JagMagMan

I'm thinking about an AK-47, but I am not familiar with them.
Which ones are the best?
How does the AK compare to other military style rifles?

Paul L Mohr

They function pretty well but are not really known for thier accuracy. If you were on a budget I would suggest a decent SKS instead, but your best bet is one of the AR variants.

Just my opinions any way.

Paul

KansasHunter5

Look up a .303 enfield. Its not a semi-auto, but they are fun to shoot and can be very accurate.

JagMagMan

Thanks Paul! That is what I figured. I'd probably be better off with an AR!
I've been wanting one of the M4 styles, but thought I'd explore the AK's, before I made a decision.
You know how it goes, a little cash burns holes in the pockets!
I found a darn good deal on a Rock River M4 w/scope and other accessories a while back! That was then, this is now though!
I guess I'll try to be patient, good deals come with time!

jmfa1957

Another vote for the Enfield here. The Enfields have ten round magazines and a very short throw bolt. Spend a little time practicing and you'll be able to get some shots off pretty fast.

They'll never keep up with a semi-auto but they are just about the fastest bolt gun around, and they're effective at greater range than either the AK or AR.

Roskoe

Unless there is some tactical reason you need the short barrel on the M4, I would stick with the regular20" AR-15. The short barrels are really loud and sacrifice a fair amount of bullet speed. For hunting varmints, stick with the full size rifle.

Briman

The Velmets (swedish)are probably the best, but you'll pay an arm and a leg for one if you can find one- a match prepped AR would be cheaper.
A step down from Valmets are AKs made by Krebs (American made). Very nice rifles but still cost as much or more than an AR-15.
On the other end of the spectrum are the WASRs- these are the ones readily available today. They were originally manufactured to take a low cap single stack magazine to get around the import ban, then subsequntly they are milled out by importers to take a standard AK magazine and have enough parts replaced with American made parts to make them 922 legal. They are known for really bad trigger slap because of the cheap trigger parts in them that aren't correctly made- these can be replaced to fix the problem for fairly cheap however. The rifles are functionable and are decently made otherwise. They cost about $250-400 depending on where you buy tham and what kind of stock configuration they have- folders usually cost more.
A good step or two above the WASRs is the SAR-1, these haven't been imported in a couple of years but were common 5 years or so ago. If you see one, they will cost about $100 more than a WASR.

Another AK, is a Russian sporting rifle known as the Saiga- these come in a variety of calibers including shotgun chamberings. I think these have been banned from import as well but can be found in a lot of places yet.

For burning up ammo, I still prefer the SKS, its much cheaper to buy, and is capable of better accuracy than the low end AKs.

I find it funny that people bring up enfields. Its like the poster asked them what flavor of syrup others like on their pancakes and others chime in that steak tastes good too.

JagMagMan

Thanks again!
I've got enough good "steaks!" I'm really getting hungry for pancakes right now though!

I may look at a cheap SKS, just for kicks, but I'm going to go with an AR!
There is a very good local web site, that has lots of guns on it, mostly hunting guns. I'm gonna keep watching for a good buy! The AR's don't last long there though!

bigcountry

I went thru this once. I had a "china sports" I think. It was one of those 250 dollar jobs. I can't remember. Thegun felt like crap. But it sprayed ammo. Got hotter than a 2 dollar pistol after 10 repeat firings and loud. My brother has it now.

I would rather have a carbine bushmaster.

eldeguello

Amen! IF accuracy matters to you, you will NOT like an AK!

If all you care about is how many bullets you can keep in the air at one time, an AKmight prove satisfactory.... and they look cool!