AK in 5.56 for SHTF?

[backwoodsboy]

What do you guys think of the ak in 5.56, you get ak reliability with the common American 5.56.
http://www.k-var.com/shop/SLR106-34.html

[Reaver]

Didn't we already have this conversation like three fucking times?

Do fuckingpushups 


PROPRIETARY MAGAZINES
PROPRIETARY MAGAZINES
 PROPRIETARY MAGAZINES
PROPRIETARY MAGAZINES
PROPRIETARY MAGAZINES
PROPRIETARY MAGAZINES

Repeat that 750,000 more times each time while doing a push up, pull up, crunch or sit-up.




Now if you got a whole bunch if money to blow on special magazines as well then do what you gotta do. Me, I'll stick to what everyone else has.

    bottoms up killer.

[special-k]

Yeah, I'm painfully aware of the 5.56 AK mag situation... but then there is this:

Definitive Arms - AR15 mags in an AK

There are a few other companies that make AK-AR adapters.  I think that adapted AK's might really start to catch on... especially for those who run a can (piston = less gas blow-back.)

[JohnyMac]

WOW Special-K that is too cool. I can see more companies doing this as the 5.56Nato is perfect for the American market!

[thatGuy]

I like RvR's advise, do pushups.

[backwoodsboy]

Lol no reaver I never had this conversation about the 5.56, I think we had one on the 5.45. and what if I don't mind paying for magazines?  I finished the push ups.

[APX808]

If you finished with the push ups, go to your profile and select an Avatar or you can start with the burpees! 

[Alex1992]

I think they are cool, this is not the first AK to be put in different calibers, I do love universal guns that can shoot different calibers in one gun 

[thatGuy]

So now that everyone has given BWB some shit I think we should maybe address the question he asked.

I would like to applaud you for wanting to be on the group standard but it begs the question of why you feel the AR platform isn't reliable enough?

 

[backwoodsboy]

So now that everyone has given BWB some shit I think we should maybe address the question he asked.

I would like to applaud you for wanting to be on the group standard but it begs the question of why you feel the AR platform isn't reliable enough?

 

I would like to shoot steel and brass 223, and some ar's of almost every brand will not cycle it. I like the ar, its a very ergonomic rifle but when it comes to shtf gear im a no bullshit kind of person. So I want something that will go boom no matter how shitty Louisiana weather is.

[tominphx]

So now that everyone has given BWB some shit I think we should maybe address the question he asked.

I would like to applaud you for wanting to be on the group standard but it begs the question of why you feel the AR platform isn't reliable enough?

 

I would like to shoot steel and brass 223, and some ar's of almost every brand will not cycle it. I like the ar, its a very ergonomic rifle but when it comes to shtf gear im a no bullshit kind of person. So I want something that will go boom no matter how shitty Louisiana weather is.

What kind of ARs are you using?  I've shot probably around 10,000 rounds of wolf ammo through ARs in the past few years, and I've had less issues than with M855 and PMC brass.  This was with a midlength and a carbine length gas system carbines, don't know if it's different in rifle length or something else. A quality AR15 is also extremely reliable, provided it is lubed properly. Pat Rogers ran a BCM midlength like 40-50k with only like 3 cleanings and few parts replaced, he just kept adding more lube. Googleing "filthy 14" will pull up the article.

Part of the reason AKs like steel cased ammo better, is 7.62x39 and 5.45 have tapered cases, as opposed to straight wall cases like 5.56 and .308 have. I don't know of anyone who really runs a 5.56 AK hard, but I would imagine it would run steel cased 223 just as well, or poorly, as an AR.

[backwoodsboy]

I have seen s and w m and ps, bushmasters, colts and several others not feed steel reliably, and the thing about the ak, I can lube it with motor oil and its still a tank. If im out wherever, and it pouring rain like it always does here, I wouldn't expect the ar to run like the loose tolerances of the ak. 

[JohnyMac]

Welcome to the other side Tominphx!

I hate to say that this is going the way of, what is better AR or AK.

If I wasn't spending my $$$ on prepping, I would love to buy and try out a AK in .556. With that said, I will run my AR as all of my posse runs an AR. Even by brother who is an AK guy, his SHTF primary is an AR.

And then John Mosby writes:

Recently, in the comments on Matt Bracken?s essay on the coming rise in temperature, several people made remarks that completely overlooked the validity and subject of the essay to continue the infantile, puerile debates on the supposed failings of the AR platform.

In response, I offered to host one of them in one of my classes, and we would side-by-side, put their chosen weapon and my personal LMT M4 to a torture test. No one has taken me up on the challenge, although ?Mountain Rifleman? did spout some nonsense about using hog lard instead of Crisco, and making iron-sighted hits with a BAR out to 1200 yards (I?m well aware it?s been done in the past).

