AK-74 Vs. AK-47

[CHEMICAL]

Either , OR


A hole is a Hole

soooo, if you had both a man and a woman bent over in front of you........

seriously, I've just personally always preferred 7.62 x 39. Love that round!

[7998]

Your first AK should be a 47 with wood. Then one of the others you'll eventually buy should be a 74.

[Mity2]

If logistic is non issue, I'd get 5.45.

Much more accurate then 7.62.
Much less recoil then 7.62.
Much flatter trejectory then 7.62.
Zombie don't care if hole on its forehead that brought it down is .311" or .220" hole


With that being said, I'd be very careful about getting AK in 5.45.
Be sure to not get 5.45mm AK made by CAI in anyway shape or form(Specialy CAI tantal - Stay FAR away from them).
I understand that some say that they did fix the whole Key hole/barrel issue, but first impression goes LONG way.

Almost all 7.62 Varients of AK's are rock solid shooter, however cheap it may look. None of them ever had keyholeing issue even from CAI.
Arsenal or WSAR10, they all work, and work well.

7.62 - although not as cheap or plentiful as it once was, still much easier to locate then 5.45.
5.45 ammo is somewhat cheaper right now. But price on them is steadly creeping up. it wont be long before its price point advantage wont be an issue.

[NoOne14]

one cannot compare the 7N6 5.45x39 53 gr FMJ to a .223 55 gr FMJ, as they act completely different. And whoever said that the 7N6 turns once and then travels in a flat trajectory has not seen the ballistic effects of 5.45


the 2 calibers (5.45 vs 7.62) are quite different, and the shooter must understand advantages and disadvantages of both rounds, their terminal ballistics and most importantly- for what application will they be used.

whoever said that 5.45 is more accurate that the 7.62 is also mistaken (to a point i guess, after about 250 yards, then yes, 5.45 has been proven to maintain a better group)

I have 2 veprs chambered in both rounds, and with the right ammo (Lapua or the new hornady v-max ballistic tips or even Corbon DPX) both rounds are about the same, off a bench with or without a scope.
but the loads mentioned above are not cheap, keep that in mind.

[StingyGunner]

hmm wonder if the middle ground between these calibers (6.8) will catch on.... it probably wont with me since it will most likely stay near or higher than the price of .308...$_$...7.62 and .223 are still RELATIVELY cheap......buy up now!!! i want at least 2k 7.62 stocked in my arsenal.

[Asmodeus6]

If you were just getting into AK's now I suggest an AK74. But beware of the issues concerning American hands with 5.45 barrels. Either buy a Bulgarian gun, or a Saiga. Century, Lancaster... have all had problems with dismal performance, key holing... etc

And there is a good chance you can get a really shitty weapon if you don't watch what you are buying. Ammo is probably the cheapest centerfire rifle cartridge on planet earth right now.

And even in military ball form it's still a pretty effective man stopper. Commercial ammo is not very available here in the US though and you get even less of a selection than 7.62x39mm. The good news is the milsurp is cheap. However it is also corrosive. It's also not a real great caliber for reloading, since it's basically all steel cased, corrosive, and berdan primed.

So you can't even get your hands on Yugo surplus like you can with x39mm and get your hands on brass.

All the down sides out of the way. Ask the Afghans what getting hit with 5.45 results in. The round is not as velocity dependent as .223 to be effective in tissue. It doesn't have to fragment to do damage since it tumbles wildly in flesh. Not bad for $.13-19c a round.

Granted neither the rifle or the ammo is as accurate as .223 it's a relatively similar cartridge. You give up the punching power of a .30 cal round, but in most cases better terminal ballistics. 7.62 ball ammo (the stuff that isn't $1 a shot or more) is supposed to tumble as well in tissue. Truth is by the time it does that it's typically already out the back of the target. Granted it's a bigger hole, and provides better barrier penetration. It's also harder to put rapid shots on target given the recoil compared to .223 or 5.45.

There are a lot of factors to weigh in the decision. You have to figure out what is most important to you. But out of the box 5.45 is stupid cheap. Which means if you want to shoot it A LOT, you can without feeling the burn every trip out. And is a good starting place 'now'. You'll probably end up with an AK47 too.

