World’s Best Rifle? Russian AK-47 vs. U.S. M-16

nationalinterest.org ^ | Dec. 11, 2020 | Fritz W. Ermarth

[rdcbn1]

The Tavor is a wild card and a very special case.

Can't agree the Tavor is the worlds best, but it would be my personal choice for real world urban self defense applications in our Antifa world. Nothing else comes close and there is no substitute.

[fireman15]

One of the guns that I prefer a little over my AK is my Beretta BM-59 chambered in 7.62×51mm NATO. It is basically an M1 Garand rechambered with a 20rd box magazine attached. To shoot lead bullets out of it without messing up the barrel you have to reload them a little light. A BM-59 weighs 10 pounds before you load up the magazine. An unloaded M-16 weighs about 6 pounds, and an AK-47 weighs about 8 pounds.

[Chode]

yup... i had my bolt reworked to accept a new spring retracted firing pin

wi the 16” barrel it’s about as handy as it can get

[mrmeyer]

This. Guns are like golf clubs, each serves a certain purpose.

[Big Red Badger]

100 !?!
.
I’ll be Bach!

[M Kehoe]

LOL.

5.56mm

[Kevmo]

Lemme guess: AK47 ammo is cheaper than M16 ammo.

[Georgia Girl 2]

“AK 74M for the win”

Ditto on that.

[V_TWIN]

Apprecite the info....I stand corrected....and proud of our engineering.

[Kevmo]

Sumthin to consider.

[Georgia Girl 2]

Well to be fair in Vietnam the military sent our guys out with M16s and no cleaning kits. Told them the weapon didn’t need to be cleaned. Its totally does have to be maintained. Also at that time the military was using ammo with a different kind of powder than Stoner’s specs called for. There was some talk that they were even using WW11 powder.

[Kevmo]

When I pull the trigger, I know it will go ‘bang’.

Tagline material

[MHGinTN]

The AK74 was an improvement over the M16. The longer more unstable bullet is a shredder extraordinaire.

[Kevmo]

You’re more likely to be hit from one rather than the other.

[Kevmo]

A paperweight.

[Ouderkirk]

Have several of both...

As the author pointed out, their designed for different environments. In the mud and glop... the AK is the way to go. For close quarter tactical AR.

Both are fine weapons

[redcatcherb412]

Months in the field in Vietnam and the M16 never let me down. Pulled the bolt and cleaned the bore/chamber every night. If we could lay our hands on an AK or captured SKS we would. More for confusing the enemy in a dense jungle fight as flanking them firing AKs sometimes led to hesitating to return fire on their part. M16s definitely in rice paddy would out shoot the AK any time for the distances and both would spray and pray in triple canopy just fine.

We all lusted over the company's snipers tricked out M14's though.

[Kevmo]

Nobody gives a fuq about penetration at the time of firing. They care about accuracy, deterrence, and remaining ammo.

[gundog]

Got a “paratrooper,” eh?

[Kevmo]

That’s kinda the point of the ak47, to push the opposition out to 300 yards.