MAK-90 accuracy

What kind of accuracy is considered normal out of a MAK-90? I put a side rail on mine with a Primary Arms 2MOA dot site. Mount is solid but my group size stayed around 4" at 50 yards. Trigger good, shooting from a rest, and no wind. I only brought one type of ammo (Surplus Yugoslavian brass case). Next time I'll bring more.

I was surprised how poorly it performed.

I would say that 4" @ 50yds is a little sub-par, but you know that AKs nor the 7.62x39 round are really known to be tack drivers. 4" to 6" @ 100yds would probably be more acceptable but they do vary and some just won't even shoot that well while others will do a good bit better. I know that I've read reports of 8" and greater at 100yds so I guess anything is possible.

How does it do with the irons? Better or worse? Make sure it isn't an issue with the optic or mount first, then try some different ammo so you can attempt to narrow it down to the rifle, if in fact it is the rifle.

I've never been able to hit anything with AK iron sights, that's why the gun has been in my safe for twenty years with only about 200 rounds shot through it. I didn't have much time at the range today so I didn't experiment much. I do have a Weaver V3 on a side mount I can use to verify if it's the gun or the ammo. I have a SAR-1 with a Bushnell Holosight and it will shoot a 5" group at 100 yards (with a horrible trigger) so I was expecting more the the MAK-90.

Well after re-reading my earlier post I guess I should clarify that I was referring to AKs in general and not specifically to the Norincos, with the numbers I threw out.

I believe it's really a gun to gun variance more than anything and I've never known Chicoms to do better or worse than the average AK in general. What I mean to say is that this particular MAK may not shoot as well as your SAR, whereas another MAK may shoot better, and the same could be said of other particular AK manufacturers.

But yeah, first thing is to eliminate as many variables as possible so you'll know if it is the rifle, ammo, or optic.

Like most my MAK 90 is ammo sensitive for accuracy. At rest my best 5 shot 50 yard groups range from a consistent 1-3/8" to 1-3/4" with Barnaul or Golden Tiger with very few fliers (5%?). I get on average 1-3/4" to 3-1/2" with some old white box HP I bought back in the late eighties and ever popular Brown Bear. With maybe 10-15% fliers. With the black box Wolf stuff it's hard to even get a so called group. I'm lucky if I can even get one 3" or smaller group out of 6 groups as there are so many fliers (25%?).

I'm running a TWS dogleg with a El' Cheapo NC Star 2-7 32mm long eye relief scope.

I would consider my shooting abilities and my MAK's accuracy about average.

I've had my Mak 90 shoot everything from 5 to 6" groups with yugo surplus, to 2" groups with golden tiger, nornico steel core and the east german surplus M43 rounds. The East german surplus has consistently been the most accurate load in my chinese AK's & SKS rfiles. Try different ammo.. a few boxes of each.. until you find the one your rifle shoots best with.

I disagree on the accuracy of the 7.62.

A lot of it may not shoot well, but Robinson Arms with the 7.62x39 converiosn reprots as good as accuracy as the 5.56.

I assume they are using decent ammo. So.

1. AK itself is not tack driver (not special build ones)
2. Quality of ammo, but that applies to 5.56 and all else.

In 7.62 my Chicom's have always been my best shooters. Only had a milled Bulgy that shot as well.

Like somebody else said, Barnaul & Golden Tiger seem to work really good in them.

With a Ultimak mounted Aimpoint and the right ammo I saw 4-6" at 100 yards regularly. Open sights maybe a little worse but not much. Plenty accurate in my opinion.

recently at the range with my vz and mak, my curiosity of the two at 50 yards, with 10 rounds in the mag. but of course other shooters would do better or worse, but just a general idea on the accuracy of the mak90

My MAK 90 on sandbag rest, 2 inch grp wih Ulyanovsk HP. This is at 100 yd distance using iron sights. The technique is trigger control and consistent sight pic. Its not easy but do lots of dry firiing at home and it will pay off at the range. Now AR guys dont wanna hear this. They 'll scream, Impossible !

My best 10 shot group with my Polytech Type 56 was a little over three inches at 100 yards from a bench shooting off sandbags with Brown Bear ammo.

