EXCELLENC E IN DUALITY

CMMG’S MK47 MUTANT OFFERS PERFORMANCE AND VERSATILITY FOR THE MINDFUL PREPPER

TEXT AND PHOTOS BY GARRETT LUCAS

The year was 1993, and the summer sun was beating down on the black pavement with a vengeance. I had moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, and picked up a job in car sales. With the Speedway down the road, Charlotte was car country; it was gun country, as well. People loved their cars, and I loved making money off those people. I started pulling in money, hand over fist. It was the first job that provided me with lots of disposable income, rather than just making enough to get by, and I bought quite a few firearms that year.

I wet my feet in the 7.62x39mm world by buying my first SKS and a Maadi AK-47 that year and played around with them a bit. Maybe it was the snob in me or just the eccentricities of these weapons that put me off, but I never really developed an affinity for those two rifle styles.

The CMMG Mk47 Mutant is an AR-platform rifle that accepts AK-style magazines and fires the 7.62x39mm round.

However, that’s changed in the last several years as a result of quality offerings coming to the market now with various improvements, such as better trigger pulls, more rail options and so forth. Even so, I still hadn’t jumped into the AK life again, but it was getting tempting.

Both the mid-level and top-end models in the Mutant line include a Magpul MOE stock.

Then, along came CMMG. The folks there decided to introduce a new product with a twist: the Mk47 Mutant. It’s a rifle built on an AR platform but fires 7.62x39mm ammunition and accepts standard AK-47 magazines. It’s pretty much the best of both worlds.

This fist-sized group consists of two boxes (40 rounds) of 7.62x39mm ammunition fired offhand from the CMMG Mk47 Mutant.

I recently received one for review. It was time to see if I could get back into the 7.62x39mm world again.

The top-tier Mk47 Mutant comes with Geissele’s SSA trigger that offers a phenomenally crisp and light pull at just 4.25 pounds.

AN OVERVIEW

When I speak of “the best of both worlds,” it’s in terms of familiarity with operating controls on the AR-16, better ergonomics, being easier to accessorize and, hopefully, better accuracy because of tighter tolerances in the build quality.

Some familiar features from AR rifles include the charging handle and dust cover, although there is no bolt hold-open mechanism that is the norm for AK-style rifles.

The advantages of the AK-47 mostly stem from the fact that it’s the most widely sold and recognized military rifle in the world. It is the standard-bearer for simplicity and ultimate reliability. With those achievements comes a glut of surplus products that ultimately benefit the consumer.