How good is the AK74?

Question

u know the ak47 is a good gun, it can kill easily, but it is very bad accuracy. what abot the ak74? it is kinda like the ak47 but it shoots a different round. ak47 shoots 7.62x39mm, but ak74 shoots 5.45x39mm. so the ak74 shoots a smaller round, but apparently it is more accurate than ak47. is this true? also, how is the stopping power of the ak74? what about the aks-74U krinkoff submachine gun? shoots 5.45x39mm also, but it is a much smaller gun.

Answer 1

the 5.45x39mm has a very high velocity which can cause a lot of trauma if hit but the 7.62x39 is a lot bigger and has more kinetic energy so it has a lot of knock down power. both are very affective rounds but the 7.62 is better for piercing armor, walls etc. the stopping power of the 5.45 is really good but on body armor the 7.62 outperforms it which is why we're pushing for a larger calibre assault rifle because theres been more advances lately in body armor. the ak74 is about as accurate as an M4 (i think) the ak74u sub machinegun has the same stopping power of the ak74 because they have the same round but the longer barrel of the ak74 gives it more velocity. same goes for the ar15 and m4

Answer 2

The accuracy of the guns have nothing to do with the caliber. Both calibers have the ability to kill at the range that most battles are fought(within 300 meters).

The 74 was introduces because the Soviets realized that a lighter round at a faster speed will kill just as well, cost less to manufacture, and is lighter for the soldier to carry.

Also in full auto fire, the 74 is much easier to control. Both guns are built on the Kalishnikov design. This design is sloppy at best, and really is not a great weapon beyond 100 meters. Let remember that a hit on a body is a success. If an AK can be used to hit a man sized target at 300 meters, it does not matter that the hit is not pin point. Most AKs made in the past 20 years are better in accuracy though. This is because the tolerances have become better over the years due to manufacturing advances. But lets remember that its this slopy design that makes the AK so deadly. It shoots, all the time with little if any maintenance. The sloppiness  I speak of is actually by design.

The 74 is built to tighter standards, but it pales in comparison to the accuracy of other non warsaw weapons such as the STG58 FAL, the M16, the Aug, to name a few.

All in all, I dont want to be on the buisness end of an AK74 or an AK47, at any range.

Answer 3

AK doesn't necessarily have bad accuracy.  You can't take bottom barrel WASR-10s or Century Arms built guns (only marginally better) and run the cheapest ammo you find in them and expect accuracy.  I have seen the older Romanian SAR-2's (AK74 in 5.45x39) produce a 2 inch group or smaller at 100 yards with a scope and good ammo.  I own a few AKs that I hand assembled from unissued kits (AMD-65 and a few Romanian "G" kits), with good ammo (7.62x39 Yugo or South African surplus) they can make some pretty tight groups.  

The 5.45x39 was developed to be faster and flatter shooting than the 7.62x39, thus, it should be more accurate.  Assuming that in a test you have well made ammo and guns in both calibers, the AK74 should shoot better.  Stopping power varies greatly depending upon the design of the bullet.  A lot of 5.45 is designed to have a hollow cavity in the front of the bullet that causes it to tumble.  The tumbling produces a large wound channel.  I would be hesitant to say that it is more deadly than 7.62x39 without looking at test data showing how much penetration was achieved, how large of permanent wound cavity is created, and at what depth did the wound cavity enlarge.  

The AKS-74U  due to a shorter barrel will not have as high of velocity as a AK74 with a 16" barrel.  The shorter barrel will also have a shorter sight radius which does effect accuracy.Its tough to say how much difference there will be, but the AKS-74U will not be as accurate.

Answer 4

Have you ever fired an AK-47????  I have bought a number of them just because they are so simple, reliable, long lived, trouble free and yada.  When I test fire them at 100 yards to adjust the sights if necessary I usually get a group you can lay a quarter on.  I realize this is terrible and all the shots should just go in one hole; but I can live with this kind of sloppy target.  The 762x39 round is a tack driver when fired from bolt action target rifles, too.  It is a well thought out and designed from the ground up cartridge so never sell it short by listening to "they".  

Answer 5

the AK47 has bad accuracy?........tell that to the many thousands of our brave soldiers who died from being shot with one

Answer 6

I can't speak for all of them but, my Romanian SAR-3 (semi-auto AK-74 variant) in .223 caliber is a tack driver with .55 grain ammo. It far exceeds the accuracy of all my other AK-47 variants in 7.62 x 39 mm.

Answer 7

Basically Russia tried following America buy down sizing. America went from 308 to 223 so Russia tried 7.62x39mm to 5.45x39mm. Having less recoil and smaller/lighter ammo ment troops could carry more ammo and have more accuracy.

I think it was a waste of time for Russia and many other countries. The krinkoff is good for plinking and if you're jumping out of plains and clearing out buildings.

I would just buy a ak47 or a m4 carbine.

Answer 8

just to let you know, the AK47 is one of the most accurate assault rifles ever made

Answer 9

the 5.45x39mm round has less recoil. that coupled with the very effective muzzle break attached to the AK-74 make it much easier to control in automatic fire than the AK-47. the smaller round also allows the soldiers to carry more ammunition. the "krinkov" is a made up name, and its not a submachine gun, its a short rifle. the AK-74 family is the Russian equivalent to the M-16 family of weapons, a modernized rifle using composite parts and a small, high velocity projectile. the bullet itself has a small hollow space in the front that moves the center of gravity of the bullet toward the rear, which causes it to yaw (start turning up) and fragment as it enters the body. this creates a wound profile much larger than the diameter of the projectile, which increases its effectiveness. again, this is very similar the US ideals set forth by the M-16 the 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge which has similar properties.

Answer 10

It all has to do with velocity.  The 7.62 mm round travels at an average of 2800 fps (a mile + in 2 seconds).  The 5.45 mm round travels at an average of 3200 fps (about 1 1/4 miles in 2 seconds).  What the smaller round lacks in size, it makes up for with speed.  Both are equal in their effective killing zone of 500 meters.  After that, they both lose much of their effectiveness, since gravity then plays a major role, causing the rounds to increasingly drop and slow down as they get further from the point of firing, the larger one (as expected) having a greater decrease in range.