Naturally. Russian guns are made by winter-acclimated people, it makes sense their stuff would work better in winter conditions - it's what they were designed to do.
it helps, the AR is actually simpler than the AK. It's just so that crude tolerances give space for expanding ice. A coldweather AR wouldn't be hard to make.
@@haydennackley7734 We too Comrade , We too didn't have enough ammo for the AK to execute or assassinate all the infidels & traitors of the Motherland . That was the only problem that kept us from killing all enemies of Mother Russia in pure AK style .
In case anybody was wondering, gunsmith here: the AR and AK hammers both hit with similar force (the mil-spec hammers at least) at around 14 ft/Lbs of energy.
@@ehold6877 Like Russian Federation ? Overthrowing the Soviets and restoring it's nation, having the second largest army, the biggest nuclear arsenal, and the best missile/anti-missile technology in the world to the point the West freak out each time a country want to purchase it ? Or maybe China ? Second world economy (poised to be the first). I don't mention some easter european country who also did pretty alright. (Poland, Hungary, and so on).
There’s actually a good documentary on the rigorous testing that goes into the AK platform from when it is made to modern age. It goes through simulated sandstorms and like this extreme cold. To simulate Siberian weather which they may encounter that gun is put into a chamber that goes to -50 degrees Celsius I believe for 30-60 minutes to simulate arctic conditions on which it must complete. And all firearm designs that model the AK that go into the Russian army have this testing placed upon it as well to hold up to the kalashnikov stamp of dependability
@@zjanez2868 Russians are likely testing the production rifles at least at -60°, because you can get that low temperature in Siberia, so the rifles must be able to withstand it. Dry ice boils at around -78°C, which is not that much lower. On the other hand, he used a rifle produced in Serbia, and I don't know at how low temperatures are Serbians testing them, because it is unlikely that either Serbian Military or any of the purchasers of Serbian-made rifles would fight at that low temperatures.
@@milospavlovic4599 i dboubt serbians do such low temperature testing(if any), but again- its based on a very relibale design, capable of withstading such temeperatures, so i doubt they woudl change much, if anythuing(at least in the mechanical parts)
@@milospavlovic4599 if you fk up the cooking of a Burger, worst thing you get is a bad burger. Still a burger, still somewhat nutritious and at least somewhat edible. If you fuck up the cooking of a fugu fish meanwhile, people will die. Same with the AK - Copy a good design badly and it will still run more or less well. Copy a bad design just a LITTLE wrong (AR), and you'll get a hot pile of garbage that'll jam more than it fires. Would I prefer the perfect AR to a bad AK? Yes. Would I prefer an ok-decent AK to a perfect AR? Also yes. But there's many other great guns I'd prefer to the perfect AR too, I'm not an AK fan, just know that even the best AR is only good as long as there's no problems and you don't have to open it up. Why? It takes long, and in bad weather and environments, not to mention under stress, you WILL lose at least that tiny firing pin easily, and searching nor caring for something nearly the size of a needle in bad weather and under stress is not something I'm a fan of for keeping the tool my life might depend on in order.
My friend why not the perfectly acceptable bottle of Sobieski In liquor cabinet? Never a moar refreshing liquid than the soothing burn of essentially drinkable ethanol
@@stevennunez6013 ok, guy who watches forgotten weapons, the AR performs well in mud. If we have another world war in the trenches of Verdun we will give you a call. And you can definitely make an ak fire with mud on it. Jump on ak operators union, he does everything drops them in sand, mud, water, even drops them on concrete and runs them over with his car.
@@stevennunez6013 I mean shit he has one video where he takes the dust cover off the ak, smears a bunch of mud in the spring and bolt and then fires it.
