AK Review???

[Tibbs735]

I think an "AK 101" would be good for British preppers, as we may, as you said, run into them after the SHTF. I wonder how the people in the Khyber Pass workshops rifle the barrels? That's the one part I can't work out.

[Mortblanc]

They often buy barrel stock or salvage barrels from other rifles.

If turning the barrels from scratch they are drilled, reamed and then a "rifling broach", a type of reamer with the rifling twist cut in, is pulled through the barrel. That cuts the rifling into the bore.

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http://www.popularmechanics.com/cm/popul...210-de.jpg

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in the picture the parts are;
1. stock
2. trigger
3.bolt carrier
4. safety lever
5. sight
6. magazine

The most variation one will see in AK weapons is the stocks. They come as fixed wooden versions as shown, but also in under-folding, side-folding and different shapes and colors in wood, Bakelite and polymer.

It does not matter what the stock looks like, they all operate the same.

I was at the range today and must return tomorrow, so I will take some photos of my own as I proceed to explain operation and handling.

[John]

I realise that this is a UK site and we are not allowed to have guns.

But might I suggest that as you intend to expand next time your up the range that you put all this operation and handling into an article and get SD to post it.

We are not allowed guns but come POST SHTF, thought you would like that, we are likely to come across, appropriate or whatever and to know points about them would be helpful.

[Tibbs735]

We are allowed guns. You could own a Saiga 12 with a massive drum magazine loaded with rifled slugs if you are willing to go through the paperwork. You can own handguns, if you hunt deer regularly and the local police understand your need to be able to humanely dispatch deer or other livestock at close range.

[CharlesHarris]

Useful links with basic information on the AK:
http://www.military-today.com/firearms/ak_47.htm
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/AK-47_Operator's_Manual
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioUnyCubxtU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imgSvbMo7_g
http://www.shootingillustrated.com/index...n-your-ak/

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Wound profiles in gelatine of typical military and sporting small arms:

http://www.frfrogspad.com/terminal2.htm

[Mortblanc]

Good references but aimed at the gun familiar US population.

I will try to get across the information needed for safe handling by a person not familiar with semi-auts or full-auto weapons.

This is picture 1.

This is the safety selector switch. If you ever come across an AK pattern weapon and need to pick it up and move it or use it point the muzzle in a safe direction and turn the weapon to the right side and find this lever. Pull the lever up to the top position as shown in the photo.

The military AK will have three selector marks. (Mine has only two, safe and fire) The military model will have safe at the top, the center setting is semi-auto and the bottom setting is full auto. The markings will be in any of several languages; Bulgarian, Polish, Russian, Serb, Egyptian or Chinese. Ignore the language, top is safe, middle is semi, bottom is auto.



REMEMBER, THE FIRST THING YOU DO IS POINT THE MUZZLE IN A SAFE DIRECTION AND PULL THAT LEVER TO THE TOP POSITION!!!

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2. REMOVE THE MAGAZINE

KEEP YOUR FINGER AWAY FROM THE TRIGGER

Push the lever shown at the front of the trigger guard forward and swing the magazine out of the port.

Look into the top of the magazine.

A mag with bullets in it will look like this.

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An empty mag will look like this

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Now move the safety lever to one of the down positions.

!!!KEEP YOUR FINGER AWAY FROM THE TRIGGER!!!



Grasp the operating rod handle with the right hand and pull it to the rear with force. The spring has about 20 pounds tension so expect a little resistance.

If there was a cartridge in the chamber it should have popped out with that operation.

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With the bolt held back look into the action and inspect the chamber. The chamber is the part of the back of the barrel, the breech, where that empty round hole is showing. The chamber should be empty at this point.



If the chamber is empty allow the bolt to spring forward under its own power.

NOW PULL THE SAFETY SELECTOR LEVER BACK TO THE SAFE POSITION!

You have rendered the firearm SAFE.

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If you wish to operate the firearm the process is done in reverse.