You could always shoot both and see what you like better?

[thanker92]

The change was made in order to get better control while firing full auto. If you're only firing semi, then the 7.62X39 is the way to go.

Since 9/2/47 making the world safe for Democ.... oh, wait.....it's a commie round.......
Nevermind.

[em2b96p]

Lets get some basics out of the way.

First of all the AK47 is different from the AKM. When someone is talking about an AK47 they intentionally (or at times unintentionally) are referring to the original style AK. The AK47 is a milled receiver weapon. Later because of cost and efficiency, Soviets decided to use a stamped metal receiver. This is now referred to as the AKM or Automatic Kalashnikov Modernized. Some parts are interchangeable between the two but they still fire the same round of 7.62x39mm.

the AK 74 was developed after the Vietnam war when the soviets realized the benefits of a higher velocity smaller round with more powder. Not to mention the lighter the ammo the more a soldier can carry. They got this idea from the M16.

My one and only AKM I bought when I turned 18. It is a Romanian WASR-10, it is not exactly the "ideal" AKM but I like it. I would like to have a AK74s with the triangle side folding stock one day. No other reason than to just add one to the collection.

I prefer the AKM because of the bigger round and parts availability. If I want a high speed round ill switch to my M4gery.

[brian]

Since 9/2/47 making the world safe for Democ.... oh, wait.....it's a commie round.......
Nevermind.

you mean 1943 right? the 762x39 predates the ak by several years.

[Xringshooter]

Paraphrased:

AK-47
The AK-47 is a selective fire, gas operated 7.62mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. The designation AK-47 stands for Kalashnikov automatic rifle, model of 1947 (Russian: Автомат Калашникова 47, tr. Avtomat Kalashnikova 47). It is therefore also known as Avtomat Kalashnikova (or simply 'AK'), Kalashnikov or Russian jargon Kalash).

Design work on the AK began in 1944. In 1946 a version of the rifle, the AK-46, was presented for official military trials, and a year later the fixed stock version was introduced into service with select units of the Red Army. An early development of the design was the AKS-47 (S—Skladnoy or "folding"), which differed in being equipped with an underfolding metal shoulder stock. The AK-47 was officially accepted by the Soviet Armed Forces in 1949 and used by the majority of the member states of the former Warsaw Pact.

The AK-47 fires the 7.62x39mm cartridge which produces significant wounding (including remote wounding effects known as hydrostatic shock) in cases where the bullet tumbles and fragments in tissue, but which produces relatively minor wounds in cases where the bullet exits before beginning to yaw.

The original AK-47 was one of the first true assault rifles. Even after six decades, due to its durability, low production cost and ease of use, the model and its variants remain the most widely used and popular assault rifles in the world. It has been manufactured in many countries and has seen service with regular armed forces as well as irregular, revolutionary and terrorist organizations worldwide. The AK-47 was also used as a basis for the development of many other types of individual and crew-served firearms. More AK-type rifles have been produced than all other assault rifles combined

AK-74
The AK-74 (Russian: Автомат Калашникова образца 1974 года or "Kalashnikov automatic rifle model 1974") is a 5.45mm assault rifle developed in the early 1970s in the Soviet Union. It was developed from the earlier AKM (itself a refined version of the AK-47) and introduced in 1974.

The rifle first saw service with Soviet forces engaged in the Afghanistan conflict. Presently, the rifle continues to be used by the majority of countries of the former USSR. Additionally, unlicensed copies were produced in Bulgaria (AK-74 and AKS-74U), China (Type 88), the former East Germany (MPi-AK-74N, MPi-AKS-74N, MPi-AKS-74NK) and Romania (PA md. 86).

The AK-74 is an adaptation of the 7.62mm AKM assault rifle and features several important design improvements. These modifications were primarily the result of converting the rifle to the intermediate-caliber 5.45x39mm cartridge, in fact, some early models are reported to have been converted AKMs, with the barrel re-sleeved to 5.45x39mm. The result is a more accurate and reliable rifle than the AKM. The AK-74 and AKM share an approximate 50% parts commonality (interchangeable are most often pins, springs and screws).