midget Posted December 1, 2010 Share Posted December 1, 2010 Does anyone use an AK 47 for their 3gun rifle? What is your guys general thought about using one? The reason I'm asking is because it seems like a much cheaper platform to build up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ak47traxx Posted December 1, 2010 Share Posted December 1, 2010 I've seen a few guys try them and then quickly go back to their AR's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notar Posted December 1, 2010 Share Posted December 1, 2010 If that's all you have, it's a great gun. The competitive nature comes out of most of us though, and the AR is a winning platform that helps give you an edge. Can a top shooter still win with an AK, probably, it's still the shooter vs the platform Everyone needs to at least fire a good AR with a medium wt barrel wearing a brake, seeing hits through the scope due to no recoil is loads of fun, and even practical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iainmcphersn Posted December 1, 2010 Share Posted December 1, 2010 I shoot one of my inexpensive Romanian AKs in local matches from time to time. It's fun and the gun shoots better than many people would expect. However, the platform is not as competition friendly as an AR and if you're planning to tune up the gun, there are much fewer options. While my AK cost around 1/2 of my least expensive AR, the AR has a bolt catch which allows faster response to an empty gun. Speed reloads are arguably faster with an AR(IE: closed bolt, loaded chamber). Irons on the AK are sadly lacking compared to the base AR irons and mounting optics on an AR is much simpler than on an AK. If you have an AK already or just really want one, I'd suggest you run it with minimal or no mods. If you think you're going to get a cheap AK and build it up into an AR killer, you're likely to be sadly disappointed. My 2 cents, shoot safe and have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gohuskers Posted December 1, 2010 Share Posted December 1, 2010 If it's just for fun who cares what you shoot, just enjoy yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DyNo! Posted December 1, 2010 Share Posted December 1, 2010 (edited) I did it for shiggles - two times. I would not recommend it if you want to win. If you aren't trying to win, knock yourself out, it is fun! The slow trigger reset makes for splits so long that the rifle's fire control group keeps me from shooting faster. The short sight radius means that you have to be anal about sight alignment at long ranged targets. Since you can't free float the barrel, if you push on a barricade, you've just shifted your point of impact by a factor of an IPSC metric target at 200 yards. For how it actually turned out - on the short range stuff at Area 6, I shot 76% and 83% of the GM run on two rifle stages. On the long range stage it was 37%. I was surprised to hit all of the targets! I'd expect to shoot in the 90% range on all three stages with an AR that shot faster, kicked less, and had a 40 round magazine with a long sight radius. (Note: You can get 40 round AK magazines but I didn't have any) Also, this was all with a 5.56 AK. I can see a 5.45 doing the same thing but there's no way a 7.62x39 shooting minor would. The bottom line is that if you can shoot an AK well, you can shoot an AR better in multigun. The AK isn't a bad rifle, it just isn't for this game. By the time you make it viable, you've just made a Sig rifle that would have been cheaper to buy to begin with. If you have an AK built for multigun, you have Erik Lund's Sig 556. Video footage: Edited December 1, 2010 by DyNo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calishootr Posted December 1, 2010 Share Posted December 1, 2010 very few and far between arethe AK shooters out here, butthen again, we also have restrictions on shooting steel core ammo at our targets(tears em up pretty bad) and most if not all the 'cheaper' ammo out there is steel cored...plus the above mentioned problems, an AK vs. a properly tuned AR??? thats a yugo vs. a corvette... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mbauer67 Posted December 1, 2010 Share Posted December 1, 2010 It's like any gun platform, it takes a lot of time and dedication to learn how to run the gun fast. Maybe your the person to show the world how fast an AK can run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midget Posted December 2, 2010 Author Share Posted December 2, 2010 I actually already have a competition ar 15 built up (well some things still need to be done, ie the heavy barrel needs to be turned down and threaded for a brake), but I was just curious to see what you guys thought... I might just have to build up an AK for fun then I wonder if the AK would qualify for the heavy metal devision? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DyNo! Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 (edited) I actually already have a competition ar 15 built up (well some things still need to be done, ie the heavy barrel needs to be turned down and threaded for a brake), but I was just curious to see what you guys thought... I might just have to build up an AK for fun then I wonder if the AK would qualify for the heavy metal devision? Reaching 320 PF in 7.62x39 is very difficult. I would not recommend it. You'll also be taking a serious accuracy hit against SR25's and M1A's. If you think shooting an AK against an AR is hard, an AK in 7.62 versus an SR25/M1A is literally like a Yugo vs an old Corvette. Edited December 2, 2010 by DyNo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midget Posted December 2, 2010 Author Share Posted December 2, 2010 Are SR25s pretty much just ar10s? