AK-47 experts
What about the AK makes it less accurate than an AR-15? Is it the rifle design or the cartridge? Or should I say, I hear folks say that AKs aren't that accurate.
Would an AR-15 in 7.62 X 39 be more accurate than an AK-47?
Would an AR-15 in 7.62 X 39 be more accurate than an AK-47?
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Its the design of the gun. Mikhail Kalashnikov designed the gun with loose tolerances compared to other guns. This was to make the gun more reliable, which it did, but it caused accuracy to degrade.
An AR and an AK in the same caliber, the AR would probably be more accurate. ARs are available in 7.62X39 and 5.56 and AKs are available in the same calibers.0 -
But, you can't necessarily have the best of both worlds.
Look at the 7.62 x 39 rimmed case, & then look at the 5.56 mm case; that's the reason AK mags are curved, & AR mags are straight. Put a full mag of 7.62 x 39 rounds in a straight mag, & they may or may not feed reliably, depending upon the exact rifle & the exact mag.
Neal0 -
7.62x39 is a rimless case; same as every other modern rifle round. 
The reason the magazines are banana shaped is because the cartridge itself is cone shaped. That cartridge design was established on purpose because the cone shape eases extraction, especially with steel rounds.
Anyway, the reasons AK-47s aren't accurate are as follows:
-Gun designed out of stamped sheet metal with generous tolerances for moving parts. That ensures high reliability in dirty environments, and with minimal/negligible maintenance, and low overall manufacturing cost, BUT it comes at a price of low intrinsic accuracy. The AK frame actually flexes during firing!
-Pistol-like short radius sights aren't optimal for precise shooting.
-Typical Commie-bloc steel case ammo (like Wolf, above) isn't particularly accurate. That's a manufacturing issue in trying to make the ammo as cheap as possible, NOT a design issue. In fact, some of the "PPC" rounds are based on the 7.62x39 case, and these are highly accurate rounds favored by competitive shooters.
-Soviet/Commie infantry doctrine was all about VOLUME of fire, put out by poorly trained (peasant) conscripts, not accuracy of fire. So the guns were designed to reflect this: Cheap guns requiring little training and maintenance are perfect for that kind of fighting.
Now, *IF* you were to take a Kalashnikov, build it on a milled steel receiver, to high manufacturing tolerances, use a high quality barrel, put decent sights on it, *and* use high quality ammo, you'd have something that was reasonably accurate. For example, the Israeli Galil is something like that (AK gun with peep sights, milled receiver in .223), and it will make 2" 100 yard groups with good ammo. Ditto for the Finnish Valmet.0 -
The way the barrels are set in AKs in both milled and stamped causes the sights to be off from the center of the bore. Turn an AK sideways and look at how true it is as though it were a wood 2X4. The rear sight rests off center to. If you could mount a scope directly on the barrel it would seem more accurate. The gas piston vibration plays on long range accuracy. AK's have very poor sight platforms. Also the loose bolt lock-up, loose barrel chamber, and pinned in rough cut leaky gas blocks can play on accuracy to. Yes, AKs can be accurate the same as an AR15 at point blank distances but the AR15 seems to have greater consistency at 300yds. At 300yds with most AKs you most likely be further than the sights will allow and be shooting blind with off center Iron sights. The side mounted receiver scopes might help a little but nothing like an AR15 flat top mount. 0 -
Tolerance is traded for reliability. 0 -
In most cases the AR platform will be more accurate than the AK platform simply due to the tolerances in the AK design.
I have SKS, AR 15, Rossi single shot, and Remington 799 bolt action rifles in 7.62x39 and have handloaded enough to determine that it is less likely to be a one hole grouper than a 223 but still adequate for the use and range parameters of the original design. The tapered case is designed for feeding reliably more than for accuracy and the short vs diameter bullet is not as good for long range but, again, this was not the original design.
It was designed to function every time and hit a man sized target most of the time out to around 300 yards.0 -
Well thank you folks for the education!
I'd like to have an AK-47 just to have one (can't imagine anyone on this forum would appreciate that!) however I also have a stripped lower and could build a 6.8 or 7.62 X 39 out of it. For the price of a nice milled AK I could build a nice AR platformed rifle on my lower.0 -
Check out SONS OF GUNS (Red Jacket Firearms)a TV series on cable. They took a AK-47 and added a match barrel, match trigger and tuned the receiver and made an accurate AK-47 rifle. $2200 0 -
You can make a match rifle out of just about anything with enough money, but countries want to produce low cost guns and ammo that get the job done.
As I said above, the AK was designed to be an effective, reliable, "reasonably accurate" combat rifle designed to kill lots of people quickly. Thats one reason it used a 30rd mag from the begining. The M-16 A1 I used in Vietnam came with 20rd mags. Kalashnikov deliberately designed his rifle with loose tolerances to make it very reliable and it worked.0
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