So, to finally put this debate to rest, I?m going to offer this standing challenge. I will wager $500 in silver, AND re-imburse the cost of a training course (any of my open-enrollment courses) to ANYONE who is willing to accept this challenge, AND can successfully pull it off, over the course of the class:

1) Dis-assemble and thoroughly clean your weapon.

2) Re-assemble the weapon, and lube it with Crisco, cooking oil, or any other readily accessible, non-firearm intended lubricant.

3) Toss the weapon into a prepared mud puddle, with the bolt locked to the rear, and step on it with both feet, to ensure that it is thoroughly covered in mud and water.

4) Clear the weapon ONCE (solely to ensure there are no barrel obstructions).

5) Run the weapon the rest of the weekend, lubing with the previously selected lubricant from step 2 above, no more than once per day.

6) At the end of the class, compete against me in a head-to-head ?shoot-off? to a set course of fire on targets from 50-500 meters, with a time limit.

In order to qualify as a ?win? you have to have fewer per capita (I don?t run my gun as frequently in classes as participants do, but when I do run it, I put far more rounds downrange than they do) malfunctions than I do, and you have to be able to score higher on the final CoF than I do.

If you are not willing to accept this challenge, and demonstrably prove the ?superiority? of whatever weapon you select, then I will not allow future posts on my blog that are caliber or platform debates.

(I?m so going to end up regretting this challenge. Apparently it has gone fucking viral on the interwebz. That?s cool. To clarify a couple things though?.

1) The $500 in silver is NOT $500 face value. It?s $500 actual value. Fuck people, I?m not independently wealthy.

2) The test is SIDE-by-SIDE. My LMT gets the same treatment from steps 1-6 above. Apparently, some people thought I was such as an asshole that I wanted them to stomp their rifle into the mud, while I stood by gleefully, and giggled like a little girl).

Nous Defions!

John Mosby

[WhiskeyJack]

Im not against using a 5.56 AK. Ive looked at the mag adapters before. For the most part they seem ok at ranges, but that dosnt answer the field durability and reliability question. The one mag adapter that I know works very well is the Galil AR mag adapter. If your looking for AK reliability at AR prices I would look into the Galil. As for AR and steel cased ammo. There are plenty of makers that will cycle steel. Mossberg, Del-Ton and DPMS are a few names you could look at. And I have seen these makers cycle some dirty nasty steel case ammo and keep going. and lets not forget the vererable old mini 14 for durability and reliability. Good luck in your search bro.

[tominphx]

Mossberg, Del-Ton and DPMS are a few names you could look at.

Those are hobby gun brands.

[Kentactic]

Ive run the Saiga .223 AK, aswell as the 7.62X39 version.. both worked fine. They also made a .308 version. Those AK's are actually of good quality and straight out of the russian factory brand new. All comes down to the magazine problem. Solve it and run it if you so please.

[v0dka]

I have never had a malfunction with my ar that i haven't created. The only time my ar has jammed is when I installed the hammer spring backwards by accident and when i'm using a brass catcher.
I have 2 uppers one i built myself 16" carbine length and a bcm 14.5 pinned to 16 carbine length. Nether of which has given me a problem.

Buy a good name brand rifle BCM, DD, Spikes, Noveske, ect. You won't have problems with any of those brands.

A note on colt.
Colt rilfe's are good but they fuck around with them to make it hard to convert to full auto. Which in turn messes with how the gun works.

[JohnyMac]

I have a Colt LE6920. Of the thousands of rounds I have put through her, I can only remember 2 times that the rifle has jammed. Both occasions I was running cheap ammo through her.

I have fallen in creeks with her. It has been knocked over a few times inside the house (hard floors) and outside in the mud & brush. After making sure the breach and barrel were clear she always ran.

I will also say that the EoTech sight still directed bullets down the range to point of aim after those acts of violence to my beauty.

Not busting on you V0dka, just saying; I have no desire to alter my Colt to full auto. No reason for it. If I do need a fully auto rifle, I will just take it from the cooling dead hands of my enemy.   

[Currahee]

I think the 5.56 AK is a fine platform, I've seen several iterations of it and have a friend that uses one and shoots quite well against guys running ARs in competition... so the ergonomic disadvantages can be overcome with training.  If you could stack up mags and spare parts for it I wouldn't mind it as a platform.

That being said I think the number one priority for a defensive firearms (after some baseline of reliability) is commonality, I think having the most common gun out there is a serious plus, over any slight advantage in ergonomics or perceived advantage in long term reliability.  If you've got friends that train, that you think you might count on when TSHTF, then you it would behoove you to standardize.  Likewise if your enemy might be using a particular weapon.

Which of these people will not be able to consolidate ammo after a shootout?

[Kentactic]

Which of these people will not be able to consolidate ammo after a shootout?

The chick because she dosent know how to reload right?... Lol jk..

[JohnyMac]

Great words of wisdom Currahee  AND Great picture