Step 1: put your AK in a cooler Step 2: remove the lid and put 4 bags of ice Step 3: put back the lid in the cooler and wait 2 days Step 4: check the cooler and... Ta daaaan!! You got a *AK: arctic skin*
The reason for AR not working, it's the closed tolerances in machining of the fireing pin. In Romania, we were testing the AK's by droping them in salt water, in the Black Sea for a week and taking them off and shot them without cleaning them first... it's a tough to beat weapon, believe me
Those same tolerances work in the ar's favour and against the ak in mud though. In the mud all that matters is that the the weapons actions are sealed, and even closing the dust cover on an ak wont protect it from the ingress of dirt and debris, whereas even an open dust cover ar will put up ridiculous resistance to the ingress of dirt and water.
When i was young, my grandpa has told me that when his ak got mud in, all he do is throw it in a pond or river then shaking it and you can use to shoot it immediately
My brother was an army in indonesian special forces called KOPASUS also join in several other forces, he choose an AK the old AK then other rifle when he got a duty to patrol around the malaysian and also new guinea borders it works well after he get in a swamp, mud, he even use it as a spear with a bayonet mount on it, to catch a crab in mangrove forest.
im actually surprised the AR even charged. most i see when getting frozen are functionless. extremely hard to turn off the safety and sometimes even impossible pull the handle back without smacking it on something. so AR got lucky this time lol
What about when you're trying to beat your bolt open and closed and then the ar dude just has to pop his rifle open, breathe some warm air on the firing pin, and rack one back
I literally saw MAC's video on a cold weather test and the AK seized up on the test, end up breaking the stock to chamber then ran after it, ran the AR, thought the trigger didn't reset, which it did and fired flawlessly lolol
@@ghostly_remains You mean the ridiculous mud test in which you pour mud with a shovel?? hahahahaha. Apart than stupid tests in which only how close the design is matters, if you find yourself crawling through mud, you'll want to have an ak 47
And that the AK-47 was just an improvement/redone from the German STG-44 because that's where Mikhail got the idea from. He found the STG-44 on the battlefield, took a real liking too it, took it apart and put it back together, learning the mechanism, then experimenting by trying too make a automatic rifle for the Soviet Union, but better than the STG-44.
@@AnAgedMan Actually, it does have a basis on the STG-44, but mostly on the outside. Mikhail took guns that he found apart and put them together again, etc. and the STG-44 was one in particular, however he invented some of the internals and made it resistant too water, mud, etc., making it able to fire in tough conditions.
@@gavinfelice9453 The AR is actually designed to lube itself. Military Arms Channel has one that's never had a drop of lube and ran thousands of rounds. Brilliant design.
I already knew the outcome of this one from a bit o history. Ars on Alaska bases had allot of issues at first because if your are in a warm building then go outside the condensation will freeze evrything up. The tolerance are just too tight or I should say just tight enough so it just locks it up. I was surprised you didn't have to mortar the AR too. The quick fix they did was keep the airs outside and cold at all times so they didn't freeze up From condensation and had to keep em outa the snow at all times. But cool vid with the dry ice that's pretty extreme
I'm sure somewhere somebody has mentioned that the AK (by "common knowledge") has looser tolerances. I'm pretty sure Mikhail Kalashnikov considered the Soviet Union's winters in the design.
I saw an interview where Mikhail himself said that he did that intentionally. He said you could throw a hand ful of sand into the receiver of an AK and it would still run because there was room in there for the sand to fall out of the way. He said the parts of an AR are packed so tightly in the receiver that a pinch of sand would jam it.
I was thinking the same exact thing. The tolerances in the AR BCG are tight enough that when the bolt material constricted due to the cold, it choked the firing pin enough that it didn't get enough inertia to set off the primer.
I AKs tend to use softer and more resilient steel for the bolt for cold weather reliability. So when the AK bolt is cold it's not applying as much pressure around the firing pin.
Those Jackson faceshields are tough as hell. I once saw a long rotary file on a grinder an NDT inspector was using break, sending the end of the file flying into his face cracking the shield. It deflected the shrapnel away from his face, saving his eye. The grinder was spinning at between 13000-16000 rpm via compressed air. They're not as flimsy as they look.
