AK 47 And Ammo

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  • Drew1340

    Active Member
    Nov 30, 2010
    419
    AA county
    Had another day at the range this morning, As I am trying to work through some issues with My AK collection....
    I am wondering What the general thoughts and our AK experts think of this....
    My CAI cheapo AK holds very tight groups but to the right due to the front sight being canted that is an issue that will be handled soon enough....
    My Saiga from arsenal seems to shoot well and reliably but it isnt as solid with the grouping that the CAI has.... Some of this could be my proficiency with an AK I will not lie I like my ARs better, but the AK is a solid and useful tool... I am just wondering if the tulammo, silver bear, and wolf ammo is part of the issue or if it is a gun issue or if I just shoot the cheap CAI better than its nicer more expensive Saiga Counter part....
    Any thoughts?
    thanks
     

    rob-cubed

    In need of moderation
    Sep 24, 2009
    5,387
    Holding the line in Baltimore
    My experience with AKs and accuracy is that it depends largely on the individual rifle paired with a particular brand of ammo. Certain guns print better with certain ammo, though some AK builds seem generally more accurate overall.

    I am not surprised your WASR is more accurate than a Saiga, but is it that way with all ammo?
     

    lee2

    Banned
    BANNED!!!
    Oct 8, 2007
    19,012
    the ak was designed to shoot steel cased ammo.
    if you are having issues, try some yugo brass cased ammo, but bear in mind it is corrosive.
     

    Drew1340

    Active Member
    Nov 30, 2010
    419
    AA county
    in all honesty I dont run steel case, or silver bear in my ARs... So I dont know...
    I guess I just need to play more with it for trigger time, but it is petty unsatisfying that the more expensive and what should be a solid AK isn't all it is cracked up to be....
     

    Drew1340

    Active Member
    Nov 30, 2010
    419
    AA county
    Seems like a reasonable idea... I guess I am just discouraged because it seems my luck with the AK 47 platform has not been as good as others.... but it is what it is...
     

    cobra

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 26, 2009
    2,058
    White Marsh
    Shoot mostly Tulsa ammo thru my Centery Arms AK for cost.
    Other brands do'nt seem to effect accuracy much.
    Granted it's not like shooting my AR, but more a rifle meant to be shot with iron sights at iron sight range. I concider my AK a good 100-150 yard weapon with open sights.
    Some rifles like certain brands of ammo better then others.
    Just don't expect your AK to shoot like a AR:)
     

    jimbobborg

    Oddball caliber fan
    Aug 2, 2010
    17,112
    Northern Virginia
    My Saiga rifle loves Golden Tiger ammo and shoots Tulammo low left about 6" at 50 yards. It seems to prefer the lacquer coated ammo versus the plain steel cased.
     

    Drew1340

    Active Member
    Nov 30, 2010
    419
    AA county
    I dont expect an AK to hold the accuracy of my AR but I would like to see it look a touch more like a rifle group then a shot gun blast... and again it could be me just not having enough trigger time... but just makes me wonder why I can get a nice tight group with a CAI AK and not the Saiga....I guess it will just come down to more trigger time when I have a few more bugs worked out...
     

    Scott7891

    Love those Combloc guns
    Sep 4, 2007
    1,894
    Back in MD sadly
    Had another day at the range this morning, As I am trying to work through some issues with My AK collection....
    I am wondering What the general thoughts and our AK experts think of this....
    My CAI cheapo AK holds very tight groups but to the right due to the front sight being canted that is an issue that will be handled soon enough....
    My Saiga from arsenal seems to shoot well and reliably but it isnt as solid with the grouping that the CAI has.... Some of this could be my proficiency with an AK I will not lie I like my ARs better, but the AK is a solid and useful tool... I am just wondering if the tulammo, silver bear, and wolf ammo is part of the issue or if it is a gun issue or if I just shoot the cheap CAI better than its nicer more expensive Saiga Counter part....
    Any thoughts?
    thanks

    What ammo do you shoot from your wasr? What ammo do you shoot from your saiga?
    If the Wasr is shooting accurately keep using that ammo. If the saiga is grouping poorly but using same ammo as your are using in the wasr then it is an ammo issue and you need to use something else.

