Riots in Afghanistan

[Hangtime]

Originally posted by Brenjen
But,the medias video clearly showed U.S. troops armed with AK's searching a wooded area by the side of a road & their M-16's were slung over their backs. Why would they do that if not because of a lack of ammunition for one & an abundance of ammunition for the other.

Because the AK's 7.62x39 round penetrates the local battlefield cover better than the freakin mousegun & 5.56mm ammo our kids are given to fight with. Because the AK is less affected by jamming in 'sandstorm' terrain. Because in a close in fight with bad guys, using their weapons confuses them.. weapon sound is no guarantee of 'friend or foe' doing the shooting.

[Boroda]

Originally posted by Hangtime
Because the AK's 7.62x39 round penetrates the local battlefield cover better than the freakin mousegun & 5.56mm ammo our kids are given to fight with.

All my friends who have been "behind the river" always say that AK-74 with it's even less powerfull 5.45 round is a beautiful weapon, and never said that it lacks lethality or "battlefield cover penetration".

Any AK is very easy to maintain and clean, they said after they returned from "war" to the camp - they simply held their automats in a barrel full of kerosene and then simply damped ot with cloth.

Old 7.62 ammo is much heavier, and even with 5.45 their carried weight sometimes was up to 70kg (!!!). And AK-74 has no recoil at all.

Fortunately I never shot or carried an automat in combat, so all I said is based on the stories from people who fought in Afghanistan and other hospitable places.

[Hangtime]

Originally posted by Boroda
All my friends who have been "behind the river" always say that AK-74 with it's even less powerfull 5.45 round is a beautiful weapon, and never said that it lacks lethality or "battlefield cover penetration".

Any AK is very easy to maintain and clean, they said after they returned from "war" to the camp - they simply held their automats in a barrel full of kerosene and then simply damped ot with cloth.

Old 7.62 ammo is much heavier, and even with 5.45 their carried weight sometimes was up to 70kg (!!!). And AK-74 has no recoil at all.

Fortunately I never shot or carried an automat in combat, so all I said is based on the stories from people who fought in Afghanistan and other hospitable places.

the '74' is robust. But a step in the wrong direction. The AK series sucks in accuracy... (comparitively) and it's strengths are reliability and extended capacity and volume of fire. (our mouse guns have lost the full auto feature) giving it a smaller faster round didn't impove the one weak point of the design.

Given my druthers, I'd rather tote a carbine length heavy barrel FAL or M-14 and it's heavier ammo than any version of an AK or mousegun.

but, that's just me.

[Brenjen]

Originally posted by Hangtime
Because the AK's 7.62x39 round penetrates the local battlefield cover better than the freakin mousegun & 5.56mm ammo our kids are given to fight with. Because the AK is less affected by jamming in 'sandstorm' terrain. Because in a close in fight with bad guys, using their weapons confuses them.. weapon sound is no guarantee of 'friend or foe' doing the shooting.

 The ones I saw were Ak-74's.....Also I own both weapons, M-4's & AK type 56 in 7.62 Both are superb weapons & my M-4's are not that prone to jams, they are more than the AK no doubt, but not that much more.

[Boroda]

Originally posted by Brenjen
The ones I saw were Ak-74's.....Also I own both weapons, M-4's & AK type 56 in 7.62 Both are superb weapons & my M-4's are not that prone to jams, they are more than the AK no doubt, but not that much more.

AFAIK AK-74s were never exported. AKs in Iraq are mostly Chinese and Romanian-made.

BTW, are you sure you can tell an AK-74 from 7.62 AK models? The differences in appearence are slightly different gas-chamber shape and a muzzle compensator that 7.62 models don't have.

[Hangtime]

Originally posted by Boroda
AFAIK AK-74s were never exported. AKs in Iraq are mostly Chinese and Romanian-made.

BTW, are you sure you can tell an AK-74 from 7.62 AK models? The differences in appearence are slightly different gas-chamber shape and a muzzle compensator that 7.62 models don't have.

Yup. The demand for 7.62x39 ammo has skyrocketed here in the US.. prices up by 30% or more... when you can get it here. Reason why is Iraq and Argentina both adopted the AK-47 (not the 74) for their military.. and the lions share of 7.62x39 ammo coming outta Russia is going to them.

[Brenjen]

Originally posted by Boroda
AFAIK AK-74s were never exported. AKs in Iraq are mostly Chinese and Romanian-made.

BTW, are you sure you can tell an AK-74 from 7.62 AK models? The differences in appearence are slightly different gas-chamber shape and a muzzle compensator that 7.62 models don't have.

 You are correct about the differences in appearance & that was all I had to go by from the news medias clip. But Russia exported quite a few to Afghanistan, at least enough that good ole Bin Laden has one. I know I'm being facetious, they were exported in the same sense as our M-16's were to North Vietnam.

 I will modify my statement & say the AK's I saw had the AKM-74 muzzle brake. They could have been the 7.62 chambered rifles as I have an AKM-74 style muzzle brake on my SKS & indeed it's no AK-74

 My AKM-84 in .223 is an excellent weapon & I have always wanted to try out the AK-74, I saw a show that described a hollow air pocket behind the nose of the 5.45 ammuniton that casues the round to yaw violently in ballistic gell. That beats the hell out of a hollow point doesn't it.