AK-47 vs M-16 - Which should I buy?

I'm going to say AK but I love AR's and have thousands of rounds through a M4. The AR is a incredibly accurate platform with good reliability if kept clean and free of foreign material. An AK is more accurate than people give it credit for and has incredible reliability with almost zero maintenance. She is a dirty girl that likes to get dirty. In the end its a personal choice. I would see if you could shoot both platforms preferably in the models you were looking to buy.
 
Just as a note: Kalashnikov USA is not related to the Russian brand. They are just taking advantage of the name and the fact that Saigas can't be imported anymore.

If you have to pick just one, go with the AR. I say that as someone who really likes the AK platform better, I find the AR to be boring to say the least. But you can change calibers and replacement parts are very easy to come by.
 
Ugh, define your mission:

Up close, AK
Medium to longer ranges, AR.
Need to take that 'Speed' shot over a shoulder, AR.

I have both, zombies start walking and I can grab just one rifle, I wouldn't hesitate to grab my AR. Then again, I drive a Ford and don't mind Glocks.
 
Ugh, define your mission:

Up close, AK
Medium to longer ranges, AR.
Need to take that 'Speed' shot over a shoulder, AR.


I have both, zombies start walking and I can grab just one rifle, I wouldn't hesitate to grab my AR. Then again, I drive a Ford and don't mind Glocks.

haha, best answer yet

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I am a huge Ak fan, but holy $hit lets get real.

pretty sure crazy was being fecetious
 
If precision headshots for zombies was needed quickly and rapid. AR, is obviously the choice.. no recoil and toy gun like rapid fire ability.

For shtf and need barrier penetration... AK, or something in 308

Upclose... i think the answer is semi auto shotgun..aka saiga 12 gauge
 
Is your name Mohammed?
Do you like to blow things up, particularly yourself?
Does your camel look forward to Thursday nights because it gets the night off?
Do you live in a rock hut and wipe your a$$ with your bare hand
If you answer yes to any of these... then get the AK

But if you love America, Freedom and boobs... get the AR

NO GET A M1 GARAND!
 
If precision headshots for zombies was needed quickly and rapid. AR, is obviously the choice.. no recoil and toy gun like rapid fire ability.

For shtf and need barrier penetration... AK, or something in 308

Upclose... i think the answer is semi auto shotgun..aka saiga 12 gauge

This is all you need for zombies.....
 
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if I remember, 7.62x39 prices didn't skyrocket like 5.56 during the Obama scares.

That's because everybody and their grandmother,mothers and daughters didn't own an AK.One of the appealing factors of the AR is that it is so gentle a little girl could fire it,and grown men treat it like a Barbie doll.

I kind of wish AK's never gained popularity like they did when the price of 5..56 went through the roof.
 
What an amazing bounty of info! Thanks to all!!

Ask a good question on NE Shooters and you won't be disappointed.

A few weeks ago my first thread was on how to bake a frozen Mrs. Smith Pie without it sticking to the aluminum pan. Got plenty of crap, and even a Closed Thread warning. But somehow LowBuckBob managed to insert a post suggesting I thaw the pie first. Which WORKED !! Thanks LowBuckBob.

It seems the AR and AK are a pretty even match. Hard to go wrong either way.

Two issues still concern me, though.

#1 When I was in Basic Training most of us took the M16 into the shower with us to clean. The stock was very plain and easy to wipe down. Many modern AR's appear "SteamPunk" to me, with so many nooks and crannies that probably have no function, look cool, but are tough to really clean.

Are modern AK's easier to wipe down than modern AR's? Or the same?

#2 In MA High-Capacity Magazines, that are Pre-Ban, can be tough to find. I do see Four Seasons offering AR Pre-Ban Mags regularly. Are Pre-Ban AK Magazines as easy to find?
 
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Two issues still concern me, though.

