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Originally Posted by Oberon
There's a pretty good discussion on it here that I just found
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Most of that discussion seems to be about SpecOps which is a totally different combat situation than what conventional forces would find themselves in.
As for comparing the two weapons a lot has to do with the time frame you're talking about. One can't just say "during Vietnam" because that encompasses over a decade, with many different unit types, tactics and situations.
Bottom line here is while the AK is a lot lower maintenance than the M16 variants the looser tolerances that make it so also makes it a lot less accurate. There's 100 meters difference in effective range between the two weapons. 300 feet is a long way to maneuver under enemy fire without being able to hit back.
Coupled with the problems obtaining ammo for it and the risk of mis-identification means that while regular Infantry might make use of an enemy weapon in a pinch, like you said it would be fairly rare occurrence.