James, this would have been very easy to look up: "Dry ice" is actually solid, frozen carbon dioxide, which happens to sublimate, or turn to gas, at a chilly -78.5 °C (-109.3°F).
For those who haven't seen it Brandon Herrera shot dry ice out of a cannon in a video released the same day, dry ice which he showed being in a used Red Bull can.
I'm an AK guy, I'll take that above all else. I also love and respect the AR, I have nothing bad to say about the AR. I've shot, modified, tuned and worked on both in detail. As a precision machinist, 28yrs experience, I've worked on Military firearms contracts within my shop. Between the AR/AK it comes down to this: tolerances. The AR is built with "tight" tolerances, that's the general mindset of design and manufacture in the US. The AK is built with looser tolerances which is why it can perform much more predictably. The bolt carrier/firing pin assembly: both bolts are a significant mass, as metals become cold, that larger mass bolt will be more affected by temperature, let's say both are roughly the same in mass, so both might experience the same shrinkage when subjected to extreme cold. In the AR the the clearance for the firing pin in the bolt carrier might be +.0015/-0. For the AR, might be +.002/-.001. Keep in mind that I do not have actual specs but I do know from experience that AK'S are built a bit looser for a reason, contamination and temperature variations that US models are not expected to encounter.
the only reason behind the "AK'S are built a bit looser" is a low level of machinery in USSR :) we were incapable to produce precise stuff on mass production level
TFBTV you absolute fools. What did you expect when you put glorious, Stalinium Kalashnikov in the temperature of its home. Your decadent capitalist rifle is out of its element.
I'll take a double AK triple bossy deluxe, on a raft, four by four, animal style, extra shingles with a shimmy and a squeeze, light axle grease. Make it cry, burn it and let it swim.
Not Siberia, Serbia (5000km distance) that's why he refers it as a Yugo (short for Yugoslovenian, there was also a car named Yugo but I don't think he was thinking about it). That gun was probably made in Zastava factory but I am not sure.
Metal contracts when cold. The hole the firing pin goes through to hit the primer, shrunk. When you took it out, it warmed in the day air and expanded again.
So fun fact you're gonna need a better thermometer. Dry ice can be anywhere as -78 to -109°F. I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure that's gonna cause components to seize up. I'm guessing AKs parts tolerance (please correct me if I'm wrong) being more lose and James legs when glock announces another pistol allowed the parts to move and perform better. Again I'm not an expert I'm just a broke college grad with a love for firearms and the stuff you guys put out.
I had the same idea. I'm thinking, especially, if the AR-15 firing pin and the channel it rides in are made of different metals, you'd get different degrees of metal contraction. With the already tight tolerances of the AR-15 parts, if you got more contraction in the channel than the firing pin, the result would be exactly what happened. Have a good one!
Aks were created in a Country that reaches -40°C and used winter to survive more than once. I'm pretty sure that it was designed with this use case scenario in mind(with many other like the desert or similar)
I'm wondering, just spit balling as an engineering undergrad, if there would be more space in the AR-15's bolt for water to freeze and then impede the firing pin. Going through the ice in the bolt would be like going through brush for a bullet but with no room to divert its path, so it would only slow down. Also ALumium has a higher specific heat than steel. It takes more exposure to ambient temperature for alumium to reach an unfreezing temperature. As a failure analysis, it looks like all the light strikes causing friction in addition to giving the AR a little more time to come to temp eventually unfroze the parts. Also the colder things are, the less they behave like they're supposed to. Just some thoughts
I’m Russian and I keep my AR -15 for the home Defense. but on the battlefield-I would definitely choose AK . AK is the best weapon ever made for the any weather condition
@Lazar all the serb surplus firearms we get in America are made stronger than the other communist firearms. Thicker barrels, thicker recievers, and the AK from there is better
@@625098evan in the snow it might as well be. Is designed to handle colder weather than AR, so it isn’t surprising. The company Kalashnikov even made a video comparing an AK to a bunch of other guns in snow and the AK outperformed them all. It’s just a matter of being built for different conditions.