1. Insert a loaded magazine into the port. Hook it at the front and swing the rear up until the catch clicks securely.

2. Move the selector to one of the fire positions. (The selector blocks the bolt when at safe position.)

3. Pull the operating rod handle completely to the rear and release it. This will chamber the top round.

4. Aim and fire the weapon in the normal manner OR place the selector back in safe position.

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This is one of the beauties of the AK weapons system, its simplicity.

One of my instructors once told me it took a week to teach a soldier how to operate, fire and maintain an M16. He could do the same thing with an AK in 30 minutes.

The AK also has the advantage of being built like a tank. Although the weight is only 6.5 pounds the parts are robust. The weapon also has the ability to function in total filth and misuse. If you find on in the mud just slosh some water over it and have a go.

If there are any questions I will answer as best I can.

Latter I will do close ups of the field stripping procedure and cleaning.

[John]

Thanks for this and look forward to the next bit.

But as I said before why not put it all into an article, with the pictures, which are I think a must. This is something that can be most help to us in UK. As you said Charles tried to help but the links are aimed at gun familiar US.

This is really good and somewhere you lot over the pond can really help us this side.

[Mortblanc]

If SD wishes me too I can cut and paste the posts onto a separate document and submit if for permanent access on the webpage. Apparently this site does not have "stickies" which allow saving of threads in each section for permanent reference.

My goal here is to teach enough, simply enough, that the unfamiliar can either render the weapon safe, or operate it in a safe manner if one is found.

And if you do find one "post-event" it is NOT something you would want to leave lying for the next person to pick up! Walking past it saying it is dangerous or "none of my business" is leaving it for the next person, who might not be as nice as you are!

Even if you do not intend to use the weapon it is your responsibility to secure it safely and keep it out of the wrong hands.

[Mortblanc]

FIELD STRIPPING AND CLEANING

First a word about the nature of the AK. This is not a weapon that was ever intended to be coddled. It has no need for the attention of the anal-retentive, obsessive-compulsive gun cleaner.

It was developed at the end of WW2 with the realization that the average soldier was not in a position to stop at the end of each day and clean his/her weapon. A Russian soldier might walk into battle with a clean weapon and that weapon then might be fired continuously for the next 8 days without a cleaning.

The weapon might be dragged through the mud, dropped in the snow, dunked in a river, carried for miles in pouring rain and fired under extremes of temperature from -40c to +40c.

When the soldier did get a chance to stop and maintain his weapon he might not have to proper tools or lubes at hand. There was a war on with shortages of all kinds, so a make do attitude prevailed.

The AK was designed to endure that treatment, and has done so for nearly 70 years service.

I personally witnessed a group of four young men arrive at the shooting range early one afternoon with an AK and a case of ammo. They took turns loading magazines and firing at the steel clangor targets at various distances down the range. At the end of several hours of shooting, soda drinking, bull $h!&ing and general fun, the owner of the rifle stopped the party when there was only one magazine of ammo left in the box.

That group had fired 970 rounds of ammo through one rifle in one afternoon without cleaning or maintenance to the weapon in any way. Not even a drop of oil added as the shooting progressed.

So let us say that you have found an AK. It might be under a dead and rotting body, in the bottom of a dry stream where it lay for 6 months, wrapped in a plastic tarp and hidden in a sewer or stuffed in a hollow tree. You do not know its history or the condition of its internals so a cleaning is in order immediately.

You will need a little equipment.

First, a cleaner. That might be just clear water, soapy water, diesel fuel, paraffin, or if one is lucky real gun cleaning fluid!

Next you will need a lubricant of some form. The same diesel/paraffin will do, or oil drained from an abandoned vehicle, sunflower seed cooking oil or vegetable oil, lard or anything else that will grease the parts.

You will also need some old rags, an old tooth brush or bristle brush if you can get one. A cleaning rod is nice, and the AK has one located under the barrel. If it is not there then a boot lace or piece of cord will work for pulling patches through the bore.

