Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Americans Are Snatching Up Russian AK-47s In record Numbers

Via Don

Afghani Soldiers Firing

Business Insider
VERBATIM POST

I'll never forget the first thing my ex-wife's father said to me: "Wanna go shoot an AK?"

I obliged.

It turns out Americans are turning to AK 's in droves to fill their home armories.

Russia doesn't mind, and neither do it's arms companies, like Izhmash, which are quickly shifting from military to civilian fabrication in order to fill all the orders.

Overall it's been a good deal for American enthusiasts, and for Russian investors, since existing laws banning Chinese imports essentially subsidizes Russian businesses.

Andrew E. Kramer of New York Times reports "And in the United States, Izhmash cannot be underpriced by Chinese competitors. The federal government has banned most imports of Chinese handguns and rifles since 1994.

Selling Saigas in the United States is integral to the enterprise’s evolving business model of making single-shot civilian guns to occupy workers and equipment in between government orders for fully automatic assault rifles. About 70 percent of the factory’s output is now civilian rifles, up from 50 percent two years ago. Of the civilian arms, about 40 percent are exported to the United States."

To be clear, we're talking about perfectly legal to import, and to own in some states, civilian versions of the AK-47. One shot, semi-automatic. These companies have cut back on their fully automatic, military versions in order to supply the U.S. market.

Due to the Second Amendment and America's widespread culture of gun ownership, the US market for civilian weaponry is among the largest on the globe. The AK has not only a violent history, but a history of consistency and reliability.

Kalashnikov rifles can be buried in beach sand, dug up, loaded, and fired. Rinse, repeat, and it'll fire still. Russian brandname Saiga AK's saw a sales rise of 50 percent just last year.

Josh Laura, a former Marine from Maryville, Tenn., told the Times, "I bought a Saiga because it was made in Russia, right beside its big brothers, the AKs. No rifle in the world has been as reliable as this one.”

Even in combat, Marine have been known to use confiscated Kalashnikov 's instead of their own general issue M16's. The preference, no doubt, is due to consistency of performance and caliber, which, at 7.62mm, packs a bit more of a punch than the NATO 5.56 mm.

6 comments:

  1. It would be interesting to note how much of an uptick in AK sales there was after Obama's 'AKs belong on the battlefield' comment. Gun salesman of the century.

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  2. It would be interesting to note how much of an uptick in AK sales there was after Obama's 'AKs belong on the battlefield' comment.

    :) That was my first thought when he said that!

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  3. Got 2 of them and 1 SKS . There is little doubt ( to me anyway ) that AR-15`s and M16 `s are way out front as far as quality of machine work. But I`m thinking of the day when access to proper cleaning gear and ammo resupply could be problematic .

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    1. Precisely why I have a Bulgarian AK, a Saiga 12 and two Glock 45s.

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  4. The AK is one fine weapon but the main reason I don't buy one is the question of ammo resupply. In a shtf scenario and martial law the fed will close all gun shops and suspend all ammo sales. The 7.62x39 ammo that you have is more than likely all there will be. That's why I personally stay with what the military, law enforcement and all federal agency's are using right now, the M16/AR15 and 5.56x45 and .223 ammo.

    I've seen the list of the ammo these people are ordering but I haven't seen any 7.62x39 on any of those lists. I used to own 2 SKS's and was getting ready to buy an AK but when I saw what the cops were arming up with I changed my mind and bought an AR15. Don't get me wrong I'd love to have an AK, I've shot them and I'm really impressed with the weapon but the practicality of ammo resupply just isn't there. This is my personal opinion of course and it's based solely on resupply of ammo for my weapons.

    I've got one more gun to buy on Nov 6 and that will probably be a Saiga 12, there will be plenty of 12 gauge around too.

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  5. If you have multiple weapons with an ample supply of ammo for each, I don't think it will be a problem.

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