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Jay Cunningham
09-08-2011, 09:26 PM
My current recommendations for a winning Kalashnikov setup:



AK-102/104/105 clone configuration (12.5" barrel, polymer furniture to include polymer folding stock, unitary FSB/gas block)

UltiMak gas tube replacement

Aimpoint T-1 Micro

MagPul RSA sling adapter

Vickers Combat Applications Sling w/ MASH hook

US Palm pistol grip

Krebs Custom enhanced safety lever

Manticore flash hider (only *if* the gun is gassed enough without the muzzle booster)

VLTOR SM-OCG Scout Mount w/ SureFire G2L Nitrolon


The RS AKM mount for an Aimpoint is nice if you don't want to go the forward-mounted optic route. A Gemtech HALO suppressor with an VLTOR adapter is also an option. I normally do not ever recommend the use of a "recoil buffer", but in the case of a suppressed AK I do recommend a Power Custom or Buffer Technologies buffer to cushion the rear of the receiver (overgassed gun can cause the bolt carrier group to smack it) and to help prevent gas from exiting out the rear hole in the top cover.

Josh Runkle
09-08-2011, 10:33 PM
My current recommendations for a winning Kalashnikov setup:



AK-102/104/105 clone configuration (12.5" barrel, polymer furniture to include polymer folding stock, unitary FSB/gas block)

UltiMak gas tube replacement

Aimpoint T-1 Micro

MagPul RSA sling adapter

Vickers Combat Applications Sling w/ MASH hook

US Palm pistol grip

Krebs Custom enhanced safety lever

Manticore flash hider (only *if* the gun is gassed enough without the muzzle booster)

VLTOR SM-OCG Scout Mount w/ SureFire G2L Nitrolon


The RS AKM mount for an Aimpoint is nice if you don't want to go the forward-mounted optic route. A Gemtech HALO suppressor with an VLTOR adapter is also an option. I normally do not ever recommend the use of a "recoil buffer", but in the case of a suppressed AK I do recommend a Power Custom or Buffer Technologies buffer to cushion the rear of the receiver (overgassed gun can cause the bolt carrier group to smack it) and to help prevent gas from exiting out the rear hole in the top cover.

PICS!

LittleLebowski
09-09-2011, 11:33 AM
How about for non SBR rifles?

Dagga Boy
09-09-2011, 05:06 PM
I really like the US Palm/MI forend with the integrated Aimpoint micro mount as well.

Jay Cunningham
09-09-2011, 05:40 PM
How about for non SBR rifles?

Same thing. Replace the brake/comp with the FH because it doesn't really do much when you're not unloading a full-auto string. Obviously this is for FSB's with the 24mm RH thread.

Jay Cunningham
09-09-2011, 05:41 PM
I really like the US Palm/MI forend with the integrated Aimpoint micro mount as well.

Had a couple this weekend that were the original style and the benefits of the recessed area that allows a lower sitting optic made themselves pretty obvious.

Odin Bravo One
09-09-2011, 08:03 PM
I built mine around an SLG21, with the US Palm rail and AimP T-1. I am currently having Rifle Dynamics do their front sight location swap, and open the rear sight a bit to make it a little easier to pick up the irons for rapid target engagement. It also allow me to use a standard screw driver for sight adjustments instead of trying to figure out which AK sight pusher I need to use. There are so many variations of front sights on AK's I think I am up to 5 different sight pushers. The best being Russian, but only works on the Soviet made AKM. I have been pretty underwhelmed with most of the domestic offerings of sight tools. I use the SLG OEM grip, but hit it with a soldering iron for stippling and good anti-slip texture.

I added the Krebs selector, and used a side folding stock, as that is similar to my work AK. A stubby VFG, scout light on a offset mount, and a VTAC sling round out the set up. My FH is really just a thread protector as I tend to run suppressed when possible, feasible,and practical. But the only .30 cal suppressor I have is a direct thread on. A quick dab of loc-tite will keep the FH in place for most shooting except high volume. I don't use a buffer, but instead use an epoxy treatment on the recoil spring guide to take care of the gases trying escape through the top cover rear slot.

