^John, totally agree with you. Both the AR and AK families have their place. And to me it's more the difference in the actual cartridge preformance and their application to the environment than it is the guns themselves. Both weapons are reliable today. IMO the 5.56 is certainly a flatter shooting, longer range, more open terrain excellent cartridge. However, it's limited in effectiveness, due to projectile weight, for applications in woody or brushy environment due to it's tendency to deflect if it hits a twig. The jungle, brushy environments is where the 7.62 excells with it's much heavier bullet weight. But both have gotten better over the years as cartridge development continues to improved.
I have, and will always have, both in my inventory, and selected one over the other as the need presents itself or I just want to shoot one for fun.
Had to laugh about your love for an old Chinese SKS! I have a 1959 battle worn Chinese T56 SKS that shoots as well today as it did the year it was made.
Think our choice of weapons is much alike!
Regards