I don't (Yet) own an AK platform, but I'm gettin' there!
Personally, I find no fault with either the AK or AR styles. Like most things in life, each has their pros and cons, and a wise Operator knows them and handles each accordingly.

I've seen quite a few AR's chambered for the 7.62/.308, and can't imagine why the AK couldn't be built that was dialed for the .223/5.56? Hell, Brandon Herrera designed and built an AK for the .50, so why not?



With our Group(s), we don't often engage in 'Live fire' team drills using real ammo. Most of us do so using blanks (Still dangerous in their own right, but again, worth the risk for the training/skills learned).

Love the piccie and poses! One thing I noted right away: Neither should have to worry about hot brass dropping down the back of their blouses from 'Friendly fire' beside them!

You are totally right about the AK/AR thing. The holy war between the two platforms is really subjective and they each have good things to bring to the table. My brother and I simply like the Kalashnikov platform because of familiarity, but we do own ARs and train with them. .223/5.56 AKs have the bad rep because of the magazines. It is really confusing for those going into the "NATO" AK game as to what mags to get for their gun if they don't know of fitment or feeding compatibility. We deal with that by sticking to a single country's 5.56 AK spec (Bulgarian to be exact).

OMG, I hate eating casings LOL. We specifically train to get out of the way. Especially when the 5.56 AKs that we use are overgassed and sling casings thirty feet away Haha!

Now those are cool-looking guns. They look rather modern, or at least by the standards of someone who's gun knowledge doesn't go further than the very early 2000s at most (thank you Rainbow Six 3 and James Bond c.1960). Reminds me of the sort of guns I see in shooters and think "no, that surely doesn't exist yet, look at all those extra stuff they've crammed on it!", which is something that happens very often (no kidding, I thought codecs from Metal Gear Solid wouldn't exist for at least another 30 years, and not without surgery, turns out I'm probably getting the commercial equivalent for my birthday soon!)

Thanks! Yeah, these guns are definitely modernized. We could go further and set them up for use with night vision but we like passive aiming under nods with our optics.

Wait, you can stick night vision to guns? I thought night vision was only a thing you got with goggles? Man, I really need to play more modern military strategy games...

Oh, I meant that we like using night vision goggles and doing passive aiming through our optics. But gun mounted night vision and thermal optics certainly exist! Truthfully, I like thermal mounted optics better than night vision mounted on the gun.

Night vision, from what I've observed, is difficult to perceive depth with. As a result, I'd imagine thermal would be a lot easier to see in darker conditions, assuming you aren't in a particularly hot area.

You're right. Night vision monoculars (and binocular ones to some extent as well) distort depth as well as moving the effective use of the eye balls forward about 3 inches. But, walking around is easier to do with night vision than thermals. Night vision is good for moving around with. Thermals are good for identifying warm bodies.

Okay that's fricken awesome looking.
Seriously, that is just awesome looking.

Although for some reason I want to take this and photo shop it a bit to make it look like a Escape From Tarkov Poster, I don't know why, it might be the gear mixed with the poses mixed with two characters looking similar.



Lastly, Wait that thing is in 5.56? I think I missed a detail from the previous uploads, wow, that's actually pretty cool. And considering the current ammo economy, yeah that's probably the best route to take.
I know some big name US companies are making some 7.62x39 ammo now because of the AK hype in the US (And kalashnikov as a company trying to escape Russia), but are kind of selling them like a "Luxury bullet" and having the price way higher than it should be, and some minor companies are making 5.45x39mm while way less expensive is still a tad much. So for affordable range days, 5.56 is probably the way to go.

Thank you! Yup, all shown here are 5.56 AKs. 7.62 and 5.45 are my forever beloved AK cartridges, but I want to go out and shoot damn it!

Hopefully soon, probably by the time the Russu-Unkrain war ends which is seriously ironic, we'll see more smaller companies start making and selling 7.62 ammo.

But for now, yeah, 5.56 is the best route. Unfortunately I don't have anything in 5.56, if I had money, I'd love to get something, but right now I'm in college and lack a job on top of that. I can't even afford a cheap 400 AR right now.