Posted on 01/03/2012 5:23:47 PM PST by Trueblackman
Hey for my fellow shooters out there, question do any of my fellow Freepers own a Dragunov SVD or actual AK-47. I recently got a up close and personal look at a Russian made Dragunov with green dot scope at a gun show in Va. and had the chance to fire a real full auto AK-47 in the Persian Gulf some years ago.
I remember here stories as a kid about Soldiers in Vietnam taking AK-47 off Vietcong, bring them home, leaving them in a foot locker for a decade or more, then pull them out, kicking off the rust and going to the range to pump off a few.
As far as the Dragunov, I have been doing my research and the more I read the more I like it and recently saw a piece on the military channel on its usage by Russian Special Forces.
Just so you know, the Dragunov rifle has suffered some serious bad publicity over the decades.
The fact is, that ball ammo gives extremely dismal results. The Russkies manufactured match-quality ammo for it. Don’t even think about tracking any of it down. You’ll have to load your own.
Just so you know, the Dragunov rifle has suffered some serious bad publicity over the decades.
The fact is, that ball ammo gives extremely dismal results. The Russkies manufactured match-quality ammo for it. Don’t even think about tracking any of it down. You’ll have to load your own.
Can only talk about the AK; have a genuine Russian semi-auto.
Accounts of their ruggedness seem accurate as far as I can tell.
Also comparison with AR and like regarding accuracy seem also true, as it is with destructive power (or effectiveness): the AK is not as accurate.
This is all I can offer; as usual, YMMV.
If you want a real Russian 7.62 X 39, look at the Saiga (Izhmash). I have three WASRs (Romanian) and pimped them to my liking.
For some reason importers were not allowed to bring in Russian rifle and even now they don’t have pistol grips. Krebs & Co. can juice up a Saiga 12 gauge or carbine for you for some long green.
I don’t know anyone who brought back a fully automatic AK. An occasional SKS and bolt actions, Tokarevs, but no Automat Kalash’s.
FReeper mylife has a PSL. I don’t think it is considered as a true Dragunov though. I do know that it definitely has a hair trigger.
I have a very close friend who has several ‘real’ AKs (not semi-auto conversions- don’t worry, all legal, he is a licensed collector) and have had many opportunities to fire them. Frankly, it is a really, really good gun. We did a tear down about a year ago and I am surprised how few parts are in them and the ‘weight’ of the parts.
I guess history really proves its quality. There isn’t much the Soviets could build well, but guns (and women) were something thing they did right.
The 7.62x54R ammo for the Dragunov also is used in the Moison-Nagant bolt-action rifle. Both rifles will respond to high-quality commercially-loaded ammunition as offered by Sellers & Belloit, Lapua and others. Most of the Russian-made ammunition in this caliber and the 7.62x39 for the Ak and SKS is crap and should be avoided. I know the Moison-Nagant looks like it came out of a blacksmith shop but, with good ammo, it will surprise you. Friend of mine has one of the sniper rifles and this thing prints an inch and a half at 200 yards.
Norma and Sellior&Bellot have the good stuff
http://www.hinterlandoutfitters.com/762x54-russian-c-55_57_212.html
I dont. I hope and pray America at least still makes the best guns we can buy. Do we at the very least still have that going for us ? Can we at least still buy and keep the very best guns we have ?
I dont. I hope and pray America at least still makes the best guns we can buy. Do we at the very least still have that going for us ? Can we at least still buy and keep the very best guns around ?
PSL’s are not SVD’s.
Don’t buy either one; they have a terrible habit of falling into deep lakes, never to be seen again..
It has happened to everyone I’ve ever known who bought either of those, or any of several others.
Any FReepers owning any truly full-auto weaponry should probably refrain from posting in open forum.
No need to attract the attention of anyone that may wish to see if “your papers are in order”.
China is the worlds largest producer of AK 47 rifles. The subjects are not allowed to own them so guess where they end up.
Gotta laugh at the people pumping what a great gun the AK47
is / was!
The AK47 is a pray and spray firearm, except 98% of those spraying don’t believe in the Christian God or any God.
The AK47 is a simple machine, so simple even the uneducated masses that buy it can keep it operating by cannibalizing parts off the thousands laying around.
That is what the Russians wanted: a firearm that was as cheap to produce as it was to train their soldiers. The whole idea was that the Soviet soldier was expendable and ignorant, therefore don’t arm him with anything that is expensive or hard to repair.
Seems the ignorant still think they are fine guns...
FYI, some gunwriter wrote recently that Sellier Bellot FMJ consistently jammed in his Ruger LC9. I use it in my Czech guns, no problem.
I have never had any failures using their ammo in any caliber, in any gun.
For the basic Kalashnikov rifle, the AK47 and variants, actually hitting anything with one much past 100 yards is problematical.
Other Cons
Very loud noise
It’s heavy
Not as accurate as most military rifles
Any optics require special adapters
Many people don’t like the (so called) AK “safety” mechanism
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