@@ivanivanovitchivanovsky7123, perhaps those other videos are better representations of the AK. in this video the AK had to be slammed on the ground to work. this is why the AK has a reputation for bad accuracy. people slam them around and beet them up, and then they told hold zero. people tend to open ARs up to fix the problem instead of hitting them. this is a better way to take care of a fire arm.
ARIS tbh idk what ur seeing cause it was ten times more frozen then the AK and he had to mortor the ak like 10 times but just look at the AR and the Ak Ak looks barley frozen and Ar looks completely frozen
JINX VIPER literally look at the difference between before he broke it down Vs when he put it back together lmao. The time sat in there doesn’t matter at that point. Firing pin not working is a bigger failure than the ak charging.
@@brianmac1900 I was thinking that the lube could make a big difference. Some alloys of steel do have different rates of expansion so that is a possible factor.
@@5000rgb From what I saw AT 15 mecanism is very compact, it more likely that metal contraction due to cold could jam the pin. The rest of mecanics worked well.
@JTS80 I did that with both my DDm4 and they both jammed... I sold them right after. Already did a water test. One gas tube exploded the other failed to go through a single magazine. Turns out carbon + water = gunk that slows the bolt down enough for it to not cycle. DI system sucks if it's dirty or wet.
JTS80 there are upgrades to ergonomics and durability in general, as well as heat distribution for extensive firing. The newer ak’s have polymer and metal furniture, could affect how the gun freezes. Also the caliber switch isn’t a little change, the 5.54 barrels are much smaller in diameter than the 7.62, which could also affect these tests substantially, as there is more or less surface area to cool.
You hit the nail on the head when you were talking about the way the AK firing pin is held in the bolt! It is a loose fit as well as the rest of the gun! I just purchased a Zastava M90 5.56 and I am amazed at how simple the design is. There are things I do not like about it like the magazine release and tilt in function, but other than that I like its functionality and dependability!
Everyone gets mad at me when I bring up the fact that nobody freezes the ammo when they do these tests, but the soldiers who fought at Staligrad and Leningrad didn't have the luxory of warm ammo.
Freezing ammo does nothing to it unless moisture gets to it. If there is snow or ice in the magazine, it might malfunction but thr ammo itself shoud be ok unless ofcourse moisture gets to it regardless of temperature. Luckily having the rounds in a magazine and the magazine in a magazine pouch keeps the ammo and mags dry. Only issue with ak and sub zero tempatures ive noticed is the slide freezing, but this doesn't usually happen unless you take it from a warm tent or a car to very cold (-20 -40 celsius) rapidly, the moisture will freeze the slide quick. Mortaring usually does the trick but i like to avoid beating my guns.
My Army-issued A2 got me "killed" (on an Escape & Evasion course) once, because it 'got dirty' inside... My M70AB2 (Yugo) AK has *never* failed to fire, with much worse treatment than my M-16 ever got... Soooooooo...
@@jeffersonhighsmith7757 Yeah, I have been around a while--lol. That said, where the AR is concerned, sure there have been some decent improvements (i.e. it's way more 'modular' now). However, where the rubber meets the road, it's *still* the same gas impingement system that blows loads of carbon into the chamber (and onto the bolt), and thusly needs to be cleaned way too often, imo, to stay fully functional. And, the less 'quality' the make of the rifle (i.e. entry level M&P vs mil spec Colt), the more that 'necessary field maintenance' goes up... At the time I got "killed," I was using a mil spec Colt. While not 'modular' like today's guns, the design was well-broken in by that time, and it was the best 'quality' you can get-- and it *still* jammed when I needed it most... So, I became an "AK guy," then. And I'm still one today... 🖒😎
I get what you're saying. I just got out of the Army last year after doing 10 years. I also shot A2s until the budget was increased to get the m4s. It didn't take much for the A2s to malfunction you have to be quick at fixing them.
