Introduction to the AK
What is it?
An AK-pattern gun, often simply called an "AK", is a gun that is modeled after the AK-47 assault rifle. The first AK rifles left the factory in 1949 and new AKs are still coming out of dozens of factories around the world as as you read this. The materials and production technologies have changed over the years, and often the newer AKs fire different cartridges, but the essential design and operating system is unchanged. Today, the AK is the most popular gun in the world by quantity, although in the US market AKs are less popular than AR-pattern rifles.
The AK is an auto-loading rifle that is built with very loose tolerances, allowing substantial amounts of fouling and debris to accumulate internally without causing a stoppage, but also giving the AK mediocre accuracy. The modern AK is made mostly from stamped steel parts, making it incredibly cheap to manufacture after high initial startup costs. The AK action taps gas from the barrel during firing to drive a piston attached to the bolt, a system called "long-stroke gas operation" which increases reliability by keeping the majority of combustion by-products in the gas and piston chamber and out of the bolt area. Long-stroke operation also means the bolt and piston move as a monolothic unit, improving extraction reliability via the sheer weight of the mechanism and the continuous application of opening force from the combustion gases. However, the AK's long-stroke gas system generates extra recoil as the heavy bolt assembly slams into the end of its track after each shot, and the piston assembly adds weight compared to a direct-impingement or gas-expansion system (like that of AR-pattern rifles).
The AK's control layout can feel somewhat clumsy, as re-loading and re-cocking generally require re-positioning at least one of the shooter's hands (outside of the obvious need for a free hand to manipulate a magazine). AK controls are stiff and clank loudly into place, and small-framed shooters may find the amount of force required to cock the bolt to be excessive. These problems are compounded with inexpensive foreign AK variants, which often have parts that do not fit well or must be broken in to achieve smooth, one-handed operation. However, AK controls are extremely robust and can handle just about any abuse without complaint. Field stripping does not require tools on any AK variant.
The AK's popularity has resulted in copies of the AK being made throughout the world, both legally and illegally. In the US market, Romanian, Yugoslavian, and Bulgarian AKs are the most common of these "clones", though Chinese, Polish, and Egyptian AK clones are also encountered. These clones are produced in a variety of levels of sophistication, from entry-level offerings with frozen safeties and crooked sights to high-end rebuilds that rival or surpass Russia's finest. American-made AKs are also available, though they often cost even more than original Russian-made rifles.
The AK's caliber selection has expanded dramatically from its initial chambering of 7.62x39mm. Today, AKs can be had in any common military caliber, as well as powerful, unusual rounds like 30-06 and 12 gauge shotgun shell. Varying stock configurations and barrel profiles are also available, allowing the AK to become a successful hunting rifle as well as a world-renowned combat firearm.
The AK design has enjoyed so much success because it was designed to be three simple things: cheap, reliable, and effective. A stamped-steel AK can be produced for a fraction of the cost of a comparable NATO gun like an AR or a FAL, and will keep firing long after the AR and FAL have both overheated or jammed. The NATO guns might trump the AK in sharpshooting contests, but this is a purposeful choice for the AK platform, which provides only as much precision as the average soldier requires and makes up the difference with reliability and low production costs. This no-nonsense, utilitarian design has kept the AK in armories worldwide, and will likely continue to do so for many decades.
An AK-pattern gun, often simply called an "AK", is a gun that is modeled after the AK-47 assault rifle. The first AK rifles left the factory in 1949 and new AKs are still coming out of dozens of factories around the world as as you read this. The materials and production technologies have changed over the years, and often the newer AKs fire different cartridges, but the essential design and operating system is unchanged. Today, the AK is the most popular gun in the world by quantity, although in the US market AKs are less popular than AR-pattern rifles.
