ammunition blow up in a chamber of an M92. I was able to punch out the round, but there is still quite a bit of brass residue left in the chamber.
I am going to try and procure a reamer and see if it will help, otherwise it will become a parts gun. Obviously if this were an M4 it will be an easy fix in less than a half hour.
The other thing that irritates me are those damn steel magazines. I don’t know what anyone thinks they are good. Of course if you aren’t using them anywhere than the range I guess I can understand. This week I have had to repair several magazines that had dents, dings, or shitty springs.
Had an older Hungarian underfolder that was having extraction issues. Fortunately the extractors are relatively easy to replace. Here is a pic of an old one and new one for comparison.
Another thing that gets on my nerves are the differences in furniture and parts. Yugo AK’s are pretty much incompatible with everyone else, Chinese AK receivers are not as wide. The bottom handguard slot is different depending on country so you have to make sure that you find similar stuff. Big pain in the ass.
If the ejector goes tits up, you are screwed as well. Even the AR fire control group is easier to replace and work on than the AK.
I’d like to hear thoughts from others out there. What do you think? Is the AK really all that?
Its not all that… not even close. The reason the AK has such a “world renowned” reputation is because people are ignorant and the weapon was so easily mass produced, therefore it’s seen everywhere so they regurgitate things they see in place of actual opinion or experience.
I own a Romanian WASR-10 HI-CAP, I paid $480 for it with a slant brake and collapsible stock. And its a piece of shit.
The only reason the AK is said to be the most reliable weapon in the world today is due to the fact its tolerances are looser than a $2 whore on payday. Its terrible. When I fire mine, it reminds me of the burned up car from “Planes, Trains & Automobiles”, just barely holding itself together.
The AR-15/M-4 is exponentially higher due to the virgin like tightness in its tolerances. This makes the weapon leaps and bounds more accurate, and easier to maintain.
I find that the reliability of the Kalash’ is as overstated as the fragility of the M16.
Parts made to different standards of dimension and metallurgy not just from nation-to-nation but from factory-to-factory. Fun times playing with trigger geometry. Changing barrels can be hell and if you have to correct headspace… :suicide2: etcetera
I have it on good authority (History Channel, my Navy SEAL buddy who sells beef jerky at gunshows, etc.) that the AK-47 is virtually indestructible, never fails, and will work underwater.
It’s like you guys have never seen “Lord of War”, do some real research.
The rifle has been around for 64 years and is copied by almost 50 countries so there is bound to be variance between them. The M16 has not been around as long and isn’t widely copied. Extractors eventually go on all rifles. Some AK mags are shit just like some AR mags are shit. I got a brownells AR15 magazine that wasn’t any good one time. Generally though, AK magazines are known to be more durable then the thinnley stamped aluminum AR magazines. Some NATO countries opted not to use AR type magazines with their rifles probably for that reason. The AR industry also recognized some limitations with these mags and came up with PMAG and H&K steel mags. I guess bad ammo can happen to every gun. Not a flaw of the AK.
What was wrong with your WASR? I had one and it worked fine. Guns that century arms makes/modifies are not really reprensentive of what a quality AK is. It’s like if you were to say the AR15 sucks because you bought one that was made in Cambodia.
I have never been impressed by an AK. Nothing on them is at all superior to an AR15, in any way whatsoever. They are only so popular because they are easy to cheaply make, sell, buy, and shoot with little or no training.
I have no desire to own one anymore at all.
I have replaced the ejector rail twice (which is a pain in the fuckin bung hole, I was just lucky I own a MIG and dremel), the BCG once, and had to ghetto rig the hammer and tigger pins in place with moon clips I got from Lowe’s because the spring arms themselves were not doing their job.
piss poor execution of a piss poor design.
If they didn’t weld and rivet everything in place it would be a fine weapon. When something goes wrong, just slap a new one in and screw it in place.
It is overgassed, heavily built and designed to be cheaply/quickly manufactured for use by soldiers with minimal training using mechanized human wave assaults.
It is glorified by people who think that it is “the choice” of 3rd world dictators for arming gangs of thugs and therefore has some “magical” quality. Why this doesn’t also apply to 1970’s surplus uniforms, web gear, Mig 21 fighters, T54 tanks, and other obsolete equipment, I don’t know.
I have one, and I like it alright, but it IS for sale.
I don’t think the Russians ever really intended it to me more than a issue/break/throw away/replace weapon.
As opposed to the US which builds a weapon intending for it to return to the arsenal for rebuilding/upgrading over time.
But I am not an armorer, this is just me speculating based on how they are put together.
You would have the same experience with a low end bargain basement AR as well. Crap is crap and a decent AK costs close to the same as a decent AR. The days of bargain basement “good enough” AKs are gone.
I prefer the AR platform, but IMO an apples to apples comparison would be more like WASR AK vs. Hesse/Vulcan AR.
You get what you payed for. Don’t call it a crap design because you bought the cheapest one out there. I’ve owned 12 AK’s and the ejector has never went bad any on of them. They machined the AK at first, but they found it offered no advantage at all and went to a stamped receiver like virtually all the countries that once made a milled version of the AK.
I disagree… if something is wrong with an M4 I can simply replace that part, explain to me how one does that with say… an AK gas port? Or a barrel?
The AR-15/M4 is a superior design, that being said, I am not arguing that its made of higher quality components, its just a better execution of a design implement.
