Advice - I am in the mood for a ak/akm

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Hi, im in the mood to purchase my first"semi-automatic magazine fed military style" rifle. I am in the mood for a ak/akm seeing as there drop dead reliable and i just dont know if i can trust the direct gas impingment system of the AR just yet.

I know the ak47 is one of the more popular rifles out there, but i also know that the akm is considered to be a better constructed rifle that is more accurate. So does anyone here have any advice on purchasing my first ak/akm? Like which models i should look at, and importantly who and were to buy them at a reasonable price.

Secondly, which caliber should i get, the 7.62x39 or that 5.45x39? i have seen 1080round bulk packs of the 5.45x39 for sale for $119. I wounder if that 5.45 is as good as the 5.56 as a living thing stopper. Does the 5.45 use the same ak mags, are they easy to find??

I intend to use this gun as my SHTF gun/house-farm gun and general all around shoot at stuff fun gun.

I know that aks tend to be cheaper then ar15s, but ars are more accurate. But since this gun is my home defence rifle i need it to be reliable, something that i just dont trust with the ar15 yet. Maybe ill get one later, but right now i want something i can trust to go bang even in the worst possible conditions.

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I can assure you that your reliability concerns about AR's are unwarranted....unless you put 500 rnds through one and neglect to clean it etc. It is true that they need to be taken care of but, nothing unreasonable.

That said, the only AK that I've ever owned is a Romanian and I've been very well pleased with it...100% reliable thus far. As far as x7.62 vs. x5.45....the 5.45 should have similar ballistics as the 5.56 (with comparable bullet weight etc.) but the AR will be a more accurate weapon....5.45 is generally the cheapest ammo of the 3 but, at times, can be harder to find....unlike 7.62 x 39
The 7.62 has far better penetration than either of the smaller rounds when it comes to shooting through cover as well.....

"right now i want something i can trust to go bang even in the worst possible conditions."

A $350ish 7.62x39 AK would be my vote...the ammo is readily available, as are mags and other "goodies"

Have a look here http://www.centerfiresystems.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=87

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Mordis wrote:

Hi, im in the mood to purchase my first"semi-automatic magazine fed military style" rifle. I am in the mood for a ak/akm seeing as there drop dead reliable and i just dont know if i can trust the direct gas impingment system of the AR just yet.

I know the ak47 is one of the more popular rifles out there, but i also know that the akm is considered to be a better constructed rifle that is more accurate. So does anyone here have any advice on purchasing my first ak/akm? Like which models i should look at, and importantly who and were to buy them at a reasonable price.

Secondly, which caliber should i get, the 7.62x39 or that 5.45x39? i have seen 1080round bulk packs of the 5.45x39 for sale for $119. I wounder if that 5.45 is as good as the 5.56 as a living thing stopper. Does the 5.45 use the same ak mags, are they easy to find??

I intend to use this gun as my SHTF gun/house-farm gun and general all around shoot at stuff fun gun.

I know that aks tend to be cheaper then ar15s, but ars are more accurate. But since this gun is my home defence rifle i need it to be reliable, something that i just dont trust with the ar15 yet. Maybe ill get one later, but right now i want something i can trust to go bang even in the worst possible conditions.

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Let me give you a breakdown of the differences:

AK47:
Milled receiver, very heavy, more expensive. Many people argue the benefits of a milled receiver, but in reality, it is no more accurate than the stamped receiver, and it is actually not any more durable, due to the fact that the stamped receiver is more capable of "flexing" while firing, instead of staying as firm, resulting is a higher chance of fractures in the milled receiver than in the stamped. 7.62x39.

AKM:
Stamped receiver 7.62x39. Very reliable, lighter and cheaper than the AK47. I would recommend this HIGHLY over the regular AK47. A stamped receiver sounds cheaper and less reliable, but it is not. Anyone who tells you otherwise doesn't know anything about AKs, and probably knows a lot about ARs.

AK74:
Stamped receiver 5.45x39. Just as reliable as the AKM but withbetter accuracy, and itbasically has the same ballistics as the 5.56. Arguably as accurate as an M4 (although you can very easily fine tune an M4 to be more accurate and some of them will be more accurate out of the box, depending on brand). The issues that you will find with this rifle are that the mags arenot as available and more expensive, the ammo is supposedly limited and supplies could dry up, and the cheaper ammo is corrosive, which isn't a huge deal if you're going to clean it, but you might as well just get an AR if you're going to have to clean it all the time. Non-corrosive ammo costs about the same as 7.62x39.

Now a lot of people will argue that AR15s are just as reliable as AKs and I'm sure they're right, but the problem is that you have to clean ARs. You don't have to clean AKs. This should never be an issue unless the SHTF, in which case you may not be able to baby your rifle as much. The AK is a battle rifle that does not require regular cleaning. The AR is a tactical rifle that is leaps and bounds more ergonomic than an AK, but it is only a good rifle if you get to clean it after every use. If you're going back to the base after each use, and missions last less than 500 rounds or so, go with an AR. If you have to rough it, and you're not going to be anywhere near a bottle of Hoppes for 6 months, go with an AK.

I would recommend an AKM over anything else due to the weight and availability of mags and accessories. The ammo is very effective out to 300 yards, but not as accurate as 5.56 or 5.45x39. The 7.62x39 will take down just about everything on this hemisphere, where the smaller calibers are only as effective on smaller game and humans. If the SHTF, you'll probably need a weapon capable of both.