    Personally to me I don't even notice the differences with ammo they all seem to shoot the same to me. Then again the AK is a combat rifle not a precision bench-rest gun.
     

    DarthZed

    Ultimate Member
    Sep 25, 2010
    1,647
    Howard County
    I have a f**k-tonne of brass-cased Yugo. It seems to shoot very consistant groups. I've still got a little Egyptian surplus (also brass-cased) that isn't quite as accurate. I've never shot any of the steel-cased stuff in my AK47s, though I do use steel-cased Russian surplus in the AK74s; and it seems VERY accurate. About as accurate as my Sig556, or MSAR. A good bench shooter with a high power scope might notice a difference; but myself useing red dots, not so much.
     

    Nemesis

    Russian Grizzly Adams
    Oct 3, 2009
    3,278
    Martinsburg, WV
    odds are it has more to do with the ammo. keep in mind that the WASR barrel is not chrome lined where as the saiga/SGL is, that alone plays a big factor. dont just try different brands of ammo either, try different bullet weights, bullet styles, ect.

    for example, my SGL-21 seems to shoot 2 MOA with silver bear 123 gr HPs, but with the 123 gr FMJs its closer to 3.5-4 MOA...however with fiocchi 123 gr FMJs the point of impact shifts 4" right and 1 " high at 50 yards, but the groups seem on par (1" groups @ 50 yards) with the silver bear HPs...its amazing the difference that every little factor makes.
     

    KMK1862

    Ultimate Member
    Oct 12, 2010
    2,046
    York County, PA
    odds are it has more to do with the ammo. keep in mind that the WASR barrel is not chrome lined where as the saiga/SGL is, that alone plays a big factor. dont just try different brands of ammo either, try different bullet weights, bullet styles, ect.

    for example, my SGL-21 seems to shoot 2 MOA with silver bear 123 gr HPs, but with the 123 gr FMJs its closer to 3.5-4 MOA...however with fiocchi 123 gr FMJs the point of impact shifts 4" right and 1 " high at 50 yards, but the groups seem on par (1" groups @ 50 yards) with the silver bear HPs...its amazing the difference that every little factor makes.

    You might want to double check your data. IIRC, the imported WASR-10s have chrome-lined hammer forged barrels.
     

    Drew1340

    Active Member
    Nov 30, 2010
    419
    AA county
    Nemesis that doesn't seem a little odd with that much shift in p o i with different ammo? In general I usually would say shooter is off not gun or ammo, but I haven't had much luck with AKs in my experience... But I feel like I am not getting very good groups from my saigas.... I will give it a run with a few different types and weights of ammo....
     

    jimbobborg

    Oddball caliber fan
    Aug 2, 2010
    17,112
    Northern Virginia
    Nemesis that doesn't seem a little odd with that much shift in p o i with different ammo? In general I usually would say shooter is off not gun or ammo, but I haven't had much luck with AKs in my experience... But I feel like I am not getting very good groups from my saigas.... I will give it a run with a few different types and weights of ammo....

    One of my ARs does this with different bullet weights and different powders in the same bullet! It's all about harmonics, especially with skinny barreled rifles.
     

    Nemesis

    Russian Grizzly Adams
    Oct 3, 2009
    3,278
    Martinsburg, WV
    The slightest change makes a huge diff when it comes to throwing lead down range. Another factor is what the bullet is made of....silver bear us bimetal jacketed, meaning its a soft steel jacket that is copper coated rather that the full copper jacket of the fiocchi
     

    Drew1340

    Active Member
    Nov 30, 2010
    419
    AA county
    Makes sense, I would say my AKs are the only guns that I actually vary ammo types with so maybe I just need to see which works and stick with it...
    My ARs and hand guns and shot guns and other rifles are all fed the same healthy diet that works....
     

    Nemesis

    Russian Grizzly Adams
    Oct 3, 2009
    3,278
    Martinsburg, WV
    Yea thats what you have to do...just find what she likes and go with that...try golden tiger, silver bear, wolf, and golden bear soft points....fmj and hp of each of the others...you will be amazed at how differently each prints.
     

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