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DyNo! Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 Are SR25s pretty much just ar10s? Correct, however AR10's use M1A magazines and non-AR-10's might not necessarily use them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrmock Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 I just shoot my Saiga 7.62x39 in 3-gun matches. It is a lot of fun and plenty accurate (I managed to hit the 400 yard targets at the Larue match). However it will never be as fast as a good AR-15. The main thing I like about it is that it just works. It never jams or stops even when it gets a little dirty. I shoot mine with a scope so I can get on a target fast but the follow up shots are always going to be slower than a gas gun. If I ever decide I want to be a super high end competitive guy then I would work on building a good AR-15. With a little thought, preperation, and any equipment you should be able to be mid-pack in a 3-gun match. Getting into that top 25% is where the scores really ramp up and equipment starts to become important. jrmock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirveyr Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 I've shot my AK in a few 3-gun matches. I've also shot my Hi-Point carbine in matches, too. I run the "caveman EOTech" on both rifles. For competitive 3-gun, I would choose the AR, but for everything else, I would choose the AK platform. The AK is the greatest rifle ever. Ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkatz44 Posted December 3, 2010 Share Posted December 3, 2010 I've shot my AK in a few 3-gun matches. I've also shot my Hi-Point carbine in matches, too. I run the "caveman EOTech" on both rifles. For competitive 3-gun, I would choose the AR, but for everything else, I would choose the AK platform. The AK is the greatest rifle ever. Ever. What AK do you like? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chills1994 Posted December 3, 2010 Share Posted December 3, 2010 somebody more versed on AR10's will probably be along shortly, but for now my short answer is that Rock River Arms makes a .308 "AR" that takes uber cheap G3 or FAL mags. I have had conversations via PM with our European counterparts and they have said that they can make major PF with their 7.62X39 AK's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirveyr Posted December 3, 2010 Share Posted December 3, 2010 I've shot my AK in a few 3-gun matches. I've also shot my Hi-Point carbine in matches, too. I run the "caveman EOTech" on both rifles. For competitive 3-gun, I would choose the AR, but for everything else, I would choose the AK platform. The AK is the greatest rifle ever. Ever. What AK do you like? I like the ones I have. They are Romanian with beat to hell wood furniture and have thousands of rounds through them. I'm not really a connoisseur of "fine" AK's. I just like their utilitarian reliability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chills1994 Posted December 4, 2010 Share Posted December 4, 2010 I have wondered about those PSL/Dragunov clones too, but I think they are chambered in 7.62X54. Also, I think I have only seen them with 10 round magazines. I might be mistaken on this but I think the 7.62X54 cartridge has a rim on it, so I don't know how feasible it would be to have or make 20 or 30 round mags for it. Since the barrel looks kind of thin, I am thinking that after a few rapid shots the barrel will be so hot that the bullets will start to wander off downrange. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirveyr Posted December 5, 2010 Share Posted December 5, 2010 I might be mistaken on this but I think the 7.62X54 cartridge has a rim on it. You are correct. The 7.62x54R is a rimmed cartridge. Many people think that the "R" means "Russian" when in fact it designates the cartridge as being rimmed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooting for M Posted December 5, 2010 Share Posted December 5, 2010 I don't think you can be very competitive with an AK, but they are fun to shoot! For Heavy Metal though a Saiga in 308 could work, 20 round mags and there are a couple people throwing HK type sights on them. Look at Red Jacket or Rifle Dynamics, they seem like they know what they are doing with the Kalishnakov platform, Krebs does good work too. As for the PSLs, after about 5 rounds the zero starts to wander on most of them that I know of. Fun to shoot as well though. You just have to remember that the Russians want different things from thier firearms, and they need to be run differently. They are not a Stoner platform and never wanted to be.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirveyr Posted December 5, 2010 Share Posted December 5, 2010 They are not a Stoner platform and never wanted to be.... Well said. Many people that dislike the AK platform are trying to run it like an AR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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