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