Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles An AR/AK preference question.

Between the AR15 and the AK47, which is the more popular rifle?

The AR15 is "All American", which pretty much seals the deal for me...but...there are approximatrly 10× MORE AK's in the world than AR's.

I have often scoffed at the 7.63×39, until it finally dawned on me, it's pretty much a semi-auto .30-30 Win and should be one heck of a deer caliber.
Then I saw an ad for 7.62×39 ammo with soft point bullets!
Makes me want to build an AR in that caliber!

The AK-47 is more of a pure military rifle. They work reliably under very harsh conditions. A very dirty AK is more likely to function 100% than a very dirty AR due to relatively loose tolerances in the AK. But since AK's have loose tolerances, they are not nearly as accurate as AR-15's.

For hunting at anything but close range, I would prefer an AR-15. AR's can be very accurate and are adaptable to all kinds of situations. If you keep them reasonably clean and well lubed they are very reliable.

However, an AK-47 would work for hunting inside 100 yards, and the 7.62x39 is certainly adequate for deer sized game at those ranges.

There are more AK's in circulation as they are cheap to build and are manufactured in many countries. I have a Zastava M70 and it's a well made AK, but it does not have the level of precision that my AR-15's have.

I like to buy American when I can but have never cared at all about buying American as far as guns go. Part of the cool aspect of firearms is seeing how different combat doctrines, cultures, hunting techniques ect. influence firearm designs.

Unfortunately the US is behind the curve in hand and shoulder fired firearm manufactures anyhow.


AK’s and it’s variants adopted around the world have always been more interesting to me. AR’s are better overall rifles at this point. Unless you really want an AR chambered in 7.62x39 for cheap ammo or other reasons an AR in 6.5 Grendel would make a better hunting rifle.

Still think I'd like an AR in 7.62×39.
When the "fit hits the shan", there will be all kinds of 5.56, 7.62×39 and 7.62×51 available on battlefields.

Me? I'll be the old fat cripple scratching around for 6.8mm Rem SPC ammo! LOL! 😖

I’ll split the difference, AK-like reliability with somewhat better accuracy on average, with a late-model Mini 14. I re-ported it and had the trigger reworked by Accuracy Systems. I also prefer its form factor over either of the others, although my current AR, a .22 mag, is growing on me.

The only AK I’ve fired is an ATS 12ga, but I have to say I found the controls pretty intuitive, and the recoil with slugs was relatively mild. PSA has a U.S. made AK now that’s getting good reviews. Might be worth a shot