5.45 Ak's are in a Rough Spot in Tarkov.

When you think of Tarkov and the vast variety of gun available to us now this deep into development, one caliber of weapon that should immediately come to mind are Ak’s. And more specifically, 5.45 Ak’s are the bread and butter of Tarkov; the workhorse of the game, if you will. These guns have been in the game since its first incarnation, alongside the M4. And overtime, more guns and calibers have been added. Unfortunately, the tried-and-true weapon of this game has become somewhat of a shadow of its former self. 5.45 has been in a rough spot for some time. And while the Ak’s themselves have gotten much better overtime in terms of their recoil and ergonomics, the rounds they use have become stagnant.

Like most weapons in this game, when Tarkov wipes, and everyone is on the closest playing field the game offers, it doesn’t matter what round you use. Everyone has bad gear so the ammo is less of a factor when shooting people. But when we get to where we are now with Tarkov, 5.45 only has two rounds that can do what it needs to. Granted, this sentiment can be applied to most other calibers, but for as many that 5.45 has to offer, the fact that only BS or 7N31 can reliably kill people is most unfortunate. What makes this worse is that since the top tier rounds or no longer purchasable from vendors, and 7N31 is only craft able, BT is your only go-to option if you don’t feel like spending four digits a round for anything better. And you don’t get access to BT until Punisher part four. And it only has 37 penetrations. That’s almost the same as ma56ai for the M4. Which is even easier to obtain, once you unlock Peacekeeper’s quest line. It just doesn’t make sense to me that BT is the last round you can purchase, meanwhile both PK and Skier sell 55a1 at level 4 venders.

If BT is going to be the last round that you can get from Prapor, then I would argue that it needs to be better. Not by much, but better. I would say….. 40 pen. Yeah. 40 pen would make the most sense give when the round is acquired. Of course, it would also make sense to make the round more expensive. Or hell, even after you do Punisher 4 if they made it Prapor level 4 before you can straight purchase it I would be fine with that too. I just feel as though Ak’s right now are really bad. Given that 7.62 BP is arguably the best round in the game because it’s so reliable, and the craft for it is stupid easy and cheap. I love the 5.45 Ak’s; they have awesome attachments and can be made to look really interesting. Granted, one of their major downsides, is that their suppressors don’t make the recoil the best it can be. But that’s part of the balance of the Ak’s, with their slower rate of fire on top of the naturally higher recoil than something like an HK, I just wish the ammo was better to help back up the gun itself. Because right now, the argument is that the best Ak’s are the 101, and the 103. And neither of those are 5.45. There’s the Mutant but I’m not classifying that as a traditional Ak. All the 74 variants, the 103, 104, and 105 count here. And 5.45 loses on all accounts.

It’s a shame, because as the bread-and-butter workhorse of Tarkov, the Ak’s have taken a backseat for a long time. And I would personally love to see them reclaim their heyday where most people were using Ak’s because they were fun and enjoyable. Are they completely awful and not usable? Absolutely not. Do they fall off when compare to the newer guns added? Yes. And it boils down mainly to the ammunition for them. The gun itself has seen multiple improvements to not only the base stats of the guns, but the attachments it uses as well. So, it’s not like the gun has God awful recoil. The fire rate is slow, but honestly, the first round is what matters most. That boils down the penetration, and velocity of the round. I just hope that this caliber gets some love and the minor tweaks it needs in order to compete with other guns that are currently dominating right now. Otherwise, the old reliable with be left behind with the times.