The AK is an auto-loading rifle that is built with very loose tolerances, allowing substantial amounts of fouling and debris to accumulate internally without causing a stoppage, but also giving the AK mediocre accuracy. The modern AK is made mostly from stamped steel parts, making it incredibly cheap to manufacture after high initial startup costs. The AK action taps gas from the barrel during firing to drive a piston attached to the bolt, a system called "long-stroke gas operation" which increases reliability by keeping the majority of combustion by-products in the gas and piston chamber and out of the bolt area. Long-stroke operation also means the bolt and piston move as a monolothic unit, improving extraction reliability via the sheer weight of the mechanism and the continuous application of opening force from the combustion gases. However, the AK's long-stroke gas system generates extra recoil as the heavy bolt assembly slams into the end of its track after each shot, and the piston assembly adds weight compared to a direct-impingement or gas-expansion system (like that of AR-pattern rifles).
The AK's control layout can feel somewhat clumsy, as re-loading and re-cocking generally require re-positioning at least one of the shooter's hands (outside of the obvious need for a free hand to manipulate a magazine). AK controls are stiff and clank loudly into place, and small-framed shooters may find the amount of force required to cock the bolt to be excessive. These problems are compounded with inexpensive foreign AK variants, which often have parts that do not fit well or must be broken in to achieve smooth, one-handed operation. However, AK controls are extremely robust and can handle just about any abuse without complaint. Field stripping does not require tools on any AK variant.
The AK's popularity has resulted in copies of the AK being made throughout the world, both legally and illegally. In the US market, Romanian, Yugoslavian, and Bulgarian AKs are the most common of these "clones", though Chinese, Polish, and Egyptian AK clones are also encountered. These clones are produced in a variety of levels of sophistication, from entry-level offerings with frozen safeties and crooked sights to high-end rebuilds that rival or surpass Russia's finest. American-made AKs are also available, though they often cost even more than original Russian-made rifles.
The AK's caliber selection has expanded dramatically from its initial chambering of 7.62x39mm. Today, AKs can be had in any common military caliber, as well as powerful, unusual rounds like 30-06 and 12 gauge shotgun shell. Varying stock configurations and barrel profiles are also available, allowing the AK to become a successful hunting rifle as well as a world-renowned combat firearm.
The AK design has enjoyed so much success because it was designed to be three simple things: cheap, reliable, and effective. A stamped-steel AK can be produced for a fraction of the cost of a comparable NATO gun like an AR or a FAL, and will keep firing long after the AR and FAL have both overheated or jammed. The NATO guns might trump the AK in sharpshooting contests, but this is a purposeful choice for the AK platform, which provides only as much precision as the average soldier requires and makes up the difference with reliability and low production costs. This no-nonsense, utilitarian design has kept the AK in armories worldwide, and will likely continue to do so for many decades.
Why it's good
The single greatest thing about the AK is its reliability, which is arguably the most important feature of a combat firearm. However, even when hunting or shooting at a range, far from a combat zone, a jammed gun is still just so much metal until you fix it. No gun is "jam-free" but the AK is pretty close, and the jams that do occur are generally easy to clear. Click here for a video (1:17 in length) from a Russian importer showing bone-stock AKs performing feats of reliability that many more expensive rifles can only dream about.
AKs are also much cheaper than other comparable guns, though US citizens won't find a staggering difference between a quality AK and quality AR due to legislation protecting American gun makers. However, cheap AK clones are available at very reasonable prices, and the AK's generously toleranced design means performance differences between original Russian AKs and foreign clones are minimal (though as previously mentioned, fit and finish may be lacking).
The AK is also a more accurate platform than it is given credit for. A well-built AK (not a cheap mish-mash of parts kits) is quite capable of shooting under 2 MOA in the native 7.62x39 caliber, a cartridge designed for reliable feeding, not accuracy, with its triangular profile and shallow shoulders. These features reduce accuracy by discouraging complete powder burn within the confines of the of the casing (most benchrest cartridges, like 6.5 BR, have smooth tubular profiles and steep shoulders), so switching the AK chambering to a more accurate cartridges, such as 5.56 NATO, produces groups that hover closer to 1 MOA, competitive with more expensive guns like AR-15s and M14s.
