No one has ever called me an AK guy. I always knew they were clunky, inaccurate, bad ergonomics, and the only cool thing about them was they would never malfunction. Then I took Gunsite’s week-long AK-47 Armorer/Operator Course and found out everything I “knew” about AKs was 100% wrong. I took a stock Century Arms BFT47, put a non-magnified Shield SIS2 red dot on it, and after a week I was hitting steel plates at 300 yards with ease. Jim Fuller, the Godfather of AKs, taught us everything we need to know about them under the hood, and Freddie Blish showed us how to run them like we were born behind the Iron Curtain. By the end of that week, I had a lot more respect for Kalashnikov’s brainchild.

Running & Gunning at Red Oktober

Shortly after that class, I registered for the (in)famous, once a year, three-day-long Red Oktober competition in Mesa, Arizona, which celebrates Cold War guns from the Commies and the Allies. The competition allows a lot of different styles of weapons but was designed around the AK platform with maximum distances of approximately 300 yards. I decided to go truly old school with wood furniture and iron sights. But I did cheat a little by upgrading the rear sight to KNS Precision Rear Notch Sight, which still looks almost factory but is adjustable for windage, and the KNS precision front sight post, which is about half the width of a factory front sight. I also swapped out the trigger for an ALG Defense trigger. Other than that, my BFT47 was a stock AK.

More than six months passed between the Gunsite class and Red Oktober. I decided I needed to knock the rust off so I signed up for a Black Rifle competition at Rio Salado Gun Club. The match was touted as a warmup for Red Oktober and had divisions for COMBLOC and Free World rifles. Amazingly, I was the only one shooting an AK with iron sights. After the match I told my wife I took first in my division. The farthest targets were a little over 300 yards while normal Black Rifle competitions stretch it to about 500 yards.

Runnin’ Hard

The gun performed perfectly, and even the distant targets weren’t too hard to hit. I never cleaned the gun after the Gunsite class, so I figured there was no reason to start pampering the gun now. It went back in the bag, and I started thinking about whether I should wear a Che Guevera shirt or a blue tracksuit on game day. In the end, Arizona heat was hitting record highs and I opted for moisture wicking materials, lots of sunscreen, and packed several gallons of water.

I was onsite at 6:30 a.m., and the first shots went downrange at 7. I had come out the day before to film and take photos for a few hours, so I knew the stages. There were plenty of people dressed in period military gear and even a few got creative like the 1997 North Hollywood bank robbers. I think one lady was dressed as the Lorax; maybe my kids can explain that one to me.

However, it was the stage setups that really carried the day. There were plenty of vehicles to shoot in and around, including a fully armored SWAT truck and the fuselage of a Huey helicopter. Activators, moving targets, moving hostage targets, steel plates and swingers were all there in force. There was even a teeter-totter drawbridge that you had to cross while it activated multiple movers. Everything had high round counts, and I think all but one stage required a reload. 

Feeling the Fatigue

I felt pretty good about my performance until lunchtime came and the heat began to take its toll. Even with shade and lots of water, I noticed I was not only moving a lot slower, I was also making a lot more mistakes. I would forget to reload as I was moving; I passed up targets and had to go back; I forgot which order I had planned to engage the targets. Generally, I was a soup-sandwich. The only thing that made me feel better was the heat and fatigue seemed to be hitting everyone else as hard as me. Mistakes became the norm. Some people (maybe the smartest?) decided discretion was the better part of valor and packed it up before they had a heat stroke. A squad of 12 shooters, only eight of us finished the day.

It was the last day of competition, and I stayed for the awards ceremony and the prize table drawing. The sponsors were exceptionally generous. Everyone received a gift bag, a shirt and a patch that displayed the type of weapon they used to compete. Our gift bags were specific to our weapon choice, and I received mostly AK grips and gun parts with a few AR parts thrown in. We definitely received more merchandise than what our entrance fees could have bought.

Back to the Armory

At 5 p.m., it was all over and I crawled into my truck to head home and recuperate with a cold beer, a shower and a very early bedtime. I didn’t feel like I had dominated the competition so much as I had simply survived it. I’m still amazed at the range officers who suffered through all three days as well as building and tearing down the stages. They were all still working when I left, and although I offered to help with tearing down, I was secretly grateful when they declined.

While a lot of things about Red Oktober were typical of a major match, it certainly had its own unique flair. First, there are the costumes and clothing, which were all great. Range Officers commented that there were a larger number of first-time competitors than they normally see. This made things go a little slower with extra safety precautions and generous coaching. It is nice to see new shooters come out and hopefully some of them will start competing regularly. The period guns were also fun. Sure, there were shooters with tricked out Galils with red dot scopes that would be at home at a normal match, but I also saw iron sighted M1 Grands, M1 Carbines, M14s, early M16 clones, and of course every possible style of AK from stock weapons to fully tricked out custom guns. 

Final Shots

In the end, I placed in the top 10 for COMBLOC Irons. I definitely feel proficient running an AK. Training at Gunsite and a couple shooting competitions have given me the skills and confidence to the point I now really like the AK platform. I was so wiped out I swore on my drive home from Red Oktober that I wouldn’t do it again, but it’s a few days later and I’ve changed my mind. I feel like my Century Arms BFT47 has everything I need and I would use it again next year without changing a single thing on it. It runs like a clock, and it is plenty accurate. By the way, I still haven’t cleaned it.

For more information, see riomultigun.com/red-oktober, gunsite.com and centuryarms.com.