AK74 For Home/Self Defense?

zincwarrior posted
Negative:
-Penetration issues in a big way. Also an issue depending your circumstances.
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Like allaroundhunter said, the 5.45 will only have penetration issues if you use the wrong type of ammo. Hollow point 5.45 will be extremely effective and yet will penetrate through walls less than almost any hangun round, and also less than most shotgun loads.
 
Really? Is that confirmed? how does a rifle penetrate less than a slow moving hollowpoint .45ACP?

If so thats helpful, but I'd have to see a lot of data to support that as its my understanding the 74 round is a Soviet tweaked version of a 5.56 no?

I'm not being hostile, someone just needs to clarify how exactly that occurs?
 
I tend to recommend a pistol for in the home SD situations. if you don't have your revolver handy, a short carbine in 5.45x39 especially with vmaxs would be a good second place. perfectly suited for up close and personal combat and the Vmax would fragment and disintegrate if it were to hit a wall preventing a lot of collateral damage.
 
zincwarrior: Check out the following website where they explore bullet penetration quite extensively concentrating on wall penetration results.

http://www.theboxotruth.com/

--> edit to add the interior link to penetration tests
http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/theboxotruth.htm

They have a lot of testing posted and their presentation is often entertaining. You'd be surprised at how far buckshot penetrates.

The key take-away is bullet selection, not just caliber. Though you won't find much on the 5.45x39 V-Max, it is essentially a sized down .223/5.56 V-Max and you can expect similar results, although the 5.45x39 velocity is not as fast as .223/5.56 from the muzzle.

Responding to the OP: I'm counting on my AK74 with 5.45x39 V-Max as my family self defense carbine. It is equipped for night-time use (sight/light/flash hider) and is stored in a biometric rifle safe for easy access. I also have a pistol with night sights and a TLR-4 light & laser in a biometric pistol safe. My quick access rifle safe also has a 20 gauge loaded with #4 buck - the wife prefers that to the AK74 :).
 
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zincwarrior posted
Really? Is that confirmed? how does a rifle penetrate less than a slow moving hollowpoint .45ACP?
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A very fast-moving, light hollow-point bullet like a .223 or 5.45 V-Max is moving fast enough that it tends to fragment rapidly upon impact. A pistol round is much slower and heavier and therefore doesn't tend to fragment much, if at all.
 
That site is blocked at work but I will take your word on it. In that case that helps mitigate a major concern.

Note the follow on post about a pistol handy with the rifle in the lockbox appears like good policy to me.
 
Theohazard posted I think a semi-auto rifle in .223 or 5.45 is easier to use, more effective (especially against multiple attackers and people wearing body armor), and also safer for innocent bystanders because of less penetration through walls.
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Boy, this is scary to read here. The only time I've heard of multiple attackers wearing body armor they were called POLICE. Is that who your worried about?
 
Lots of good info, bad info, and ugly info thrown about in this here thread.

If it's ALL you had, Certainly use your AK-74 / 5.45 cal rifle!!!

If You had others but it was what was handy or similar, absolutely use it!


Are there better options and significant concerns/drawbacks? Sure. Although there are drawbacks and concerns in almost any weapon/caliber.



The muzzlebrake comment was actually good point, my 5.56 Bushmaster had the AK-74 muzzle brake on it. Goodness gracious great balls of fire! And loud! You might need more time than the bad guy to recover if you busted caps in the dark hallway etc. Just a thought , if someone is invading your home, muzzle brakes are not what you're thinking, certainly not just before your life is needing to be defended by busting caps with an AK-74 or anything else, imho. YMMV of course.
 
I think a semi-auto rifle in .223 or 5.45 is easier to use, more effective (especially against multiple attackers and people wearing body armor), and also safer for innocent bystanders because of less penetration through walls.
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Boy, this is scary to read here. The only time I've heard of multiple attackers wearing body armor they were called POLICE. Is that who your worried about?
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You've never heard of home invasions? You've never heard of home invaders wearing soft body armor? Sure, it's not terribly common, but because I consider it a plus that my 50 gr. V-Max .223 loads will penetrate soft body armor (and still penetrate through walls less than a shotgun or handgun), that makes me a criminal?

Almost all rifle rounds will penetrate soft body armor. I like the fact that if my house is broken into by a guy wearing a vest he bought online for $200, my weapon will still be effective.
 
Get a good insurance policy, you will need it once a dozen or so rounds punch through your walls and into the neighbors houses across the street.
 
I would trust my AK74 for bumps in the night, it feeds fine with good mags and from what I gather the 5.45 does nasty things to soft tissue. But my Colt 1911 and Mossberg 590 are my go to options at this point.
 
Guess there are no houses with windows in them? Or mushboard sheathing? Vinyl siding? No 1/2 inch drywall? No unfinished rooms?

The point was, you are legally responsible for every round leaving the muzzle of your weapon and that should be just as much a consideration as if home invaders might be wearing body armor, if not more.
 
Guess there are no houses with windows in them? Or mushboard sheathing? Vinyl siding? No 1/2 inch drywall? No unfinished rooms?

The point was, you are legally responsible for every round leaving the muzzle of your weapon and that should be just as much a consideration as if home invaders might be wearing body armor, if not more.
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I apologize, I thought you were saying 5.45 rounds were going to over-penetrate through walls.

I agree completely. My biggest concern is collateral damage. That's why my primary home-defense weapon is my AR-15 loaded with 50 gr. V-Max .223 rounds. I like those rounds because they're extremely effective and yet they're less likely to over-penetrate.

And you're completely right about being responsible for every shot; if someone uses a rifle for home defense and ends up firing more errant shots because it has a high capacity and is easy to shoot fast, that defeats the purpose of having a weapon that under-penetrates walls.
 
I dislike the assumption that because a 74 can hold a large mag, the owner is going to fire a dozen rounds Rambo style...
It is an assumption right out of the gun banner handbook.
I own a Saiga 5.45. It sometimes is kept in the HD role, loaded with a 10rd mag of Hornady Vmax.
While my go to HD long arm is a semi auto 12ga with #4 buck, I have long been a proponent of the carbine for SD, and would not dissuade anyone who who feels more comfortable with one over a shotgun. It is certainly better than a handgun.
 
Just about any firearm will work for home defense IF YOU'VE PRACTICED WITH IT. If you don't practice with what you plan to use for home defense, that is where you often run into problems. Shotguns are, in general, pretty good home defense tools but there are other times when a rifle can be a good or better tool. It depends on the tactical situation you find yourself facing and the amount of accuracy that you need to obtain in order to bring a situation to a successful conclusion. A decent rifle can let you have good precision fire that a shotgun might not let you have in some cases. But a rifle will not give you as much power on target in one very effective wallop like shotgun will give you. So the key is to adjust your tactics to the firearm that you've using and understanding what your firearm can do for you. Since I have practiced with both, I would feel comfortable using either a rifle or a shotgun for my home defense needs.
 
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