9-Hole is back and Henry is challenging us again for a discussion between two very suitable PSD (Personal Security Detail) type weapons and a mission to extract 11 personnel, one of which is injured and can only fight with a handgun.
You.. I.. We.. Whoever is considering the scenario, are the intrepid Russian security operative who must protect the injured intelligence operative and the 10 embassy staff who are non-combatants. They can drive the working vehicle you have but they aren’t going to be a valuable asset in a gunfight, from a trained perspective. They are not incapable of firing a gun but the effectiveness you should anticipate is conscript level or below.
You pop the trunk of a VIP limo on the way out and you find two guns and a loadout of ammo for each.
First up!
The Baby AK, not to be confused with an AK Baby… which I am told is a Draco pistol. The “Krinkov” 5.45 ‘submachinegun’ with it’s folding wireframe stock and basic sights. The tried and true Motherland Micro Classic.
Without the colorful exposition, its an SBR in 5.45 with iron sights and all the strengths and limitations that brings.
Next,
The MP5, a realm James of Teufelshund Tactical knows very well. The MP5 is no slouch and it comes with a dot and a light in this given scenario.
You, the lone healthy combatant, must get your 10 VIPs and one walking wounded VIP combatant to the airport and the safety of the Russian troopers coming in to extract you. The troopers cannot push squads to you far from the airfield, in order for them to protect the aircraft. You have to move to safety through a very hostile Afghan city in a run-of-the-mill 14 person van
“Keith, this is ridiculous!”
Shush, hypothetical buzzkillington of the internet. Have fun with the thought exercise, toss a vote in and leave a comment. This actually has more practical applications than you may comfortably want to acknowledge…
How so?
What possible events would make a city a “hostile” environment to travel through, or at least certain portions of it?
In Kabul 1992 it was a power struggle. In several American cities in the year 20-“thou shall not be named,” it was riots. Not a power struggle of organized militant factions, just violent civil unrest that was resulting in arson, looting, assault, and murder. A roving rioting mob can be just as much a threat to you and your VIPs as any actively aggressing group. They do not need to know who you are, mistaken identity or just not caring who people are has resulted in injuries and deaths at the hands of a riot.
If you, oh individual of note, needed to retrieve a friend or family member from that chaos, or to lead your family or friends out from such a happenstance, your mission tasking looks very similar to this scenario.
So, both guns are capable of this mission profile. The Krink and the MP5. Which would you take and why?
Here’s my short take.
AKs-74u
- In an unknown threat variable situation I will take rifle calibers over pistol calibers
- Rifle caliber will have a wider range of effective terminal ballistics against a wider range of possible threats
- Rifle will give me a little more effective range and effect on targets in thin skin vehicles
- I am notably faster and more comfortable shooting the AK platform from a personal standpoint
- I have time on the MP5 and AK, both under professional instruction
- Self-evaluating, I will be more efficient with the AK even if I would like the advantages a light and a dot bring
- I am logistically supported for the AK
- I am moving toward Russian forces who will (likely) have 5.45 ammunition and magazines
Here’s my long take.
I am the only functional trained weapons handler in the group, which means my job is 100% protection. I am going to try and task navigation and driving to a non-combatant(s) so I can focus more on that main job during the transit.
I have an injured combatant who can use a pistol in one hand. I also have an MP5 with red dot, light, and 8 or 9 untasked non-combatants. Given that and the fact a red dot is the provably easier system for novice comprehension, the recoil on the MP5 is very manageable for a novice shooter, and the pictorial controls are also fairly intuitive, I would task my injured man with familiarizing the best suited non-combatant on the MP5.
It’s going to be rough, but stack for contingencies if you can. I have two spare seats of space in my 14 passenger van, plenty of room for the MP5 and ammo to come with. I might need to swap to it, the injured man might be able to use it using the vehicle as a brace surface, or the untrained selectee may become the third gun in a fight and that’s just how life goes.
We have plenty of evidence of untrained or limitedly trained firearms users still managing to save their own lives, and if saving our 12 lives means extra volume of shots then there it is. Essentially, the MP5 is in a configuration and is chambered best to hand off to a novice/conscript for success. The AK is not, not with iron sights. With the guidance of my injured combatant who can’t use it himself or can only use it limitedly from within the vehicle confines, it will still be a potentially effective addition to bring along.
The trained shooter (you/me), uses the rifle we are familiar with but that is not configured as well for a novice. I am the most likely person who will be shooting, using the most potentially effective firearm for a given variety of engagements, and I have found a method to add at least a marginally effective second long gun to the equation with a supervised novice.
Go and add you own thoughts, think it through personally. Expand upon it for the equipment you personally have vs what is presented here. Ask yourself, what would be the closest equivalent scenario I might encounter? Evacuating your office during a riot? Getting a loved one from their residence during civil unrest?
Food for thought.