Finally, the AK is a flexible platform able to chamber a wide variety of rounds and having a vast network of aftermarket parts and upgrades, allowing the shooter to customize the function and aesthetics to their exact preference and price range.
The single greatest thing about the AK is its reliability, which is arguably the most important feature of a combat firearm. However, even when hunting or shooting at a range, far from a combat zone, a jammed gun is still just so much metal until you fix it. No gun is "jam-free" but the AK is pretty close, and the jams that do occur are generally easy to clear. Click here for a video (1:17 in length) from a Russian importer showing bone-stock AKs performing feats of reliability that many more expensive rifles can only dream about.
AKs are also much cheaper than other comparable guns, though US citizens won't find a staggering difference between a quality AK and quality AR due to legislation protecting American gun makers. However, cheap AK clones are available at very reasonable prices, and the AK's generously toleranced design means performance differences between original Russian AKs and foreign clones are minimal (though as previously mentioned, fit and finish may be lacking).
The AK is also a more accurate platform than it is given credit for. A well-built AK (not a cheap mish-mash of parts kits) is quite capable of shooting under 2 MOA in the native 7.62x39 caliber, a cartridge designed for reliable feeding, not accuracy, with its triangular profile and shallow shoulders. These features reduce accuracy by discouraging complete powder burn within the confines of the of the casing (most benchrest cartridges, like 6.5 BR, have smooth tubular profiles and steep shoulders), so switching the AK chambering to a more accurate cartridges, such as 5.56 NATO, produces groups that hover closer to 1 MOA, competitive with more expensive guns like AR-15s and M14s.
Finally, the AK is a flexible platform able to chamber a wide variety of rounds and having a vast network of aftermarket parts and upgrades, allowing the shooter to customize the function and aesthetics to their exact preference and price range.
Why it's bad
The most obvious downside to the AK platform is lack of precision, a condition which is present because most AKs are cheaply made, and cheaply made guns are less accurate. Most AKs produce accuracy that is adequate for combat and hunting out to 300 meters, but do not expect to punch paper competitively. While it is quite possible to build an ultra-accurate AK, it will be much more expensive and difficult than building an ultra-accurate AR.
Original milled-receiver AKs are hefty weapons at around 8 pounds, though the modern stamped-receiver versions are closer to 6.5 pounds.
The AK is also not an innately modular platform (unlike its main rival, the AR). Changing the caliber of an AK requires shop equipment, and even though minor improvements like sights, stocks, and rail systems are well within the capabilities of the average owner, they often involve excessive amounts of smacking, grinding, and cursing during removal and installation.
Finally, the low production cost that should be the AK's trump card is largely a dream for American buyers. Import laws and restrictions set up to protect American gun manufacturers keep decent AKs at roughly the same price point as decent ARs, so even though the factory in Russia can produce an AK for less than a fifth of the cost of a single American-made AR, US citizens are unlikely to ever see those savings.
The most obvious downside to the AK platform is lack of precision, a condition which is present because most AKs are cheaply made, and cheaply made guns are less accurate. Most AKs produce accuracy that is adequate for combat and hunting out to 300 meters, but do not expect to punch paper competitively. While it is quite possible to build an ultra-accurate AK, it will be much more expensive and difficult than building an ultra-accurate AR.
Original milled-receiver AKs are hefty weapons at around 8 pounds, though the modern stamped-receiver versions are closer to 6.5 pounds.
The AK is also not an innately modular platform (unlike its main rival, the AR). Changing the caliber of an AK requires shop equipment, and even though minor improvements like sights, stocks, and rail systems are well within the capabilities of the average owner, they often involve excessive amounts of smacking, grinding, and cursing during removal and installation.
Finally, the low production cost that should be the AK's trump card is largely a dream for American buyers. Import laws and restrictions set up to protect American gun manufacturers keep decent AKs at roughly the same price point as decent ARs, so even though the factory in Russia can produce an AK for less than a fifth of the cost of a single American-made AR, US citizens are unlikely to ever see those savings.
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