#1 When I was in Basic Training most of us took the M16 into the shower with us to clean. The stock was very plain and easy to wipe down. Many modern AR's appear "SteamPunk" to me, with so many nooks and crannies that probably have no function, look cool, but are tough to really clean.

Are modern AK's easier to wipe down than modern AR's? Or the same?

#2 In MA High-Capacity Magazines, that are Pre-Ban, can be tough to find. I do see Four Seasons offering AR Pre-Ban Mags regularly. Are Pre-Ban AK Magazines as easy to find?

Keep in mind that Communism fell in Eastern Europe in 1990, 1991 and communism spread to Mass in 1994. You do the math. Since the 90s, most former communist countries are switching over to their own guns or western guns like Romania, Bulgaria, Poland and the Baltic States. Kittery Trading Post is about 1hr, 1.5hrs north of Boston. Just sayin'

AK's have nooks and crannies too, in fact I've never had a gun that didn't. If you get the chance to shoot both an AK and an AR, I'd suggest asking to see them taken apart and where to clean. There's also Youtube. The gas tube can be a pain to deal with if you don't have a 20 gauge brush, bore mop or pipe cleaners.

One note - the "bluing" used on the dust cover on the Russian AKs I've owned does wipe off a little if you use Hoppe's 9. Cleaning patches will look like you smashed a bunch of blueberries in them.

AK and AR cleaning videos:



 
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Yep

[video=youtube_share;DX73uXs3xGU]http://youtu.be/DX73uXs3xGU[/video]

[video=youtube_share;YAneTFiz5WU]http://youtu.be/YAneTFiz5WU[/video]

Really surprising videos.

Did they guys just happen to use a really lousy AK? Because their results are totally opposite to what many of us would expect.
 
Keep in mind that Communism fell in Eastern Europe in 1990, 1991 and communism spread to Mass in 1994. You do the math. Since the 90s, most former communist countries are switching over to their own guns or western guns like Romania, Bulgaria, Poland and the Baltic States. Kittery Trading Post is about 1hr, 1.5hrs north of Boston. Just sayin'

AK's have nooks and crannies too, in fact I've never had a gun that didn't. If you get the chance to shoot both an AK and an AR, I'd suggest asking to see them taken apart and where to clean. There's also Youtube. The gas tube can be a pain to deal with if you don't have a 20 gauge brush, bore mop or pipe cleaners.

One note - the "bluing" used on the dust cover on the Russian AKs I've owned does wipe off a little if you use Hoppe's 9. Cleaning patches will look like you smashed a bunch of blueberries in them.

AK and AR cleaning videos:





HickCock45 always makes great videos.

I was hoping he could clean one in half the time of the other.

But once again, they are matched quite closely. Each video is nearly a half-hour!
 
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#2 In MA High-Capacity Magazines, that are Pre-Ban, can be tough to find. I do see Four Seasons offering AR Pre-Ban Mags regularly. Are Pre-Ban AK Magazines as easy to find?

1) Buy an AK in 7.62x39
2) Go "Green"
3) Win your very own Karma of a 30-round pre-ban loaded with 30 rounds of goodness. Or if you're too far away to meet send your address via PM and get a package a few days later, sans ammo.

Pre-ban dilemma partly solved:)
 
Really surprising videos.

Did they guys just happen to use a really lousy AK? Because their results are totally opposite to what many of us would expect.

Probably 90% or better of all "knowledgeable" gun people think the AK is some indestructible perpetual motion machine. It just isn't so.

By the way, I'm sure there are torture test videos out there that would show the exact opposite results. Nothing is failure proof.
 
By the way, I'm sure there are torture test videos out there that would show the exact opposite results. Nothing is failure proof.

It also depends a lot on the type of torture. If I opened the bolt of my AK, and tossed a shotglass' worth of sand in there, it would probably still work. There's enough room in there that the sand would fall out of the way. If I did that with my AR, it probably wouldn't. But with an immersion test, the tight tolerances are working in the AR's favor - less places for mud to get in.
 
I have both because I like watching them fight in my safe...
 
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