AK vs. AR: I’m not above pandering.
There seems to be this massive AK vs. AR battle going on all over the internet. Far be it from me to rise above the fray, I’d like to give my personal take on it. The perspective of a complete rifle noob, if you will.
For starters, the AK-47 is about as reliable as they come. I’ve seen cases of these things still working in situations that would have already reduced other guns to charred chunks. The inherent mechanics that result in that reliability, however, also create some issues with accuracy. You’re not going to be easily taking down targets at 500-1000 yards with this gun. Honestly, though, outside of the military how often do you absolutely need to? Yes, even when you’re hunting.
On the other side is the AR. The thing I like most about the AR-15 is its modularity.With one lower, you can reconfigure your gun into just about any type of weapon you want. Disregarding NFA rules for the purpose of this discussion, you could turn that thing into a pistol, a .22 survival gun, a big .50 thumper or just about any other configuration you can think of. I’ve even seen an AR based muzzle loader. Some configurations are more practical than others, mind you, but the point is that you can adapt it to any situation you need. That’s primarily the reason I’m building one now. I like the ability to make it 100% my own.
So when the proverbial “poop” hits the fan, what gun would I reach for as I run out of the house? My Glock, first off but we’re not talking about that. Rifle-wise I’d probably grab the AK if I had one. I don’t know what the world is going to be throwing at me. All I know is that I want something that is going to go “bang” every time I pull that trigger. ARs are reliable, but they require a good amount of maintenance. When you see accounts of AKs being buried for months and then work after a quick dunk in some water, that’s a gun you know you can count on. In a time of zero certainty, you want to at least be certain of your gun.
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