This is going to take a while...
(part of this is cut and paste from a post I made here last June or thereabouts)
The M-16 is an example of Western military thought: a rifle more accurate than the soldier, designed for ease of use and soldiers trained in accurate semi-auto fire at the cost of greater expense, both in the rifle and in the soldier.
The Kalashnikov series is an example of Eastern military thought: inexpensive to mass produce, durable, simple to use for soldiers of any education, and intended for soldiers trained in massed suppresive full automatic fire.
In general, Klatch-armed sodiers such as the old Soviet Red Army were never trained in semi-auto and accuracy. They were only trained in full auto for the sequence of
-devastating artillery barrage
-tank and APC fire to somewhat close range
-full auto AK and machine gun fire as the final assault fire where the soldiers make the final rush to virtually same-foxhole range where accuracy is not vitally important and kills are made as much as with buttstocks and entrenching tools as AK fire.
OK, that's the theory. In practice Western rifles can be used for suppression and mad minutes and Klatchs can be used in semi-auto aimed fire. A lot of battlefield experience changed peacetime theory. One example was the Soviet Army in Afghanistan equipping whole squads with Dragunov SVD sniper rifles for anti-guerilla activity. The spray/pray/charge-into-melee method didn't work well at all against Afghan rebels using hit and run guerilla tactics.
Military 7.62x39 Klatch ammo seems to make very clean, survivable wounds. There is hollow point ammunition available in 7.62x39 which appears to make for nastier wounds. BUT...
When people talk about Kalashnikovs, they talk only about the AK-47 like it's the only Klatch out there. Most American AK-tale-tellers don't seem to realize the different generations of military AKs.
The AK-47 is the original design which uses a forged receiver and shoots 7.62x39. The AKM is what replaced the AK-47 in the 1950s in most Soviet factories and uses a sheet metal receiver to make mass production easier. It also makes the rifle lighter. AKMs also shoot 7.62x39.
Sometime in the 70's the AK-74 (not a typo) was designed and was well on it's way to replacing the AKM in the Soviet military. Apparently, the Soviet Army was impressed with the concept of the micro-caliber rifle like the M-16 because the AK-74 is in 5.45 caliber and creates horrific wounds similar to the NATO 5.56mm. Once again, most American AK-people don't seem to be aware that the AK-74 was the primary rifle of the 1980s Soviet military. Afghans found out all about the AK-74 during the war there. The 5.45 quickly became known as the "poison bullet" because of the way flesh around the wound rotted and died. This isn't just limited to the AK-74 round. Both the Combloc 5.45mm and NATO 5.56mm will both almost guarantee a very ugly wound and slow death unless you can get to a very good hospital ASAP. Everyone read the article in the village voice recently about the wound trauma seen in Palestinians shot with 5.56mm? I don't normally read the VV but internet talk on the gun forums got my attention.
There are some newer designs in the last 10 years that I'm not too familiar with. I dunno that the post-Cold War Russian military is in any shape to shift wholesale to a new rifle.
Note that Soviet satellite states still have/had a lot of AK-47/AKM rifles. Some may never have switched to the AK-74 standard. Also, many Cold War era revolutions armed by Uncle Ivan were supplied with the AK-47/AKM rifles. Might as well use all those warehouses full of rifles for something.
Viet Nam vet info: I've read and heard from several Viet Nam era veterans. All info matches the fact that the first production batch of M-16s was an abomination and the later improved ones worked much MUCH better. There's a USMC vet in our office who was there in '68-'69 or thereabouts. I asked if he had any of the first jamm-a-matic M-16s. He said he did, and cured it by eating at an Army mess hall, where you had to leave your rifle at the door. Funny, when he left he had a brand new M-16.
I also know a guy who ran a hospital in a third world country for a while. The ONLY hospital in the country torn with inter-tribal strife. He saw many AK wounds and said most of the time if a bone or vital organ wasn't hit they cleaned and bound the wound, administered antibiotics and that was all that was needed usually. In other words, another anecdote that military 7.62x39 wounds are very clean
(he ran the hospital back before the AK-74s were prolific)
Nowadays, about all the established rifle designs work very well. I know a guy who was dead convinced that the Klatch was the way to go and was out to prove it. He actually bought a Galil, an AR, and a Klatch and carefully recorded the number of shots fired through each one, intending to stop when one was hopelessly jammed. He quit somewhere between 2000 and 3000 rounds per rifle, having recorded 2 minor malfunctions in the Galil and the Klatch, and 1 minor malfunction in the AR. He concluded correctly that any modern military rifle design will work very well.
Note that the best Kalashnikovs may shoot up to 8 inch groups at 100 yards (there ARE exceptions) while most ARs will shoot a 1 inch group with ease at the same distance (assuming the shooter is up to it). Does this mean I'm going to go nyahh nyahh nyahh when Charlie Cong is shooting an AK at me? NO!!! Which do I want if I'm making a hostage-rescue shot at 12 yards? (actually I'd want my bolt gun)
I will say that the AR will NOT stand up to hard abuse which arguably a military rifle ought to withstand. When people hang a buncha doodads and gizmos on the AR, the durability issue goes downhill fast.
Also, commercial ARs have apparently taken a downturn in quality in the past several years. In my experience an AR can be a VERY reliable rifle (with TLC) but they all need a wringing out at the range to find any problems before completely trusting your life to one. Actually, the same goes for any gun we plan on staking our life on. I've seen as many as 5 out of 12 rifles in a class needing a widget replaced, and then after that they work fine.
I think a good summary is the AR is a white collar rifle, well suited to police (assuming they take good care of their equipment!) who might need a patrol rifle. The Kalashnikov family is a blue collar rifle. Naw, it's a third world peasant rifle! Throw it in the musty dusty Nicaraguan arms room and it'll be good to go a century from now (but I'd still check it out before going on a patrol).
As far as equipment goes, I prefer an AR though I can comfortably use either a Klatch, Galil, AR, AUG, Daewoo, and others. I have a Daewoo and a Galil and I still prefer the AR.
As far as the key to what works in a Really Bad Day (RBD), I'd rather have a well-trained brain between the ears than whatever the best rifle is. Put another way, a good man with an average rifle does a lot better than an average man with a good rifle.
Whew I'm pooped. Baby, you wear out my fingertips
Edmund
