2020 Is The Year Of The AK?

A lot of buzz came from Shot Show 2020 and a much of it is surrounding the number of companies really upping the Kalashnikov game. Between Palmetto State Armory, Kalashnikov USA and even Century Arms, there’s a lot to get excited over. Whether you love or lathe the platform, you’ve got to respect the qualities that have made it an enduring weapon since its introduction in the post-WWII era. The fact that American companies have finally got serious about building a quality AK is impressive and personally I think its as good a time as any to be in the AK game.

New production (2018) Romanian WASR 10, top, and PSA GF3.

But first, why would anyone wanna run that ‘commie gun’, anyway? It the so-called ‘modern era‘ it lags behind in optic integration, modularity, customizability, speed, and all those first world problems, so why would anyone want to pay any attention today? For starters, it works. And it works pretty damn well in nearly every corner of the world. Period. Because, as I discussed in the last episode of Radio Contra, its a simple platform to learn if you’re faced with having to train completely inexperienced people. Anyone who’s actually been in a firefight knows that under duress you’re going to default to your best level of training- meaning, the simpler, the better. The AK is about as simple as it gets. After training up civilians with zero experience on any weapons platform, the AK‘s perceived lack of ergonomics actually favor them. Does that mean its better than anything or everything else? No. But that does recognize some advantages when looking at it a different way.

I recall training with the Afghan Border Police who had their detachment commander but also had a unit elder who, that if I had to make an equivalence, was the senior NCO of the group. Everyone revered him, and we all respected him. The guy had been a Mujaheddin fighter against the Soviets, a Taliban fighter in the early post-DRA days, had killed Iranians for fun (his words, not mine) and could skin a goat faster than anyone on earth.  He carried a Tokarev as a status symbol but also an incredibly well-worn side-folding Romanian AK. This had been his since ‘the time of the Russians’ and had enough green jingle tape that I didn’t dispute him. They had M16s available to them, but most still preferred the AK, and to me, that was a testament to the weapon. His loadout was simple- a light homemade chest rig that looked like the Chinese ones but in a weird camo, three or four mags depending on how much trouble we were planning on getting into, and a fixed blade knife that looked like an Old Hickory. And you can say what you want about modernity, but the guy had survived more than a few ‘SHTF‘ moments in his life on just this go-to-war kit. It was certainly something to be respected and juxtaposed to the American ‘prepper‘ community, makes a lot of folks look pretty weak in comparison. When all you’ve got is all you’ve got, you don’t have time to bitch about what you would happen to like better, I guess.

Taliban go-to-war kit, recovered by my Team somewhere in southeast Afghanistan.

For them, the Kalash was as much a symbol as it was a weapon, like the Lee Enfields they used to fight the British two generations before, of the freedom of a people against outside an aggressor. More than that, it was a weapon that endured the realities of life in one of the most inhospitable places on the globe. And in capable hands, it works extremely well. Placing it in a woodland or jungle environment, the carbine really starts to shine as the weapon and rounds it fires are well suited to short range engagements and punching though underbrush. There’s a reason India has adopted a slightly modified AK-103 for its internal counterinsurgency units and Venezuela are manufacturing the 103 in large numbers.

So what about you, here in the States? The ammo, even quality ammo, is dirt cheap. You can supply a small team for a long period of time on roughly half the budget as you would other calibers. I don’t think anyone in their right mind can dispute the capabilities of 9l.the 7.62×39 when used in its intermediate role. Many in the past have derided the caliber and the weapon for a perceived ‘lack of accuracy’…and while no, you’re not getting match grade groups, a properly put together AK is more than capable of that 4 MOA combat accuracy threshold. I don’t expect any of my AKs to put up the same numbers as my ARs do, but then again, for operating in a woodland environment or any other where close contact is more likely than longer shots, I don’t think it makes that big of a difference.

It looks like a number of companies are warming up to the prospects of a quality American AK and I like what I’m seeing come down the pipe- from the good results I’ve had so far from Palmetto State Armory to the AK-103 that Kalashnikov USA is producing in-house. These are serious weapons, not the hobby-grade junk that’s been produced in the past, made by people who are actually serious about the platform. How will they stack up against my favorite of the bunch- the current-production Romanian WASR and M10? We’ll see, but so far so good. I’m excited to see where this goes and I think that 2020 is going to be the year a lot of people get into the Kalash– and in doing so, find out why the design has stood the test of time.

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By Published On: February 17, 2020Categories: NC Scout, Weapons13 Comments on 2020 Is The Year Of The AK?

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About the Author: NC Scout

NC Scout is the nom de guerre of a former Infantry Scout and Sergeant in one of the Army’s best Reconnaissance Units. He has combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He teaches a series of courses focusing on small unit skills rarely if ever taught anywhere else in the prepping and survival field, including his RTO Course which focuses on small unit communications. In his free time he is an avid hunter, bushcrafter, writer, long range shooter, prepper, amateur radio operator and Libertarian activist. He can be contacted at [email protected] or via his blog at brushbeater.wordpress.com .