While I certainly would not describe the AK in the same manner as some who believe it to be a divine gift from the Gods, it is definitely a "good enough" rifle and will handle a wide variety of requirements and situations. Quality counts when it comes to the AK. Again, there is an almost cult admiration of the AK and it's mythical reliability as compared to other military type rifles. Certainly it is the most copied assault rifle in the world, but the good majority of the copies are 3rd world crap, and the reliability is garbage. I'd go so far as to say that "most" AK's are terribly unreliable. Poor quality control, low rent magazines, awful parts quality, terrible metallurgy all lead to weak sauce rifles. Fortunately most of those never make it to the US market, which helps perpetuate the legend of the unbreakable, infallible AK47. But if you clean it once in awhile, use quality mags, decent ammo, and put a drop of lube or two on it every so often, most domestic examples will run great for a good long time.

LittleLebowski
09-09-2011, 08:28 PM
Great thread guys, food for thought. Looking at folding stocks for my AK.

agent-smith
09-09-2011, 11:03 PM
Great thread guys, food for thought. Looking at folding stocks for my AK.

For an AK folding stock, go with an ACE - specifically, with the internal receiver block. It requires cutting off the tang (not a big deal) but the "external" receiver blocks are just half-assed and look like shit. I think your brother shot my AK with the ACE stock, but I can't remember for sure.

DocGKR
09-10-2011, 02:39 AM
21st Century Kalashnikov = AR15 in .300 BLK...

Jay Cunningham
09-10-2011, 07:20 AM
I built mine around an SLG21, with the US Palm rail and AimP T-1. I am currently having Rifle Dynamics do their front sight location swap, and open the rear sight a bit to make it a little easier to pick up the irons for rapid target engagement. It also allow me to use a standard screw driver for sight adjustments instead of trying to figure out which AK sight pusher I need to use. There are so many variations of front sights on AK's I think I am up to 5 different sight pushers. The best being Russian, but only works on the Soviet made AKM. I have been pretty underwhelmed with most of the domestic offerings of sight tools. I use the SLG OEM grip, but hit it with a soldering iron for stippling and good anti-slip texture.

I also like the Rifle Dynamics rear iron sight. There is a company out there that makes a pretty heavy-duty AK sight tool (Magna-Matic) but I need to find an alternate method/tool to adjust the front on my 102 & 105 clones (I use the B-West tool for those).

I added the Krebs selector, and used a side folding stock, as that is similar to my work AK. A stubby VFG, scout light on a offset mount, and a VTAC sling round out the set up. My FH is really just a thread protector as I tend to run suppressed when possible, feasible,and practical. But the only .30 cal suppressor I have is a direct thread on. A quick dab of loc-tite will keep the FH in place for most shooting except high volume. I don't use a buffer, but instead use an epoxy treatment on the recoil spring guide to take care of the gases trying escape through the top cover rear slot.

A stubby VFG is the way to go, especially with 7.62x39 as longer VFGs may interfere with a mag change.

While I certainly would not describe the AK in the same manner as some who believe it to be a divine gift from the Gods, it is definitely a "good enough" rifle and will handle a wide variety of requirements and situations. Quality counts when it comes to the AK. Again, there is an almost cult admiration of the AK and it's mythical reliability as compared to other military type rifles. Certainly it is the most copied assault rifle in the world, but the good majority of the copies are 3rd world crap, and the reliability is garbage. I'd go so far as to say that "most" AK's are terribly unreliable. Poor quality control, low rent magazines, awful parts quality, terrible metallurgy all lead to weak sauce rifles. Fortunately most of those never make it to the US market, which helps perpetuate the legend of the unbreakable, infallible AK47. But if you clean it once in awhile, use quality mags, decent ammo, and put a drop of lube or two on it every so often, most domestic examples will run great for a good long time.

I agree that the AK will get the job done quite well with a trained shooter - I also agree that unless your AK was built in a former Com-Bloc country or here in the USA by one of a *handful* of qualified builders, there's a good chance that it is substandard. Without a doubt I've seen more AKs malfunction in various coursework than ARs. Stick with Com-Bloc magazines (jury's still out on the US Palm mags) and lube the rails and bolt and things should go well.

