Comparison of the AK-47 and M16

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The two most common assault rifle families in the world are the Colt AR-15 (designated the M16 by the United States military) and its variants, and the Avtomat Kalashnikova Model 1947 (AK-47). These two have been compared since the late 1960s as rival models, and so have spawned controversy and comparison.

[edit] Influence of World War II

WW2 combat experience indicated in the future, the combatant with higher firepower and mobility would be in a better position to successfully attain his goals, which was a shift from the previous doctrine of static wars favoring the defender. Bolt action rifles and revolvers would become obsolete in the face of semiautomatic (e.g. M1 Garand) and fully automatic weapons, and machineguns would become lighter and more mobile. In particular, the German MP40 submachinegun, the Russian SVT-40 self-loading rifle and the German Sturmgewehr 44 (SG44) assault rifle would revolutionize future infantry weapon designs. Both the USA and the USSR realized the need to adapt their current weaponry to the newly adopted doctrines and tactics, and they took different approaches to the same problem, which resulted in the eventual adoption by both sides of the assault rifle concept.

[edit] Origins

The AK-47 design work was completed shortly after World War II, as can be seen by the origin of its model number (47 representing the year it was adopted) and was in service in the Soviet army from the early 1950s. The design was influenced by contemporary and previous weapons such as the FG 42, Sturmgewehr 44, and early Russian attempts to build a lighter, automatic rifle based on the Japanese 6.5 mm Arisaka round, such as the AVS-36 Simonov and early 1916 Avtomat by Fedorov. The AK-47 was adopted as the standard issue Red Army infantry weapon due to its firepower, ease of use, low production costs, and reliability, which fit the Soviet concept of operational art as well as being suited for the new mobile warfare doctrines. The AK-47 was widely supplied or sold to nations allied with the USSR and the blueprints were shared with several friendly nations (the People's Republic of China standing out among these).

After the end of World War II, the United States started looking for a replacement for the M1 Garand and Thompson submachine guns in the different branches of its armed forces. Early experiments with selective fire versions of both the M1 Carbine and the Garand proved disappointing. The .30-06 round was too powerful for controllable full automaticre and couldn't be carried in sufficient quantities to support the rate of fire, and fighting in Korea suggested the .30 Carbine round was underpowered. American weapons designers reached the same conclusion as the Germans and Russians: an intermediate round was necessary. However, senior American commanders insisted the emphasis be placed on powerful and accurate rounds and thus the .308 Winchester was formally adopted as 7.62x51 NATO. It was around this caliber the T44E (derived from the T37, in turn a development of the Garand), later adopted as M14 in 1957, was developed. The first confrontation between the AK-47 and the M14 came in the early part of the Vietnam War. Reports from the field the rifle had too much recoil for automatic fire convinced the Army to adopt a new rifle with smaller caliber, lower-powered ammunition. This round, the 5.56 x 45mm (known as .223 Remington in civil use) had equal muzzle energy to the Soviet 7.62x39mm used in the AK-47, and was the product of lethality studies performed on goats in the late 1950s and early 1960s showing smaller projectiles at higher velocities were more efficient at creating casualties. It should be noted the designer of the AR-15/M16, Eugene Stoner, got very little positive feedback from the Army about his design. It was only after the USAF adopted the AR-15 the Army became interested in the design. This eventually lead to the adoption of the AR-15 as the M16 in 1967.

[edit] Conceptual differences

[edit] AK-47

The AK-47 was designed to use the production methods that were state of the art in the Soviet Union in the late '40s. This implied it more or less used the same methods of construction as the PPSh-41 and PPS-43. A common mistake is the claim it derived from the German Sturmgewehr 44, though the SG44 had some good features, which contributed to the design. The design of an automatic rifle was in the works in Russia before World War II even began. The Avtomat Kalashnikov barrel and bolt were milled out of a steel billet. Its receiver, which was at first milled, was later formed from metal stampings, adding to its durability but also the weight of the rifle. In order to be able to use a steel grade that was easy to machine, the barrel and bore were hard chromed. The stock was simply made out of wood, which was a non-strategic material, and perfectly fit the Soviet manufacturing philosophy, where large plants using untrained labor could manufacture basic weapons cheaply and in very large quantities.

Another feature typical of Soviet assault rifles is the capability of the AK-47 to fire under very adverse conditions. This can be attributed to the bad experience the Soviet Union had during the early stages of WW2, where it lacked proper ammunition production facilities. Thus, until 1943, the Soviet Union was reduced to using some very poor powders in its ammunition, leaving heavy residue in the guns using it. The Soviets also had learned early on, during a major conflict there is little time to train soldiers to keep their weapons clean.

