AK47 Ammo

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I recently bought a Arsenal AK47 strictly for protection in the event of an urban uprising. Under such circumstances the firing distance from you to your targets would probably be in the 20 to 40 yard range. I am seeking information on the most effective ammo at that distance. I think it would be a FMJ with a lead core, or a cartridge with a soft bullet.
Any suggestions?
 
From too much experience I can tell you the standard FMJ is quite effective. Anything that opens up would probably be even worse to "receive".
 
Stopping power is not a noted feature of FMJ bullets. OTOH in an urban uprising you are not bound by the 1898 Hague Convention (in fact, IIRC in a war where at least one power is non-signatory, technically nobody is bound - and I'm not sure the US ever signed).
 
Your best option would be American made soft point sporting ammo.
Most American ammo makers like Remington and Federal make brass cased soft point hunting ammo for the 7.62x39.

This will be the most expensive ammo option, but will also be the most effective.
 
I appreciate everyone's input. After nearly driving myself insane reading forums, articles by "professionals," etc, to try and find the "best" AK47 ammo, I've come to the conclusion that the purpose for which I bought my rifle is to STOP an attack, and if the recipient of ANY AK47 bullet is only 20 - 40 yards away, that person will be put out of action.
I have, however, been warned NOT to buy any Russian made ammo because of the poor quality control. Any insight into this?

Thanks.
 
I have, however, been warned NOT to buy any Russian made ammo because of the poor quality control. Any insight into this?
Click to expand...
Hopefully you plan to do some practice shooting with the gun. For practice, I wouldn't be afraid to shoot some of the cheap stuff.

But you might want to keep higher quality soft points on hand for actual defensive use.
 
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Only run Russian steel cased in my ak hasn't missed a beat.

If u r concerned about civil unrest an AR would've been better for parts and ammo.

Also ill take a PILE of cheap Russian ammo over a case of nice soft points anyday. Quantity over quality when you cant get anymore...
 
My experience with Wolf has been very erratic, and regardless the bullet type. Some lots shoot extremely well, others poorly. Would it really matter at 50 yards, probably not.

More often than not too, with Wolf Ive always got one or two dud rounds per case. Never had that with the others Ive used.

The 7.62x39 Ive had the best luck with has been the old Barnaul 125 grain soft points. (I believe Barnaul is marketed as Brown and Silver Bear these days.) They have always been very consistent, and have had better accuracy over all, especially at the longer distances. They have bullets that look like Sierra Game Kings when pulled, with a completely jacketed base, instead of the usual "roll crimp" you see with Wolf, regardless the bullet type.
 
Besides soft points and Hornady Vmax...I would go with Russian jacketed hollowpoints in sealed tins, due to accuracy, sheer numbers of cheap, affordable and dependable ammo.

If you had an AK74 IN 5.45X39. I would go with a least 10,000 rounds of corrosive full metal jacket mil-spec Russian ammo in sealed tins, due to the lethal ballistics of the bullet when it hits human flesh; even though I've had about three misfires in about 6,000 rounds downrange in my own AK74
 
I've been using a 125gr. Sierra pro-hunter .311" bullet with 1680 powder. MV about 2400 fps. out of my CZ 527 carbine. Takes deer down easy out to 200 yards.
 
For the most part my Ak's and sks's have only been fed Russian ammo. Nothing wrong with Russian...... Hell they invented the gun!
 
The Russian Brown Bear HP (NOT for expansion) has been consistently very good in four AKs I've run it through, including consistent velocities.
It is my choice for personal personnel defense uses in my AKs.

Denis
 
I still have a couple cases of this

softpoint-steel.jpg
 
I still have a bunch of this old steel core stuff I got for 100 bucks a 1200 round case. :)

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I used to get China Sports 9mm for $125 a 2000 round case. Sure do miss those days. :(
 
I'm not hi jacking this post but wonder since I have read about the rifles themselves til my eyes crossed being still unsure about the info absorbed I am putting it here for some possible opinions.

In order of price and quality from lowest to highest what "brand or manufactures" do you owners recommend for use as the OP stated? Thanks
 
CorBon, followed by any standard soft-point US commercial, followed by a toss-up between any surplus FMJ and the Brown Bear loads.

The basic 123 FMJ works effectively on people at the distances specified.

Those that expand make better hunting rounds in general.

Others like Wolf.
Denis

If you want info on the best rifles, you'll get the same conflicting info you've gotten elsewhere.
 
I'm not hi jacking this post but wonder since I have read about the rifles themselves til my eyes crossed being still unsure about the info absorbed I am putting it here for some possible opinions.

In order of price and quality from lowest to highest what "brand or manufactures" do you owners recommend for use as the OP stated? Thanks

"Arguably", at the top of production rifles are the Russian Izhmash rifles that are converted to military format here in the USA.
These are made to Russian military standards with hard chrome lined bores, but are built in sporting format as "Saiga" rifles.
Once in the USA, the importer converts them to the AK-74 configuration.
These are done under the Arsenal Inc name and under the Izhmash name.

These are made as the SGL-21 in 7.62x39 or the SGL-31 in 5.45x39 under the Izhmash name and under the Arsenal Inc name as the SLR series.
Quality is probably the best in a normal production rifle:

http://www.k-var.com/shop/AK-Rifles/

At the bottom are the Romanian Wasr rifles. These have some history of occasional problems like canted sights or gas blocks and crude finishes on metal and wood, but can make excellent shooters, and the metal and wood can be re-worked to look much better.
These are made in Romania as single stack magazine rifles and converted to double stack mag rifles by the importer.
Quality of the conversion can vary, resulting in excessively wobbly magazines.
These are sold by companies like Century Arms and Aim.

In between are rifles imported from Bulgaria.

Atlantic sells a wide selection of AK rifles of varying levels of quality and price:

http://www.atlanticfirearms.com/

The key point with AK rifles is that they were designed to do two things:
1. Fire each and every time the trigger is pulled.
2. Hit a man in the chest at any range under 300 meters.

Unless defective they'll all do that.
Any AK, even the cheapest can and usually do make totally reliable rifles.
What you get for more money is a higher likelihood the rifle will be reliable, trouble free, more accurate, and a prettier rifle.
 
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AK47 ammo

You people have been a huge help in making me comfortable with my decision. I bought 500 rounds of Brown Bear for practice. For personal protection I bought Winchester PDX1 Defender and Hornady 123gr SST Steel. The reason I bought the AK over the AR is its reliability. The AR apparently rarely jams, but the AK never, or virtually never jams. It's the same reason I use a .357 Magnum revolver for home protection instead of a semi-automatic, which I would prefer.
I know the AR is more accurate that the AK, but I would think the difference up to 40-or-so yards is insignificant.
Regarding the Russian ammo. The person who told me to stay away from it knows of 2 incidences with Tula. A friend of his had a misfire and pointed the muzzle away from himself for about 60 seconds. He then ejected it and it blew up in his hand. Another person had one explode in the receiver of his rifle.
It's another example of unjust stereotyping.
 
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