Fedaykin wrote:To be honest asking what is the best AK variant is rather missing the point about what made the platform so great, in a recent Gun Jesus video it was noted that often the AK variant you will see in some African dust-bowl civil war beaten up, covered in rust and mud but still working perfectly may well be an AK variant that the aficionados regard as inferior in quality.
Further from that I have had one person point out when comparing a machined AK variant to a stamped one that in actuality it is the choice between a gun that will last you 100 life times or 10 lifetimes! As we only have one life time (except for me of course as I am a giant floating stone head that vomits up guns to my followers and immortal) the question of stamped vs machined is a rather mute one.
The difference between milled and stamped is NOT longevity !
It is rigidity. Have a look at a stamped AKM being fired in slow motion. The flex in the stamped receiver allows the butt end AND the muzzle end to drop a few mm at the same time - the whole rifle bends !! The milled receiver stops this. It is much more accurate.
Also, comparing the skills of users who are worlds apart is not valid. To be brutally honest, if an individual has no military training, no marksmanship skills and no drills, the choice of rifle and quality of that rifle is moot.
However, in the hands of a trained soldier, the advantage of milled over stamped will be apparent.
As I was CLEARLY making an anecdotal point rather than a statement of fact I am not entirely clear why you needed to kick off about it...
Kicking off ?
You must be a snowflake ?
Sorry for any offence my overly aggressive reply caused.
Sim G wrote:I’ve been fortunate enough to shoot loads of them and honestly thought they were all cr@p. Except the AMD-65. That just looked way cool for its day! Still cr@p to use, but way, way cool!
I agree - and that muzzle brake !!!
The one I tested was ex-PLO and not in great condition. It had a picatinny rail welded to the dust cover and the remains of where a scope had been soldered/welded to the picatinny rail - rings ? Who needs rings ??
breacher wrote:
However, in the hands of a trained soldier, the advantage of milled over stamped will be apparent.
The only thing I'll add is that the Armed Forces of The Soviet Union and the Russian Federation (among others) have managed very well with the stamped receiver since the introduction of the AKM in 1959 right up to the latest AK-74/AK-100 series/AK-12 variants.Yes a stamped receiver AK will flex, as will most firearms, and there are few countries still producing milled receiver AK variants compared to stamped.
Milled receiver AK variants still flex a fair bit as well.......
Here’s another vid, but of the AK74. Great slo-mo action! But have a look at the 30 second mark... is that the bullet beginning to yaw at about eight feet from the muzzle?!!
With the R4 we were expected to make hits on a fig 11 at 500m, our Staff Sgt could easily put 10 rounds on target out of 10. The best he managed with an AKM was 4 out of 10 and it was a fairly new rifle, not a beat up example. In Angola the bush was so thick that 200m visibilty was the furthest we could see generally.
