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Comment by cranklin | Hacker News Reader

Okay, I get that the AK is the most popular military rifle in the world, but there are many superior rifles that are just as reliable. I happen to own an AK and - the gun looks/feels flimsy, - muzzle flip results in a nasty cheek slap, - the receiver looks like folded sheet metal, - safety is hard to engage/disengage and leaves a nasty scratch on the receiver, - the magazine doesn't fit right in (must insert the lip first at an awkward angle), - field stripping is easy but reassembly is a pain in the a$$.

The M1A... now that's a solid reliable/accurate rifle.

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The safety was one of the few obviously 'wrong' aspects of the AK design; not only is it on the wrong side of the receiver for right-handed operators, requiring them to reach-over to engage, but it also makes a distinctive CLACK noise that resulted in many of its users being detected and killed. Rhodesian forces developed 'cover shooting' as a technique for responding to this noise, controlled firing into any clumps of vegetation capable of hiding the shooter.

Pedantry on the title: the AK-47 was never popular, it was heavy and expensive. It was issued only to selected Soviet troops whilst the remainder used the semi-automatic SKS rifle. It was the AKM of the 1950s that became a runaway success.

Also ironically, it was AKM that moved from milled receiver to stamped, making it both lighter and less expensive, but giving garage experts a reason to complain about.

Always has to be an american guy claiming something is wrong with AK and prefers M1A who has used the guns only in his collection and perhaps shooting out in a gun-range on fine weather-days.

Wrong. Try again. I shoot rain or shine. 2 major competitive shoots a month and 1 small competitive shoot per week. I have to reload an average of 2 flats of ammo per week just to keep up with my shooting.

Let me be more clear. I own 2 AK variants (owned 3) and one M1A. The M1A runs circles around the AK's... and I'm not partial to American made firearms either.

Or, you can blindly trust your Hollywood action movies or clueless bloggers on their so-called knowledge of firearms.

I would rather prefer to trust people who have actually been in a war (where I also was) and not a playground, and told me they preferred above all else AK74s, they had the option to use american made weapons, the colt or whatever its called, but nobodoy was really willing to risk their lives using those rifles, the jamming and difficult maintanence. I too shot with an AK74 in a war-zone. Have you done that?

The second option was Swedish made weapons, the heavier bofors especially.

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