[pct-l] side arm?

[Brick Robbins]

On Tue, Mar 11, 2008 at 4:13 PM, Andrew Siemer <asiemer at hotmail.com> wrote:
> Thank you all!  Ex military guy so the first thing i think to ask is what weapon i would bring with me or more importantly if i can bring one at all.  Again...thanks!

Personally, for a rifle, I've always preferred a Kalishnikov AK-47
over the M-16, but the M-16 is 0.5lbs lighter, so that may make it a
better choice for a thru hike.

There is quite a bit of variability in the weight of ammunition, but
generally, the 5.56mm ammunition that the M-16 uses is lighter than
the 7.72mm used by the AK-47, so one more point for the M-16.

In a typical combat environment the reliability and the stopping power
of the 7.62mm round arguably make the AK a better choice, but for a
thru hike, where the chances of meeting hostile forces or hearing
shots fired in anger are about nil, the lighter M-16 with it's lighter
ammunition is definitely a better choice.