I tried
I had an epiphany of sorts in Reno. No matter what I do, how hard I try, or what I know: I just don’t like AKs. Period. Can’t help it.
I have a nice AK (see pics here) and I should like it. I just don’t. I know I should like them because:
But I don’t. I don’t like how they feel. I don’t enjoy shooting them. It has nothing to do with them not being fine weapons. I guess, my dislike of it is more aesthetic/ergonomic in nature. I’ll probably unload it at the next gun show.
Update: Sold in three minutes. Maybe I should make this an auction site?
October 10th, 2006 at 9:52 am
OK, now get your fine sense of firearms choice over to your gun dealer and order a Springfield M1A, preferably the Scout version….
If you want to persist in the poodle-shooter round, take a look at the carbines now offered by Kel-Tec These weapons have a Stoner-type action, and they all take M-16 magazines, but are about half the cost of an AR.
October 10th, 2006 at 10:15 am
Uncle, that’s pretty much how I feel about Glocks. They’re reliable, durable, lightweight, almost impervious to corrosion, and there are tons of aftermarket parts and accessories for them. But except for the Glock 30 I just don’t like shooting them very much.
October 10th, 2006 at 10:31 am
Have you ever tired an AK-74? It shoots a bit more like an AR-15, but the operating system is still the same as the 47. I generally like shooting the AK-74 more than the 47. But I kind of agree with you that there are a lot of ergonomic issues with it. I enjoy shooting Kalashnikovs, but I do find the AR-15’s operating system to be a lot more comfortable.
The problems I have with the Kalashnikov design:
Safety is not easily operable without disrupting your shooting stance. On some rifles, it’s really stiff.
Reloading a magazine requires removing the rifle from your shoulder and requires an awkward twisting operation. On the AK-74 it’s even more awkward than on the AK-47.
Most Kalashnikovs have sloppy triggers, and some of the slap when the bolt carrier comes flying back. They make better triggers for the AK, but I prefer to keep my rifles using stock components.
I’m not really a fan of the Kalashnikov sighting system. The AR-15s peephole sights make target acquisition a lot quicker for me. The AR-15’s sights also run from the back of the receiver to the front of the barrel. The Kalashnikov’s sights run just the length of the 16″ barrel. I have a tough time hitting targets at a distance with the Kalashnikov using iron sights.
I’d really love to try the Robinson Arms XCR sometime. A new hex wrench, different breech bolt , and barrel change, and you can go from 7.62×39 to 5.56×45. What’s not to love about that?
October 10th, 2006 at 10:35 am
Yeah, sebastion, I don’t like the safety or the mag change. and the triggers, in addition to some having slap, just suck.
October 10th, 2006 at 11:01 am
Speeking of rifles, I’m thinking of builing an AR in 6.8spc. Besides ordinary tools that I have in my garage, what do you need? Can you get away with just a barrel wrench, or do you need other stuff? My punch, btw, that I use for my 1911’s is just an AR firing pin.
October 10th, 2006 at 11:04 am
Ben, I always buy my upper complete. But if you must build your own upper, you’ll need a barrel wrench, a receiver action block, and a torque wrench.
For all the how-tos, see ar15.com’s how to thread.
October 10th, 2006 at 9:44 pm
I don’t care for most AKs that much, but I love my VEPR in 7.62×39. A friend has one in .223, and I like it as much if not more. Pity they’re hard to find nowadays…
October 10th, 2006 at 9:51 pm
I concur with Les on the Glock analogy.
I was thinking the same thing when I first read the post.
I guess that this means that you won’t be putting a table cloth on your head which covers your face and chanting “Death to America” while you partake in a little straight overhead range practice.
I was hoping to see you on CNN when the cameras started rolling.
October 10th, 2006 at 11:28 pm
I was scrolling through the aggregator and saw your opening line “I had an epiphany of sorts in Reno.” That’s a great opening line for a novel. Try it. See where it takes you.
October 11th, 2006 at 12:45 am
You can imagine my joy when at dinner tonight here in St. Louis some Chicagoan next to me (who claimed to be a Republican) went on a rant about no one needs an AK-47 to hunt deer and how they ought to take all these guns and just melt them down.
I looked at him, and said . . . “why, I just purchased an AK this morning” with a big ‘ol smile.
He dropped his fork and turned ghost white.
Conversation improved from there of course. . .he had no idea you couldn’t really buy an AK easily – or that a real one cost $25k. Finally, after many beers and a couple of killer steaks, we came to an agreement that legalzing (and regulating drugs) was probably the best solutions to ending urban violence and a heck of a lot easier than trying to confiscate everyones gun. Plus, as he pointed out, we could take the tax dollars generated and pay for drug treatment and schools and universal health care.
At that point, I had no desire to get into another argument on universal health care.
October 11th, 2006 at 8:14 pm
The AK is an singularly unappealing weapon, in spite of it’s admitted league leading features.
It’s more of a bullet launching farm implement.
At AR suffers a a different set of problems, mostly related to the toys r us sensation it evokes coupled with mid seveties Detroit-like reliability.
The M1-A however, carries the attributes of both substantiality and precision, and in spite of outdated egonomics, is the weapon of choice between the three.
October 31st, 2006 at 10:05 am
DiFi/Schumer/Pelosi/McCarthy Contingency Fund
Via the Heartless Libertarian, via Ravenwood, …