AK Review???

[Mortblanc]

I will do this last section and work on getting the thread turned into a presentable Word Document. This last portion is all I intend to present due to my desire for this to NOT become a heavy technical presentation and just enough for safe operation/security.

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USE AND CAPABILITIES

Let us imagine that one has found an AK with some ammo, and the situation is such that one feels compelled to put the firearm into use. Just what are the capabilities of this weapon/cartridge combination?

Without going into technical details of ballistics, be assured that the AK47 is capable of killing any big game in the UK. The AK74 is capable of killing most large game, but would be marginal for some of the critters roaming the Scot highlands. We will stop at saying that the AK47 is a 30 caliber round and the AK74 is a hi-performance 21 caliber round (Nope it is a .21 not a .22).

Accuracy capabilities? We should start that discussion by saying that the AK was not developed in the western tactical mold. The AK is not a "downsized rifle with a low powered rifle cartridge", as the west views it.

The AK was not designed as a target rifle. It is renowned for "lack of accuracy" by the western trainers. Accuracy is a subjective term, and I have found that their difference between acceptable accuracy and unacceptable often changes depending on what weapon they are holding.

Yesterday afternoon I decided to go to the range and "fine tune" the scope I had installed on my AK. The entire afternoon consisted of 15 shots. Three shots were fired using open sights, as a control. Keep in mind that I have 65 year old eyes with plastic corneas and year old prescription glasses!

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The group was fired from a measured 100 yards at the public range. Bright sunlight, temp was 25C, no wind. This is a box stock AK with no modifications, shooting surplus Russian ammo using the standard sights.

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Since my mission was to zero the scope I slipped it onto the military side mount and fired a group, then adjusted the scope. It took only 4 tries to get exactly what I wished, or nearly so.

This is probably better indication of what the AK platform is capable of doing. The scope eliminates a multitude of personal shortcomings. As I said, the AK was never intended to be a target rifle, but it is capable of giving better performance than most shooters expect.

The final group is the 3 shot cluster in the rectangle centered and 2 inches above the X. The string is only 1.75" center to center. The largest group is only 3" CTC. None of the sots are outside the 9" paper plate that is roughly the size of a human head. (the open sight group was well inside that size definition)

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From this we can ascertain that the AK is adequate for game, using open sights, out to 100M, capable of keeping shots in the kill zone of medium game.

Defensive use is not as demanding! Your target is going to be 18 inches wide and 3 feet tall from head to belly button.

So guess what the Soviets did? They engineered a rifle that used a cartridge having 33" drop at 300M!!!

If you have the rifle sighted for 200M, and aim at the top of the head at 300M you will hit the bad guy in the belly! If he is inside 200M, aim center of mass and don't worry about exactly where you hit. In a post-event situation, if he is not dead now he will be by tomorrow.

[Mortblanc]

How do you know that the sights are set properly? It is very easy, you look at them. If possible you fire a couple of rounds to verify, but the AK is a "combat rifle". It is expected to be placed in situations where one will eventually be forced to pick up a rifle lying on the ground and use it immediately.

What you are doing, picking it up off the ground and putting it into service, is exactly what it was designed for. It is as if the soviets were designing the perfect prepper rifle.

First, look at the front sight. With the firearm safe and cleared look at the front sight from the muzzle. Just below the protective sight globe is a 'view port. The sight post has an index mark and the mount has an index notch. The two should be lined up. That is pretty good insurance the horizontal is set on the rifle.

The front sight will seldom be off unless the weapon has been run over by a 5 ton truck. If you ever need to move the post you will find it requires steady nerves, a good anvil and a BFH.

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If the front sight meets your approval flip the rifle around and look at the rear sight. It is a simple blade with an elevator using a notch for the aiming point, just like most air-rifles, BB guns or commercial .22 rifles.

The elevator is our concern here. Look at the sight from the top. You will see a series of numbers from 0-10.

!! PLACE THE INDEX SELECTOR AT THE 0 MARK !!



The elevator is designed so that with the index at the 0, or very first position, the rifle is in a condition called "battle sight zero". You do not have to hold over, or allow for drop, from the muzzle out to 250M at this setting.

Technically, at this setting, the rifle is dead on at 200M, 1.5" high at 100M and 6" low at 250M.

In other words, if you see a deer and it is between the muzzle and 250M you will kill that deer!

If you have arranged your defensive position properly, and have range markers positioned out from your firing positions, you might want to move the selector up or down if you know the specific range and need to shoot at a range farther than 250M. (keep in mind that the drop is 24" between 250m and 300M [400M+ you do not want to know] so eliminate the guesswork or pass up the shot)

As a general rule, the elevator in the 0 position is the best idea. That is why that position is present.

Always remember that the Soviets developed this weapon while WW2 was still in progress, and the people that developed it had seen combat. They had taken weapons off dead bodies, or dug them out of rubble piles and placed the weapon in immediate use. They had slogged through mud, snow and dust so thick one could not breathe and expected their weapons to hold up to abuse, neglect and the elements.

In 1946, when the prototype was submitted, the greatest SHTF episode in world history was a fresh experience. 40,000,000 (that's forty million) Russians had died in that struggle.

Their goal was to design the perfect SHTF weapon.

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One other consideration needs to be mentioned. That is recoil. The rifle does "kick", but it is not a painful experience.

I would equate the recoil to that of a .410 shotgun. Hardly excessive by any measure.

For the complete non-shooter that recoil impulse equates roughly to being head butted in the shoulder by a 4 month old baby.

Anyone weighing more than 80 pounds will not find the recoil oppressive. That puts the rifle within the capabilities of anyone 12 years old or older, even into the elderly years.

The rifle was also developed for use with heavy padded clothing for the Russian winters. Coincidentally that makes the short stock perfect for smaller people.