User blog comment:USMC Lance/Whats the better rifle: M16 or AK47?/@comment-1647479-20111014033619

I think the M16 is the better service rifle (and hunting rifle, for that matter.) Here's why:
 * Past 200m the AK-47 is a joke.
 * Since I live in the US, .223 and 5.56 ammunition is almost always readily available.
 * Straight STANAG magazines > Heavy-ass, bulky-ass, funky-ass banana magazine (owners of both firearms know what I'm talking about)
 * Again, American locale means lots and lots of spare parts and such
 * The M16 is not hard at all to maintain
 * My rifle weighs about 7 pounds and has almost no recoil while the AK has jaunty ass kick
 * The AR platform offers more versatility than its Warsaw Pact counterpart
 * If you're talking about shooting other people, the 5.56 round actually does more severe tissue damage because of tumbling and yaw while admittedly giving up so

Bottom line? I wouldn't trade great accuracy, little recoil, and lots of bullets to a retard-proof AK that can't shoot very well. Comparing the M16 to modernized versions of Kalashnikov's rifle, like the AK-74M, however, is a whole different ballgame.