A large majority of gun guys can be broken down into two categories: AR-15 guys and the AK-47 guys. One side swears by precision and modularity while the other raves about reliability and brute force. But what if the AR-15 and AK-47 had a baby that turned out to be a strange melding of both?
That’s what came from the CMMG Mk47 Mutant. It reminds me somewhat of Dr. Frankenstein’s abomination when he created his creature. I’ve always been an AR-15 guy, but I also own some AK’s and have great respect for them. So to me, this was an interesting combination.
During my first few months with the Mk47, I had some issues with it which we’ll discuss shortly. Today we’re taking a quick look at how it’s holding up two years in.
What is the Mk47?
The CMMG MK47 Banshee, also known as the Mutant, is a morphed version of the AR-15 and AK-47 platform rifles. The appeal is you get a 7.62 caliber rifle that uses AK mags, but has the AR-15’s ability to be customized. Not that you can’t customize an AK, but the ease and availability of accessories and upgrades for an AR-15 is unquestionably much greater.
The upper and lower receivers are made from billet 7075-T6 aluminum, which is the standard for AR-15 rifles these days. CMMG uses a proprietary upper and lower receiver to make the blend of the two platform work.
You see, most of the AK-47 DNA is in the lower receiver where the AK magazine rocks into place with an AK-style mag release. As for the AR-15 DNA in this gun, the trigger assembly, buffer tube assembly, grip, and gas block and tube are all AR-15 compatible parts.
Mk47 Specs:
- Caliber: 7.62x39mm
- Barrel Length: 10.5 inches (pistol variant)
- Operating System: Direct Impingement
- Receiver Material: Billet 7075-T6 aluminum
- Magazine Compatibility: Standard AK-47 magazines
- Weight: 7.2 lbs (unloaded)
- Overall Length: 26 inches (pistol variant)
- Muzzle Device: CMMG SV Brake
- Handguard: M-LOK free-floating handguard
- Trigger: Single-stage mil-spec trigger
- Stock/Brace: Pistol brace
Two Years Later
As I mentioned above, I had some issues with the Mk47 when I first received it. It was a blast to shoot, but I started having problems with the bolt getting stuck in the closed position once the gun heated up. At first, I thought it needed to be broken in. During my initial review of the gun, that issue appeared to have gone away after several hundred rounds.
Unfortunately, the problem came back periodically. After owning the rifle now for a couple of years, here’s what I have found. It has trouble with steel case ammo, especially when you fire the gun rapidly.
When that happens, the cases gets stuck. The extractor keeps a good grip on the case because the entire bolt and charging handle will not move. After a few minutes when the gun cools off, it extracts the casing just fine.
With brass ammunition, I haven’t had any problems at all. Milled receivers have extremely tight tolerances so rapid heat must be cause the casing to swell just enough to get momentarily stuck.
To make sure this wasn’t an issue with brass ammo, I ran a lot through it and really heated up the gun. AmmotoGo.com supplied plenty of BELOM 123gr FMJ ammo for the test and follow-up review so a shout out to them.
Dumping ammo through the Mk47
We loaded up several CMMG magazines and a mixture of all of my cheap metal AK mags I had laying around. I wanted to make sure there were no issues with specific magazine types either. With some help from my buddies, we fired mag after mag through the CMMG Mk47. It got hot enough that we had to start wearing gloves to continue shooting it.
After rapid firing dozens of mags, we start running some drills with it as well, we didn’t have any problems. All together we fired more than 1,000 rounds through the CMMG without a single issue. It shoots surprisingly smoothly. The recoil is more than that of an AR, as you’d expect, but much better than an AK.
At the end of the day, I loaded a few mags with steel case Tula ammo just out of curiosity. About halfway through the magazine, I had the same problem as I had earlier.
What’s the verdict?
Based on my experience with the CMMG Mk47 Banshee, it’s completely reliable when using brass ammunition. With steel case ammo, I had some issues. For me that’s an easy fix. I’ll just stick with brass ammo with this rifle.
With the price of ammo these days, buying brass 7.62 ammo isn’t that big of a deal for me these days. Long gone is the 10-cent per round Russian ammo so bring on the brass. On average, it’s about 48 to 57 cents per round for steel case and 54 to 70 cents for brass.
Overall, I really like the MK-47 and it’s a reliable gun when shooting brass. That may be an issue for some, but a lot of people don’t like to use steel case ammo anyway.
Frankenstein, indeed. It combines the two worst features of the AR and the AK- direct impingement with rock-n-lock mags.
The best AR/AK hybrid is piston-powered with Stoner’s straight in-n-out magazine system…
If you can’t buy/use cheap 7.62×39, then what’s the point?
A piston-powered, STANAG mag AR/AK hybrid in 300 BLK is the solution…
That used to be Primary Weapons System. It looks like they’ve discontinued their 300 BLK unless you get the new, more expensive and heavier UXR platform. I guess there’s still Brownells BRN.
I love my SIG Virtus Patrol 300 BLK, but it too has been discontinued…