The AK doesn't break, over-heat, it shoots whether cover in mud, or filled with sand.
AHAHAH, you've got to be kidding. An AK, just like any other gun, can and will break, overheat, or jam.
The AK-47 is on the coin of the Russian Federation, it is on the flag of Mozambique.
So?
The AK is un-deniably the best weapon in the world when it comes to simplicity and reliability.
Who needs accuracy when you can spray?
This bothers me quite a bit.
To judge the effectiveness of
anything on one piece of criteria is ignorance of the highest order.
Every gun is a compromise in one way or the other, some are better compromises than others. The AKM sacrifices accuracy and controllability for reliability (and don't give me that crap about the AKM being "simpler"; the M16 has fewer moving parts and is, in my opinion, simpler to disassemble and operate) and ease of manufacture. The M16 sacrifices a bit of reliability and ease of manufacture for accuracy and controllability. They are both sides of the same coin. The 7.62x39mm round sacrifices weight, accuracy, and soft target terminal effectiveness for penetration, while the 5.56x45 sacrifices long-range capability and penetration for excellent soft-tissue terminal ballistics and low weight. There are guns out there with equal or superior reliability to the AKM and don't compromise as much accuracy, and guns as accurate, light, and controllable as the M16 yet more reliable (though I still think the "unreliability" of the AR-15 series is very overblown).
Oh, wait, having a contrary opinion? I must be "trolling"...
Newsflash: With the exception of the military, special police divisions, gun clubs, and the criminal underground, guns are flat-out absent in Britain.
Realistically, the guns being used should fall into one of two criteria IMO:
1) Already in the British arsenal (and thus salvageable)
2) Cheap/reliable/easy to obtain
The Trader obviously operates on the black market. The AK-47 is hands down the most popular and numerous assault rifle in the world, and an ambitious gal like herself would have no problem acquiring some of them if she can get her hands on something like a friggin' ANTI-TANK ROCKET LAUNCHER.
The LAW-80 is a rocket launcher currently in service with the British military.
Debating whether or not a gun is "British" enough makes no sense considering things like the flamethrower.
The flamethrower is improvised (IE, home made).
You've got a decent point, but you could pick some better examples.
Personally, part of what endears me to KF is the interesting and unique variety of weapons. Not just the weapons themselves, but the combination they're in; you wouldn't see a crossbow, an SA-80 carbine, and 19th-century lever-action rifle all together in any other game. Adding an AK-47 and a Katana seems to me to be a bit lazy and unimaginitive, considering both of those are extremely cliche and used in way too many games to begin with. You might call it a service to fans of the zombie genre, I call it uninteresting. The could've definitely picked some more unique and unusual weaponry. How many non-WWII games have the Bren gun? How many have a Saiga-12?
As for the AK-47, well.. which would prefer: an accurate gun of decent reliability, or a less accurate gun with insanely good reliability?
It isn't "insanely reliable". Like all guns, it is as reliable as the person using it and the ammunition/magazines used.
I'll take an AK over an M-series gun any day because of how hardy those things are.
I suppose you'll just
love hauling around a combat load of six magazines each weighing about twice as much as a loaded 5.56 STANAG magazine.
Also just to add to the convo. In an urban environment where penetration is key, the AK wins hands down!
I'm sorry, what? Could you explain how "penetration is key" in CQC?
The 5.56x45mm round has excellent terminal ballistics within about 250 m (dependent on barrel length), and fragments violently at close range. 7.62x39 does not.
Frankly, I'd rather have a lower-recoiling, more accurate, lighter round with better soft-tissue wounding capability than a heavy one that can go through walls. I'm guessing China and the former USSR was thinking the same thing when they both dropped 7.62x39 in favour of faster, lighter cartridges that more closely resemble 5.56x45.
Americans love range wars, hence their weaponry. While the AK was designed for getting up close n personal!
Interesting, and yet the M16 came about because of the US DoD studying thousands of engagements during WWII and determining that most happened within about 300m and that a large determining factor in who the victor was was who was able to fire the most ammunition (IE, volume of fire).
Please, don't make stuff up.