With all that taken care we will begin.

First, clear the weapon as was instructed in the first section. Magazine out, weapon cocked, safety on.

Look at the back of the receiver cover on top of the rifle. There is a rectangular button poking through the cover at the rear. Press that rectangular button and lift the cover up and to the rear.

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With the cover removed the innards (that's a Kentucky word) will look like this.

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The cover latch button at the back is secured in a groove. Push it forward and lift up. The spring and spring guide will pull out to the rear. It is a captive unit and will not come apart or fly off into space.

Just lay it aside for now.

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Now grab the charging handle and pull the bolt carrier and bolt back to the rear of the receiver. They will lift up and out of the rails when you get to the back.

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The bolt and bolt carrier are not fused together and they will slip apart. Study them to see the way they work together and insure you reassemble them properly when finished with the job.

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Field stripping is now complete. There is seldom a need to go any farther with a breakdown. Everything that needs cleaning can be accessed at this time.

Run patches through the bore, but also run patches through the gas tube above the barrel. Wipe down and brush the bolt and carrier. Clean the recoil spring and guide as needed.

Look down into the receiver where the trigger group is located. It is an incredibly simple device. Brush or wipe it out as needed. This is where the old brush comes into use. Get in there and scrub all the crud out.

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No matter how bad an AK looks on the inside or out never give up on it. Dump it into a bucket or tub of water, let it soak, and keep scrubbing until everything is clean. No matter how bad it was, when enough crud is removed it will normally return to service.

And there is very little you can break, so do not worry about that. As you can see, the parts are far from delicate and they were designed for extreme use.

Scrub it up and get it clean.

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When everything is clean it is time to reassemble. It is easy to say "just do everything in reverse", but we will not do that. There are a couple of tricks.

First trick, lube the trigger group. No need for delicacy, just slop a little oil on the unit. You are about to cover it back up so lube it now.

Put the bolt back into the bolt carrier. Make sure you have it right and the bolt moves freely in the grooves. Get it back together and hold it in place.

Now comes the second trick. Turn the receiver upside down and install the carrier into the gas tube, then slip it upward into the back of the receiver rails. If you do this upside down you do not have to fight to keep the carrier and bolt together for this phase.

When the bolt carrier slips into place slide it forward until the bolt locks into the chamber area.

Now turn the gun over and slip the recoil spring into place, front in the gas piston, back in its groves.

TIME TO LUBE BEFORE CLOSING UP!

A few drops of whatever oil you have goes on the rails. A few drops on the bolt carrier where it goes in the gas tube. Turn the gun over and drip a few drops onto the bolt from underneath. Turn it upright and dribble some oil on the recoil spring and guide.

Replace the receiver cover.

Another trick here too! As you slide the cover into place in front, lift up on the sight leaf so the cover will slide completely into place. (I have seen people that did not know this trick get very frustrated)

Now lower the cover at the rear and press the button so the cover can slide shut. When it is secure the rectangular button will pop through the hole in the cover with a snap.

slide the operating handle back and forth several times to insure everything is lubed and operating properly and you are done.

MOVE THE SELECTOR LEVER TO THE SAFE POSITION

Wipe down the outside of the rifle with a rag, and either replace the magazine or secure the weapon safely.


Now that I am at the end I will give another tip. If you have a camera or cell phone with a charge available you can take pictures as you disassemble the rifle to guide you on your return trip.

You might also jump over to one of the u-tube videos for a look at the breakdown and reassembly. They do it so fast and jabber so much in their deadpan monotone it is distracting. I wanted to give a few close up shots of what you will see as you go.

After you have done this job a couple of times you will realize that the rifle just falls apart in sequence and an experienced user can take it apart in about 15 seconds, clean it and have it back together in 5 minutes.

[Skean Dhude]

I'd certainly be appreciate the entire article being cut and pasted into word or something that I can easily be used. Saves me downloading and playing about with the words.

I'll post it on the main site.