I think it would be rather disingenuous to believe that the insurgency does not have the ingenuity to field-strip, maintain and repair their weapons. If you can safely and competently master a spoon, you can figure out a Kalashnikov.Ninja2dan wrote: Yet almost none of the insurgents we fight right now know how to even properly disassemble their AK, let alone maintain or repair it. I have seen weapons brought back from Iraq and Afghanistan that were so nasty that I'd be scared to fire it myself. Because of their lack of discipline in maintaining their weapons or their desire to keep the weapon safe, I'd say that alone will cause many AK's to jam frequently.
It comes down to their operations. Does the insurgency REGULARLY engage in stand-up battles with coalition forces -- or is their primary mode of operation driven by remotely operated explosive devices? Are they able to keep immediate access to their weapons, or are they forced to keep them concealed in less than ideal places, to avoid arrest by authorities?
The insurgency, is not run by some outer-rim moisture farmers in their T-16s -- Iraq was once a relatively prosperous country that afforded its citizens a considerable amount of education. Maintaining their firearms is not a high priority.
The charging handle on Kalashnikovs allows the user to directly manipulate the positioning of the bolt and carrier using their palm, fist or boot. Moreover, one can visually identify that the bolt in battery by the positioning of the charging handle.Ninja2dan wrote: One factor to think about as well is the clearing time for jams. Most people using an AK, even some government military units, don't train enough on clearing failures in combat. The M-16 for example is one of the few weapons in the world designed specifically with a feature to help ensure the round is properly seated. And most soldiers are trained from the day they touch a rifle on how to clear jams quickly and effectively in combat, to the point that it becomes natural reaction. Anyone who has fired an AK and had a stoppage knows just how annoying those damn things are to clear.
Again, I know how hard it is to clear an AK.. You pull the handle back.. If you can't do it with your hand, you can hit it with something heavier. I dare you to do it with the charging handle on an M16.
Stamped v. Milled has no overall bearing on the reliability of the weapon. Durability, yes. Accuracy, yes. Aesthetics, yes. Reliability, no. The rigidity of the milled receiver affords a slight increase in accuracy, but a significant increase in unit production costs -- hence the movement to stamped variants.Ninja2dan wrote: The older stamped models of either weapon tend to fail more often than the milled versions. I have been seeing less and less stamped 74's in issue, but I still see a lot of stamped 47's around. The AK-74 does tend to jam more often though due to a higher ROF and smaller components, I also think the smaller round contributes to the problem. I would have to say that insurgents are probably going to have more 47's than 74's due to availability, but in the hands of an insurgent or poorly-trained military soldier, the 74 will have more failures.
As for the internals, the internals are virtually identical, with the bolt carrier and bolt being sized differently to accommodate the different cartridge.. Further more, the AK74's muzzle brake increases the back pressure in the system. Differences in rates of fire are negligable. Additionally the only milled AK74s I'm aware of are Bulgarian export models -- intended for civilian markets.
Anyways --
Without a way to truly randomize jamming -- or to hold players accountable for their treatment of their firearm (Submersion in water, exposure to elements.), this seems purely like a reason to further penalize OpFor players. Without trigger-able animations, the player's immersion will be broken when his weapon inexplicably ceases firing.
While Hangman should be acknowledged for his initiative and ingenuity -- I'm not sure that jamming can be implemented in a satisfactory manner.
-REad
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