AK-47 No. 1 rifle...

[Ghareeb_Da_Baal]

in durra the pakistan illeagal gun market, is runned by pakistani pushtuns and they make all kinds of goodies.

How is Durra an illegal market? they ve been making guns even before your grandparents were born.
We call the AK's that they make or anyone else for that matter with improvised tooling as "Khyber pass" build. Yours truly just built one on hi-tech machines/tools along with couple of USAF & Army Engineering Corp guys 2 weeks ago (totally legal to do so In the US under ATF rules.)

 

[Ghareeb_Da_Baal]

Ooops i think i am wrong that may be Ak103, sooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyy for wrong info. but it seems quiet similar to AK-47.....interesting.

It is AK103 looking at the flash hider, probably the furniture is fiber/plastic.
And that is not a flash light. it is a GP series grenade launcher. if you look closely, you can make out the PG of the GP. The picture is not great quality so that doesnt help much.

 

[Ghareeb_Da_Baal]

I have used both the AK and M-16. Both have some advantages over the other. The AK is a simple design from what I can tell they copied from the Germans MP-43,44s.

The AK is a more rugged weapon but the M-16 is much more accurate than the AK. The AK-47 has a heavier bullet than the M-16 and therefore will offer better penetration in most cases.

One of the things I didn't like about the AK is the bolt wouldn't remain back one you mag was empty, the M-16 will. Also the M-16 is mags are loaded into the weapon with less trouble.

Firing the weapons at night the AK has a much bigger muzzle flash from what I recall over the M-16.

If I had to fight in a area with a lot of brush I would choose the AK-47. In more open areas I would choose the M-16 for accuracy.

You also have to ask, why is the AK so popular? They are cheap to make with a simple design. Someone spoke about the G-3 a much better rifle than the AK but expensive to build and the ammo is more costly as well when considering 7.62x 51 vs 7.62x39. You can make more ammo for the AK with less cost per round than the G-3 with the same materials.

AK is essentially a SMG. The mere fact that the way the bolt is designed to work and how the bolt carrier rides over the upper part of the receiver makes it inaccurate. Every time you pull the trigger, the firing pin hits the primer on a different spot. Anything beyond 100 plus yard & ill be hard pressed to us M16/AR15.

If you use Horandy 72 grain ammo in AR/M16 that is very close to the AK round in terms of damage. The standard ammo for AR/M16 is like 55 grains. AK is is like 123 Grains.

I would use AK for short range and AR/M16 for situation where accuracy is required.

just my doo annas...........

 

[Canaan]

ah the good ol' m16 vs ak47 debate...

the reason why the ak47 is so successful is its simple design, function and cheap price tag. But as a modern battle rifle it has major flaws.
The AK47 has only one real tactical advantage over its modern counterparts. That is in urban firefights where the shere firepower of the 7.62x39 round leaves only few covers in which one is safe. It can penetrate most things in an urban setting, like doors, walls, car doors etc. Furthermore, some claim the sound of an AK47 fired in urban settings can confuse you and make it more difficult to locate the shooter. I'm looking into that...furthermore, the short engagement distance plays down the range issue and to some extent the accuracy issue as well.
Unfortunately, poor training of people like some of the mentioned Iraqi insurgents, african insurgents etc. is damaging the reputation of the AK47 and is costing these people their lives. Spraying bullets rarely if ever hits anything other than by chance. If they did some simple math they would realize that sticking to aimed single shots would greatly increase their hit probability.

Modern M16s are more reliable, have more stopping power due to new rounds are more accurate, and are better built than earlier versions. Downside as many of you mentioned is the price tag, and stopping power. The stopping power has been attempted solved by using a larger caliber like the 6.5mm but is not very common. It seems though that basically all new rifles are still based on the 5.56x45mm although on the ss109 bullet which is highly accurate and has more stopping power than the older 5.56x45mm bullets, the argument is that the soldier keeps on gaining weight in terms of more gear, and armor, and the rifle still needs to be light weight and the soldiers need to carry a lot of ammo. Instead of one shot one kill, the soldiers aim at achieving more successive hits on target which is made easier with an accurate rifle with good optics.