“Sloppy tolerances, short sight radius, selector switch manipulation makes unmistakable “clack” noise,triggers are often gritty, slack. Frequently no last round bolt hold open”
Works in sand, works in mud, works in tropical ooze. Puts rounds downrange when other weapons are failing in similar environments. can be field-stripped in seconds and wiped clean with a dirty shirt.
I am not a fan either. But dang. Even the Galiel designers took note.
Galil.
I read a book a while back about an Army or Marine Major who was doing solo duty in Mongolia, and was discussing the AK-47 versus the M-16.
He said that a telling difference (besides the fact that an untrained person can pick up the weapon with nearly no maintenance on it, in a wide variety of conditions, point it, and fire) is embodied in the magazines.
He said the M-16 can eject the magazine with a push of a button, often to be caught as it drops and be reused by a well trained soldier.
The AK-47 requires the user to grasp the magazine and pull it out. It was designed for a poorly trained and educated army, where the condition and life of the magazine meant more than the life of the individual soldier shooting it. It was meant to save the magazine not the soldier.
I thought it was an interesting way to frame it.