Is it really worth the hype?

Is it really worth the hype? I just returned from a luncheon, and a person dining with us had so much hype about the AK-47. His hype went on to degrade any other firearm weapon system (AR-Glock-etc)

Most of what he was stating was no where near fact

(This happens with any subject, martial arts included)

How should one deal with these people?

 

It depends on his claims really, the AK platform has really become a benchmark for dependable cost effective killing weapons

 

Agree. One comment he made was a AK can be buried in mud and still fire straight out of it.

I know a lot of weapons that can do that, but after a few rounds, there is malfunction. I was at a shooting range some time ago, and a few guys there were doing odd things to a weapon cache on site as a proving ground. They had buried a few weapons in mud, including a AK.

Some firearm enthusiasts would state that much of the AK design is based off German technology

 

It is based on German tech but then filtered through the needs of a manufacturing system that required ease of manufacture for use by a largely conscript military. There is a certain genius to that, the Germans would never have developed that platform into a carbine that would be so ubiquitous.

 

Nice point

That would have depended upon leadership and industry

Another point, all firearms have flaws, and it is upon these flaws (and working areas), that others are build upon

Looking upon Japan, as a current area of quality from industry, they were not so during WWII as most designs for modern warfare came from other countries. Japan could have taken that same platform and had the same production

I was once told by a gunsmith, that the AK was more of a machine (gun) rifle rather than a carbine

 

The AK line has both carbines (for instance AKS-47U, AK-104, AK-105) and assault rifles, like the well known AK-47.

The hype is due to its relatively low cost, reliability and ease of use. IIRC, it's the most used assault rifle in the world.

 

And low build tolerances. When the mechanicals are not as tight things like mud and sand tend to not affect them as much.

The Chinese have a saying that the spear is the king of all weapons. This is because of ease of production, ease of training, decent range, and they're cheap to make. The AK-47 is the modern spear.

 

I think the Chinese would argue the type-56 being the king of all weapons. Their copy of the AK-47

 

I smile, nod and ignore.

 

I hate the hype surrounding the AK-47, mostly because the majority I've encountered were poorly built copies.

A well-built AK? Sure. But then a well-built anything is better than a knock-off AK. In my army days, we came across a place where the Iraqis were manufacturing AKs for Saddam's troops. It was literally a bunch of goat farmers in a rundown warehouse putting these things together by hand. The quality was so poor that you'd have better luck throwing rocks.

The "you can bury it in mud" argument has become a tired cliché, much like the "I'd rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6" crap in martial arts. My response is usually, "What sort of jackass goes and buries their weapon in mud?"

Give me the AR platform any day. Fires like a dream and looks way cooler.

 

Kind of important when you want to leave a weapons cache... but then again you can do that with many modern firearms now.

More importantly it's lighter, the ammo is lighter, the ammo can shoot farther with less drop. Even comparing the modern AK the AR series is better.

Now when you talk about things like m-16 versus AK-47 in Vietnam I'd rather have the AK. Close range battles where stopping power is important, muck everywhere, and production problems with the m16 leading to jamming. If we fought the same battles with modern weapons, AR all the way.

 

I guess the people had the intend of burying weapons in the mud for that day, to dispel myths. I happened to be there because of a flyer circulating at the range days prior. I guess I wanted to check it out. It must have been a good stunt for advertising people to come to the range

Anyway, the AK did jam, after a few rounds. So did a Glock. These people doing the demos, did not bother to do a quick exterior rinse, allowing the mud to settle in the breeches after the first round.

Perhaps the idea of mud or sand in a weapon is taken upon the military position of being able to continue to fire-but in case a weapon fails, there are others in the squad that can continue firing. The M! Garand underwent these types of tests beating out Pedersen rifle-(although bureaucracy and supposedly cartridges had to be lubricated). The basis of the AK doing this was when US soldiers had a firearm malfunction, picked up a AK out of the mud from a dead enemy and got back into the fire fight. (But this is not quite accurate, so I am told by a uncle who was in Vietnam)

One of the problems with the M-16 verses the AK was not a platform issue as it were a cleaning issue. AK's have a built-in cleaning kit/rod

 

The problem is that after the boys with the stars on their shoulders heard that the rifles were supposedly self cleaning they decided to manufacture them without the chrome-lined barrel and issue without a cleaning kit.... Over the objections of the designer.

:bang:

 

Ak is a formidable weapon know doubt, is it the greatest weapon ever...I don't think so, I couldn't ever get accurate follow up shots with it. The ar platform in .223 is as smooth an experience as you can get from an assault weapon but its power is questioned. As far as the dependability is concerned my service weapon fired dependable all the time nearly every time.

 

Don't forget about the ammo. The ammo was not the right grade

 

"Each year, some 250,000 people die from wounds inflicted by an AK-47."

http://www.theglobalist.com/20-facts-mikhail-kalashnikov-ak-47/

That's a lot of people since 1947

 

And disease and/or famine kill way more

 

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/20...47-inventor-kalashnikovs-guilt-for-guns-toll/

Nobody has guilt for those

 

Good luck doing this with an AR....
http://www.northeastshooters.com/vbulletin/threads/179192-DIY-Shovel-AK-photo-tsunami-warning!?p=2695046&viewfull=1#post2695046

 

The spear is the King of all weapons because it is arguably the King of all weapons, perhaps barring the halberd.