Went to the range for Independence Day and did a bit of shooting because ‘Murica.
Put a Magpul vertical foregrip and backup sights on the JAKL and fired another 100 rounds through it. No hiccups. And the bolt hold open is now functioning with the Pmags, so it looks like after about 300 rounds this thing is doing everything it should.
SO, have my impressions about it changed? Nope. It’s basically an AK in .223 with AR ergos. It has its pluses and minuses over an AR. It’s more compact and it can be shot without cleaning a good bit longer than the AR. Because it has moving parts up front along the barrel, it won’t be as accurate as an AR but it’ll certainly be ‘accurate enough’ for the sort of tasks a gun like this would be called up for.
In .223 there’s a good bit of variety these days…AR, Mini14, AK, AR180, Beretta, Sig, FN, etc. Seems like everyone makes a pew-machine in .223 these days. Not like in the old days. But although the AR still has detractors, (I know a Vietnam vet who swears up and down that the AR platform is garbage, but his experience discounts almost 60 years of development and improvement) it is probably the most developed, refined, and improved semi-auto rifle that ever existed.
When its time to run out the door with a rifle, I’ll grab the AR over the JAKL but that’s mostly because of the long and proven track record of the AR platform. But, I have to say, so far I’m liking the JAKL and plan to do a good bit more shooting with it. At the moment, I’m putting it below the AR but above the Mini14.
We’ll I’ll just say this. The AR was designed for jungle warfare. It was junk because of certain people assigned to the DOD ordnance dept. They were college boys who never ever fired off anything. They were junk. These idiots heard a rumor that the first AR15 and subsequently the M16 was self cleaning. So they didn’t bother issuing cleaning kits. The votes and chambers weren’t crime plated. In the humidity of Vietnam you couldn’t leave a round chambered st night. There was no way to clear a jam or send home the bolt that didn’t close all the way. They did make many running improvements. But a lot of people got killed using those rifles. At times an entire company would H acmve 80 rifles out of commission. Eighty out if 120 rifles.
At least the new rifle cartridge is made for a longer distance thrn 300 meters. It’s based on the limitations of the M4 in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. Not sure when these new pieces of equipment will hit the battlefield.My cousin was in Vietnam arriving in July 66. He was issued an M1 Carbine. That’s what the Montanyard fighters were issued in the village his Green Beret team was assigned. Later he found a nearly new M16 and picked it up. He said as long as you cleaned it every day it ran fine. But. Overall he wasn’t impressed with the early rifles. Have they gotten better. Yes. The change to the anti-armour green tip bullets have not made some folks happy. I read the book Black Hawk Down. Delta Force Operator Sgt Hooten was not impressed. Designed to defeat body armour the new round when used against the Somalis insurgents were cotton shirts basically made a through and through wound. Holden related shooting enemy three times and he kept running. All were torso shots. But the enemy didn’t seem to know he had been shot. He ran about a 100 yards before collapsing. The old 55gr full metal jacket was designed to tumble. To increase the size of the wound channel. Coupled with the high velocity it earned the nickname the ” meat hammer” in the Vietnamese jungles.
When I worked for the military I talked to a lot of folks about their weapons and experience with them. The impression I came away with was the M16 had been a work in progress. The biggest problem with the current rifle us the ammo was never designed for long Range shooting in places like in the deserts and mountains we fight in now. Given a choice. I’ll take an AK47 variant. Bigger bullet. But still limited to 300 meters. So I guess there are plenty of AR platforms out their chambered for 6.5 Creedmore. 6.8 PRC. And others that can get the job done at distances beyond 300 meters.
But after Vietnam we went to war with what we had. It had been improved to a degree and was reliable enough that it worked reasonably well. This is an amazing time if you are part of the gun culture. The improvements in ammo. Ballistics. LCE bullets. And rifles that can make hits at distances that are achievable for the equipment but need lots of training and practice for the shooter. Great time. Especially with every monthly magazine brings forth a new pistol, Rifle or shotgun. There are more companies making prescion rifles then at any other time I can remember.
Following. Good report that the jakyl is settling down and preforming well enough. One or two more shake out and stress testing range sessions should provide a confidence feedback loop. It may find a niche role in your preps and deployment strategy. Perhaps as a truck gun duty assignment or as a gym bag traveler’s baggage role. As things continue to get more weird out there, and not expected to get better, it would be wise to up one’s game plan a few notches of intensity planning. Be able to bring more heat to the spicy times events if necessary. Stay frosty out there.