Vietnam war veteran David H. Hackworth recalled,

One of the bulldozers uncovered the decomposing body of an enemy soldier, complete with AK-47. I happened to be standing right there, looking down into the hole and pulled the AK out of the bog. "Watch this, guys," I said, "and I'll show you how a real infantry weapon works." I pulled the bolt back and fired 30 rounds — the AK could have been cleaned that day rather than buried in glug for a year or so. That was the kind of weapon our soldiers needed, not the confidence-sapping M16.

Over time, AK-47 descendants have been simplified through the use of spot welding and by further reducing the number of machined parts. The Izhevsk factory manufacturing descendants like the AK-101 can produce around 24,000 units a day. Because of its design it is not possible to manufacture the AK-47 series efficiently in small plants, due to large amount of metal stamping equipment needed for mass production. However, the AK-47 has been copied and manufactured in small shops all around the world, at the expense of many more man hours per unit.

[edit] M16

An early M16 rifle: note "tulip" flash hider, triangular handguard, and the lack of forward assist, as well as the older-style rear sight assembly

A Marine with an M16A4 (equipped with ITL MARS reflex sight and KAC RAS foregrip) in Fallujah, Iraq, December 2004

During the later '50s, when Colt bought the blueprints of the AR-15 (M16) from ArmaLite, there had been many improvements in the field of machining equipment, the biggest being the introduction of numerical control machines. While aluminum is not as strong as steel, it is lighter and easier to machine.

The objective was to design a new assault rifle that was easy to carry and manufacture in early automated plants using numerical control machining. It was to use a smaller caliber bullet to allow the soldier to carry more ammunition, which increased his firepower while also enabling him to obtain a higher hit probability. The M16 would achieve all these objectives by using all the latest technologies of its day.

Unlike the AK-47, the M16 concentrated on semi-automatic accuracy rather than on full automatic firepower. The M16's 5.56 mm M193 bullet was likely to fragment on impact, and thus create wounds that were out of proportion to its caliber (the 7.62x39mm round usually only fragments after hitting bone).

Unlike all the other gas operated modern assault rifles, the M16 does not have a separate piston. Rather, it deflects the gases into a small chamber inside the bolt assembly where the rotating bolt acts similar to a piston. This system works well provided clean burning powders are used in the ammunition. The primary advantage of this system is enhanced accuracy when firing full automatic. It also reduces felt recoil to a very low level. The main disadvantage is it allows carbon to accumulate inside the receiver, which mandates cleaning after each use. One early major improvement was to also hard chrome the barrel and chamber, which reduced spent case ejection problems plaguing the very first M16s. Over time, however, many small changes have improved the reliability of the M16. Reliability issues with first production version were worked out later in the Vietnam conflict by re-introducing stick powder into the ammunition, as opposed to ball powder which would swell the cartridge casing and cause jamming. The forward-assist was also added to the M16 Army Variant (the Air Force had made the forward assist a condition of acceptance), which allowed for the correction of the situation where the bullet would get stuck between the magazine and the barrel in a diagonal position, known as "FTF," or "failure to feed". Post-Vietnam, all branches of the United States Military began tweaking the rifle to perform at its peak accuracy, and with a much greater reliability in adverse conditions. Thus was born the M16A2: it now carried a heavier steel milled barrel and a tighter rifle twist (1:7) to allow the use of a heavier projectile, as the new ammunition would now include the modern SS109 62 grain projectile from Belgium. Full-automatic capability was replaced with a 3-round burst feature, although some specialized forces were equipped with fully automatic M16A2s (also known as the M16A3). The current model is the M16A4, with MIL-STD-1913 rails (also known as Picatinny rails), which allow soldiers to easily attach scopes, red dots sights, and carrying handles. They also accompany a rail system as the fore-grip, produced by Knights Armament Company. The weapons are now capable of being customized to each soldiers preference, making it a Modular Weapons System. There is confusion about the M16A3 having the Picatinny rail like the M16A4, but really the M16A3 only has the fixed sight of the M16A2.

With the evolution of modern CNC machinery, the M16 can now be manufactured in micro plants. In the US, a number of manufacturers make modern M16 variants and many are indeed micro plant manufacturers. This is possible because of the high degree of automation that can be applied to the machining of the M16 receiver and upper, which are made out of aluminum.

