Ak47 Vs. Ak74

[Dwight55]

Need some help guys, . . . recently I noticed an ad locally from a gun shop that had AK74's for sale. I really didn't pay much attention as I thought it was just a typo, . . . should have been AK47.

Now, I've seen it several times, . . . so I'm just kicking out one simple question: what is the difference between an AK47 and an AK74?

Thanks, may God bless,
Dwight

[deolexrex]

I'm sure someone a lot smarter than I am will weigh in...but I believe the AK74 is chambered for th 5.56 or .223.

[Trapp]

Actually, the 74 is chambered for the 5.45x39 round. The russians answer to the 5.56.

Sar-3's and a few Norincos were chambered in .223, as is the Galil (though, not quite an AK)

[270Win]

Close, but not quite... I made this mistake also. It's actually a 5.45x39 cartridge.

*edit* damn, Trapp beat me to it!

Here is a good source of info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ak-74

[281 Quad Cam]

The AK-47 ofcourse fires 7.62x39.

After Vietnam some say the Russians COPIED the 5.56/.223... But in fact they did no such thing. They simply took the concept of small and fast, and expanded on it. The resulting 5.45mm round looks like a small 6.5 Grendel rather than any 5.56. It's a short fat cartridge casing holding a long heavy bullet. The 5.45x39 round is significantly more deadly than M855/SS109 NATO 5.56. It has a long bullet with a significant air cavity under the nose. It tumbles very quickly upon entering flesh. It is 5.45x39 and because it has the same length as the 7.62x39 the AK platform needed almost no modification to use the new round. The only distinguishable differences are brown plastic covered straighter magazines - and a new flash hider.

The AK-74 fires 5.45x39.

[popeye]

Old pics of Osama show him squatting in a cave with his Krinkov w/40 rd. red mag. installed. I know........so what.

[MTMilitiaman]

The AK-47 as popularized all over the world is more correctly known as the AKM, M standing for "modernized" after the Russians upgraded their factories to produce the rifles with cheaper stamped recievers rather than the more expensive and heavy milled recievers. These rifles were sold all over the world, including the Chinese, who manufactured their copy as the Type 56. These were all produced in 7.62x39. Then the United States ditched the short lived M14 for the M16 and its high velocity 5.56x45 cartridge--then propelling the M193 55 gr ball round. Reports of catostraphic wounds from this cartridge reached the Russians, who in 1974 had created their own version of the light-and-fast cartridge and adopted it in a modified AKM rifle. The cartridge was the 5.45x39 (AKA 5.45x39.5). It propelled a 52 gr projectile at a fairly high velocity. The construction of the bullet put a large air cavity in the nose. Upon impact, this cavity would either compress and flatten or allow the conventional lead core to slip forward. Either way, it fascilitated very rapid yawing. The bullet would quickly tumble and because of its length, created fairly impressive wounds despite its less than impressive caliber. The rifle itself was pretty much the same, except for bolt with a new bolt face to accomidate the new cartridge. Magazines were different with 5.45 mags most commonly recognized by the reddish "Bakelite" construction. The Soviets also replaced the simple slant brake on the AKM with a more effective muzzle compensator.

The tumbling effect of the 5.45mm is not as reliant on velocity as the fragmentary effect of the 5.56mm. However, the newer 77 gr OTM rounds, such as the Mk 262 Mod I (?) gaining popularity now, allow the 5.56 the ability to both fragment at close range and tumble similar to the 5.45 at longer ranges. I think the 5.56 probably maintains a slight edge in terminal ballistics, esp at closer ranges. Regardless, I'll keep my 7.62x39 and remain content in my knowledge that the smaller calibers may or may not fragment or tumble, but the 7.62 isn't getting any smaller.

[chemist308]

Okay, sounds like a cheap interesting gun to plink with. I'm slightly interested but it's not gonna derail me from saving for my goal (AR-10). But my curiousity is up. How much do they go for? Only thing is cheaperthandirt is out of stock (good pricing if they had it, but they don't) and sportsmans guide doesn't list it. Why is that?

[281 Quad Cam]

I know AIMsurplus was running a deal like 320 dollars for the AK-74 so it is just about the same price as an AKM. I would say the 762x39 ammo is cheaper but lately I don't feel qualified to make that claim. Could the 5.45 be cheaper now?

[Chaingunner]

AK47 - chambered for 7.62x39, introduced in 1947
AK74 - chambered for 5.45x39, introduced in 1974 in order to keep up with the US, which had switched to 5.56x45 for use in the M16.

Russian spec ops types have basically rejected the AK74, citing it's lackluster terminal performance. Cheers to that.

[NedreckSavant]

I'd been looking at a '74 but I haven't seen ammo for that thing anywhere, not even guns shows. But I'd been hearing the stories about how much better a round it was compared to the .223, about it being less stable and therefore more likely to just go nuts inside you...Still don't know if i'd like it more than an m4 though.

[p99guy]

Here is a photo to compare..7.62 on left/5.45 on right. Note different 90 degree gas system, straighter mag, large muzzle device on AK74 type...this one is in the East German configuration.

[Dark Wolf]

Kudos on your history, MTMilitiaman.