The AK47 seemed to be robust and easy to use. Why did other nations build more "sensitive" equivalents e.g. M16, SA80 etc.
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ANSWERS: 4
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I'm not sure the M16 is such a faulty weapon as it tends to jam, it's omr of th many reasons I would not want to join the military. I think it's because the company that makes them has a contract with the US and other armies and said armies can buy them more cheaply than using better more costly guns.
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Excellent Question. The M16, when it first came out and was put into use in Vietnam was often discarded by a soldier and replaced with a captured AK. There are stories of soldiers in Vietnam being found dead with thier M16 taken apart in a mad attempt to get it funtioning while in a firefight. While the M16 is far better today it leaves a lot to be desired in adverse weather conditions. The tolerances are too tight so dirt or mud can cause it to malfunction easily where an AK can be filthy and still fire due to its loose tolerances. It's hard to make sense of it, really.
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The AK47 is a great rifle it's main downside is accuracy. Due to it's very loose tolerances accuracy suffers. If you maintain tight tolerances such as the M16 you get outstanding accuracy but very problematic issues. The line to walk is somewhere in between.
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ak was designed for NOT trained soldiers of poorly supplied army who see a gun for the first time in their life. It is a gun for sending a lot of bullets hoping that one of them will find the target. Cheap guns + cheap ammo + cheap soldiers = soviet type of army. Even in the USSR and Russia military professionals use different types of assault rifles. Do you want your country to use young men as expendables? If not, then you should train them and give them more accurate weapon - one shot = one kill.
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