AK Sponsor
Posted: 1/28/2008 1:47:07 PM EDT
|
How powerful is the ak when shooting just FMJ rounds compared to the steel core rounds? Is it possible for the FMJs to go through a car engine? How far can the AK accurately shoot? Sorry if any questions are ignorant - new to the AK! Thanks! |
|
No, FMJ will not penetrate through a automobile block. Lead and depleated uranium cored FMJ will penetrate further than steel core in the majority of medium. Steel core in 7.62X39 (IN MY OPINION) is only to reduce the cost of production. Steel is outlawed on alot of ranges due to richoche as steel likes to take off rather than penetrate. The 7.62X39 ammo isn't designed like the 5.56 62grain steel penetrator our troops use. An AKM will accurately shoot in relation to the condition and assembly of the AK, ammo used, sights, rest and ability of the shooter. I'm 58 and shoot open sights on all my guns with bifocal glasses. I can shoot clay pigeons off the backstop at 100m all day long standing. I can shoot them consistantly at 200m off a rest. I'm using Wolf 122gr black box FMJ almost exclusively. My AKM is a SAR-1 and is a good one produced in late 2003. It's as issued except for an E.German side folder w/para wrap installed. I'm positive that a man sized kill zone out to 300m is an easy hit(with me and my gun or someone that shoots/practices alot). My SAR-1 has over 5,000 rounds down the pipe. My M4's are twice as accurate, hands down. They also cost over twice as much and are not any more fun than my AK. My shooting now......... is for fun. Enjoy shooting the AK it's an excellent piece of equipment and I'll never part with mine.......Mike 
|
|
TinMan2 you deserve a slow clap for the way you answered that. Clap........................clap.....................clap...............clap...........clap......clap....clap...clap..clap.clapclapclapclapclapclapclapclapclap. Way more patient than most would have been. |
Definately, good job. Sort of reminds me of the story of the young bull and the old bull standing over the pasture full of cows, you guys remember that one don't ya? 
|
...goodjob
|
An AK round will go through an engine block like my fist through a solid block of steel. Don't know who told you this, but they couldn't be more wrong. And most "steel core" you see advertised as armor piercing on the market isn't. It just has a mild steel core which is cheaper to manufacture. If I recall the physics of it, this "Armor piercing steel core" ammo actually penetrates armor/barriers less than regular FMJ. |
We couldn't get M2 ball to penetrate the block of a Buford 401...granted, it was still in the Buick, but still. It easily penetrated the body work, but not the block. It clearly damaged it, but none of the projectiles penetrated the block. Engines are pretty heavy duty items...I salvaged a Pontiac 455HO from a pond*it was being used as a dock anchor.WTF.anyways...*and had it craned into the back of my Bronco II. Being that it was in a lake for 20+ years by the time I got it, and figuring the block was shot*I was right, though most everything else was salvaged/reused*, I elected to kick the engine out of my truck onto some old tires. Unfortunatly, the engine bounced and put a giant hole in my parent's 1 year old new driveway. Smooth... Even though the oil pan was dented and concrete was everywhere, the block 'fluxed a-okay. Even going through a driveway and living in a lake didn't hurt a 70's Pontiac block. Pre 70 BOP blocks had more nickel in them, thus they were even tougher. In summation, engine blocks are no joke. You need to be shooting a .50 BMG with Raufoss ammo to even think about penetrating an engine block with any deal of relibility or effect. 7.62x39 AP is vaporware. With the exception of modern "optimized" M43 loadings, AP ammo in this caliber hasn't been produced/used with any regularity since the 50's. Even with a steel penetrator core, the performance increase was negligible/non existant and thus didn't justify the increased production expense. Conventional steel core ammo has a mild steel core for more economic production, not for more penetration. I laugh when I see people at gunshows shuck out serious $$$ for M43 with a mild steel core, thinking they are buying AP. Did I mention that true AP is illegal? |
|
Again Tinman2 thanks for a concise summation. Back in the late 70's I believe it was, my Father, who worked for Western Electric, would make these ridiculously long commutes, usually with a bunch of other workers crammed into an economy car. At one time one of the guys was a "survivalist". I don't know which particular apocolypse he talked to my Father about but the result was my Father pulled me aside at one point and discussed the concept of "cover". (we had always been a non firearm owning family). Anyway I clearly remember two things he said at the time that were true "cover" one a fireplug the other an engine block. Just one of those oddball moments in a Father/Son relationship that sticks in my head. Not to derail this in any way but I caught a rerun a while ago of one of the CSI programs. It started off with the bad guys being armed with AK's (natch) and a high speed chase through some residential areas. Some of the inauthenticity factors were the AKs seemed to be full auto, and estimating the rounds fired they sure didn't have or change mags/drums often enough to sustain the amount of fire they were laying down. So you have the lead LEO car following the bad guys, who are shooting 2 or 3 AKs at them through a broken out back window of their vehicle. Bad guy car stops in a cul de sac and a couple of the bad guys get away on foot if I remember correctly. So we get to the CSI part of things. They had a shot of the lead LEO vehicle and I actually laughed out loud. They had placed thin sticks in all the bullet holes to calculate trajectories. The front of that car looked like a pin cushion! Lets call it a round number of 100 hits. And amazingly during the chase the bad guys had not ONCE hit above the front of the car to go through the windshield! With the stress and the bouncing that they went through on these streets I think someone would be hard pressed to do this if they had tried, not going through the windshield hitting an officer. So my question is this. The engine block itself may be strong enough to be relatively uneffected by the 7.62x39 round, whatever its composition. But what about all the other stuff under the hood? Wouldn't the LEOs car have been disabled and been unable to continue the chase? Hoses, radiator, belts, bundled wiring, even a shot making it through to the firewall to hit an officer inside the vehicle? Anyone want to take a crack at this one? I seem to recall the Box O' Truth taking a crack at the safety of staying inside a car while people shot at its side and pretty much determined it was a killing box. The more I learn, the more I become aware of sometimes subtle, sometimes gross inaccuracies in film/television in relation to firearms. Sure, some of it is purely for entertainment value but I wonder if there isn't an agenda to give the general public misinformation. Again there was a "Cold Case" on recently that involved tracing a gun that had been first purchased back in the late 80s and changed hands many times since then. It was some sort of Machine Pistol, A MAC something or other, and I had to keep explaining to my Mother that, NO, the weapon was illegal from jump street because it fired full auto not to mention that is was originally sold from the trunk of a car to a minor. Just makes me wonder if there isn't someone that wants to make things look more dangerous and evil. Cheers, RWB64 |
| AK's have severe limited site radius. Usually under 15" and open sites to boot. Makes them hard for most neophites to shoot accurately. That doesn't mean they are any less acurate than most other .30 caliber arms. An AK in an experts hand is a formadable weapon and our Special forces in Afganistan use Chinese AKM's to make that point. I dare to say that if it wasn't for all the negative press and political correctness of these days that the AKM would be the modern equivalent of the good 'ol 30-30. Just like the 30-30 with open sights you must use it and practice with it to bring home the bacon. Doesn't turn my shoulder blue when camping in the summer like the Marlin did......................Good shooting................Mike |
AK Sponsor