How is this thread anything other than trolling?
Trolls don't ask, nor thank for constructive criticism.
I would appreciate you respecting me, if not my opinions.
I have gotten very efficient at the "bash the mag" magazine change, and can roll and charge the AK very quickly. It's still infinitely slower than the AR.
There's that word "infinitely" again. Please enlighten me as to your extensive experience probing the depths of infinity.
Anyone that has trouble with an AR reload probably should not be handling a firearm in the first place.
I don't have trouble, and I agree with you. But there's a difference between "acceptably operable" and "superior".
A poll would be mildly interesting, except that you'd simply find everyone voting for whatever platform they use, and you wouldn't be able to get a sense of their qualifications. And since the vast majority of AK owners bought for no reason other than price, and since the vast majority of all gun-owners do not shoot in an environment where a magazine change matters, the poll would be essentially worthless.
I wouldn't give a poll that much credit. Unfortunately, the majority of people who might vote, myself included, would not be qualified to.
I am relaying my experiences with the design of both firearms, however limited, and doing my best to make an objective and critical analysis of both features. Several of you have brought up excellent points. Unfortunately, a few of you have also taken to insulting me personally while doing so.
Those of you that have have shot yourself in the foot: I listen, unless spoken down to.
What would happen to this discussion if magazine retention was required? I would hazard a guess that the AR would be far faster.
Quite possibly. However, I think if you have time to worry about mag retention, then you have time to change an AK's magazine. It's not all that hard to grab both AK mags at once, rock the old one out and then rock the new one in...
I think you need to spend some more time running an AK (verses watching videos of other people running one, before you make a comment like this. It’s very easy to miss the release lever with the “whack it” method (which is likely why that is NOT how the soviet manual of arms teaches their soldiers how to do it).
There are bugs in the AK's magwell, but they are easily fixable from a design standpoint. While I realize I didn't illuminate it at first, I am approaching this question from a design standpoint, i.e., for use in new designs, not old WASR-10s.
When you push the AK mag release lever with your thumb, you then have to roll the mag out….which is not intuitive at all.
How is it not? You are already in the process of a swinging motion...
I push the little button on my AR with my right index finger and the mag drops.
Uhuh. And while it is not hard, that takes an extra level of coordination.
I went to the range with my co-worker (who is a USMC marksmanship coach) two weeks ago to run “speed drills” on mag changes. We did ~25 drills each and not once did the empty mag fail to eject completely.
I would expect that. But, again, I have a rule: never, EVER rely on gravity to do the work for you, even if it works 99.99% of the time.
Not to mention you can use your left hand to push the bolt hold open on the AR after the mag load, where as on the AK you have to pull the charging handle to load the next round.
That means that every time you load the AK you are loading on a closed bolt.
This is a pain in the butt when you are loading full mags or non bullet shaped rounds like my Saiga 12 and 410.
We're talking about the magwell, not the bolt. Kalashnikov made numerous sacrifices to the bolt in the name of simplicity.
Who cares how simple it is to manufacture? Are you building a firearms plant and going into manufacturing?
I see you've never paid for a rifle in your life...
Cheaper, easier manufacturing techniques allow you to create rifles faster and sell them at lower prices.
And would it be so unusual for me to go into the firearms manufacturing business? As a matter of fact, that is what I intend to do!
Again, who cares? All your saying is that it’s easier for a hack gunsmith (like me) to dremel an AK into something other that it was manufactured to be. When’s the last time you did a caliber conversion on an AK? You can do several easy caliber conversions on an AR buy pushing two pins and swapping your upper. No hacking up the mag well required. Often times you can use the exact same mag.
Anyone who wants to use a round longer than 5.56 NATO does... Which is a lot of people.
Thanks for letting us in on the secret shortage of AR mags
This is a fallacy. If I say Toyotas are good cars, does that mean Hondas suck?
Lefties can buy a completely 100% mirror image AR. Ever seen a 100% mirror image AK with the safety and charging handle on the left?
Actually, yes.
But that's beside the point, because armed forces don't have the resources to by a left-handed AR for every lefty who enlists.
Sorry, but this is pure jiberish.
Those are the
downsides of the AK's magwell. It's not gibberish, if you train improperly on something, you will need retraining to get it right.
How many have you met personally that were trained to run an AK? Where’s your reference for this remark. You don’t have one because it just aint so.
Let's see:
Deer Hunter trained himself.
A substitute teacher of mine was trained to use one in the SEALs.
Those are it for face to face. Possibly more I never asked about.
You wouldn’t need it if your weren’t talking out your tail end about something you obviously know very little about.
Hmmm...
Y'know, I could respond to that...
But I think the comment speaks better than I ever could to your qualifications to say anything about anything.
Ad hominem attacks won't work on me. They only make you look like a donkey's behind.
