Where is the love for AK-47's?

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camslam

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As I have just finished another round of my monthly gun magazines, something dawned on me.

I NEVER see articles on AK-47's in ANY of the magazines. I have subscribed to up to 9 different gun magazines at different times and while there is never any shortage of articles/reviews etc on 1911's, AR-15's, and any number of other guns, I can't ever remember seeing a single article about these great guns.

Anybody have any thoughts or information as to why that is?

I was also thinking about the last gun show I went to in Phoenix, there were a couple of local distributors that were selling strictly AK's, several vendors had AK magazines, and there were a couple that had spare parts for AK's, with miscellaneous stuff, but it was definitely more populated with everything AR-15.

I know that there are millions of AK owners out there, I know that there is interest in these guns, but I wonder why there are never any articles or discussions about them.

Is it because they are the ultimate "evil black rifle"? Is it not PC to discuss and cover them?

Just curious if anyone has thoughts on this. Thanks.
 
well, when was the last time you heard someone in any media outlet say 'AK-47' without saying 'kill', 'gunned down by', 'heavily armed with', 'held the police off with', or 'every mutha----a in tha room' in the same sentence?

Just sayin'.

But yea, they generally are not PC guns, and are often what every gun in he news becomes. "Hey, look at that American made Weatherby...let's call it an AK-47". But really, unless it's an AR in LEO/USAF hands, the gun in general is not going to be PC regardless, so whatever.
 
Kind of sad if gun magazines and their editors won't even go near an AK article in the name of political correctness.

I can excuse the ignorance of the general population, given the idiotic agenda and misunderstanding of the media, but shouldn't gun mag editors, writers, and gun owners know better?

At the end of the day, an AK is really no different than a Ruger 10/22, an AR-15, or any other type of semi-automatic rifle.

Strange.
 
Since 1986, the cost of "AK-47 love" has skyrocketed.




Or did you mean the currently available US legal Kalashnikov sporting rifles?
 
Actually, an AK is very different. It is made by a country that scared the living crap out of us for 40 years, and used against us in four wars and several 'campaigns', and used by many criminals and tyrants.

it is generally considered the weapon of the enemy to people who don't know much about guns, to people who fight those enemies and get shot by them day in and day out, and even in the eyes of many sportsmen around us. Let's not forget about what a certain writer thought of the AR15 platform not too far back...

but, I love the AK, so...um... *adds some AK love to thread*
 
Or did you mean the currently available US legal Kalashnikov sporting rifles?
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Obviously I am talking about the US legal AK's, given that most of us don't have thousands and thousands of dollars to spend on a fully automatic original.

yes, it is very different. It is a very cheap assault rifle/EBR/etc. that draws use from criminals and tyrants all around the world way more than it will from countries like Finland, most of eastern Europe, Israel, and sportsmen in gun-rights countries who use it.

Plus it is made by a country that scared the living crap out of us for 40 years, and used against us in four wars and several 'campaigns'.
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So what does this have to do with the millions of people that own an AK or variant in our country? Many people in our country have learned to respect and admire the function, reliability, and overall fun of shooting these great rifles? I just wonder why you never see articles or discussions on this particular gun, when they are obviously very popular, and not just among criminals and tyrants.
 
David Fortier did a review of the arsenal slr-106 not too long ago. He didn't have anything negative about it except its aging design and ergonomics. Also in the same magazine (I think it was Combat Arms put on by Guns and Ammo) they had stuff on Iraqi Al kadesih and Dragunov varients. They had one more article on AKs in it I think. But other than that you don't see that much.

What else are they would they write on them? AR and 1911 products are always coming out. AKs are limited in that area with Tapco and Ultimak (there are others, but these are in my knowlege the best known).
 
I'm not sure it's political correctness. Are there even that many new models? It seems like a lot of them are made off ComBloc parts kits, so aside from the receiver and some 922r parts they aren't really "new" are they? (I'm asking, not being a smart-arse)
I've seen reviews of Saigas and Arsenals, and the STG-2000. Aside from those aren't all the Romaks, Polish, Bulgarian, etc. just basically refurbished parts kits slapped on a new receiver?
What I am sick of is the never ending flood of $1000+ 1911s that are overwhelming every issue of the gun rags. I love the design but come on! Change the trigger, bob the hammer, and then do a 6 page article on this revolutionary new wonderpistol???
 
This is purely speculation but I think its possible that some of the reasons you don't see articles about the AK Clones in gun magazines are as follows.

1. AK Clones are "typically" low cost and sell pretty well. As you said there are millions of AK owners out there so they obviously sell well. I know some manufacturers donate their guns to be reviewed by gun magazines and it's probably not necessary for say Century to have their stuff reviewed in magazines to makes sales.

