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.
Can't agree the Tavor is the worlds best, but it would be my personal choice for real world urban self defense applications in our Antifa world. Nothing else comes close and there is no substitute.
One of the guns that I prefer a little over my AK is my Beretta BM-59 chambered in 7.62×51mm NATO. It is basically an M1 Garand rechambered with a 20rd box magazine attached. To shoot lead bullets out of it without messing up the barrel you have to reload them a little light. A BM-59 weighs 10 pounds before you load up the magazine. An unloaded M-16 weighs about 6 pounds, and an AK-47 weighs about 8 pounds.
yup... i had my bolt reworked to accept a new spring retracted firing pin
wi the 16” barrel it’s about as handy as it can get
This. Guns are like golf clubs, each serves a certain purpose.
100 !?!
.
I’ll be Bach!
LOL.
5.56mm
Lemme guess: AK47 ammo is cheaper than M16 ammo.
“AK 74M for the win”
Ditto on that.
Apprecite the info....I stand corrected....and proud of our engineering.
Sumthin to consider.
Well to be fair in Vietnam the military sent our guys out with M16s and no cleaning kits. Told them the weapon didn’t need to be cleaned. Its totally does have to be maintained. Also at that time the military was using ammo with a different kind of powder than Stoner’s specs called for. There was some talk that they were even using WW11 powder.
When I pull the trigger, I know it will go ‘bang’.
Tagline material
The AK74 was an improvement over the M16. The longer more unstable bullet is a shredder extraordinaire.
You’re more likely to be hit from one rather than the other.
A paperweight.
Have several of both...
As the author pointed out, their designed for different environments. In the mud and glop... the AK is the way to go. For close quarter tactical AR.
Both are fine weapons
We all lusted over the company's snipers tricked out M14's though.
Nobody gives a fuq about penetration at the time of firing. They care about accuracy, deterrence, and remaining ammo.
Got a “paratrooper,” eh?
That’s kinda the point of the ak47, to push the opposition out to 300 yards.
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