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For practicality and over all everyday survivability what are the thoughts people have. I am considering a Rock River AR-10 LAR-8 or two WASR-10’s. I am looking at straight practicality for a survival situation considering ammo availability should the SHTF.

Pros for AR-10: Stable platform with a great all around round. Negatives would be the gun is a gas system not a piston system. Not a standard mag system for AR-10’s

AK is not as accurate at distance and the round does not have the effective range as the 308. The platform does not feel as solid as the AR-10

My opinion and would love people constructive thoughts.
 
Wellllll...considering the topic, I might as well go pop some popcorn and watch the fireworks.

My two cents:

If you live in the city, a quality AK is more suited for CQB than an AR10 if you plan on bugging-in. (As an aside, despite what some of the AK snobs will tell you, a WASR is for all intent and purposes identical in reliability to a higher quality brand like an Arsenal, Krebs etc. so it should be quite suitable in the context of your question.)

If you live in a rural setting or plan on bugging out to one, a scoped AR10 would be a better choice than an AK.

Battlefield pickup chances are about the same for both calibers these days. Both look mean, and sometimes all you need is the intimidation factor to avoid trouble. I believe that the extra range of the 7.62NATO over the 7.62x39 would probably be negated in a heavily wooded area. OTOH, I also believe that the gas piston's reliability over the ARs lack of one is also negated in our local duststorm-free environment. I don't have an AR10, but I do have an HK and if offered one over the other, I'd probably opt for the HK or other .308 battle rifle like the AR10.

Keith
 
Really depends on what you're trying to accomplish.

For an all around SHTF gun for up to 300M, I'd go with the AK. Smaller, lighter, built to take abuse. Ammo is lighter AND cheaper (AKA easier to stockpile).
 
I am an AK person..... but in this case if I had to choose I would say AR-10 because In my opinion the WASRs are just a waste.... I hate the crappy quality... I am more like an Arsenal person. Yeah the WASRs are AKs and they work but they are low quality and the only thing they have going for them is the chromed barrel.... If the one you get is chrome lined barrel. One could say that the AK is more reliable but the AR has more power and more accurate.
 
I do live in PDX metro area and first choice is to bug in but you never know what will happen and want to leave myself some options. I do have a standard deer rifle that would be an ok distance gun but if I only have to carry one gun vs. two that is best. Thinking about an under folder ak and that fact I can buy two ak's for the price of one AR-10 but the AR-10 is twice the rifle.
 
With equal training, two people armed with AKs are significantly more dangerous than one person armed with an AR10. If your plan is to arm you and your significant other to defend your home from looters or whatnot, and you can't afford two ARs, then definitely go with WASRs. Make sure you get ones that have straight sights and gas tubes and to heck with the fit and finish, although slight cants to either will not affect function.

Edit: Consider...after a week of actual SHTF use, all AKs will look like WASRs. If it goes *bang* every time you pull the trigger, then that is all you should be concerned about.

Keith
 
The Yugo AK's by Century are only abotu $50 more than a WASR, but a lot better IMHO, I've owned both but kept the Yugos. I'd do with the two AK's. AR-10's aren't that common so replacement parts and mags will be difficult in a SHTF. You can train a buddy or have a back-up if your primary AK ever did have an issue. Of course, I do come from the school of "one is none" as to SHTF.:)
 
Yugos, Polish and Hungarians are also good choices and can be had for a few bucks more than the WASRs. One of our sponsors in your area has very good pricing on all of these varieties. <broken link removed>


Keith
 
I have both an Armalite AR10 and a couple AK's one is a Krink and I've also owned a WASR-10, sorry but a you gain nothing in volume with 2 or 1000 WASR-10's, you can only shoot one at a time. WASR-10 has nothing on an AR10, they have no business even being compared, it's like comparing a Geo Metro to a Mercedes, sure they will both get you from point A to point B but which would you rather drive?
 