@@KevinM88TR11 My problem with my A2 though wasn't breakage-- in that regard, it was top notch. My issue was the age old issue of "too much carbon in the chamber," and an inability to stop and clean it, or even hit the bolt with oil while I was "on the run." My brother was a Marine in Ramadi (in '03), and when I asked him if he'd had the same problem, he said "We did have to stop and clean weapons every chance we got..." His never quit on him in combat (thank God), but they did have to seriously maintain them to keep it from happening... My opinion is, no soldier/Marine should have to worry about that during fighting. And, from what I can tell, most civilians who own ARs have never tested them under serious combat conditions, and aren't aware that "constant cleaning" is gonna be required to be able to use their rifle as intended...
when I saw you had to take the AR apart to make it work it made me think of all the us service men that were found dead with the M-16 broke down trying to make it work, I have AKs and ARs both are fun to play with but if you need the best the one you know will work its going to be the AK
That was a specific instance in the Vietnam war where the guns AND ammunition were completely screwed up by the government. It has worked great in many different conditions. Sub zero temperatures are VERY problematic for firearms, and one area where Russian weapons have always (since 1891 anyway) shined the brightest.
In fact there are still special Arctic units that use bolt action rifles because they are the only thing that is truly reliable when you’re traipsing around in -40 degree weather.
@@ds6872 its pretty much the same happen just like the video. The ak after mortaring it shoot fine,the sig 551 need to add some hot water and shoot normaly,the AR same thing happen on the video
@Frank The Tank sure, because jamming wet sand in the guns is "scientific" ... or you mean theyr AR "test" where they dared to put that goop in the ejection port ... then realized it wont work either so they CLEANED THE EJECTION PORT by sweeping it several times with the finger ... while for AUG they on purpose put the wet sand they use right in all the opening ... ... scientific allright, scientifically BIASED
@@Tool683 yes because they simply take cleaned AR and never get it dirty because its the only maintenance princess that has to be babied and cleaned constantly otherwise it has issues ... all they "test" is how well the weapon is sealed because the WET SAND they use will seize anything it gets into ... chug that AR in the swampy water with its fine grit and guess what, AR seizes, piston guns not so much ...
@@Turgz to what temp though? We have no idea how cold it got in that box. Dry ice can be well below -100 which occurs nowhere in nature outside of the interior of Antarctica ob the coldest of winter days, just saying.
@@nocount7517 anything Chrysler Dodge is shit. I remember idiots 10 years ago making the same joke about DPMS not even knowing the origin of their company IS military spec. Leave it to the children to think the more you spend the better something is.
Hi, terms of reference when creating AK work at a temperature of -50 to +50 degrees Celsius, reliability when firing in automatic mode at least 450 shots without breaks for cooling
if he wouldve hit the Ar on the ground exactly like he did the ak it wouldve freed up the pin in my opinion.. and I'm not an Ar guy just sayin. He did a different process for both guns. Not a true test, a real test is doing the same exact process with both weapons....
@@SuperGhostsniper09 hitting an AK to repair it is standard operation. No AR guy will even try to do it to the complicated fragile engineering that is AR
A few points I’d like to make. It’s possible that when you were beating the bolt carrier back to chamber a round for the AK, you freed up the firing pin. Which even then I’d still count as a win for the AK design because it’s design makes it intuitive to do exactly that when it has an issue like this whereas the AR’s design simply doesn’t make you think to do that or allow you to do that. The second thing is also that with AR-15’s chambered in 7.62x39 companies that have made them reliable have made the firing pin longer to hit the berdan primers harder than a regular 15 firing pin. So maybe it’s something to do with the force the AK’s hammer gives out and the length the firing pin goes out as well
