This is a question that we get over and over. First you can not use it as a CCW handgun, and with out a doubt the best home defense is a dog and a 12 Ga. We however did not want to stop there, but rather wanted to check out why people are asking about the AK-47.

The AK-47 or just AK is officially called the "Avtomatt Kalashnikov". Mikhail Kalashnikov was a tank commander in the Red Army in WWII and sketched the design that would later become the single most manufactured gun in the history of man. It is reported that over 100 million AK’s have been manufactured.

Kalashnikov has been quoted as saying;" I am proud of my invention, but I am sad that it is used by terrorists."

We all have seen pictures of the jihadist shooting the AK with the distinctively curved magazine in the air. The shape is one of the most recognizable figures in the world. In fact if it were a brand, it I bet that it would be in the top 10 of the most recognized items in the world. This brings up a large point. There is a stereo type of people who use this rifle. We do not think of the good armies of the world that use them, we only paint pictures of the bad guys and what they have done to innocent women and children. So if you were to step out of your house with an AK on your shoulder, the odds of you being recognized as a local police reservist is zero. The odds are that people will think that you are a terrorist and up to no good.

The truth of the matter is that many law abiding Americans had chosen to protect themselves with the AK-47. It is not a matter of identifying with the terrorists, but rather a situation of economics. At almost any gun dealer that sells AK’s, they range in price from $295.00 to $1000 and the average going price is around $425.00. This includes two thirty round magazines and a bayonet. If you wanted to protect your self with an American made rifle that would be comparable would start around the $800 range for the base rifle and you would end up paying up to $2000 for the features that you would want. So for the good and patient shopper you could get three or four AK’s and ammunition for the price of one AR-15. Both the American made counter part and the AK would be semi-automatic as we did not get into the economics of the fully auto versions.

Even with a semi-auto that fires the 762x39 round we were able to put 200 rounds down range in less than 3 min. The "practical" rate of fire for the semi-automatic would be around the 40 to 50 rounds per minute. This would allow for aiming and not "spraying’. We could have put a lot more lead down range if we were wanting to put down "cover fire". The AK cycled as fast as we could pull the trigger, and one of the only factors that slowed us down was the heat coming off of the rifle. Now how accurate we were was very disappointing. The rifle was very inaccurate and we had to really slow down and work to get any kind of pattern on paper. A pattern is defined as a design like a smilie or a straight line. One of our Carryconcealed.net testers is a United States Marine and he was able to get tighter groups when concentrating on slow but accurate shots. Some of his groups were no larger than a 50-cent piece. The amount of heat was staggering. He was also able to compare this to the M4 as well as the M16. Both were more accurate, but had more jamming issues when dirty.

The 762x39 round is quite impressive on its own. It is very powerful and also fairly affordable. The average load travels at 2,300 feet per second and has an estimated range of 300 yards. Pictured above is testing at the 100 yard range. We did not hit many on the targets, but had fun. We have not been able to find many brass rounds in the affordable areas, but we have found plenty of the steel cases that can not be reloaded. These are not always the best rounds, and you have to really clean your firearm after shooting, but they help make "Plinking" more affordable.

While this is not a gun the CCW community would carry with a permit, it is one that people are asking us about for home defense. I would personally recommend a combination of a dog, a 1911 .45 caliber handgun and a shotgun. But for those that want a little more firepower and can not afford the AR-15, the AK would be a good defense gun. The ultimate goal of any sane gun owner is not to get into a gunfight, but rather just have them available as a defense tool if the occasion should ever arise. We have seen what happened in Louisiana when the police illegally picked guns up from law-abiding citizens. The neighborhoods that were able to keep their guns, and work together as a community were able to survive. This may happen to any neighborhood in the country. In that case I would want some one in the neighborhood that was a law abiding upstanding citizen to have one, and be there to help our elderly and weak from being victims when the law enforcement agencies could not be there to help. Pictured above is our Marine tester changing a magazine during the range tests. We found that even semi-autos can pump a lot of lead down range, as it would cycle as fast as your finger would pull the trigger. Does everyone need one….I do not think so, as most people do not practice and would only shoot themselves or me. Don’t’ get me wrong, I would like to have one as they are fun and affordable to shoot at the range. Clark – Carryconcealed.net

Update: After writing this article I was reading in the paper and saw that 3 armed men broke into a house and were stoped with a home owner with an AK47. They were not charged and were able to defend themselves. "Sentinel, Orlando, Fl."

Additional Resources.

Read for more information: AK-47 by Larry Kahaner "The Weapon That Changed The Face Of War". It is a good book for anyone that has questions about the history and the impact that has forever changed the world.

