Questions about AK-47s

There won't be much left of your squirrels that you've been hunting!

 

Greetings.

They are not that accurate. They are superbly reliable. They were designed with mechanized warfare in mind. They were to be issued to simple line troops of the Motherland. The Sov's realized that most engagements occured at short range. -Well less than 400 meters. The infantry was to support the steamroller waves, of T-62 and T-72 tanks penetrating the Fulda Gap etc.... The AK is an excellent weapon to have, from 50 to 150 meters. - Nothing can go wrong. It will always work. It is almost a sub-gun.

I have heard that you can get much better accuracy; if you are willing to reload your own ammo. Most shooters of AK 47s, use old military ball. The Kommies, did not extract much accuracy from their military ball.

I would say the Yugoslav AK-47s, are amongst the best ones you can obtain. The Finnish is way up the ladder. An original Valmet M-62S, can run in the very hi 2K+ area. The Yugo AK can be found in the low 2k range (perhaps less ?). The Egyptian Madi is also a nice item. It is pretty much identical to the Russian AKM. They can be found in the low $1,200 range. Be sure it is an original rifle. Another consideration is also the Hungarian FEG pre-ban. The Chinese rifles (original pre-ban) are probably around $600 and up. There are alot of put together post-ban rifles. Most important. - Make sure you are not buying a post-ban rifle, that is dressed up to look like a pre-ban.

 

Are the sights not adjustable?

 

pfffffttt, yeah, that's all its good for, CQB of 50 yards or less. But VERY reliable. You can get dirt, mud, grime in the thing and it will still fire.

 

Aren't they illegal to own in the own in the US??

 

sks is another option, it does not have the retractable stock, but shoots the same round and has all/ or most of the same moving parts. if you want accurate, I would buy a bolt action rifle, if you like shooting stuff up just for fun, ak/sks are fun. also the larger the magazine, the more likely they are to jam due to the spring in the magazine. also if you know what you are doing, you can alter the sear in the triger mechanism to make it fully auto if that does it for you. china sks i think are the cheapest version of the ak/sks.

 

Ahhh I see - I probably won't be picking up a rifle anytime soon, but the M16 vs AK47 argument has always facinated me.
I was recently lucky enough to shoot an AR15 back to back with an AK. Although the carbine had a more precision feel, I was amazed at how accurate and easy to shoot the AK47 was with a nightsight scope. Plus it felt much better to hold for my 6'3" frame, and although heavier than the AR, it wasn't too heavy at all.

My impressions so far are that the AK47 is like a vette - reliable and can take a pounding, while the M16 feels more like a ferrari - superbly engineered and built to tight tolerances, but more demanding of its owner.

 

I like 74 variants better personally with the 5.45x39mm.

 

I had a Norinco Type 56-s in .223 and a MAK-90 in 308 short.

They were surprisingly accurate from a benchrest- around 2 MOA, which for the cost, was pretty amazing.

I fed them handloads with 55gr Speer FMJ. The cases were all of similar weight and length and I miked each round after seating the bullet. If they were .005 off, i used the round in a different gun or pressed the bullet in a little more. It was like making benchrest loads for a semiauto...just something to try for the sheer heck of it.

Ahhh, to have the time to handload again........

 

If you want Intelligent and accurate information on AKs, try AK47.net, not a car site....

 

buy a Dragunov 7.62x54mm

 

by the way. the milled reciever guns are more desireable than the stamped ones. if you look at my pics , the all black gun has a "square" in the reciever above where the mag goes in. this is how you tell a milled steel reciver from a stamped one. though the stamped guns will also last forever too, the milled ones have a better feel and are more accurate.

i would suggest a Romanian ak47 with the scope rail, the Dragunov scopes can be purchased seperately. i need to find batteries for my scopes, but i think there is a common camera battery that will replace the Russian vintage one.