"What makes the AK so reliable?"

[Jay Cunningham]

• strong, well-designed magazines
• lack of small parts
• lots of room in the receiver
• "overgassed" system
• fixed ejector
• taper of 7.62x39 and 5.45x39 rounds

A correctly built AK is very robust and reliable. Most AKs in the U.S. are not correctly built. I've seen malfunctions of various types but I've personally never seen a parts breakage on an AK. I have seen FCG axis pins walk out and F everything up, though.

[jumpthestack]

According to CJ Chivers book "The Gun", other factors are the heavy piston/bolt carrier, which helps to add momentum to smash through friction, and the fact that the stroke of the bolt is significantly longer than strictly needed to eject and feed.

Some people think the "lots of room in the receiver" is just about leaving room for dirt, but it's more than that. On my AR, I once had a blown primer get stuck in the gas key on the bolt carrier, turning it to a single shot, and I've seen someone get an empty brass case stuck in the charging handle area over the bolt. Not fun.

[Jay Cunningham]

According to CJ Chivers book "The Gun", other factors are the heavy piston/bolt carrier, which helps to add momentum to smash through friction, and the fact that the stroke of the bolt is significantly longer than strictly needed to eject and feed.

I would not disagree with that.

[jmjames]

Another one I'll add, is that maintenance is absolutely impossible to screw up, short of trying to use a file to get some carbon off the bolt face or something. And they are VERY tolerant of lax maintenance regimens, it seems like. A friend of mine just sprays some Rem Oil in his after he shoots it, it's absolutely disgusting inside but shoots just fine... and it's a CAI WASR-10 at that.

In addition, the simplicity of the design (I "got" the AK design by holding the bolt open and staring inside for a few seconds) lends itself to a well functioning device. There's just very little to go wrong, and when it does go wrong, it's easy to diagnose/fix, and if it can't be fixed, they are so cheap that you don't mind replacing it that much.

Finally, I think that AKs benefit greatly from lowered expectations. If an AR were to shoot 2" or 3" groups at 100 yards, folks would be tearing it down to figure out what was the issue. With an AK, it seems like folks would be grateful for a group like that.

J.Ja

[BWT]

I'd agree, if they're made right, they'll run right, and for a long time.

That being said, God help you working on them... I hate that gun at times. Swapping a rear sight and I jacked up the rear sight spring, how? No idea. It had to go back to the factory for an initial defect, which Arsenal corrected. Installing a different pistol grip was awkward, (not really awkward as in complex... Just difficult, it's a 3 hand job, Try lining up a screw on the inside of a hollowed pistol grip), installing an ultimak gas tube was more difficult than I initially figured.

It kind of reminds me of a 1911. After this last venture... I think I'm definitely buying another AR, I love the AK, I haven't really broken it down and cleaned it yet, and I probably have hovering around 1,500-1,800 rounds through it, it's a lot of fun, it's just when you try to change something that they're irritating, as long as the gun is assembled correctly, I'd say you'll be happy.

I don't know that gas piston guns are that much cleaner than AR's, I can put my hand anywhere inside that receiver and get carbon/unburnt powder/oil on my hands, and it's just about the same as my AR in that regard.

[Jay Cunningham]

It kind of reminds me of a 1911.

Oh, absolutely. Not necessarily in maintenance schedule but in build quality.

[jmjames]

That being said, God help you working on them... I hate that gun at times. Swapping a rear sight and I jacked up the rear sight spring, how? No idea. It had to go back to the factory for an initial defect, which Arsenal corrected. Installing a different pistol grip was awkward, (not really awkward as in complex... Just difficult, it's a 3 hand job, Try lining up a screw on the inside of a hollowed pistol grip), installing an ultimak gas tube was more difficult than I initially figured.

I've actually found them quite easy to work with, in large part because there isn't much you can do. Installing the pistol grip is easy, pass the screw through the grip, hold it in place with the screwdriver, then thread it into the nut in the receiver, if it's a nut that is loose, hold the nut with the other hand.

The #1 best thing to do to make an AK easy to deal with is swapping the axis pin retaining spring with a retaining plate. They are less than $10 shipped and take it from "miserable" to "joyful". The only maintenance headache left then is the spring for the manual bolt hold open that you see on some variants (like the Saiga 12).

It's funny, I keep thinking about getting an AR for my next rifle (I just sold my PSL/FPK... that gun proved that you *can* have an unreliable AK, in this case the magazines were the issue), but the ease of dealing with the AK keeps bringing me back to it, and the cost. For the price of a decent AR, I could pick up a Saiga 308 and a random AK in 7.62x39 and have my bases covered all the way around.

J.Ja

[DocGKR]

Gee...try changing the barrel on an AK.

AR's don't need much maintenance either...I am down to cleaning mine about every 3000-5000 rds; for optimal function AR's do need to be lubed.

[jmjames]

Gee...try changing the barrel on an AK.

That's my #1 gripe with the AK platform. And it's not just for maintenance, like a worn out barrel, it's if you want to do fulfill any other role with it. At the same time, an AK is about the price of a decent AR upper...

J.Ja

[Kyle Reese]

Another one I'll add, is that maintenance is absolutely impossible to screw up, short of trying to use a file to get some carbon off the bolt face or something. And they are VERY tolerant of lax maintenance regimens, it seems like. A friend of mine just sprays some Rem Oil in his after he shoots it, it's absolutely disgusting inside but shoots just fine... and it's a CAI WASR-10 at that.

I've seen AK's in Iraq & Afghanistan that would beg to differ.