AK or AR?

1169 Views 19 Replies 0 Participants Last post by nsnate02, Mar 10, 2007

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Discussion Starter · Mar 9, 2007

Im lookin for a good rifle, bigger than my .22lr. Id like some advice on what to look for. Id love to get a great AR 15, but from what ive seen they are a bit out of my price range at the moment. Another option is the AK, ive heard many good things about them, and from what ive seen the price is more managable. Anyone know of some good sites to check out? Any information is greatly appreciated.

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Discussion Starter · #2 · Mar 9, 2007

Love him or hate him, he's got an opinion on the very question you're asking.

http://www.madogre.com/Interviews/Hate_the_AR15.htm

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Discussion Starter · #3 · Mar 9, 2007

build your own. you can build an ar for half what you can purchase a complete one for. model1sales.com has everything you need.

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Discussion Starter · #4 · Mar 9, 2007

depends on what you want the gun for, honestly. AR's have more range and better accuracy. They also fire the bullet faster.. from what I was watching on tv last night, approximately 400 mph faster.

If you do things right, you can have an AR for under $700. Maybe best to buy a complete lower now.. wait til you have more money.. then buy a complete upper.

I haven't shot an AK in many many years.. last time I did, I think I was like 10. But they are good guns. Shorter range guns to some extent, but they are reliable for the most part. Some of them cost less than an AR, but there are others that are just as costly. Their bullet packs more punch than the AR's does. I personally know people who in Iraq, were given permission to us AK's and they chose those over their AR's because they were a lot harder to jam over there in the sand. I don't think this was a widespread policy, but their group did get to use AK's if they wanted to.

So again, it just depends on the use of the weapon. Are you looking for great accuracy at longer range? Is it mostly about the look of the particular weapon? Find out what's important to you, that will help you decide.

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Discussion Starter · #5 · Mar 9, 2007

jednp said:
depends on what you want the gun for, honestly. AR's have more range and better accuracy. They also fire the bullet faster.. from what I was watching on tv last night, approximately 400 mph faster.

If you do things right, you can have an AR for under $700. Maybe best to buy a complete lower now.. wait til you have more money.. then buy a complete upper.

I haven't shot an AK in many many years.. last time I did, I think I was like 10. But they are good guns. Shorter range guns to some extent, but they are reliable for the most part. Some of them cost less than an AR, but there are others that are just as costly. Their bullet packs more punch than the AR's does. I personally know people who in Iraq, were given permission to us AK's and they chose those over their AR's because they were a lot harder to jam over there in the sand. I don't think this was a widespread policy, but their group did get to use AK's if they wanted to.

So again, it just depends on the use of the weapon. Are you looking for great accuracy at longer range? Is it mostly about the look of the particular weapon? Find out what's important to you, that will help you decide.

+1 Each rifle/ammo has its advantages & disadvantages. It all boils down to the purpose for the rifle.

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Discussion Starter · #6 · Mar 9, 2007

Get a Saiga in .223 and convert it to a full AK. You can also get them in 7.63x39 or .308 without paying a premium for them, unlike ARs. You can do it all for around $500. You get the bomb-proof reliability of an AK (Russian at that) in a caliber that will match the ARs in range. It won't be a match rifle, but people with match rifles don't use them for home-defense or SHTF either.
Mad Ogre, among others, are why i opted for the AK.

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Discussion Starter · #7 · Mar 9, 2007

Get an 7.62x39 AK. Then when you can afford it, get a FAL. Then when you can afford it get an AR. In that order.
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Discussion Starter · #8 · Mar 9, 2007

Not to muddy the water too much - but if you want a less expensive alternative to an AK, you might want to consider an SKS.

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Discussion Starter · #9 · Mar 9, 2007

jdavionic said:
... if you want a less expensive alternative to an AK, you might want to consider an SKS.

Good point. They are relatively cheap, available and fun to shoot.

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Discussion Starter · #10 · Mar 9, 2007

jednp said:
depends on what you want the gun for, honestly. AR's have more range and better accuracy. They also fire the bullet faster.. from what I was watching on tv last night, approximately 400 mph faster.

Someone was watching the 6.8 Rem SPC segment on FutureWeapons

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Discussion Starter · #11 · Mar 9, 2007

AR's are nice, but rather "High Maintenance".. it takes very little for them to jam, and they must be cleaned religiously every time you use them if you expect a 'bang' the next time you want to play.

AK's have much looser tolerances. You can burry it in the sand, dig it up a week later, rinse it off in a local mud puddle, beat it against a tree (just to shake some of the water and dirt out).. And chances are, it's still going to go "bang" every time. VERY reliable guns. Cheaper than a AR.

SKS = Awesome gun too. Grandfather to the AK's, easily worked on & modified, very popular, shoots the same 7.62x39 as AK's. Cheaper than an AR or AK.

So my vote is first buy a SKS, then a AK-47 WASR, then maybe if you hit it rich one day, splurge on a AR.

SKS's can be found for around $200 or less easily.
AK's start around $300 and work their way up depending on specific model.

AR's.. Well, you could buy a few SKS's for what you'll put into a AR.

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Discussion Starter · #12 · Mar 9, 2007

cougar_guy04 said:
Someone was watching the 6.8 Rem SPC segment on FutureWeapons

yes, someone was.. wonder who that was?

