I have never been a fan of the M-16 as a combat weapon. It's a great target shooter. It's a great varmint gun. It's just isn't an assault weapon. It's caliber isn't "intermediate." It's anemic for anything more then a rabbit or a fox.
It's reliability isn't good, either. It must be cleaned regularly. That isn't a bad thing, except that lubing a gun in sandy Iraq is just a way to attract even more sand in your gun and muck things up. Well..this argument has been run before..over and over....
Here's a Soldiers view of the AK, though.
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I've never liked the AK. Nor did I have any use for the 7.62x39 cartridge, either. I always considered the Russian assault rifle to be crude, inaccurate and evil - the chosen weapon of the Chinese hordes or godless Soviets.
Other weapons were far more interesting.In my formative years in the US Army, I was busy shooting accurized rifles and pistols for a living. When civilian-style AK-47s started showing up in gunshops some years ago, I never had the urge to take one home, despite the early bargain-basement prices.
I'd handled and shot a few over the years, which only reinforced my negative opinion of the AK. It just wasn't able to do what I wanted at the time, which was to place tight groups into faraway targets while I was strapped into a leather sling.Fast-forward a couple of decades.
My time as a professional marksman was behind me and my usual soldier routine consisted of night defensive positions, daily combat patrols and dodging mortar attacks in my AO (area of operations). I was now an older reservist back on active duty, responsible for a team of young soldiers in a very hot combat zone. Every day I came in contact with AKs and, over time, a grudging respect developed. AK-47s were literally everywhere in Iraq.
I saw dozens of people killed and wounded with the 7.62 cartridge that I'd held in such contempt. Several times I was on the receiving end of hostile AK rounds launched in my direction. Accuracy was irrelevant here. The AK did what all combat rifles are supposed to do - function and kill.Two months into my tour I was digging through a pile of captured weapons at Camp Victory, looking for something interesting to play with.
I was hoping for a nice FN FAL or maybe a Sten gun. You never know what'll turn up in Iraq. I wanted something in either 7.62x51mm (.308) or 9mm because of ammo availability. I could then shoot often and look cool on patrol, too.Besides a couple of British SMLE beaters in .303, nothing in the pile caught my eye, except for a pristine AK folder bearing Egyptian markings. Nary a scratch it had, with a spotless bore and a web sling thrown in.
I claimed ownership, took it back to my trailer, cleaned it and looked forward to a range session after returning from the next combat patrol.Just after arriving in An Najaf Province, halfway through my tour, we received three brand-new, up-armored HMMWVs complete with protected gunner's cupolas.
Our primary crew-served MG (machine gun) was a 5.56mm M249 SAW, which isn't the best guntruck weapon. Since the rule (a very good one) was a minimum of four vehicles on patrol "outside the wire," I always added a fourth vehicle, mounting a .50 Browning for additional firepower.We scrounged AT-4s (anti-tank/bunker-busters), extra fragmentation grenades and lots of ammo.
For close-in defense, I acquired three more AKs, one for each of my vehicles, along with pistols for the SAW gunners. The SAW gunners were basically helpless close-in and needed something that worked well in tight quarters in case a bad guy walked up and tried to toss a frag into the open hatch. A pistol (usually a borrowed Beretta or a confiscated Makarov) and a folding AK filled the bill perfectly. I'd received two additional pistols from the helpful Blackwater folks (as well as a nice GI .45 for myself) and got my AKs from a well-connected Interpreter.
The Kalashnikovs were worn slung across the chest, over body armor, or hung upside down on the open gunner's hatch. Chambers were kept empty with safeties in the "off" position. Pistols were worn in low-slung tactical leg holsters that were easily accessible.I could sleep well now, knowing my little team was very well armed and ready for just about anything we'd encounter.
My soldiers, with the exception of my close friend and teammate Craig Taylor, had no experience with the AK-47. Craig (my second in command) and I set up a once-weekly training regimen of tactical exercises using live ammo in 120-plus-degree heat that overcame the lack of weapons experience quickly.
Usually we trained with the Blackwater Security people, who were all prior military and extremely competent and aggressive. We worked constantly on close-in defense, bailing out of vehicles, cover fire while in the rescue mode, etc. The folding AKs excelled in these scenarios. We also practiced basic marksmanship skills and constantly checked the zeros on our M16s.
During combat missions, my faithful Egyptian Kalashnikov, along with my 1911 .45, was always with me when I was out of my vehicle. It rode slung over my shoulder while I supervised my vehicles' tactical emplacement or inspected battle-damaged sites. My scoped M16A2 remained in the HMMWV, locked in its weapons rack. It was relegated to long-range engagement or extended trips away from the guntruck.
Probably the most important thing about the AK-47s that I observed was their utter reliability. We cleaned our issue weapons daily, but rarely got to the AKs (our "truck guns"), except to knock the dust off and dump the sand out of the magazines. They always functioned, though, no matter how much crud was inside.
Our AKs were treated roughly, bouncing around inside the vehicles or hanging by a strap onto the gunner's hatch door. More than once one of them fell off the top of a guntruck into the sand, was retrieved, dusted off and tossed back into the vehicle. When it was test-fired later (all our weapons were fired at least weekly) it always worked flawlessly.
The AK mags had a lot to do with reliability. Made of thick stamped steel with robust feed lips, you had to really try to damage them. AK mags were run over numerous times by our vehicles without apparent damage. We never lubed the guns, either. The general consensus was that oil would just attract more sand and dirt on a gun that wasn't cleaned daily. The AKs always cycled. They seemed to thrive on abuse. Its design is incredibly simple - an easy field strip without a lot of small parts to get lost, unlike an M16.
The proven piston operation is conceded to be more reliable than the gas tube of the AR family and is now being looked at for the follow-on US-issue service rifle.
Have I changed my mind about the AK-47? Of course. It fulfilled a very crucial need that wasn't being met by the weapons that we had on hand at the time. I still don't have any desire to own one, but an AK-47 on full-auto is a blast (especially with almost unlimited free ammo). I still consider it inaccurate and somewhat crude compared to an AR or even the newer, Russian-designed AK-74. But it deservedly is one of the world's great assault rifles.Its reliability is legendary, and a combat rifle that works, every time, in any environmental scenario is something that never reaches obsolescence.
With over 50 million produced, American forces will be facing them for many more years.
Do I prefer the AK over the AR-M16? No, and I'd feel handicapped if I only had an AK. My M16A2, equipped with a low-power telescopic sight, was accurate, reliable (I cleaned it daily) and killed well. The AKs we used complemented our M16s and weren't meant as a replacement.
On my next overseas tour I'll probably be armed with a Colt M4 and some kind of optical sight. It's smaller and mounts optics better than the M16A2 I was armed with on my first tour. An ACOG-mounted M4 would fulfill my needs perfectly next time "down-range." But I won't say no if a nice folding East-German or Czech AK with low mileage comes my way.
