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This Photo Gallery is excerpted from The Gun Digest Book of the AK & SKS.
I Recommend these AK-47 Resources:
The Gun Digest Book of the AK & SKS
AK47: The Complete Kalashnikov Family of Rifles
Gun Photos: 25 Tough AK-47s
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I have the older Arsenal milled SLR 101 with no cleaning rod/no bayonet lug/permanent “shark gill” comp….had this rifle for over 10 years and it has been flawless.
Very accurate with its hammerforged barrel…a little heavy but that helps with recoil (which is nil)
Mine has the green NATO length furnature/butt stock…I’m only 5 foot 8 but the length helps.
I had a SAR1 with Warsaw pact length and it was too short.
Yah, I don’t like the safety location. The M-16 thru M-4 are better.
The safety is just fine, especially when your fingers are nearly frozen or covered with thick over mittens. Besides, we Americans play around with mechanical safeties too much. In a real fight, how often are you going to take your weapon off safe?
If you want to snipe from prone position, just use a smaller magazine.
There is NO wonder weapon, it is the soldier that makes the weapon system.
Give me the power of the NATO 308 anytime. It will shoot thru barriers that the others will not and at longer ranges.
The rifle on the left is not a true M-4 as its barrel appears to 16 inches in length. A M-4 has a 14.5 inch barrel.
While the M-16 to M-4 are precision rifles, the locking bolt mechanism is too complicated for the sand, mud, ice, water, and grit that can be found on the battlefield. This leads to problems that a design with more clearance can overcome, like the AK or FN.