I thought AKs didn't need to be cleaned...

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - I thought AKs didn't need to be cleaned...

Posted: 9/24/2005 6:39:18 PM EDT

I tried to shoot my SEAK AK74 last week at a pinshoot and it was a jamomatic, light primer strikes, misfeeds, etc.

Now I'd fired about 1000 rounds without cleaning and it had run perfectly before then. So I cleaned it last night, and used it for a moving deer shoot this morning and it ran 100%.

anyway, I guess the ak reliability thing is a myth since my ARs have withstood much more abuse and run fine.... fwiw, this 74 with a kobra on it is really growing on me.

Posted: 9/24/2005 6:41:06 PM EDT

[#1]

well you just have a tight fitting fireing pin
it's that goo from wolf ammo, just get it broken in good and it won't do that no more.

Posted: 9/24/2005 6:41:53 PM EDT

[#2]

Its true - we've tried to tell the Kalashnikaddicts for years that their AK toys were vastly inferior to the AR15 and M16 weapons platform.........but NOOOOOOOO!!!

Posted: 9/24/2005 6:42:55 PM EDT

[#3]

Quoted:
well you just have a tight fitting fireing pin
it's that goo from wolf ammo, just get it broken in good and it won't do that no more.

fwiw, the firing pin was loose before I cleaned it and I was shooting barnaul.

Posted: 9/24/2005 6:44:53 PM EDT

[#4]

I noticed that the 5.45 Wolf seems much dirtier than the 7.62 Wolf. I had one of my 74's that had some green corrosion on the piston after I let it sit in the safe for about 6 months before I cleaned it. Since then I clean my AK's everytime they come home dirty.

Posted: 9/24/2005 6:49:18 PM EDT

[#5]

It requires BASIC lubrication.
If you don't have any oil on the rails and the bolt then you will have issues after several hundred rounds.
As for cleaning, just oil them and go

Posted: 9/24/2005 6:49:45 PM EDT

[#6]

If an AK didn't need to be cleaned then why would a cleaning rod and cleaning kit have been built into the rifles design?

Get with the program guys, clean your damn rifles, LOL ...

Posted: 9/24/2005 6:56:33 PM EDT

[#7]

Most rifles including the AR will function pretty damn dirty to most degrees, it's when these rifles become dry and dirty where problems begin to arise.
Oil them up and continue to shoot the shit out of em and they will be fine.

Posted: 9/24/2005 7:12:30 PM EDT

[#8]

Quoted:
If an AK didn't need to be cleaned then why would a cleaning rod and cleaning kit have been built into the rifles design?
Get with the program guys, clean your damn rifles, LOL ...

I will not !! ...

Posted: 9/24/2005 7:28:17 PM EDT

[#9]

I still like the story David Hackworth put in his book "Steel My Soldiers Hearts".

Hackworth was commanding a battalion of the 39th Infantry in the Delta. He was moving into a position that had been used by another unit about a year before. A bulldozer plowing thru the remains of an old bunker dug up the body and weapon of a VC who'd been half-buried in the muck since the last time the position was occupied. A group of soldiers was standing around gawking at what was left of Charlie. Hackworth steps in, picks up the VC's AK, says, "Here's how a real infantry weapon should work," and fires off 30 rounds on auto.

Eh, could be partial bullshit, but still makes a great story.

Posted: 9/24/2005 8:03:02 PM EDT

[#10]

If you want your rifle to be dependable, you better clean it. I never let any of my weapons stay dirty.

Your rifle will treat you with the same respect that you treat it with. Simple as that. Anything else is just weapon abuse.

I have an AK and an AR and I've NEVER had a problem with either. And oiling is part of the cleaning process. You don't want to oil over the corrosive fouling. You keep doing that and you're asking for some gumming action.

Posted: 9/24/2005 8:03:22 PM EDT

[#11]

Every rifle needs cleaning, an AK based weapon is a rifle, therefore it needs cleaning. Some will go longer between cleanings than others, but they still need cleaned occasionaly. I am not as retentive about cleaning my AKs as I am other weapons I own, but I do clean them from time to time.

I have seen AKs jam, in several different enviorments, it is actually not a rare occurnence by any means. There are legends and myths and more than a few BS soldiers stories about AKs that never need cleaned and never jam, but the truth is that they are as prone to failure as any other complex machine built in third world sweatshops.

I am not trying to convince you that Aks are anything other than the most reliable weapons ever made, they are no doubt about it. However they are not the invincible maintanence free death rays that so many people imagine they are.

Posted: 9/24/2005 8:07:27 PM EDT

[#12]

Not to mention that rifles dirty for extended periods lead to degredation of accuracy.

Posted: 9/24/2005 9:01:23 PM EDT

[#13]

You have a lemon.

Posted: 9/24/2005 10:41:43 PM EDT

[#14]

Somebody once said the AR15/XM16 didn't need cleaning either, and soldiers were sent into battle with a new rifle and no cleaning kits......and people died because of not being able to solve jams, clean their weapons firing WW2 ball powder charged rounds.

AK's can go without maintenance much longer, but they do need cleaning.....any gas operated weapon does. To which extend a weapon tolerates not being cleaned for I don't know how many rounds differs per weaponsystem per enviroment it's being used in.

As for myself, I tend to clean my AK47 and AKS74 every 500 rounds as did I with my M4 and 20" Hbar AR15's. The latter where in need of cleaning by then, the first not necessarily but a clean weapon the next time going out to the range makes me feel better.

Posted: 9/24/2005 10:56:50 PM EDT

[#15]

I ignore any thing that says not to clean my wepon after use. I do not care what rifle or pistol it was it gets cleaned. If I had a Lorcin or a Hi point it would get cleaned and so does my cheapo WASR10.

Posted: 9/24/2005 11:48:43 PM EDT

[#16]

Quoted:
AK toys were vastly inferior to the AR15 and M16 weapons platform.........

Posted: 9/25/2005 2:34:09 AM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:
Quoted:
AK toys were vastly inferior to the AR15 and M16 weapons platform.........

I think he was making a joke.

Posted: 9/25/2005 2:51:22 AM EDT

[#18]

Quoted:
Not to mention that rifles dirty for extended periods lead to degredation of accuracy.

How is that?

Posted: 9/25/2005 4:33:13 AM EDT

[#19]

Quoted:
Its true - we've tried to tell the Kalashnikaddicts for years that their AK toys were vastly inferior to the AR15 and M16 weapons platform.........but NOOOOOOOO!!!

Yeah, sure, right, whatever,

Posted: 9/25/2005 9:12:36 AM EDT

[#20]

I haven't cleaned my SLR95 since...1997.. and it still works great. Granted, I only have 10K rounds or so through it. Although, I do spray oil on the rails and bolt body every now and then.

Posted: 9/25/2005 10:12:37 AM EDT

[#21]

The legend of the AKs reliability comes from high quality factory produced AKs made by Russia, Bulgaria, etc.

The SEAK AK74 has Bulgarian parts but the critical part, the reciever, is US made and out of spec. Also ORF may do a good job but its not Arsenal in Bulgaria or Izhmash in Russia. I have a Bulgarian AKS-74 kit built on a OOW reciever and love it but its not like my SLR-105A1...you can feel the difference in how sturdy the reciever is just by pulling back the charging handle.

And then you have my SA M7 Classic...which is on another level in terms of being sturdy and having a smooth action.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - I thought AKs didn't need to be cleaned...

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