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I worked at a very busy shooting range up until a few months ago. I’ve certainly seen no drop off whatsoever in interest in military style firearms and we sold much more of that type stuff in our retail section than we did non-military style.
The one thing that bucks that trend a bit is the recent interest in long range firearms for 1,000+ yard shooting. Those tend to be almost exclusively bolt action type rifles.
Oh I wasn't talking about the round. I was referring to the AK itself not the round it fires. The 7.62x39 can indeed be quite accurate in a decently built rifle. The minute of bucket accuracy comment was aimed at the AK 47. Not the 7.62x39.
Gotcha, and definitely true. Most AK's are terrible!
Please define "military style" rifle.
Does that include clones of the 1903 Springfield (.30-06, bolt action)?
Does that include clones or reproductions of the lever action .45-70 Government lever action? How about lever actions in .44-40 caliber? How about reproductions in .22 caliber?
How about a smooth bore muzzle loader, circa 1776? Or a rifled muzzle loader?
Think about it.
If you do a little research, you are likely to find that most well liked civilian rifles (and pistols, for that matter) are clones of former weapons issued to the armed forces!
I don't really care about or for AR's or military weapons. Pretty much whatever floats your boat is my motto. I'm pretty much a bolt action rifle and shotgun kinda guy. That's just my hobby of choice. I do own an AR, but it's pretty basic- the old school A2 style. I keep it for nostalgia as I was on our unit's shooting team back in the day.
I don't care if guys are at the range with AR's as long as they are to the right of me if they don't have a brass catcher, lol.
One guy this year was showering me with hot brass, seated directly left of me. So I un-threaded my 7mm mags standard muzzle cap and screwed on the ported muzzle break.
Gotcha, and definitely true. Most AK's are terrible!
Many many years ago I had a Polytech AK that was pretty nicely built. Miller receiver, solid shooter. I forgot how I came across it, and I wish I didn’t sell it- those puppy’s are pricey!
Many many years ago I had a Polytech AK that was pretty nicely built. Miller receiver, solid shooter. I forgot how I came across it, and I wish I didn’t sell it- those puppy’s are pricey!
The only AK variant I have is a preban AK84s1 in .223. That thing does get some attention and actually shoots pretty darn good, that along with a couple AR 's in different configurations get drug out only periodically. BUT as previously mention the attention grabbers are the WW2 rifles. We actually have some nice competitions. Axis vs.Allied bolt actions then semi autos..K98 vs Springfield vs Mosins vs some Carcanos. Got some guys who have mastered the Garand vs my K43 vs one guy with a SVT. Always a hoot !!! I really don't understand the divisions as mentioned the entire culture is under attack and we need to coalesce instead of divide!!!!
No. The AR-15 is the most popular rifle at my gun club in all different variations. It is used for informal target shooting, serious bench rest shooting, self defense courses, and competition. I also see a lot of AK clones, SKS's, M1 Carbines, M1 Garands, HK G3's, bolt action Mauser K98k's, bolt action Moisin Nagants, and other military, and military style rifles.
The only AK variant I have is a preban AK84s1 in .223. That thing does get some attention and actually shoots pretty darn good, that along with a couple AR 's in different configurations get drug out only periodically. BUT as previously mention the attention grabbers are the WW2 rifles. We actually have some nice competitions. Axis vs.Allied bolt actions then semi autos..K98 vs Springfield vs Mosins vs some Carcanos. Got some guys who have mastered the Garand vs my K43 vs one guy with a SVT. Always a hoot !!! I really don't understand the divisions as mentioned the entire culture is under attack and we need to coalesce instead of divide!!!!
Well I think some of the issues are simple etiquette at the range. It was pretty bad when I lived in WV- people just didn’t care. They weren’t controlled ranges, just public. I stopped going to 2 of them because brass would literally go everywhere, shooters would hammer your targets, ignore cease fires.. it was bad.
I’m kinda blessed here- the Prickly Pear Sportsman range is super nice, seperate areas for handgun (including silhouette), 50 yd sight in, 25 yd .22, and 100, 200, 300 and 400yd rifle (with gongs). And it’s not range officer controlled. People are really great- when a cease fire is called it ceases, firearms are unloaded and racked and people can go down range.
There’s a huge difference in etiquette here. In 10 years I’ve encountered maybe 3-4 buttholes.
There’s not a disproportionate number of any firearms. I see mostly hunting rigs, handguns and a smattering of military style platforms. There’s a lot of guys testing and shooting handloads (me being one of them). It’s a pretty western state type range. Lots of high powered big game cartridges.
It’s just great that there is a lot of mutual respect. And for $75 a year- it’s a bargain for what you get.
"Fudds" as another poster here explained to me one day as he defines them are the snooty trap and skeet shotgunners using $5000.00 over unders, and purist types in general who define and label shooters and types of firearms by the standard of "if I don't personally like it you shouldn't be using it."
Herebouts they are certainly present but hardly a relevant majority. We have a lot of competitions here that revolve around civilian service style weapons chiefly the AR platform. There's a lot of AKs out there but you won't see them in any competitions I know of. The AK is a good rifle and dead reliable but 7.62x39 is not allowed in competition due to excessive target damage. It's accuracy is also rather dismal with minute of bucket grouping being the norm.
The true "Fudd" types are actually as detrimental to the shooting sports as the true "grabbers" are. They are elitist snobs who believe that we should all be limited to multi thousand dollar bolt actions and over/unders because that's what they use. They don't recognize tactical competitions and other service style events as legitimate and they like to loudly proclaim their disdain for service style guns and gear.
As far as a "push back" goes I reckon one does exist. It's bound to be there anytime somebody tries to tell folks what the can and can't own and use. Shooters are not a group that tolerates such silliness well. Not around here anyway.
3 gun is easily the most exciting shooting event I’ve ever participated in ... and I shot trap for 20 years at a very high level with FUDD guns lol ! I accept all shooters are part of the sport whatever their flavour
Gotcha, and definitely true. Most AK's are terrible!
I only have one because of sheer nostalgia.... plus it’s a class 3 so it’s been a very good investment. It’s not a platform I’d choose to shoot.
I did recently shoot a RRA LAR-47 and that was a very nice gun
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