2. AK's have been around a long time and if you seen one you've seen them all. Now don't get me wrong, I like AK's but unless there is some serious customizing done they are all pretty similar. My experiences with different AK's have all pretty much been the same. In other words there isn't a whole lot of new info to report.

3. AR-15's are the current rage and can be customized so much by adding rails, flashlights, foregrips, lasers, optics and all sorts of accessories. There's a lot of money there and a bit more to talk about. I know some of that stuff can be done to AK's but generally not to the extent of the AR-15.

As I mentioned earlier, those are just my immediate thoughts and I don't claim any of them to be correct. And again, this isn't a flame towards AK's and I myself do have love for AK's.
 
As others have noted, the main reason you don't see articles about AKs in the gun magazines is because the companies assembling AKs from parts are small and have even smaller marketing budgets. I'm sure if S&W or Remington started selling AKs we would be overrun with articles in the magazines about AKs.
 
I just read a gun magazine the other week that was talking about the Polish Tantal AK-74 and another had an article about the Saiga. The articles are out there if you look for them.
 
It's all about the money. Look at the major advertisers in most of the gun magazines.
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Bingo! This man hit the nail on the head.

This has nothing to do with the AK's image. Gun rags are covered with tacticalninja ARs.

The reality is that AK is going down because of our own gun industry. There has never been not a single thought about fighting the 1990 import-ban. Not one. Why? The NRA's major contributors are the very companies that suffer when hundreds of thousands of cheap commie import guns come in.

Same with the gun rags. Who buys the ads? Makers of import AKs? More like makers of domestic AR-15's. We don't need to get into how the AR-15 market is by far the biggest booming and expanding in the gun industry by far.

This goes back to the 1980's. But we've seen it as recently as 4-5 years. Last real cheap import was the Romanian SAR-1. $275 for an AKM. $275 for a rifle that basically does what domestic semi-autos do for $500-$600. It has cheaper magazines. Top notch reliability.

AK's get bashed a lot. A lot of old myths and stereotypes about it's function and use. Reality is, if you're a SHOOTER and not a POSEUR - the AK is a combat accurate weapon that is fast and easy to shoot with great reliability and good power. The only people who are not convinced of that, the people who are skeptics or critics are those who have not really spent much trigger time behind one. For practical use, say self-defense -- the AK can do everything an AR can do. Period.

There's always a market out there of people who want a semi-auto carbine on the cheap. They want it for possible self defense and for blasting at the range. A large portion of them can be satisfied with those $300 import AK's and it fits their budget. In fact, more than satisfied, they have a great platform.

If those rifles are removed from the market place, what are people's choices? Not much. You have to step up to a $650 or more AR-15 to have a comparable carbine. Go shopping and see. The AK's are all parts and kits. Prices aren't that great. Selection is poor. Some will criticize what I say and say there are plenty out there, what am I talking about? Compared to how it was just a few years ago, it's bad. In fact, the ban will get worse and worse thanks to the "sporting purposes clause" ...Now, they consider barrels and receivers of AK's as unsporting. The BATFE's recent rulings have really done some damage.

The only thing left really is the Saiga which is imported as a sporting rifle and requires some handy skills to convert. Something I'd bet turns off at least 9 out of 10 potential AK buyers. The AK will pretty much be killed off. I'm convinced of it. It will be reduced to FAL status or lower. A few places making them for a niche market. Quite a fall from the days when they were more popular and more available than AR-15's.
 
Honestly, I think it's harder to find AKs(clones) now than it was even a few months ago, at least it seems that way to me.

Pretty sure I still want one though. ARs are nice. Very nice. AKs are just neat as all hell, though.
 
Is it because they are the ultimate "evil black rifle"? Is it not PC to discuss and cover them?
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Yes it is!

have you seen a good guy in TV/News/Movies...with an AK? if you have is because he got it from the bad guy because he's weapon run out of ammo

another think is that an AK only varies in meral finish and very minor stuff one from another...so i dont think you need a full review in a magazine just for a finish of a gun.

BTW...we (ak owners) dont need a magazine to tell us how great an AK is ;)
 
well, when was the last time you heard someone in any media outlet say 'AK-47' without saying 'kill', 'gunned down by', 'heavily armed with', 'held the police off with', or 'every mutha----a in tha room' in the same sentence?
Click to expand...

AND notice when there is a murder, they repeat the word 'gun' 'shoot' 'gunman' more times than you can count. Total brainwashing of the masses.
 
The AR and 1911 manufacturers are the ones shelling out the dough for coverage on all of their new products and gizmos...Too bad the AK types
don't get more coverage...plenty of pages of ads, but no info...
 
Maybe I don't understand, what is new to cover about the AK series. The only reason you see so many articles about 1911's and AR's is because someone is constantly coming up with new parts to put in or on it. What has changed with the AK series in thirty years? And yes I do love AK's.
 
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