When It Comes To AK-47’s Should You Go ‘High End’ Or ‘Not So High End’…Let’s Find Out

This is going to be one of those “You Choose” articles, simply because when it comes to the AK-47, no matter what, you really can’t go wrong. The basic design of the Ak-47 hasn’t changed all that much since it’s original design in 1947 although there have been variants made during the last 70 plus years.

I bought my first AK back in 1988 and it was made by the Chinese company Norinco and my cost back then was $300.00, not all that expensive considering what you were buying.  Established in 1980 with the approval of the State Council of China, Norinco is an enterprise group engaged in both products and capital operation, integrated with research and development, manufacturing, marketing and services.

Norinco mainly deals with defense products, petroleum & mineral resources development, international engineering contracting, optronic products, civilian explosives and chemical products, sporting arms and equipment, vehicles and logistics operation, etc. Norinco has been ranked among the forefront of China’s 500 largest state-owned enterprises in terms of total assets and revenue.

Here’s a little history about the AK-47 according to Wikipedia:

The AK-47, officially known as the Avtomat Kalashnikova (Russian: Автома́т Кала́шникова, lit. ‘Kalashnikov’s assault rifle’; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas-operated, 7.62×39mm assault rifle developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov in the aftermath of World War II. It is the originating firearm of the Kalashnikov rifle (or “AK”) family. The number 47 refers to the year it was finished.

Design work on the AK-47 began in 1945. It was presented for official military trials the following year, and in 1948 the fixed-stock version was introduced into active service with selected units of the Soviet Army. An early development of the design was the AKS (Skladnoy, or ‘folding’), which was equipped with an underfolding metal shoulder stock. In early 1949, the AK was officially accepted by the Soviet Armed Forces and used by the majority of the member states of the Warsaw Pact.

Even after more than seven decades, the model and its variants remain the most popular and widely used rifles in the world because of their reliability under harsh conditions, low production cost compared to contemporary Western weapons, availability in virtually every geographic region, and ease of use. The AK has been manufactured in many countries and has seen service with armed forces as well as irregular forces and insurgencies worldwide.

Like I said at the beginning of the article, it’s all about “choices” when it comes to the AK, you can go “high-end” , or if you’re like me and on a tight budget, you can go “not so high end” and save a few bucks, ultimately the choice is up to you. As far as I’m concerned, I wouldn’t spend a bunch of money on an AK, no matter where it was made, since the basic design is the same. So really, what it all comes down to, is putting bullets down-range and as far as I’m concerned…that’s all that matters and I think the “not so high end” model will do that just fine.

But, watch the video and decide for yourself, chances are, you’ll probably agree with me.

H/T – Wikipedia