Can't blame them. It's much more durable. Especialy in an adverse environment.

I always heard that the AK was more durable even back in Vietnam. The big reason I see for the decision is that the AK shoots a 7.65mm (.30 caliber) round while the M-16 shoots a 5.56mm (.223). The M-16 was designed to WOUND a man while the AK was designed to KILL him.

What kind of military gives its troops fucking .22s ? You wouldn't take one that small to go deer hunting, let alone MAN hunting.

The M-16 bullet tumbles when it hits body mass, almost always ensuring a kill. For the record, the M-16 was redesigned during in the Vietnam war to compensate for failures due to mud, sand, water, etc. If finding ammo wasn't an issue, i'd choose an M-16 over almost any other assault rifle.

I thought they used a smaller size round to save weight and allow a troop to carry more...

the .223 is an awesome round, a lot of people use it here for deer and coyote hunting...main problem is that you can't fire through brush with any accuracy like you can with a heavier bullet (like an AK)

They do and it is. I'd rather use it for sniping than blasting away in a firefight, though.

Kid I know in the army says that M-16 effective range is 500 yards, AK-47 is 300. He also says that the reliability issue is that the M-16 requires some preventative maintenance, while the AK-47 requires almost none. He also claims that the Vietnam issue was that the US gov't decided not to follow the original M-16 design and went cheap on some parts. No idea if any of that is true, but he seems confident.

I have and still do shoot the AK-47,AR-15 and the M-16.

coknurmouth the ammo that is used around your area is not military grade. If you were to mix up 20 military rounds and 20 civilian rounds and fired each one 1 at a time. Unless your blind,deaf and dumb you will know which is which.
I shoot mainly military rounds because I ride dirt bikes near 29 palms military base and find it laying here and there. I enjoy the accuracy and range of the AK-47 by far. the AR-15 and M-16 jam alot. The AR-15 and M-16 cannot shoot through the frame of a pickup truck while the AK-47 makes swiss cheese out of it.
Infact I have 200 rounds of .50 military grade ammo with a tracer every 3rd round. Now if I could only find a .50 cal gun in California.

^ His penis fires 30.06 rounds. You should be aware!

Tumbling doesn't kill. All bullets tumble. Common myth though. At close range (<75m), the bullet fragments, due to the high velocity of the bullet and lead core, greatly increasing its chances for striking a vital organ, thus it's esteemed nature as a beast in close combat. The ak-47, firing a heavier bullet, wouldn't shatter unless it hit bone.

In the1970's and 80's, bullets changed, the the original bullet got replaced with a steel core bullet that was a slower. Common complant in Somalinia was that the bullets whizzed straight through, not shattering and resulting in fewer kills. However, accuracy after about 100m was nonexistant.

The .223 is nato standard now, as the m-16/ar-15 is standard nato rifle.

Current m-16 is heavier than the ak-47 by an amazing .3 pounds, but is more comfortable from what I've heard, but the shorter ak-47 is better suited to urban combat, especially spray and pray combat. The m-16 kills the ak-47 in accuracy usually, but once again, not a primary concern in spray and pray.

The true difference comes in the history. Russia's main fighting strategy was basically rush as many troops and tanks with as much firepower as possible at one spot and overwhelm their enemies. America originally perfered accuracy and minimal loss of life, as evident by the zeal of the Marines in accuracy. However, in recent years, the Army in specific has adopted a policy of the they won't lose as long as they have superior firepower, so, in theory, the ak-47 could fit into their game plan efficiently.


Acidburn, what year were your m-16 and ar-15 built, and is there much difference (as they are basically the military and civilian version of the gun)? The new m-16 are much more reliable than old ones.

Remember though, I could be wrong.

The ak-47 has always been a more durable rifle, though that often depends on the quality of the plant producing the gun.

Acidburn, are you saying that military rounds are better in brush? or just heavier loads?

can civilians buy military rounds? I'de like to try some in the bushmaster.

Either the military buys rounds from an bullet maker that sells the bullets to the general public, which tend to be the same, just sold a lot more and for more money to the military, or their made in house.

I would think.

Military and civiliian rounds?? What do suburban killers use? I'm sure that the world is a better place with civillians armed with assault rifles- I wouldn't think that they are a very sporting gun- just rapid killing machines, or do you guys hunt game with the things?-Give me a powerful bike over a powerful gun anyday....

I prefer hollow point hunting rounds for suburban game. I also find the R6 riders the most challenging, and rewarding prey. Thank you.