13 Comments

  1. Hawkeye February 17, 2020 at 13:26

    4.5

  2. Hawkeye February 17, 2020 at 13:32

    And the truth flows forth like honey from the hive. ;-)

  3. DWEEZIL THE WEASEL February 18, 2020 at 10:26

    Yes, I really miss my solid, sturdy Yugo. That being said, I have to bow to logic and look at the bigger picture, given the many predictions of Boogaloo/Sporty Times here in Amerika. TPTB will be fielding and equipping their Orcs and Orcettes with firearms chambered in 9mm, 5.56mm, 7.62X51mm and 12-gauge shotguns. Think ammo availability, my friends. Think battlefield pick-up. And above all, think training, prepping, and vigilance. Bleib ubrig.

    • NC Scout February 18, 2020 at 10:51

      You’re assuming they’ll be American.

      They won’t.

  4. VoorTrekker February 18, 2020 at 11:19

    I have a Century Arms RAS-47, milled receiver. Nothing further….

  5. Anonymous February 18, 2020 at 12:06

    4.5

  6. Berglander February 18, 2020 at 13:19

    I had a Chinese AK in Iraq back in 2005-2006, and briefly had a (beautiful) Russian one in Afghanistan in 2008. Having a side-folding, fully-automatic rifle was very appreciated for the low-profile operations that I was involved in. I like AKs-though I do prefer the AR for most applications. AKs are more accurate than most folks give them credit for. Similarly, the AR is more reliable that most folks give it credit for. I agree with Dweezil below-there are so many ARs in the States, that even if a foreign power invades using something else, an AR is still your best bet. Being familiar with and owning an AK, isn’t a bad thing either. None of us knows what tomorrow is going to hold.

  7. Johnny Paratrooper February 18, 2020 at 16:51

    My ACOG POF AR-15($3,500+ total) shoots 4 inch groups @ 100 meters. Which is the same 4-MOA group as most any AR-15 shooting the M855 Green Tip. How this is lost on 75% of the AR crowd is beyond me… True story. The AK is cool, but the American RPK with 75 round drums is the real deal. My friend went with AK, and I went with AR. We both have 4 rifles each. 1 pistol, 2 rifles(One folding) and a “SAW” set up. His weapons, the AK’s, are arguably more dangerous because of that 123 grain steel core ammo. That stuff isn’t a joke. We both have ten’s of thousands of rounds. Interestingly, the cost for Ammo and Magazines was the same since he purchased only 75 round drums. None of his AK’s have optics though. So they are “200 meter guns”. We are going to mount something to the RPK and the folding gun eventually. I do like the Pistol AK more than the AR. What a cannon.

  8. Ben Leucking February 18, 2020 at 18:56

    Thanks for the article and I’ll keep an eye out for quality, US made AKs coming down the pipe. In the meantime, I will continue to enjoy my SKS, which provides longer range and accuracy anyway.

  9. Mr T February 18, 2020 at 19:55

    I have an AK variant which I’ve owned for some 20 years. I could knock chunks off of stumps at 25 yards with it but never took the time to actually shoot a paper target for zero till last fall. Much to my surprise (or no surprise) at 200 feet I had no idea where the rounds were hitting except nowhere on the 18×48 inch backstop. Starting again from about 50 feet I managed to hit the lower edge and from there it got easy and currently can put rounds in a 6″ circle at the 200 foot mark. Once I modify my sight tool to work with the front sight windage dowel I will go for 100 yards and get fussier but for now I am greatful I never had to rely on it for more than conversation. Lesson learned.

  10. Miles February 18, 2020 at 23:48

    Back in 2007 I got the opportunity to shoot an AK on the George Blair (computerized ‘pop up’) qualification range at Fort Knox.
    I had no problems qualifying Sharpshooter (33) and with some further practice, I probably could have made Expert but I only had time to get a quick zero and shoot for score.
    The interesting thing was that it was easier to hit at 250 meters than it was a 175 meters with the same sight setting.

    Lesson Learned is that a motivated shooter with a good quality AK is a threat to be respected.

  11. Ray February 20, 2020 at 13:08

    My IZMASH AKM clone will put out a solid 1.5 MOA group at it’s full 400 meter effective range with M-68 YUGO ammo. It will hit a two MOA with wolf. So I think well of it as a carbine class weapon. As for the myth about “Dropped ammo on the battlefield” NOT BLOODY LIKELY. SOP for all US Police and military units is to “recover” ALL “fired and unfired” ammunition Weapons and magazines as evidence. They also “tag” all weapons with RFID chips. Pick it up at your peril. What you get is what you bring to the party on day one. EVERYTHING ELSE is a fantasy. If the Almighty decides to let me live to fight. I will NEVER carry any kind of an AR. I will only carry my AKM as a back up to my Garand (still the best infantry rifle I have ever owned) Then I just KISS. Find a choke point. Dig in a nice ranger grave. Ambush the enemy Rinse Repeat. Fight till we win or I get called home. What you carry to do the job are just tools. Do the job. Let the almighty take care of the rest.

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