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Discussion Starter · #13 · Mar 9, 2007

JohnnyBra said:
AR's are nice, but rather "High Maintenance".. it takes very little for them to jam, and they must be cleaned religiously every time you use them if you expect a 'bang' the next time you want to play.

AK's have much looser tolerances. You can burry it in the sand, dig it up a week later, rinse it off in a local mud puddle, beat it against a tree (just to shake some of the water and dirt out).. And chances are, it's still going to go "bang" every time. VERY reliable guns. Cheaper than a AR.

SKS = Awesome gun too. Grandfather to the AK's, easily worked on & modified, very popular, shoots the same 7.62x39 as AK's. Cheaper than an AR or AK.

So my vote is first buy a SKS, then a AK-47 WASR, then maybe if you hit it rich one day, splurge on a AR.

SKS's can be found for around $200 or less easily.
AK's start around $300 and work their way up depending on specific model.

AR's.. Well, you could buy a few SKS's for what you'll put into a AR.

My AR has never jammed.. not once. I do clean it after every range trip. But it's still never jammed. It's ran flawlessly.

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Discussion Starter · #14 · Mar 9, 2007

http://www.xdtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33255

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Discussion Starter · #15 · Mar 9, 2007

jednp said:
My AR has never jammed.. not once. I do clean it after every range trip. But it's still never jammed. It's ran flawlessly.

Hardly a ringing endorsement. Any gun worth a darn should do well if maintnained like that. I'd like to know from the folks in the sandbox (one just left for there) how is the AR-15 platform holding up nowadays. I remeber more than a few fellow gurads men haveing issues, and this was at ranges. Also In the Army back in the 1990s the M-16 hardly had a rep for ultra reliability, nothing like the AK for sure. Seems to be a finiky platform if not kept immaculate.

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Discussion Starter · #16 · Mar 9, 2007

JohnnyBra said:
AR's are nice, but rather "High Maintenance".. it takes very little for them to jam, and they must be cleaned religiously every time you use them if you expect a 'bang' the next time you want to play.

AK's have much looser tolerances. You can burry it in the sand, dig it up a week later, rinse it off in a local mud puddle, beat it against a tree (just to shake some of the water and dirt out).. And chances are, it's still going to go "bang" every time. VERY reliable guns. Cheaper than a AR.

SKS = Awesome gun too. Grandfather to the AK's, easily worked on & modified, very popular, shoots the same 7.62x39 as AK's. Cheaper than an AR or AK.

So my vote is first buy a SKS, then a AK-47 WASR, then maybe if you hit it rich one day, splurge on a AR.

SKS's can be found for around $200 or less easily.
AK's start around $300 and work their way up depending on specific model.

AR's.. Well, you could buy a few SKS's for what you'll put into a AR.

I prefer shooting the SKS, but the AK is a better war machine. They were both submited to the Red Army at the same time, but the SKS designer was a senior engineer and Kalashnikov's boss. A year and change later, the superiority of the AK was so obvious that political pull was not enough to keep the SKS in production, and the AK was adopted. To the best of my knowledge the SKS was semi only, was noisy when handled, which are big turn offs to troops, and had traditional tight tolerances. MK had been a soldier in WW2, was wounded and put to work as a mechanical designer. He fixed the T-34's tranny design by loosening up tolerances, and using the kiss principle. When he was transfered to rifle design he used the same principles and his experience as a soldier to design the AK.

I watch way too much Discovery/Military/History channel

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Discussion Starter · #17 · Mar 9, 2007

cougar_guy04 said:
Someone was watching the 6.8 Rem SPC segment on FutureWeapons

You mean where they proved how great the 6.8 is because it will go through a car door?

I think the 6.8 would be a great upgrade to the 5.56, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen, except for maybe Special Operators.

I certainly won't be converting my AR to 6.8 unless the military adopts it large scale due to ammo cost and availability.

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Discussion Starter · #18 · Mar 9, 2007

AKM said:
You mean where they proved how great the 6.8 is because it will go through a car door?

I think the 6.8 would be a great upgrade to the 5.56, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen, except for maybe Special Operators.

I certainly won't be converting my AR to 6.8 unless the military adopts it large scale due to ammo cost and availability.

If it's any indication, FN is supplying the military with the SCAR in two calibers: 5.56 and 7.62 NATO. Nothing beats these two time proven rounds. I think the likelihood is good that 6.8 will go the same path as the .45 GAP.

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Discussion Starter · #19 · Mar 10, 2007

So if I change my mine to go with an AK, which one. Everything I read has different opinons about them. Having trouble finding a comparing table or reviews.

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Discussion Starter · #20 · Mar 10, 2007

Go with a Saiga conversion from Red Stick. Incredible quality and you get an AK made from the Izhmash factory that invented the things. Other wise your going to pay the same amount for a soviet block knock off (some good quality, some bad) that you will want to modify anyway. Check out the RS-PG, a bargain in AK's, $589 for a Russian AK.
http://www.redstick-firearms.com/firearms2/firearms.html

for some comparisons check AK-47.net. Will give you everything you want and more.
http://www.ak-47.net/ak47/index.html

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