>implying DI is a unreliable
>implying a long stroke piston is not a type of gas system
>implying carrying around two guns
>comparing an intermediate cartridge rifle to a rifle cartridge
>talking about SHTF
>my face when OP is probably serious and not trolling
 
Biggie, what would you suggest for an AK? I am only familiar with the WASR for a newer AK.
Well depends on your budget. If you have $700 you can get an Arsenal. If you want something cheaper.... Yugoslavian M70AB2 Underfolding 7.62x39 Rifle (I don't think the have a chrome lined barrel and they are parts kit rifle) and my friend had one and it was a nice solid rifle for $470 on aimsurplus.com

I honestly don't care for AKs that are made from surplus parts. I don't think all AKs made from old and new parts are bad but for example some AKs made by CAI.... where the barrel is attached to the front trunnion, the barrel is scored or checkered or whatever to have a tighter fit..... the front gas blocks are re-pressed on the barrel. Again I am not the AK know it all but when parts are taken off and re-pressed or whatever...... you don't get a good seal to the best of my knoledge. Also you want to have the mag dimples on the receiver and not an all flat receiver like the WASRs ( I think some WASRs do have dimples but I hear it's rare). Mag dimples are there so your mags are nice and tight, so they don't wobble. Milled receivers are nice but I guess they are on the heavy side and a little more expensive. Stamped receivers are just fine IMHO.

There are a lot of AKs made from new USA parts and used military parts..... if you don't have the money for a new AK, well you want to make sure you got the dimples, hopefully matching numbers on parts, yugo and Bulgarian AKs are nicer from what I have heard and read.... and the Romanians are probably at the bottom of the list.
 
Nice spengo.

Well, personally I would go with an AKM. I own 3. 2 Romy G's and a Draco. If i had the choice, i would take the AKM over the AR-10, simply because I have to look at availability of parts/ammo, complexity, ease of use, and proven realibility.

Parts/ammo - Point to AKM. AKM parts way more available than AR-10 parts, and that includes magazines and ammo. You have to also think, in a SHTF, which ammo would you be more likely to come across? Everyone and there mother usually has a rifle that shoots 7.62x39. Since SKS's and AK's are in general much cheaper than AR's, they are more prolific, and their ammo is more available than .308.

Complexity - Point to AKM. AKM has less parts and in general is a simpler design than the AR-10. The more parts it has, the greater the chance that something can fail. Also, AK's can be readily fixed with just about anything. Aghani cavemen are able to build and modify them from scrap metal. I am sure the same cannot be said of the AR-10, which requires precise machining and tools and such. Also, the SAIGAs use proprietary magazines, unless one installs a bullet guide. What if by some freak accident the bullet guide breaks or cracks and no longer functions, and you dont have any SAIGA mags, and only regular AK mags? Kinda in a tough spot then, arent you?

Ease of Use - Point to AKM. The AKM was designed to be be operated by the generally lesser educated conscripts that populated a majority of the Soviet Army. That is why we have child soldiers weilding and somewhate effectively using AKMs all over the world. Can't really do that with AR-10s. This also comes in handy as others have said, that it is easier to have someone with you and have them know how to operate the weapon. I don't know your family situation, but some people have kids (not me), and they will most likely be trying to assure their safety. Well if you get injured to where you can't use your rifle, a child can easily be trained to use an AKM, to help you get to safety. Not that i'm condoning this type of behavior, but if SHTF and I have kids, I sure hope that they would be able to defend themselves if something ever happened to me.

Proven Reliability - Point to AKM. History shows it all. The AK design has been relatively unchanged since it's design in the 40's. That's over 60 years of use, and it is still good enough for the Russians, the Chinese, and countless other armies in the world to use. Yeah, the AR-10 is more accurate, but we all know the reliability statistics of AR's. They work great if you take care of them, where as AK's just work. In a SHTF scenario, you may not always have the ability or the resources to clean an AR, but you can just run a rag drenched in motor oil through your AK and be ready to go.

Some people state that the AK is good in an urban setting, and not so much in an outdoor setting. In the state we live in, i am going to have to disagree. Oregon has a lot of vegetation, and a lot of brush, and an AKM in 7.62x39 would me more effective than one in 5.45x39 or a rifle in 5.56/.223. To prove this, i direct you to this clip of a caliber test conducted by Gabe Suarez.

th_akbrushtest.jpg
 
My vote is AK. I think people forget that the 7.62x39's ballistics are very similar to the 30/30 which I think is perfectly adequate for most game you might come across. I'm also of the "pair and a spare" belief system so get a couple of anything you might use in an emergency.
 

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