Another good forum with the difference between 223 for the AR-15 and the 762x39 is:

Outdoorsbestforum

A good manual to disassemble the AK-47 is available from Gun-Guides. It is titled "AK-47 AKM & All Variants". Gun-Guides.com

 Henry Repeating Arms U.S. Survival .22

The U.S. Survival .22 has a very interesting past and is on of the "Cool" guns to own. The AR 7 was the original design by Eugene Stoner. This was issued in the US Air Force for use in the large life rafts for extended water disasters. The entire gun weighs in at a whopping 2.5 lbs. The barrel, receiver and two magazines fit into a watertight compartment in the stock. It uses the .22 LR caliber bullet and has an 8 round magazine capacity. There are larger capacity magazines available, and they will be on a future list of items to try. This has been a steady companion on many camping trips with my family for years. The rifle and the .22 rounds are very light and ensure you will not be uncomfortable when  it is tossed into the backpack for the day. Because it is watertight it will also work on canoes, boating or other camping trips. (Ever been tent camping in the rain?) Do not discount the fact that it is a .22. It is very accurate from 25 to 50 yards. In an emergancy the rifle could bring down small game. We all have seen reports this year of people in survival situations, and wondered how we would perform in a simular circumstance.  We would not recommend using this when facing larger predators, it would be better to have a larger caliber defense tool. We as a family have tried the black and silver finish. I personally like the black because it looks "cool" but the silver is easier to find in a backpack.

Specifications: 2.5 lbs.; ABS Plastic Stock; Semi-automatic; two 8 round magazines come with the gun; and it comes in three different finishes. We have used the low cost .22 rounds and have been pleased with performance. Some .22 Semi-automatic rifles that we have used are more prone to jamming. Pictured above we are at the 100 yard range testing. Great patterns at 25 and OK patterns at 50 yards was very impressive. Our 100 yard shooting verified that this would be a close, small game rifle. There is a spot for a scope and we will update this after testing with scope and a case for the scope. This is a 5 out of 5 stars for a gun to throw into a backpack, car or boat.

When using for defence and survival, use the more expencive CCI Stinger bullets rather than the "bulk" .22 rounds. We have had a few jams,  but the cheaper ones are ok for "plinking".

When my father saw that we had picked one up for camping, he had to have one. So when you go to your local shop to order or pick one up be prepared to buy 2. Overall this is a great "Must Have" "Cool" gun for any outdoors family.  - Clark

http://www.henryrepeating.com/h002_survival.cfm

The Thompson or "Tommygun" has had a very important part in American history. John Taliaferro Thompson was born in 1860 and graduated from West Point in the class of 1882. He served in the Ordinance Department and helped in the Spanish-American war. He was involved in the Springfield M1903 rifle and was known for the tests that he conducted on cadavers. He then moved to the slaughterhouses in Chicago to help develop the best cartridge. From his tests the .45 Caliber was determined to be the only acceptable handgun available and help bring in the Colt AS 1911 developed by John Browning.

There were several models of the Thompson. They were the Model 1923, Model 1927, and the Model 1928. Army records indicate that Auto-Ordnance produced 847,991 Thompsons and Savage produced 539,143. After the war Savage produced 1,250,000 Thompsons. Auto-0rdanance serial numbers have an "AO" in the beginning while the Savage Thompsons have a "S" in the beginning of the serial numbers. All of these productions had 20 round box or "Stick" magazines.

Most GI’s loved their Thompson except the weight. It weighed in over 10 pounds just for the gun with out any ammunition. The new AR style guns weigh in at 7 pounds. Those additional 3 pounds is a lot when you are trying to walk around all day with the gun out in front of you.

The Thompson was later picked up by the Chicago Gang wars in the twenties and Gangsters like Al Capone and Bugs Moran. This was one of the first weapons escalation problems in the United States. The Thompson Sub Machine Gun changed one man into the firepower of a small army. Some gangsters like John Dilinger used the Thompson as their personal calling card. It was a "Spray-and-Pray" approach to shooting. The model we were able to test on the range was the TM1. This is different from the original in that it has a longer barrel to pass the new ATF regulations and it is strictly a "Semi-Auto". This means that only one round will be fired when the trigger is pulled.

TM1

Suggested Retail $1,148

Caliber: .45

Magazine: 30 Round Stick

Barrel: 16 ½ smooth.

Weight: 11 ½ pounds.

Sight: Blade front, Fixed Battle Rear

Stock: Walnut fixed stock, horizontal foregrip.

*They are banned in CA and CT

Assisting with the test were some of our Carryconcealed.net law enforcement and military contributors. We also had two of our students that had just finished passing their test for CCW stay after class to shoot and watch some of the testing.

We had taken this to the range several times before and had jamming problems. We could only get one or two rounds off at any given time. After we were on the range the Sarge was getting frustrated and was about to spike the Tommy into the ground. We played with the different magazines and found the best one that worked. Scott one of our Law Enforcement advisors noticed that lubricating the magazines seemed to help as they were very old and may very well be the reason for the misfiring.

When we did get longer groups to fire, we found that the Thompson with the longer barrel is very accurate. Pictured is the result of several of my shots to the head of the silhouette. After firing the Thompson and playing with it on the range we all have more respect for the single greatest generation that has ever lived. While we did not get to play with a real "Thompson", just playing with the Kahr Arms replica is a treat that every one should take advantage. We are going to get new magazines and see if that will help the dependability on our particular model that we tested. Until we get it were the gun works flawlessly, we as a team can not recommend this for defensive use. That would be a 0 out of 5 stars. For fun on the range and honoring our generations that have fought for our freedom it is a 5 out of 5 stars. Kahr Arms should be rewarded for keeping reproductions alive and available for US Citizens to purchase.

We are loosing our WWII Vets at an alarming rate. Take a moment when you see one, and hug a vet. Be sure and thank them for their service.

Happy trails and keep the lead down range. Clark - Carryconcealed.net

http://www.auto-ordnance.com/