The M16 appeared much later than the AK-47 and thus provided a platform that offered much more development potential than the AK series. Unlike the AK-47, the M16 continues to benefit from every advance in the CNC field, which allows more and more small manufacturers to make M16s and AR-15s (AR-15 is now used as the designation for civilian versions, limited to semi-automatic fire only). While the M16 is made using aluminum and plastics, it can also be made entirely out of machined steel and wood, at the expense of adding some weight. Where the AK-47 relies on huge Soviet-style, state-run factories, the M16 is ideal for free economy production, spread among many manufacturers around the country, this also ensures it would be nearly impossible to disrupt U.S. M16 production in the case of a major conflict.

[edit] Comparison of characteristics

[edit] Weight and size

M16A1 (top) and AKMS (bottom)

The weight of the AK-47 is 4.3 kg (9.5 lb) without the magazine and is 87 cm (34") in length, although the general shape of the rifle and size of the magazine make it more comfortable for some shooters to fire in the prone position. The M16A1 model of the Vietnam era weighs 3.6 kg (7.8 lb aprox) with a 30 round magazine. M16A1 length is 100 cm (39"). The M16's lighter weight made it easy to carry and to aim quickly. The later models of the M16 weighed more than the original with the addition of heavier (and more accurate) barrels and more rugged components. The M16A2, for example, weighs 3.99 kg (8.79 lb) loaded. The AK-47's ergonomics were often considered more comfortable than the M16's, the AK-47's shorter length and folding stock versus fixed or telescopic stock aids in close quarters combat. In addition, the design of the M16's magazine allows for comfortable and stable firing from the prone position.

[edit] Caliber

The AK-47 was designed to use the 7.62x39mm Russian cartridge, whereas the M16 was designed for the 5.56x45mm NATO.

A brief comparison between cartridges reveals the higher-velocity American cartridge has a significant edge in long range performance, and the Russian cartridge, with a heavier projectile, has better terminal performance due to its heavier weight.^{[citation needed]}

The original ammunition for the M16 was M193 ball, a 55-grain (3.5 gram) projectile with a muzzle velocity of 1000m/sec (3280fps). It is often stated this round would "tumble" upon striking a target. At ranges of up to 75m, the lead-cored round travels fast enough the force of striking a body will cause the round to fragment along the cannelure (crimp where the bullet is clamped to the casing) into at least three pieces (front, back, and jacket).

During the 1970s and 1980s the quest for greater accuracy from light machine guns led to the adoption of a heavier, slower, hardened steel cored round, the M855. The heavier 62-grain (4 gram) SS109 projectile used in the later M855 cartridges sacrificed muzzle velocity but increased the effective range and the ability of the projectile to penetrate solid targets.

[edit] Firing mode

The AK-47 and M16A1 both have a switch allowing the operator to select semi-automatic or fully automatic mode. The M16A1's selector is a small switch on the left side of the lower receiver. The first position is safe, followed by semi-automatic, and then fully automatic. The AK-47's is a lever located on the right side of the receiver. The top-most position is safe, the middle is fully automatic, and the bottom is semi-automatic. The M16's selector can be manipulated with the thumb of the hand holding the pistol grip. Beginning with the M16A2 model, the ability to select fully automatic fire was replaced by a three-round burst mode to aid in ammunition conservation and accuracy. Some later derivatives of M16, such as the M16A3 and the M4A1, retain full automatic ability.

[edit] Reliability

The AK-47 has always enjoyed a reputation of reliability. It is gas operated, using the gas from the barrel to push a piston attached to the bolt carrier, operating the action. The gas tube is fairly large and is visible above the barrel. The AK-47 is often built with generous tolerances, allowing it to function easily in a dirty environment.

The M16, though, had reliability issues in its initial deployment. The direct impingement gas system used by the M16 is similar to normal gas operation but with a few differences. Gas from the barrel is used to cycle the action but lacks the piston, so the gas alone impinges upon the bolt carrier. This design allows residue to be blown into the receiver as well as quickly accumulating carbon build-up within the gas port channel, negatively affecting reliability. The original M16 fared poorly in the humid, dirty environment of the Vietnamese jungle, due to a change in propellant not well tested beforehand. Part of the problem was the M16 was billed as self-cleaning, and cleaning kits were not issued. The infamous reliability problems were due to production errors and an arbitrary decision by the military to use a cartridge the rifle had not been designed to fire (the M16 was originally designed to fire the 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge as the AR 10; only after being redesigned for 5.56x45mm NATO did problems surface).^{[citation needed]} In Vietnam, some American soldiers threw away their M16 rifles and used AK-47s from dead Vietnamese soldiers, with ammunition they captured, while others preferred the M14 because of its sturdy design and heavy firepower.^{[citation needed]}

The problems became the target of a Congressional investigation. The results of the investigation found that:

1. The M16 was billed as self-cleaning when it was in fact not.
2. The rifle was issued to troops without cleaning kits or instruction on how to clean the rifle.
3. The rifle was tested and approved with the use of a Dupont IMR powder that was switched to a ball powder that increased both wear and fouling.
4. The lack of a chrome liner for the barrel and chamber created a corrosion problem and contributed to brass case swelling and extraction problems.
5. Lack of a forward assist rendered the rifle inoperable in combat when it jammed.