Note that for HD, the 7.62x39 over-penetrates, and shouldn't be used in a heavily populated area without extreme attention to where the bullet is going.

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After carrying the M16A1 and A2 "professionally" for 8 yrs, I HATE it. I've never seen a rifle jam so much. 300 rounds and the carbon buildup is so heavy, that the bolt won't fully seat. Lets put this into perspective. Name one modern firearm that requires a Forward Assist (aside from the Stoner design). That should tell you something right there. I still see plenty of footage from Iraq and Afghanistan of soldier beating on FA's trying to get the damn thing to load!!!
Don't get me wrong, civilian use comes NO WHERE close to what soldiers do. At the range, the weapon is nice and clean, and they have the leisure of swabbing the bore and spraying some CLP in the upper to keep things moving along. Soldiers are not afforded this luxury, especially in a 3 day firefight.
AK's on the other hand, really don't need cleaning. Tolerances are loose enough to warrant dirt beyond belief!!! And don't let anyone tell you that the AK isn't accurate, I get grouping as good as any AR with my AK. Now the 7.62 round does tend to drop quite a bit over longer distances as compare to the 5.56 of the AR. Granted the AR is still tightly grouped at 300m than the AK but thats strictly due to the round ballistics. Even with all my AR snobbery, I still want a standard A2 with the old triangular forestock, ya know, for old time sake.
Oh, my AK is a el cheapo Romainian WASR-10/63...I LUV IT....

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I just had a conversation with Flintlock about this

Essentially, what the other guys said is good and useful. My personal favorite AK as a shooter is the Saiga one in 7.62x39, since it has a ridiculously long stock that fits my 6'4" frame a bit better than my others. Oh, and it can be had for $300. But it doesn't look very AK-ish.

Or you could get one of the other Saiga AK's, like the one chambered in 12-gauge

I was tempted to buy an Egyptian AK for $350 that I saw at a gun show a few weeks ago, just to have one, but ultimately went for another Romy that has beautiful wood furniture.

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I too have a WASR 10 that I beat up, rarely clean and it fires forever. It was cheap and it's easy to modify.

I'm getting into Saiga's now which are real Russian made so they should be a cut above, but they're actually priced pretty low. If you're not into doing the conversion work yourself, have someone else do it or just buy one that someone converted.
Oh yeah, Saiga is making a 12/20/410/308/5.56 now!!! VERY cool options.

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The best birthday present I could ever have is if Saiga put out an AK in 7.62x54R. Yeah, yeah, I know about the problems with hi-cap mags for rimmed casings, but it would be nice to have a less expensive alternative to the SVT-40, and one that I could actually get mags for...

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that round is nice. I use a Mosin M91/30 for hunting. Ballistics are very similar to the .30-06 but the rounds are cheaper. I've never needed anything more than a sp round when hunting. all those more expensive polymer tip styles can stay on the shelves. One thing though. when i shot the rounds with the bi-metal case, once in a while the round would get stuck.

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So the akm is what im looking for. Is there any special model numbers i should be looking for?? Or should i just say i want a AKM?? I intend this as my Disaster gun, i live on a farm with limited amount of neighbors so im not to worried about over penetration.I know a guy who is a gun wholesaler and will give me a good discount on purchases, and ill need to know model numbers of the AKM's so he will know what i want.

Thanks again for all the suggestions,

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Chinese Norinco AKM 1.5/1.6mm thick receiver as opposed to the standard 1.0mm receiver for the AKM type. UTG-478 railed forend, TAPCO T6 furniture.


Bulgarian Arsenal SLR-95 Milled AK. Ultimak railed forend, "NATO" length stock, early FAL style handgrip.

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Man That Chines is sweet. I've got an SKS, cheaper and just as fun, and you can fix the fact that the stock feels more like a hunting rifle. Sweet AK's

Oh but the magazine does not like to go in, very picky. Need to see how I can improve that.

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This thread has made me decide to buy an AK. It will probably be in August or September, but I am definitely buying one.

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I was tempted to buy an Egyptian AK for $350 that I saw at a gun show a few weeks ago

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Shoulda. A Maadi for that price is a great deal.

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Weak 9mm wrote:

This thread has made me decide to buy an AK. It will probably be in August or September, but I am definitely buying one.

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Just don't buy it online, or else it won't arrive until when, December or so? :lol:

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lol

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Question about these AKs:

DISCLAIMER: I don't intend to do anything illegal, I simply want to know.

All these weapons are semi-auto only, correct? Is it the trigger that makes it work in semi-auto or full-auto, or are there more modifications to the design to make it semi-only?

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Your IP address has been logged. The ATF will be knocking on your door shortly.

:celebrate

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The government approved answer is that there is just a little bit of automatic fairy dust sprinkled on each one to give it that automatic ability...think Keebler elves, but with tactical gear and a sandbag reinforced tree...:lol::lol::lol:

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I believe it is the sear, Do not mess with it.

Anybody like the Romanians?

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Walleye wrote:

Question about these AKs:

DISCLAIMER: I don't intend to do anything illegal, I simply want to know.

All these weapons are semi-auto only, correct? Is it the trigger that makes it work in semi-auto or full-auto, or are there more modifications to the design to make it semi-only?

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Well, since knowledge is not yet outlawed in this country, you can get books and pamphlets on how to convert semi-auto's to full-auto's. Just don't get caught with a full-auto conversion, or else the BATFE will use the fact that you had a booklet to prove that you raped and murdered 25000 children.

Scroogle is your friend.