Usually I get closer to 4-5 inches. It had nothing to do with the gun and everything to do with how I am shooting that day. The limitation with Ak's is the sights
for the most part. The sight radius is rather short, making it much more difficult to shoot with open sights than a 20" AR-15 or M1A.

My MAK shoots 2 to 3 inches at 50 yds with iron sights off a rest using Ulyanovsky. I would try some different ammo, most MAKs are pretty good shooters.

All AK's shoot fine from 0-100 yards. 200 yards is the real test.

Problem with AK's accuracy is the sights and the loose chamber plus the tapered round. I wasn't designed for accuracy. It was designed for combat and reliability.

I shot a MAK 90 for the first time this weekend (in a match none the less). There were steel swingers (12"x12") set out at 200 yards that I had no problem dinging with single shots - iron sights and cheap wolf black box ammo from the prone position. I was impressed with the accuracy of rifle. Maybe it was a one in a million MAK 90, but I enjoyed shooting it more than my AR!

My mak90 shot an 1 inch groups at 50yrds on a rest.

My Norinco MAK 90 shoots 10 shots into 4" at 100 yards from a front supported rest and I've shot 5 and 10 shot groups at 200 yards(iron sights) into 7". For some crazy reason my 200 yard groups are way more impressive, must be the sight picture I get looking down at 200. I used to think AKs were not accurate but it was more that the owners were horrible shots. My MAK 90 loves Sellier & Bellot brass case 123gr FMJ the best.

I used to think AKs were crap until I bought one, throughout the 80s and 90s it was the idiot that owned them that gave them a bad rap for accuracy. 4-5" at 100 yards 10 shots is standard, when you find ammo that it really loves you can get 3-4". I placed my rear sight all the way into the battle zero position and zeroed it dead on at 250 yards, I leave it that way and don't touch it, I find that is a great battle zero.

P.S the Norincos were tested with all other AKs and chosen by the United States Navy Seals and the Military Defense Council of Finland, both selected Norinco of China to supply Chinese type 56 AK-47 rifles, which are virtually identical (except for select-fire components) to the Norinco MAK-90, & without the MAK-90's thumbhole stock). They are way better shooters than other brands.

The rap ak's get for bad accuracy are mostly due to the crap ammo thats available. 7.62x39 is not an accurate round under ideal circumstances anyhow. But 2" at 100 yards is defenitly doable. I routinely shoot clay pidgeons at 100 yards one shot per customer. Would I use it for ground hog hunting ? probably not... but would I rather use it for a combat situation 122-154gr bullets vs AR 55 gr bullets uh yea. Im active LEO that carries it on duty for trunk gun for that reason. I also have a AR with all the goodies...free float rail, aimpoint comp m2 etc and still the bullet weight always wins the argument for me.

I had my barrel cut to 14.5" and recrowned. Accuracy really improved.

IMHO my Mak-90 isn't the most accurate gun I have (typical AK). It's worth the $180 I paid for it back in 94 and NOT a dime more. I kills me seeing people buy these things for the HIGH dollar of today, they just aint worth a dam when you to shoot a target beyond 40 yrds. Ammo has not much effect on the accuracy as you may think. Have you ever seen an AK shoot in SLOW MOTION?? The gun looks like it was made of Play-Doe. Watch this video, it may help you under stand more YouTube link

Really? Cause I score expert rifleman on the US military pop up range with mine... including 300 meter Ivan targets. You sure your trigger finger isnt twitchy?

Thats true, although they are plenty combat accurate.

I'll take it for $225+shipping ;)

I don't say impossible, I just say "prove it". I have been shooting AKs and other military type semi-autos for over twenty years, and I have never seen anyone do better than 4-6moa with a 7,62x39 AK variant.

Off the bench, iron sights, I shot a 2.2" group with 6 shots @ 100 yds using black box Wolf ammo.
I believe I could have even done a little better as I pulled a couple shots
Plus I had a 5 mph cross wind.
It depends on the particular gun as they are not all created equal.
Generally good ammo, wind, trigger pull and your shooting eye.
I'm happy with mine.

My groups at 100 yards when I first bought my Mak 90.

100 yards bench AK Norinco

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