AK-47 vs. M16(AK vs. AR), which do you choose? Why?

[rifleshooter474]

Yeah, that's my queston. I do not own either yet :-(. I have a friend with an ak in .223 and an ar he built (do not know which manufacturer of each part). His ak seemed accurate enough to me.

When you guys say the AR is more accurate...is it such a difference that its a main deciding factor? Maybe I'm just not good enough with a rifle to feel the difference.

I stuck a Russian PSOP 4-24 Scope on the side rail on my SGLs and I can tell you I get tight groups, tight enough to hit where I want.
Not all AKs shoot the same but my three Arsnels shoot very good. I have yet to read of a poor shooting Arsnel AK.

[JSDinTexas]

I went through the same AR vs AK decision myself just recently. Started looking at Romanian AK first for under $500 but heard a lot of bad things about quality like mag problems and canted front sights. So I went to AKs over $800 but by the time I saw what I wanted, it was the price of a good AR.
I also considered the 7.62 vs the 5.56 for skinny whitetail in my neck of the woods and decided the 5.56 was fine.
I handled some AKs and while I could put up with the tolerances (I have Glocks that you can see thru), I really wasn't comfortable with the overall quality I saw.
Bottom line: Colt LE 6920 and I couldn't be happier.

[B2Tall]

Yeah, that's my queston. I do not own either yet :-(. I have a friend with an ak in .223 and an ar he built (do not know which manufacturer of each part). His ak seemed accurate enough to me.

When you guys say the AR is more accurate...is it such a difference that its a main deciding factor? Maybe I'm just not good enough with a rifle to feel the difference.

With my AR (16" barrel) I can put most of the rounds in a 2-3" group at 100m using iron sights. I've got it dialed in just the way I like it. On the other hand, with either of my 16" AKs the group is more like 8-10". Big difference. I've worked on those AKs quite a bit and come to the conclusion that they're not gonna get any more accurate. They're as good as they're going to get. I do have an AK with a 21" barrel and it's accuracy is comparable to my AR. I have serious doubts as to my ability to consistently hit a man-sized target at 300-400m with a 16" AK but I know I can do it all day long with my 16" AR. The Russians realized this accuracy issue and developed the Dragunov as sort of a "marksman's rifle" to bridge the gap in between the AK and their purpose-built sniper rifles (we've kept the M-14 in service for the same reason).

A good friend of mine has quite a bit of experience doing civilian security work in Iraq and Afghanistan. He says that while he and his co-workers carry M4s as their primary weapon, each Chevy Suburban that they drive usually has an AK in it just in case they need to totally hose-down a target. Those heavy 7.62x39 slugs smash through walls, cars, etc. with a bit more gusto than the 5.56.

Again, if the SHTF and I'm on my own, I'm grabbing an AK. Otherwise I'd choose the AR.

[Deserteagle]

Buy an M4, its just that simple. Its a great weapon and its American.

[gunnerbob]

I've already made my choices about the subject as stated in the first post... it's interesting to see that a lot of people will choose the AK in a SHTF scenario... that's an important trend.


Interesting thread, keep it up.

[cougaram]

Neither, just my trusty Mini-14 with rug2200 stock.

[jg1967]

Neither, just my trusty Mini-14 with rug2200 stock.

Well, there you go. That is actually a really nice alternative.

[patsfan11762]

I guess this means I have to get an AK somehow.I have not shot an Ak yet so I have no comparison. Sound slike a good excuse to get another gun!