So, help me understand something, Commander…
You’re a FFL for ammo, right? Does that mean you can buy firearms and get them shipped to you, without having to go through a FFL for firearms? So you’d have to keep a book, be subject to inspection, etc?
If so, something to think about
An FFL is not required to order ammo and have it delivered to your house.
Guns, of course, is a different matter.
FFLs are prohibited from using their license for personal purchases.
Uhm..not exactly. The FFL is for business purposes. Can you use it to order guns for yourself? Absolutely. But you cannot acquire it exclusively for that reason…you must be ‘engaged in the business’.
Think about it…if you couldn’t use it for personal acquisitions as well, that would mean every gun store owner and employee would have to go to someone else shop to buy a gun for themselves.
This. All firearms logged into and out of dealer’s bound record book. All over the counter sales, trades have 4473 forms completed with accompanying background checks performed, comporting with state regulations, yeah mr. Valid Carry permit may be already vetted and exempt per a state, but 4473 is completed, black ink please, print legibly in block letters thanks. Transfers may be shipped (where allowed, sorry kalifornia no fun things) to another ffl dealer local to a buyer for proper transaction and end delivery, such as gunbroker or davidson’s, out of state shopping type of buys. The perks of employment in or running a ffl dealership is unicorn finds, at cost ordering, guns, ammo, accessories, etc for personal purchasing. That helps offset low wages, limited benefits, and dealing with drooling, petting zoo shoppers and general mouth breather customers out there. The old kitchen table type of FFL personal, collector, gun magazine writer critique licenses are nearly fazed out and are only generally granted to store front business licensed entities. Just a synopsis for folks to gear up so as to stay frosty out there.
Stand corrected on the personal purchases in general. However, If the ATF finds out someone is buying and keeping more firearms than they sell, well that license will most likely not get renewed and they may even get a vacation at club Fed. Someone Simply saying they are engaging in business will not save them if the records reflect something else in the number of sales verse personal purchases are not where ATF believes they should be. As long as that isn’t happening they should be fine.
Mi Prep, the m16 was designed for Air Force security duty (barracks) with daily cleaning ,minimal exposure to elements,constant armory service,constant parts availability. Someone read “the load of a soldier” and decided m14 was too heavy,and needed real marksmanship training,m1 carbine not adequate,had to be superior to SKS/AK,and there were fat MIC contracts to be had(they weren’t up to today’s graft but still hungry). M16 is and has been a 500yd gun(point target,800yd area target) from the start. As almost everything it was a committee design with limited goals and strict parameters and availability of whizz-bang new materials to try out(moor development$$$)..
We “went to war with what we had,not what we want” was a complete farce and I still want to see the whole neocon cabal tried and hung for treason/war crimes/corruption/theft,etc(claw back all the illgotten gains with interest and we solve a big part of the national debt).
We have witnessed a amazing development of technology but I fear we have witnessed the zenith and are now on the decline with focus on short term profit, social engineering, phony “green” fakery and loss of real skills in engineering,design and production of top quality goods and equipment.
Believe it was McNamara who pushed the M16 into the field.
kind of on the subject. could someone clear up shooting 5.56 in a mini 14???Is it safe..??Thanks
Mini-14’s are chambered for 5.56 but stamped .223. So, yeah, shoot 5.56 all day long.
Many thanks
I believe the Commander has opinied before that one of the virtues of the Mini-14 in .223 is that it is one of the few guns he feels comfortable running steel cased .223 ammo in.
I would add that the Century Arms C93 (HK93/ 33 clone)
Enjoys nice, dirty steel case, .223 ammo all day long.
(the CETMEs also love steel case, in 7.62 NATO)
I used to have an HK93 way back in the day. It ate everything with no muss, no fuss. As soon as PTR starts making clones I’ll be there.
“….When its time to run out the door with a rifle, I’ll grab the AR over the JAKL …”
One reason would be AR parts and replacement “attachment stuff” will be everywhere, including battlefield pick-ups, JAKL parts, not so much.
We live in a “golden age” for sure. I may need to check out this JAKL thing! So many options, but a person has to think long and hard about displacing the AR for 5.56. As long as a person has at least one AR I suppose anything else is just gravy, or “expendible”?