Soon to pick up an AK. Due to the kids, I plan on getting a 74 (due to recoil) instead of a 47. Are the 74s just as outrageously reliable as the 47s? Or is there any hang ups with the smaller caliber?

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My sons & I combined
1891 Argy;YugoM48;Turk Kkalex2;Steyr M95;Ishapore2A;Oviedo 1893;91/30x5;98Krag;Swiss K31;M38 Carcano;1893 Turk;Spanish 1916;No.1MkIII;M1895 Nagantx2;Brazilian1908;P64;StarB;YugoM57;Taurus 82;Austrian capture m91 Sestroryetsk

Yes

Yes.
Because of the recoil?
A 47 has no real recoil?

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This is so easy, If my dog had thumbs, He could do it!

U.S.N. Retired 1985-2005

Both the 47 and 74 have about the same recoil of an M1 carbine in my experience.

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The morning is dead And the day is too,
There's nothing left here to meet me
But the velvet moon.
All my loneliness I have felt today,
It's like a little more than enough
To make a man throw himself away.
~ J. Hendrix

same gun, different caliber. a .308 AR is just as good as a 5.56 one. think about it. anyways...recoil????how old are your kids?. rubber butt pad could help too. i want an AK-74 i have a WASR-10 AKM

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"I love the smell of cosmoline in the morning"

The kids still at home are currently two teenagers, a 12, 10 and 7 year old. My career could foresee-ably take me to the developing world, much of which is awash in AKs. I've wanted to familiarize all the kids with the AK system. Bad stuff happens.

It's been more than 20 years since I was a kid banging away with an AK in the Georgia woods. I honestly can't remember what the recoil was like but I figured I couldn't go wrong with what I had heard of the recoil on the Bulgarian 74s, which went like this: "I thought the gun had misfired. I felt no recoil at all."

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My sons & I combined
1891 Argy;YugoM48;Turk Kkalex2;Steyr M95;Ishapore2A;Oviedo 1893;91/30x5;98Krag;Swiss K31;M38 Carcano;1893 Turk;Spanish 1916;No.1MkIII;M1895 Nagantx2;Brazilian1908;P64;StarB;YugoM57;Taurus 82;Austrian capture m91 Sestroryetsk

If I shoot my 30-06, or my Mosin, and then the AK or SKS...I almost fall on my face due to the lack of recoil.

The 7 and 10 year old might not quite reach far enough, or be able to hold it up...but the recoil shouldn't be too bad for them, if you prepare them right.

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Bubba really ticks me off...
and I sure wish he would give me the OEM stock for my 7mm Spanish Mauser...

I had a Century Wasr 2 clunker,it never miss fired never jambed ran great.That 5.45x39 is awsome

The 74 is just as reliable as the 47, but is much more accurate and the ammo is cheaper. I have 2 Century build Bulgarian 74's with NDS receivers. Both group 2.5" at 100 yards thru the irons benched. I just put a slidefire on one of them.

74's are great. No problems with my Tantal or any other I have owned. And the ammo is cheeeeeeep! No biggie to burn through a tin in an afternoon.

Less felt recoil in an AK74. High reliability. Fun shooter and the younger ones will enjoy it. A better choice than the 7.62x39 for that reason.

I have a Saiga in .223, even less recoil than the 7.62x39, probably the same as 5.45x39. None of them have much recoil. It is however a good excuse to get an AK 74, hey whatever it takes!

I know Im late to the party but i took my 14 yearold cousin out shooting over the weekend and she actually liked the ak47 over the 74. She is a small girl and had no problem with the lenght or recoil of either. She did have a problem with the weight of a m1 garand though. She still shot two clips of it. Best thing you can do is take kids shooting.

I've got a Tantal that is an absolute pleasure to shoot. The wire side-folding stock is REALLY short, so your cheek weld is actually on the back of the receiver. I think it has noticeably less recoil than my AK. It's perfect for a small framed shooter.

.....doesn't hurt that the ammo is plentiful and realistically priced.

There's my 2 cents.

Larry Winslow

http://reissuedsurplusrifles.shutterfly.com/

REAL GUNS HAVE WOOD STOCKS

I took my 24 year old male friend out and he had problems with the m1 but loved the sks lol. I don't have experience with an ak74 I sold my ak47 for a sks because I like them better.

I can say this for the ak74 when scouring the internet for ammo 5.45 is frequently the cheapest new production which makes me consider the ak74 for plinking purposes.