It's only less reliable if your an idiot and thinks you can fire off a few hundred rounds without cleaning the thing.... In the case it does jam it takes all of about half a second to clear the malfunction if you know what you're doing and you practice it
If you can get a Russian or eastern block one, the knock off ones that were mass produced and distributed around the world are kind of crap.... also 5.56 is cheaper then 7.62, although much of that is regional
In my opinion the AK-74 is the worlds greatest Assault Riffle and can not be out gunned. The AK-47 even with it's age is still a competitor too. Just look at the m16 and how horrible of a gun that was, especially considering it cost more than an AK-47 to produce.
The thing the AK has going for it is durability and cost. However, is cost really a determinant in making it a better riffle? Would you rather have the cheaper riffle or the better riffle if you're in a fight for your life? Now as I've said before, both have their strengths and weakness, and at the end of the day they're basically equal, it just depends on the nature of the engagement and what you're looking for. For me, I'd much rather have the accuracy and customability of the M16 platform, over the power and ease of the AK
The new Kalashnikov's are far more advanced than anything American Weapon manufacturers have created. In a real life war scenario an AK 47 is a far more practical gun than the M16 due to it's ability to be massed produced unlike any other Assault Riffle, it's durability (try firing an M16 in hard rain and mud for 10 days and compare it to an AK 47) And the AK 74 can be customized from mid range, to close range, to long range in only a matter of seconds.
In what way can they be customized? The 74 doesn't have an interchangeable barrel system, and if you're referring to just clicking something on the rear sight aperture, congratulations, you've now equaled the sight aperture of the M16A1.... Effective range of the Ak47 : 350 meters semi auto Effective range of the M16: 550 point, 800 area Keep in mind that's the weapons capabilities, meaning most shooters won't be able to achieve that. Although factory M16's can be accurately shot out much longer then 550 point, I don't know how they calculated it... In terms of accuracy the M16 comes factory as a 3 MOA weapon, the AK 47 is between a 4-9 MOA weapon depending on the source. The reason the AK47 is so reliable? Because the parts are machined with loose tolerances. That is to say, there is a lot of wiggle room. The trade off to that is it's not as accurate, simple mechanics. My point is on an individual scale, you're not concerned about production capacities. In terms of durability, the M16 series has proven that with proper maintenance even the crappy ones the US military buys are quite reliable, if they were as unreliable as you're saying the US army wouldn't have survived 3 weeks in a desert environment let alone 10 years...
And there is a reason why no one uses the M16A1 anymore.... Like I said it's all based off the situation at hand, in Vietnam, very close engagements, extended time in harsh conditions, the AK was better suited. In distance engagements I'll take the M16. The weapons were designed for different conflicts so we can obviously pick and choose conflicts where one outperformed the other. What of the Soviet war in Afghanistan where the AK was being outclassed by World War Two era bolt action riffles used by the Mujaheddin because the AK didn't have enough range to effectively engage targets?
If I could own a any weapon it would be: HK416 Assault rifle Made by Germany Produced/Service: 2005 - Present Cartridge: 5.56x45mm NATO Action: Gas-operated, rotating bolt Rate of fire: 700-900 rounds/min (cyclic) Muzzle velocity: Varies by barrel length and type of round used. Feed system: 20, 30-round STANAG magazine or 100-round Beta C-Mag Sights: Rear rotary diopter sight and front post, Picatinny rail
I've had a chance to play around with one chambered in 6.8, and those things are incredibly nice. It was being considered as one of the candidates to replace the M16 series with the US military, but I think politics was one of the main reasons they didn't pick it up.
