AK47 for the Free World?

[uk 75]

The AK47 and its derivatives became the weapon of the various countries and groups that challenged the postwar "Free World".
If you could pick a Western designed rifle that could have matched the AK47 which one would you choose?
It looks as if the M16 family comes closest.

 

[klem]

Well the model I would choose remained at the Loeffler and Vorgrimler AME 1950 prototype stage which France had abandoned for budgetary reasons at the time but which had great success afterwards and even evolved into a world famous weapon by the way by Spain CETME and returned to Germany with Hk.

 

[muttly]

Kind of hard. The AK is kind of a medium, the AR a light and the HK or FAL is a heavy.
They are different beasts. If you go by numbers made I would go with the AR.

 

[hagaricus]

Basically anything equivalent was killed by the west choosing to stick with a full-power cartridge. Certainly the proto-G3's klem mentions are a good fit, being pressed-steel direct descendants of the sturmgewehr. The AK had to abandon their sheet metal receiver until the AKM so milled-vs-milled the original FN-FAL prototype in 8x33 (or even 280 british) from the same period would also be a candidate.

 

[hagaricus]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrBImq0E9ok


sortof relevant