The AK isn’t a “good” rifle by any standard, unless “cheap”,”idiot-proof” and “moderately reliable” and are your only criteria!
Notice I left out “accurate,” “easy to maintain” and “well-made” .....
Oh, and by the by, dangling participles are something up with which, I will not put!
For a hugely mass produced weapon of war, those ARE the criteria...............and why were you staring at my participle while it was dangling?..............
Pray tell, what do you consider more reliable than an AK-47?
Offhand, I cannot think of any other battle rifle that is easier to maintain.
Most Russian and many other AK’s are extremely well made if your definition of well made is ‘reliable’.
Accurate - not so much. But adequate for most combat.
Ergonomics - much inferior to AR.
So the AK is more reliable, and easier to maintain than an AR.
It has inferior ergonomics and accuracy compared to the AR.
You can carry less ammo than AR but 7.62 hits harder. I would rather have more rounds of 5.56. (AK-74 anyone?)
Well trained and supplied soldiers are better off with an AR variant. But - I can happily run either.
JMHOpinions
You wrote;
Dangling....
Ha ha!