Why Lighting Bolts and Other "Ergonomic" Modifications Are Stupid
I get all sorts of emails about what guys should do to their AKs. My usual response is simply to leave them alone. Somewhere, a gun guru...probably Taylor, put in print that the Kalashnikov system was not user-friendly. He used a word that has been attached to the AK system like "dishonest" has been tied to the word politician. That word is "ergonomic".
So lets study this - er·go·nom·IC (used with a sing. verb) The applied science of equipment design, as for the workplace, intended to maximize productivity by reducing operator fatigue and discomfort. Also called biotechnology, human engineering, human factors engineering.
1. (used with a pl. verb) Design factors, as for the workplace, intended to maximize productivity by minimizing operator fatigue and discomfort: The ergonomics of the new office were felt to be optimal.
So....the assumption is that the American Rifle (the AR-15) is "ergonomic", and since the AK is not like the AR, it must therefore NOT be ergonomic. Then the believers of this notion set out to make the rifle as close to the AR platform as possible, redesigning and modifying until the remaining artifact bears little resemblance to either platform and yet gains nothing for the wielder.
Areas that receive the focus of the self-appointed Kalashnikov Improvers include but are not limited to the sights, the magazine operation, the safety and the charging handle. There is little else for them to do with the weapon as there is nothing else there for them to abuse.
The sights on the AK are like the sights on your pistol...or like the sights on an express hunting rifle. But unlike those on an express rifle, the sights are still capable of use out to 200-300 yards or more. No...they will not win you anything but derision at a class F match, but that is not field shooting or combat. What some of thse "Improvers" do is add Big Dot XS Sights, in effect turning a 300 yard rifle into a 25 yard rifle.
Bad choice...and silly since you need not use the sights at all in true ECQB, the front sight base only in CQB, and the mass of the sights out to 25 yards. After that, one would use the sights just as the sights on a pistol would be used to make such hits. A big fat lollypop on the front sight will not let you shoot to the limit of your gun...only to the limit of a mad minute at someone's hosefest gun class.
The magazine operation is usually next as guys try to install wells and all manner of gizmos to facilitate the reload. or I should say...IPSC Gun Game Inspired Speed Load. I have seen wells installed on guns that make it easier for a right handed guy to reload the rifle. Interesting....until the rifle is in the operator's left hand. More on that later.
Interesting that the magazine style and operation of the "evil and unergonomic" Kalashnikov is identical to that of the Free World's Right Arm - The FAL, and of the stereotypical 'Murrican Rifle - the M14. Yet when have we ever heard that those two darlings of democracy had any ergonomic issues? If there is such a thing as "rifle racism" I think the poor Kalashnikov is a victim.
The safety of course gets a great deal of attention since one cannot masturbate with the safety of a Kalashnikov like they an on an M4 or a 1911. Eas to fix...make it bigger and loosen it up so you can click-click-click your way along with all those other rifles that are far more ergonomic. Rubbish. The safety is fine as it is.
Finally, the focus of my discussion here...the charging handle. This is the same charging handle that you find on the M1 Garand, the M14, the M1 Carbine, the Mini-14 and the myriad of other weapion systems that are derived from those. Someone please send me a link to an article by a modern technique trained gun instructor saying anything at all bad about the M14's charging handle. But somehow...the charging handle of that evil and unergonimic russian commie rifle needs work?
What we usually see is someone trying to make the charging handle easier for a right handed shooter to use. Very interesting. This indicates to me that the invention is inetnded for range use only...to facilitate a right handed guy from having to work too hard or to do too much.
The world, you see, unlike shooting ranges, is not right handed. The world is neutral. So one may find himself needing to take a corner as a right handed operator and the very next minute take another corner as a lefty. Or to use cover as a lefty or a righty. When real bullets are flying toward you and you jump toward the closest piece of cover to avoid getting hit, you don't get to choose the right handed cover so you can use your right handed technique. Nope...you use what you have, and half the time it won't be what you want.
So the guy who installs a G3 kit on their AK...or a Lighting Bolt Kit (turning the right side bolt handle to a left side bolt handle) has gained nothing except complicating his weapon beyond the reasonable. Because when he is operating it left handed...and he will if he ever has to use his rifle outside of a shooting range ammo dump, he will find that his super cool ergonomic enhancements have actually made the rifle harder to use.
My recommendation? Leave the frigging Kalashnikov alone and learn to adapt YOU to the rifle and not the other way around. It is not only cheaper, but will make you a far better fighter in the end.
AK Lighting Bolt- Left side Cocking system
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Originally Posted by action1
