Question by djgbjim: How tough is an ak-47 for real?
I know the ak has a reputation for being extremly tough and reliable. But does anyone have examples to tell how tough they are?
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Answer by afm6996
I’m sure in the video games you play, it lasts FOREVER.
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13B US ARMY says
JUNK, memorbila is all they are fitting for. Still interesting to try to hit the broad side of a barn with em.
Mr. Gregg Andrews says
They are tough… I'll say that much.
However, a sheet metal receiver doesn't hold up well when you smack someone around with it…
The AK-47 is over-rated in the rather numerous contexts of "over-rated".
It's inaccurate, not that durable once you realize that you just kinked the receiver driving a tent stake into the ground, and hey, guess what… they DO JAM!!!
But anyways, look what I can do! *pours sand into ejection port*… look I poured sand into the receiver! *Bang*… Sooooo tough….. ooooo…
corey h says
I rebuilt a russian manufactured AKM that was inside an armored vehicle that was hit with a Helfire missile (this was during the 1st Gulf War). The stock and handguards were completely destroyed, nothing left but ashes. The springs had all lost their temper and were just soft wire. I replaced all the springs, but new wood on it, cleaned and oiled it and it ran just fine.
How is that for tough and reliable?
Ray says
They're pretty tough.
When I was deployed, I saw a lot of the AK's that would jam and not too many of them were all that accurate even if shot off a bench rest (4" groups at 100 yards was normal). I think the reputation comes from their ability to function properly after getting more dirty than most other rifles. The design is just so simple that it's nearly fool proof, and the tolerances are loose enough to allow much more dirt to be present and not mess anything up. In general, when one fails to work properly, it's usually the fault of the magazine and not the rifle.
ishootbirds2 says
i saw about that myself with my WASR-10/63 GP California compliant sporting rifle.
I wanted an AK47 for as long as I can remember, since I live in California my chances were not good. The high cost of living plus all sorts of state taxes I wasn't able to save up enough to move out of here. that could take a decade or more. Initially I inquired about getting an ak47 in California and the answer was no. I wouldn't take no for an answer and eventually stumbled upon lanworldinc.com and found away to get a AK47 into California legally. It was very expensive. I wouldn't of bought it if Obama wasn't elected president. And when I ordered it on November 16th 2008 it was too late to receive it immediately before obama officially takes office. SO I waited and hoped no gun bans will happen.
I got it March 29 2009. it was covered in dried cosmoline, I have to remove that entirely before I shoot it.
my standard procedure for any cosmoline covered gun is to basically clean it out with dishwasher soap and 190F hot water. The hot water softens and sometimes will melt the cosmoline making it easy for removal, while the dishwasher soap concentrate would dissolve any cosmoline that came of the gun. So basically for that hour or so in the bathtub of hot and extremely soapy water the gun was fully degreased. I've done this before, its very important to dry off all parts completely as they come out of the water after the final rinse to remove the soap. Never had I seen a gun rust so fast. the parts always comes out hot, due to the hot water and stuff. There is a short maybe 1 minute gap between a rinsed part still wet and it being dried, as the water steams off the hot parts it left instant rust behind. None of my other super rugged, tough, and reliable guns (all made by commies) did that. well so much for the fact that AK47s are very water resistant I thought. If a gun rusts that quick for a momentary absence of oil its extremely doubtful it can last an entire war unmaintained and in extremely humid conditions (Vietnam).
Later on even after I oiled it (hoppes 9 and rem oil) some surfaces would still rust from the air. Maybe its just the really cheap aAK47 rifles that are so vulnerable to rust. The faster a gun rusts, the quicker it can get into a unsafe to shoot state as the rust destroys the weakens the metal.
its been about 6 months now since I received my AK47 variant rifle, I've put about 700 rounds thru it (in California this is alot with 5 and 10 rd magazines). so far I haven't had any major problems with it, so it can say it functions very well. People's comments about the rifle not being accurate I found to be true. Its not a target rifle, and it will not shoot to compete with a target rifle. groups are ok, about 5" at 100 yards. More than enough for practical purposes.
