Did you happen to use the 'Search' button/feature before posting this? There are quadgazillion and two threads/posts on that very subject that you can glean hours of useful information from.

 

You mean the ak's that are pieced together from parts kits that people buy in this country thinking its as reliable as a real one?

 

Mine is a preban Bulgarian AK and is as reliable as a hammer

 

Most are not. And most think they are the same. The SKS is a better choice over a parts gun ak. Personal preference and how much you value pinpoint accuracy. I wouldv take my AR over my AK and SKS. Mine is a parts gun. I bought it before I knew better.

 

Of the 3, the AR is a better SHTF weapon. For the most part they are accurate, reliable, easy to shoot, modular, multi caliber, and spare parts can be found at your local convenience store.

 

It depends what part of the world you are in when are in SHTF. I would choose an AR since they're very common in the US. In addition to the AR platform being the most common rifle for civilians in the US, the police and military also use it. There's going to be plenty of spare parts, ammo, mags... in SHTF in the US.

 

Nomad, you are telling us that guns, ammo, & magazines are NOT going to just be laying on the ground everywhere? Where did you come by this silly information?

 

This place called "combat-land" where the hajies usually shot up most of their ammo in attempts to hit us before we killed em.

Some guys toted AK's.... It was amazing how much they had to scrounge for ammo.

Explosives were much more common.
(yes, I could tell you were being sarcastic) :thumb:

 

The AK is superior. There are two springs. A braided spring operates the trigger/hammer and a coil spring to push the gas piston back into place. The springs will outlast the barrel. The AK does not blow gasses back into the action to cycle the next round. These guns, even the WASR10 variant are incredibly reliable. They are combat accurate out to 225 yards and more depending on your skills.

In a SHTF situation, you will not have an armor following you around with parts for your guns. The most important thing is reliability in harsh conditions. Pins and springs should not be a concern. Surviving should be the concern.

People without a support team following them around should be thinking AKs an M1As. True combat machines.

 

Between the AK, AR and SKS, the best SHTF gun is the one you are most efficient and comfortable with.

 

I don't agree with your statement. Armies do not ask their soldiers what type of gun they would like to carry. They issue a rifle and train them to use it.

Since in a SHTF situation, we will not have a team following use with parts and supplies, we should be purchasing the most reliable firearms and training with them until we feel comfortable and competent with them. Reliability is by far the most important aspect.

I think the evil ones wanted everyone to buy AR type due to the fact that they need more maintenance. If SHTF, the inability to do maintenance will leave a lot of people defenseless. In the last 6 years, many people purchased an AR with 500 rounds of ammo, shot 50 rounds to make sure the gun works and now think they have what they need to fight?

What if SHTF and you have to bug out, you can only grab your AR and your ammo bag, you have no cleaning equipment and no parts...

The AK and M1A designs are far more dependable. Both have cleaning kits in the buttstock as well as cleaning rods on board. These two guns are machines designed to do the job without a support team, they don't have plastic parts and will go a long way before needing anything other than ammo.

So sell your ARs as fast as you can and buy an AK or M1A today. Do it now. The last thing they want to see is the population of the USA armed with dependable machines like the AK and M1A.

Gun Broker is waiting for you to upload your AR info and photos. Get going and show us some photos of your new/newtoyou AK and/or M1A.

 

Sweeper80 nailed it.

 

Nomad has it. You don't fit the mission to the weapon, you fit the weapon to the mission. For me in my area, feral hogs are a big problem. I prefer 7.62X39 for those nasty boys and heavy brush and a AK or a SKS will do. When I was down on the southern border I preferred my WASR, again dealing with feral hogs, heavy brush AND MS13 illegals. If I was out on the plains with longer distances a AR would do just fine. If I was way up north I would opt for a AK, remembering the Alaska State Trooper study on cold weather ops with rifles. The AK worked in the deep cold, the AR had issues.

 

Does the AR's accuracy trump the AKs reliability? .

Both the supposed inaccuracy of the AK, and the reputed lack of reliability of the AR, have been vastly over stated.

You mean the ak's that are pieced together from parts kits that people buy in this country thinking its as reliable as a real one?

This is complete nonsense. I've had numerous AK variants, from premium Polytechs, to humble WASR's (and several in between) and they ALL fired flawlessly. I've NEVER had a jam or FTF, on any of them, nor has anyone I know with their AK variants.

Of the 3, the AR is a better SHTF weapon. For the most part they are accurate, reliable, easy to shoot, modular, multi caliber, and spare parts can be found at your local convenience store.

For the person that buys one rifle, the AR is not "multi-caliber", it's whatever caliber it was purchased in.
Modularity is fine, but many of us prefer not to goober-up our rifles with a bunch of expensive, clunky crap, so this is not necessarilly a big selling point ( and you can buy accessory rails for AK's).
Sure, the AR is "easy to shoot", but so is virtually everything else. But, compared to the AK, the AR is much more complicated to strip and re-assemble, with smaller, more easily lost parts, and numerous tiny nooks & crannies to clean.
Though I knew it already, after teaching a nephew to break down and re-assemble an AK and an AR, I saw how much better the AK would be if teaching a diverse group of post-apocalyptic survivors how to use the weapons.
Yes, they're reliable, but they're simply not going to be as reliable as an AK if they have a handful of mud in the action, which in a SHTF-type weapon, is a major plus.
And what convenience store is it that sells spare parts for the AR-15?

 

Mil-Dot, thats not my experience with crap AK's. I've never shot one of the better ones though. Maybe I've just been unlucky? I do have bad luck.

 

I dunno. What do you mean by "crap AK's"? I know some poorly built rifles do exist, but I've only read about them (like some early Century WASR's and some later Lancasters). The WASR's I've seen and owned have all been dead-nuts solid rifles, several folks here swear by them, including Kev IIRC, the forum owner here. I even offered to buy one back from a freind that has one I sold years ago, but he ain't lettin' her go :.

