"The Gun" - The Firearms Forum

polishshooter · 05-12-2011, 09:27 PM

Started a new book, "The Gun" by C.J. Chivers.

A history of the AK-47, not necesarily a "complete history of" but a "comprehensive" history of it's influence on war and conflict since 1949..

And not "Pro-Gun" or "Anti-Gun" either; yeah, written by a NY TImes "Journalist" but he also was a Captain in the USMC at one time too...

Pretty interesting, with a lot of "caveats" on the legends and the problens with Soviet Histories/Propaganda, but then starting with the history of "Machine Guns" starting with Dr. Gatling in Indianapolis...

Boy, Hiram Maxim was really an @sshole!

jack404 · 05-12-2011, 09:57 PM

yep, everywhere you go , there's AK's or their clones ..

polishshooter · 05-13-2011, 04:19 PM

Funny with all the Russian stuff I have owned over the years, I have NEVER (yet!

) owned an AK, clone or otherwise...

For some reason even when I shoot them I never get too excited over them, seem to me to be nothing more than a pleasant way to waste a lot of cheap ammo...accuracy was never something I witnessed out of anybody's else's AK, except for the Valmet I fired once, but it was in 5.56...and I KINDA want to own a Galil someday, although in 5.56....

Now I have owned and enjoyed several SKS's, and my Yugo 59/66 is a little heavy for the round, but I can live with it's 3-4" groups at 100 from a bench, it's not too shabby even if it's trigger is more like a GATE LATCH

....and it's good to have SOME rifle around that can fire cheap x39 ammo...

I may have to buy one sometime soon just to have one, but call me a homey, if I just MUST have a rifle that takes 30 round clips give me my AR any day....

Don't get me wrong, I will give you everything about reliability and simplicity of Russian guns, I love the Mosin Nagant and the x54 round, and I LOVE my Makarov pistols, accurate reliable AND simple....but I can't explain why I have NEVER felt all the "Warm Fuzzy" feelings everybody else seems to get over an AK.....

Now maybe if it was a REAL AKM or whatever, with three positions on the safety...

I would feel different...(I'll tell you about the "Dirty Thirty" NVA capture off paper Chinese AK I was "loaned" for two weeks once,

but couldn't bring myself to actually FIRE...THAT one was pretty cool

05-12-2011, 09:27 PM	#1
polishshooter Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Indiana Contributor Posts: 7,863	"The Gun" Started a new book, "The Gun" by C.J. Chivers. A history of the AK-47, not necesarily a "complete history of" but a "comprehensive" history of it's influence on war and conflict since 1949.. And not "Pro-Gun" or "Anti-Gun" either; yeah, written by a NY TImes "Journalist" but he also was a Captain in the USMC at one time too... Pretty interesting, with a lot of "caveats" on the legends and the problens with Soviet Histories/Propaganda, but then starting with the history of "Machine Guns" starting with Dr. Gatling in Indianapolis... Boy, Hiram Maxim was really an @sshole! __________________ The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a living are outnumbered by those who vote for a living. --> Last edited by polishshooter; 05-12-2011 at 09:28 PM..

05-12-2011, 09:57 PM	#2
jack404 Former Guest Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Australia Contributor Posts: 17,622	Re: "The Gun" yep, everywhere you go , there's AK's or their clones ..

05-13-2011, 04:19 PM	#3
polishshooter Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Indiana Contributor Posts: 7,863	Re: "The Gun" Funny with all the Russian stuff I have owned over the years, I have NEVER (yet!) owned an AK, clone or otherwise... For some reason even when I shoot them I never get too excited over them, seem to me to be nothing more than a pleasant way to waste a lot of cheap ammo...accuracy was never something I witnessed out of anybody's else's AK, except for the Valmet I fired once, but it was in 5.56...and I KINDA want to own a Galil someday, although in 5.56.... Now I have owned and enjoyed several SKS's, and my Yugo 59/66 is a little heavy for the round, but I can live with it's 3-4" groups at 100 from a bench, it's not too shabby even if it's trigger is more like a GATE LATCH....and it's good to have SOME rifle around that can fire cheap x39 ammo... I may have to buy one sometime soon just to have one, but call me a homey, if I just MUST have a rifle that takes 30 round clips give me my AR any day.... Don't get me wrong, I will give you everything about reliability and simplicity of Russian guns, I love the Mosin Nagant and the x54 round, and I LOVE my Makarov pistols, accurate reliable AND simple....but I can't explain why I have NEVER felt all the "Warm Fuzzy" feelings everybody else seems to get over an AK..... Now maybe if it was a REAL AKM or whatever, with three positions on the safety... I would feel different...(I'll tell you about the "Dirty Thirty" NVA capture off paper Chinese AK I was "loaned" for two weeks once, but couldn't bring myself to actually FIRE...THAT one was pretty cool __________________ The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a living are outnumbered by those who vote for a living. Last edited by polishshooter; 05-13-2011 at 04:26 PM..