[HiTech RedNeck]

That's a common story in the old USSR. Their engineering was superb. Their quality absolutely stank.

[ChefKeith]

Given the odds in the current conflict and the quanity of available ammo if I were there (Iraq) I would have picked up the 1st funcitional AK and carried BOTH My issued M-16 AND the AK.

Speaking for Myself in that situation.

As My Brother told Me "it is better to have and not need, than need and not have"

[ChefKeith]

P.S. a bullet leavingg the barrel is better than one that won't even chamber...

[archy]

That's a common story in the old USSR. Their engineering was superb. Their quality absolutely stank.

The first circa 1947-model AK47 rifles, with stamped receivers like the German MP44/StG 44 were an abysmal failure and had to be replaced with a version built with a forged and machined receiver just like an 1880's Winchester rifle. It wasn't until 1959, after 15 years of development, that Kalishnikov's design was refined into the stamped-receiver version, the AKM.