Posted on 12/16/2020 10:12:01 AM PST by PROCON
Image: Wikimedia Commons.
Like the M16 and many other rifle arms since the early 1900s (and a few pistols, most notably Israel’s Desert Eagle), the AK-47 is gas operated.
Here's What You Need to Remember: There is a relevant cultural and historical legacy at work here. American arms are informed by a history and a legacy in which a colonial farmer could shoot down a squirrel or a British officer with a rifled musket from a hundred yards. Russian arms, meanwhile, are informed by a history of a lot of peasant soldiers slogging through the mud to engage. No wonder, then, that the two have evolved such distinct comparative advantages.
Recently, Blake Franko of the National Interest published an article about the ubiquity of the Kalashnikov AK-47 and its variants. He focused on how its popularity is the result of its reliability in the hands of all kinds of shooters, in the toughest and dirtiest environments. This reliability made the AK-47 a formidable adversary and a valuable acquisition for American troops in Vietnam, when their M16s were jamming from shooting and local conditions.
But there is more to the story that is worth exploring. It might have been useful to go on for a few lines to explain why the AK-47 was so reliable in those conditions. The Kalashnikov’s success has to do with its gas operating system.
Like the M16 and many other rifle arms since the early 1900s (and a few pistols, most notably Israel’s Desert Eagle), the AK-47 is gas operated. That means that the recycling of the action after a round is fired is not the product of the blowback of the fired round, as in most pistols and a few submachine guns like the old Thompson, but by the pressure of the hot, highly pressurized gas in the barrel of the newly expended round. Through a little port in the barrel, this highly pressurized gas can push back to operate the action and reload another round for fire, whether automatic or semiautomatic.
But there is a big difference between the Kalashnikovs and the M16 types. The former use a plunger-type action, essentially a rod whose front end captures the pressure of the round ignition, pushing the rod back to recycle the action. This is called a long-stroke gas piston. The latter use a hollow tube to return the gas pressure to the action to be recycled, which is called direct gas impingement. The AK-47 is more reliable in dirty conditions than the M16 variants, while the latter is more accurate in combat situations. Here’s why: the AK-47 design protects the action from contaminating powder debris. That way, it doesn’t foul up so quickly—but it has a long metal rod bobbing back and forth that interferes with accurate shooting. The gas action design of the M16s doesn’t have that long rod bouncing in the way, so it is more accurate in automatic or rapid-fire semiautomatic action. But it brings the polluted gas back to the action, and therefore fouls more easily than the AK-47. We’ve dealt with this problem for decades now, and we are still struggling with it.
There is a relevant cultural and historical legacy at work here. American arms are informed by a history and a legacy in which a colonial farmer could shoot down a squirrel or a British officer with a rifled musket from a hundred yards. Russian arms, meanwhile, are informed by a history of a lot of peasant soldiers slogging through the mud to engage. No wonder, then, that the two have evolved such distinct comparative advantages.
The AK-47 7.62 x39 has better penetration for vehicles and most forms of cover but the 5.56 has better ballistics and far better performance defeating many types of armor
I’ve seen spetsnaz using M4’s in training.
There’s usually one in a group that is using them running their ops.
Simple solution...
Own two of each...
Provide companionship by storing them next to the Garand M1 and the AR-50...
And currently, ammo is available.
Damn, have used both. Difficult to answer...
I defer to my comrades who have combat experience to weigh in better than me.
Thread will be good for 100 posts.
5.56mm
I have an AR and an American mini 30, though I use the AR Most.
+.
That is what my daddy told me. AK47 was the one you could count on working.
I’m old school...Ruger mini-14/mini-30
The AR-18/ 180 is nice and most modern western designs are based on AR-18 operating system
Today, it is the one that you have the most ammo for......
I dunno. I have a heavily modified 1022 which can be pretty darn fierce when it wants to be.
We loved R. Lee Ermey and have a few funny stories about him The last time that I saw him was at the MVPA Convention in Portland Oregon in 2013, a military vehicle show. I had my wiener dog, Newt with me and R. Lee told me how he had just lost his wiener dog a few months before and how much he missed him. And he gave Newt some unexpectedly emotional cuddles and kisses.
My wife was dressed as a WWII WAC and she had a spectacular large display set up. She and her friends went over to see R. Lee. He didn't seem that interested, so my wife said that it seemed like he liked her wiener dog more than her uniform. R. Lee got very excited and said, “Oh, was that your wiener dog?” and then he went on and on about how much he loved his own little wiener dog.
With a spring-loaded tappet in between.
Not enough.
The action in Kenosha when Kyle Rittenhouse justifiably and morally killed two Antifa subhumans and severely wounded a third subhuman brilliantly showed the combat effectiveness of the M4 design. It was short and handy enough to allow Kyle to maintain full control of his weapon when one subhuman tried to grab it and after he was knocked down when two others tried to kill him.
Without a doubt...AK47. Field striping, reliability and ft lbs of energy of the 7.62x39 i believe out weighs accuracy of the M16/AR platform. Besides, within 200yrds, my AK is pretty dedgum spot on. If I were to go out further, pull out the .300 Weatherby
Back around 2000 Alexander Arms developed a 5.45x39 variant of the M4 carbine for the Special Forces for applications where they did not want to use or leave behind NATO ammo that was very special.
Superior to the AK 74 variants in most respects IMHO.
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