[edit] Accuracy

The AK-47 is generally considered a less accurate rifle. The main problem is the AK-47 uses a crude type of sight, but when fitted with an upgraded sight, it has an effective range of around 285 meters.^{[citation needed]} The relatively heavier recoil of the 7.62x39 cartridge can also be detrimental, requiring more skill and training to adjust to. Even with the lighter recoil and higher velocity of the 5.56x45mm round, the original M16 and M16A1 did not offer the accuracy achieved with the later M16A2 using the SS109 bullet in semi-automatic mode. The M16 came from the factory capable of 3-4 MOA accuracy, allowing reliable hits on targets at up to 285 meters.^{[citation needed]}

The aperture sights of the later M16A2 are superior to those used on most earlier assault rifles. Using an aperture rear sight and a small hole to center the front sight post, the human eye automatically centers the front sight post, making aiming faster and more consistent. The M16A2's rear sight features two aperture settings. The larger aperture enables faster sighting in poor lighting conditions. The smaller aperture permits more precise aiming for long-distance targets. The AK-47's sights are of a more traditional open style. The rear sight is a simple V-notch in which the front post is to be centered. This requires more concentration to use, as both the front and rear sight must be kept in alignment, and must be placed further away from the eye, or the same 'blurring effect' of the aperture sights will hinder performance.

[edit] Different Philosophies

The M16 and the AK-47 design, capabilities, and role on the battlefield were reflections of the different experience and doctrine of the United States and the Soviet Union.

The AK-47 was the result of Soviet combat experience during World War II. Studies of battlefield reports showed most combat occurred within 300 meters, and the winner was usually the side with the most firepower.^{[citation needed]} The bolt-action semi-automatic rifles used on the eastern front were not optimal choices for this kind of combat, and the late-war submachine guns employed to compensate for these shortcomings lacked range and accuracy, leading to compromise designs such as the SKS, and later AK-47, with the AK-47 considered the ultimate answer to these goals. It gave the average soldier a high rate of fire rendering an AK-equipped squad’s firepower equivalent to submachine guns at close range, while also having a sufficiently powerful cartridge to engage moderately distant targets. The AK-47 was never meant to be an accurate rifle beyond 600meters since in mobile warfare, distances were covered rather quickly.^{[citation needed]} It also had the advantage of not needing particularly experienced soldiers to be effective - it required very little maintenance, and accuracy wasn’t very important which was ideal for the large conscript-based Soviet army.{{fact} Weight wasn't important either because Soviet doctrine placed an emphasis on the use of armored spearheads in an attack, followed closely by troop transports like the BTR-70 (which later culminated in the IFV concept, see M2 Bradley, BMP-2).

The M16, on the other hand, was influenced by the U.S. Army's preference for an accurate semi-automatic weapon. Although the U.S. Army’s studies into World War Two combat accounts came up with very similar results to that of the Soviets', the Army maintained its traditional views and preferred highly accurate weapons. This culminated in the M14. Combat experience in Vietnam showed this was anachronistic. A replacement was needed, a medium between the traditional philosophy of highly accurate semi-automatic rifles and the AK-47. Lighter weight, accuracy and ergonomics were the priority for the American armed forces, and aviation materials were used in its construction, which resulted in higher costs per unit when compared to the simple steel construction of the AK-47. Because American patrols in the thick Vietnamese jungle during the Vietnam War were restricted to foot and later on, helicopter movement, weight was a very important consideration.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Today

The debate is starting to shift to comparisons between the more modern models of M16s (the M4A1) and the AK-74, the current version of the AK-47 issued to the Russian Army.

[edit] See also

• AK-47
• M16 rifle
• AK-74

[edit] External links

• Wound Ballistics and Profile Illustrations
• Extensive comparison of AK-47 and M-16
• M16 description
• AK-47 description

[edit] Other Sources

• "Tales of the gun: The AK-47" History Channel documentary
• "Tales of the gun: The AR-15" History Channel documentary
• "Great Battles: AK-47 vs M16" Military Channel Documentary