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Posted: 12/7/2008 1:28:19 PM EDT
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Made the first range trip with my new ARS built AK-47. Mechanically it shoots better than I could have hoped for, nice tight groups, goes bang every time, etc. But I have have a question for those with more experience (i.e. just about anyone) than me with AKs.
How exactly are you supposed to aim the thing without feeling like you've been punched everytime you pull the trigger? To get my head down where I can use the sights the right side of my face is pushed into the buttstock. I put 100 rounds through it today and now my right cheek has swollen up and my wife says it's starting to turn purple. WTF! I enjoy shooting the gun but don't really want to look like I've been in a bar fight after every range trip. Somebody help! What's the trick? Thanks. |
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The standard AKM buttstock often fits a bit shorter to what we here in the US are used to. It's mainly due to the Russian thinking that their soldiers would be wearing their woolen overcoats, etc. if using them in a war. So, the buttstocks are shorter to compensate.
Sometimes I have to position the buttstock a bit higher on my shoulder than I normally would. Instead of "hunkering into" the receiver by putting your cheek down and against the buttstock (where the recoil is going to keep pummeling your cheek after ever shot), position the buttstock where the end of the stock sits a bit higher in your shoulder. That way the recoil is allowing your face to slide along the buttstock a bit, if you can't get a perfectly good hold on the rifle. |
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Quoted:
the wood hurts me also, iv fount polymer stocks to be much more forgiving I found the exact opposite. I had the black plastic Tapco stock and it did the same thing to me, felt like I was being beat in the cheek. I put on a wood stock and no more face punches. The angle of the stock was lower, so I did not have to get in as tight to get a good sight picture. |
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(Not hijacking this thread..)
After spending a lot of time at the controls of a Chinese SKS, I was pretty shocked at how much kick the AK seemed to have, by comparison. Not that it's difficult to deal with, just a real surprise. Both fire the same round, both are gas-op semi autos, neither one fits me properly.. So what's the primary factor, the weight? the geometry? the hold? -L hp-hobo: Before you go to any great lengths, try adding one of the stock extensions (which are sold as recoil pads). The increased LOP might just fix you up. LOP is always an issue for me.. on the bright side, I can get anything off of that high shelf. |
| This isn't really AK specific, but I had the same problem when I took a tactical shotgun course. We shot a lot of slugs over 3 days and I found that if I didn't get a really tight cheek-weld I would end up with a very sore face. Once I got a nice tight cheek-weld the soreness went away. Basically, you need to get that tight weld so your face will move when the stock moves, not stay stationary and have the stock slam into it. |
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Yep, before I got my AK I fired hundreds of rounds through a Yugo SKS –– it's a real kitty cat. The AK had a surprising amount of recoil for being the same caliber. Like you said, not bad, just remarkable.
After spending a lot of time at the controls of a Chinese SKS, I was pretty shocked at how much kick the AK seemed to have, by comparison. Not that it's difficult to deal with, just a real surprise. So what's the primary factor, the weight? the geometry? the hold? My money is on the weight. I think the AK's muzzle rise is also increased due to the weight distribution (the SKS, at least the Yugo with all that grenade stuff, is a lot more barrel-heavy by comparison).
I have long arms so I installed a rubber stock extension before I ever shot the AK. Soreness has not been a problem so far. 7.62x54R rifles, on the other hand... 
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| Your responses definitely give me food for thought. Changing the buttstock, or any of the furniture, is not in the cards. It's a personal, cosmetic thing. That being said, a recoil pad is (was) already on order along with a cage style muzzle brake. Hopefully one or both of those will make the difference. It seems to me that it's all about geometry... Short pull buttstock and long, lanky arms probably do not a great combination make. On top of that, wearing glasses may also be a factor that keeps me from getting my face in there where it needs to be. |
Yeah, but when I want to feel like a man, I just go shoot my Mosins. 
It's not so much the pain that bothers me. It's the fact that I've already had three customers this morning ask what happened to my face. One is a gun guy, so we had a nice little discusion about an AK he took off a dead VC around 1970. The other two are incredibly liberal anti-gunners who would take their business elsewhere if they knew I owned an AK, especially after a little boy in town was killed while trick or treating by some clown with his AK. Better to tell them I got in a fight with my wife and she won. |
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