My 2014 post on a 2007 AK torture test

Thought some folks would enjoy reading this again. About 2007 there was an article on the "Associated Content" web page before Yahoo bought it out. It was a 10,000 round torture test of an early GP WASR 10/63 with a chrome lined AK barrel. . Mud, snow, ice, water heat, rust, shot until the handguards smoked. NO cleaning or maintenance. It still shot every time and was as accurate as it was new. It was well documented with pictures. It was absolutely nuts the abuse it took. I posted it here on MilSurps about 2014.

https://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=49465

In about 2008, I picked up a WASR 10/63 at a local gun shop in Illinois (where we were temporarily living at the time). We had five acres of farmland with a creek. I duplicated part of this test by throwing the WASR into the water and mud in the creek. Also dumped a couple mags in there too. Pulled it out, drained the bore, and blasted through a magazine, blowing mud and water out as I fired. Worked perfect. Next, I opened up the top cover, threw in some dirt and leaves, and fired another magazine. I would NEVER do that to an AR.

Agreed on all that and for years I thought they would be indestructible. I had about a dozen in Camp Gagetown and a couple left from the 1974 war in Cyprus, battlefield pickups. One was covered with blood rust pits and a folding stock...that worked fine. Some of the troops that deployed to Afghanistan in '08/'10 captured AKs there that they wouldn't even have fired. They found them so full of rust that a bullet probably wouldn't have passed the bore. I had to believe them, I didn't see. First I'd head though. They said they saw lots there. These were not taken during a fight...