Quote:
Originally Posted by MH
RIP AK
Great rifle in its time but out dated today and also a bit over glorified .  |
Not when you are on the receiving end and they will be around for some time after they are no longer effective for a modern military.In some parts of the world the jump was from muzzle loaders to the AK for these folks one design is suitable for a few generations.
All though bullet wounds are a less common form of causality for a counter insurgency force make no mistake that the AK47 is still doing what it was designed to do just fine.
Many other firearms receive their fair of veneration in most cases that veneration is earned that does not a firearm the ultimate weapon but tell me how many people ever heard of the Chachat?
One thing many over look the AK47 was that it had been in production since 1949 and did not see a major conflict until the early 60's in that roughly 14 years it had been improved several times and in fact the original design had already been replaced in Soviet service by the AKM.The Type 56 which is what the majority of AK type rifles used by the NVA and VC was the Chinese version of the AKM so it was of course a design based on 14 years of experience and bug correcting. The M16 on the other had was first designed in 1956/57 as the AR15 and first entered service as a military rifle in 1963.It had a very poorly performed testing process and the Army changed the powered type to one that greatly increased the amount of residue build up not to mention the fact that none of the parts where chromed.So no wonder the AK47 was better performer in the hands of conscript troops.
If anything the AK vs M16 argument simply proves the blind engineering over confidence that existed in the US at the time period (lets face it every nation has this pride to some extent).They thought that they could make a better weapon that had already been in development for over a decade in a matter of years.In the end at the peak of their respective designs both rifles are good kit so long as they are properly treated and used where their specific strengths are best.
So I can understand the veneration that the AK receives I also know that anyone who says that they never jam and never misfire is a liar or has not fired one more than just casually every firearm has malfuctions from time to time even the most cared for.Stovepipe for example a person who has never had that happen with a firearm is a hardcore layman the one who makes the malfunction free claim you can be rest assure does not know what a stovepipe is.