I clean the rifle after every trip to the desert range, the desert range on blm land out in the middle of nowhere some distance from Barstow, CA, I think simulates what an AK47 rifle would experience in today's war in the middle east. Sand and dirt gets in the action, and yet it not once failed to shoot. I actually dropped it twice in the dirt so far, so a good deal of dirt got in the action. It found its is not as easy to clean as claimed in the movies. maybe a basic field strip clean it is easy, but for me that's not enough. I took me 30 minutes with an air compressor to blast all the oil-soaked sand that built up in the receiver area out. the sand didn't interferer with the rifle's operation though.
The AK sure has alot of surfaces. makes for deep/complete cleans a very hard thing to do. plenty of small corners and crevices for dirt and dust to get into and hard to remove from.
While I cleaned my rifle each time I notice how little powder residue it accumulated in the action and gas tube. its almost as if the gun wasn't fired. Every one of my other rifles and shotgun will show significant powder residue and black grime after 100 rounds. (50 shells for the shotgun) Even the SKS and mosin rifle. This says something about the AK's fabled levels of reliability and always shooting when other guns would of gummed up due to lack of maintenance or dirt. The last two times at the desert I decided not the clean the insides just to see how much grime/soot builds up after 1000 rounds. I kept on oiling it and cleaning the outside though.
As for statements about easy repair I found it easy to order parts online for the AK rifle. I needed a slant muzzle brake so I ordered it online. After carefully examine other parts of the gun it is safe to say if any of it ever broke I can easily order the parts and repair it myself without a gunsmith. So for the AK47 type rifles I can say that they are indeed easy to repair, parts are plentiful, and you and do them yourself without a specialist.
In all except for the water vulnerability part I find that my AK47 rifle does live up to many claims about how tough/reliable and AK47 is. Its probably because mine was really, really cheap is why it has problems with water. the blue looks like it was pained on rather than properly applied. I'm sure if a quality AK47 rifle was legal in California and that I can afford it I wouldn't see the the water vulnerability as I see with my current AK rifle.
xx(Vantage)xx says
vastly overrated. it takes a 7.62×39 round, big, but not as big as people think. Some people think that the bullet proof vests our guys get won't stop thm, but that's not true. The military is not satified unless the vests can stop a 7.62x54r, and that's a powerfull round. Trust me, I own one. And the accuracy of the ak is very poor. You'd be lucky to hit the broad side of a barn from inside! And they are reliable, but the Norinco sks is better. It's the predecesor to the ak. It uses the same round, a similar magazine(I'v heard that some use the same round, but people just think that because it LOOKS the same), and the same sights. Only differences are different looks(better in my opinion), and WAY more accurate. Not a sniper, but still a good rifle. semi auto, and there is an easy to get book on how to convert to full auto. Most people will say you should not do this, and that it's illegal, and they'll give me thumbs down. But here in ut, it's legal as long as you register it, and you only have to register if it's full auto. So have fun with your guns! Or are you actually buying one???
OldD says
I have seen them run over by vehicles while being submerged in water and they still fire.
Marcus says
its foregrip is made of wood that can splinter or crack but other than that it is a very reliable weapon system. its big hefty parts make it hard to break anything on it and its barrell can bend 90 degress and can still fire.the only way i can think of breaking one is to run over it with a tank.
Kush Slayer says
ive seen videos of people beating them against things, burying them in sand or mud(ive seen both), and then shooting them
Trenton says
In the middle east they are often cleaned by dragging tied shoelaces through it. The only way to get the wooden stock back onto a classic AK-47 is to beat it back on. It really is a tough gun, not as accurate or precise as many other modern rifles, but almost impossible to destroy. (through normal use that is, putting it into a grinder would destroy any gun.)
gentlewolfspaws says
They've been run over by tanks and then picked up and fired.
They've been issued to "troops" in third-world countries who have little or no training and minimal amounts of cleaning equipment and lubricants.
The rifles have survived harsh environmental conditions and been able to fire.
They're not indestructable and they can rust. But they are tough.
Raj says
watch the episode of deadliest warrior (taliban v ira).
Hangfire says
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNAohtjG14c
Emmers says
There are other ak guns that are sooo much more powerful. I dont know why people just always use the ak-47 as an exaple of a gun when they say somethin stupid like
"Yo, Ill shoot yo face off wit an AK-47 Biiiioooottccchh!"
And other stupid stuff like that.
.700 nitro says
Why do you think all third world or poor countries have them???They are never cleaned in those countries hardly and they use them because they still work and are cheap. Many third world countries sell them for about $ 10.00 US.