Reply #11: AKs has a better reputation to work in bad environments.

[happyslug]

When Semi-automatic and Automatic Rifles replaced Bolt Action Rifles in the military (in the US in the 1930s, in the rest of the world in the 1950s) one of the changes that had to be made was dropping the level of Reliability. NO AUTOMATIC OR SEMI-AUTOMATIC weapon is as reliable as a Bolt Action Rifle. For this reason several Armies kept their rear troops equipped with nothing but bolt actions till the 1980s (Some till the 1990s). Given a lack of maintenance and abuse the Bolt action rifles would still work when Automatic designs would jam.

As to the M-16 and Ak actions, both have advanges and disadvantges. The AK is more relible but at the cost of being the heaviest Rifle in any caliber both rifles are chambered for.

Now the M-16 was designed to be the lightest effective weapon it can be. On the other hand the AK series was designed to be able to take as much abuse as possible and still operate even if this meant an increase in weight. Thus the M-16 is the LIGHTEST Rifle in use today while the AK is the heaviest.

Israel gives you a good feel for both of these weapons. After the Six- Day war the Israelis decided to adopt a 5.56mm weapon. They tested all of them then existing and decided NONE were a reliable as the AK-47 (Which they had captured during the war and used for comparison purposes). The Israelis than adopted the Galil Rifle which is nothing but an AK-47 designed to be machined made (as opposed to being tamped out like the AKM series) And chambered for the 5.56mm Round.

Recent reports indicated that the Israeli infantry has switched to the M-16 do to its lower weight. The M-16 is a lot easier to carry around than the AK. On the other hand the Armor Forces of Israel still uses the Galil. The Galil was also exported to various Latin American Countries where it is the preferred weapon when operating in the Jungle.

While the Difference? The Israeli Armor Units through up a lot of dust when operating and thus they like the greater reliability of the Galil over the M-16. The Israeli Infantry keeps their M-16 as clean as possible and thus the M-16s less tolerance of abuse can be managed.

As stated by other posters, if you are issued a M-16 you have to keep it clean of sand and dirt and when a whole units equipment jams (the report indicate not only did the m-16 jam so did the m-249 Squad Automatic Weapom, i.e. the Modern BAR, AND the M-2 >50 Caliber Machine Gun. All of this indicate less a problem with the M-16 than with THe NCOs and Officers not amking sure ALL the weapons were maintained.