 

Feeding issues. Inaccurate. Poorly finished. Sloppy triggers. My "vast" experience is only with 3 of them. Century arms importer too. Go figure. You mentioned those being bad.

 

Feeding issues:

I've had those. (century guns) what I like about AK's is e first 3 mags out f them will tell you if it has issues or not.
They went back to century, no issues.

Inaccurate:
Compared to what?
M1, M16, and AK all had 4MOA accuracy standards.

Only AK's I've found that won't do that we're the badly built ones with key holing issues. (went back)


Finish:
Couldn't care less. I can dura coat and parkerise.
Then there's Krylon.

Triggers:
Some early WASR's had "ground down" POS modified full auto triggers.
A $22 G2 trigger assembly fixes these (which are rare now)


You mention 3:
No offense, but I've built dozens, and messed with hundreds.
They have their limitations, but inside 300-350.....


I have a WASR wi over 19,000 rounds through it. I'd depend on it with my life.
I knw of others with higher round counts....

 

Boys, boys, boys .... damnit, I've 'told' you what you 'will' choose ...

The VZ58. Period.

sheeeeeesh y'all are some hard heads

 

None taken. I noted my experience with 3 to point out that I DON'T have much experience with them. The experience I have is bad though. Bad accuracy is 5-6 moa at 100 yards. And im a good shot. The ak74 is a bit better at roughly 4moa. Im currently sour on the entire platform. If I had a good one I may feel different.

 

Still got any?

Shoot me a Pm if your comfortable telling me where in MS you are.
I may be able to help.


-I should point out, in all cases (m1/16/47) those standards are for rifle AND ammunition.

Sometimes the "made for export" 7.62x39 is a little.... Lacking.

 

Thats what I was talking about along. The imported parts guns from places like century arms. They are not a true depiction of what an AK is capable of. I may hit you up whenever I feel like playing with one again. Im no gunsmith.

 

Apparently not, as I was talking about the quality of the AMMO.

 

I guess my lack of experience would exclude my opinion on this one? They all three seem to offer sufficient performance as far as I have used these. I own at least several of each type. And, all have never exhibited any type of problems to the extent I have used them.

 

Ammo, yes, most people shoot the cheap stuff through the AK. I only shoot precision h andloads through the AR. Im good for 1.5" 100 groups with the irons with those rounds.

 

Take whichever one you like that works.

I get bloody tired of AK this and AR that.

I have 3 AK's, all Norincos from the 80's NEVER had a failure, ever.

I have a few more AR's, all good stuff, but basically Milspec except for one. I have Colts, RRA's and Frankenguns, NEVER a failure, ever.

I had a couple of SKS's back in the 80's, can't remember, but I think they were Norincos as well, never had one of them fail either.

I'm grabbing my AR when the time comes, the caliber I choose to carry is still to be determined.

Try THAT with your AK.

 

Take whichever one you like that works.


I'm grabbing my AR when the time comes, the caliber I choose to carry is still to be determined.

Try THAT with your AK.

You mean like having choices like 5.45, X39, 54R, .308, .410, 20 or 12 gauge AK variants? Seems like you can get an AR or AK platform rifle in just about any chambering you want these days.

 

Im kinda curious what these loads would do with a low power optic. Im sure I would be sub moa. Don't really want one on it permanently though.

 

I like my yugo sks it doesnt cost much to shoot, it doesnt jam and its as accurate as i am best grouping thus far is 3 in. at 100 yards shooting wolf. I would trust my life to the rifle, only complaint is the stock is to short for my arms.

As far as the ak goes I like them but theyre just not my cup of tea. Also has a short stock.. I believe every other country besides america has short arms.

Ar 15 theyre fun to shoot but im not familiar with the sights on them guess I have not shot them enough, and Im not a fan of the 223/5.56x45. I do like the accuracy the platform provides and the adjustable stock is a winner in my book. This is just my opinion dont flame me to bad I am new..

 

Mine is the SKS. Not because I think it's "better" than the other choices, but because it's what I have, what I'm comfortable with, and it just plain works.
I've had AKs and ARs, but still own the SKS.
It feels solid, it's reliable as hell, it's quite accurate for its role, the bayonet is always there, it doesn't require any external parts (mags/sights/bayonet), and I just really enjoy it.
I put my 50s Norinco into a Yugo stock and it feels a lot better. Like someone else mentioned, the LOP on some of them is quite short, like an AK.

 

Between the 3 AR or AK. I like ARs so that's what I would go with for general SHTF(most scenarios I could see happening). For a civil war in an urban area type situation depending on how things went supply and organizational wise I could see using a AK in 7.62 for penetration.

I don't really see how the SKS compares to the AK or AR. It's heavier, larger, less capacity, less quality aftermarket and slower to load and now comparatively expensive.

I'd take an AK or AR with 30 in the mag over a SKS with 10 in the gun and 30 on stripper clips any day of the week.

 

SKS is for the beginner/newbie prepper...when you get enough money saved up upgrade to the vz58...special at AIM surplus for rifle, 5 mags, and all accessories for $500! It will even use your SKS stripper clips and the same exact ammo.

I sold 1 SKS to nearly fund the purchase of a vz58. IMHO the vz58 is the best value/deal in prepping long guns today (used to be the SKS).

If you don't have budget constraints get 2 of each (SKS, AK, and AR) with all the mags and ammo to go along with it that way you know you have your bases covered.

 

OP, do you plan on bugging out or buggin in for SHTF?

 

In unless all else fails. At this second I would bug out to my parents but in a couple months I am moving to the country so no more city dwelling