Jay Cunningham
09-10-2011, 07:22 AM
21st Century Kalashnikov = AR15 in .300 BLK...

Well, if we're going to go that route, I'd have to argue than the FN SCAR in .300 BLK is more truly akin to a 21st Century Kalashnikov... but alas we digress...

:o

agent-smith
09-10-2011, 08:06 AM
FN SCAR in .300 BLK...

Giggity.

LeeC
02-08-2012, 07:07 AM
I just ordered an Arsenal SGL21 (http://www.arsenalinc.com/usa/product.php?productid=1&cat=8&page=1) for my all-around, general-purpose SHTF long gun for under 200 yards. Have enjoyed plinking with my 9mm Beretta CX4 Storm, but wanted something in a rifle caliber and the low cost of 7.62x39 ammo was a big factor for my selecting an AK over an AR. I expect to run through thousands of rounds while learning. From what I've read, Arsenal is one of those handful of reliable US assemblers, but time will tell.

Anyone have a rifle forum to recommend for a new AK47 owner? For the time being, I'm less interested in tricking out my gun to the max and more interested in guidance on fundamentals, training drills, etc. Is it safe to assume that the fundamentals for developing skills with a semiauto carbine are more similar than they are different?

I found TOrrock's thread (http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=934) on AK's at m4carbine.net to be helpful. And DocGKR's comment (http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=19881) about the value of training over gear weighed in favor of the cheaper AK ammo for me.
I would much rather go into battle with a guy who practices 15,000 rounds a year using generic 55 gr FMJ out of his old M16A1 than with some guy that has the latest state-of-the-art ammo and rifle, but only shoots 500 rounds a year.

Thoughts?

Jay Cunningham
02-08-2012, 07:26 AM
I would stick to the Long Guns section here. The signal/noise is huge. There are several guys who have a lot of experience behind an AK here.

LHS
02-08-2012, 11:34 AM
Jay, do you have any time behind the MI rear sight T1 mount (http://www.midwestindustriesinc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=421)? I know they had some teething problems at first, but the second gen ones seemed to have that fixed. Unfortunately, I haven't seen hide nor hair of them since the new front mounts came out.

Jay Cunningham
02-08-2012, 12:24 PM
No, but I am interested in them and I'd like to evaluate one.

LeeC
02-09-2012, 07:48 PM
I would stick to the Long Guns section here. The signal/noise is huge. There are several guys who have a lot of experience behind an AK here.

Thanks Jay, I'll check it out.

Lot2Learn
04-12-2012, 07:29 PM
Does anyone have any experience with or reccomendations for the Arsenal SLR107-21 as a serious fighting rifle?

Long tom coffin
04-25-2012, 03:52 PM
I agree that the AK will get the job done quite well with a trained shooter - I also agree that unless your AK was built in a former Com-Bloc country or here in the USA by one of a *handful* of qualified builders, there's a good chance that it is substandard. Without a doubt I've seen more AKs malfunction in various coursework than ARs. Stick with Com-Bloc magazines (jury's still out on the US Palm mags) and lube the rails and bolt and things should go well.

Jay-

Could you offer any advice on which models from which countries or manufacturers are acceptable. I've been hearing a lot of good things about Arsenal's AK's, but I've also heard some negative things about some of the current models coming out of some ComBloc countries. I'm pretty inexperienced with AK's at this point, since I'm still in the process of educating myself on them, so I'm having trouble separating actual fact from internet "fact".

BWT
04-25-2012, 07:36 PM
I know I wasn't asked. But if you want it in a immediately available, reasonably priced, and quality, Arsenal.

And yes, I know they can have bad experiences, but, I think they're good enough to still give my business, I'd suggest that you give them yours.

They're not perfect, but they're the best out there for the money, IMHO.

Jay Cunningham
04-25-2012, 09:00 PM
Jay-

Could you offer any advice on which models from which countries or manufacturers are acceptable. I've been hearing a lot of good things about Arsenal's AK's, but I've also heard some negative things about some of the current models coming out of some ComBloc countries. I'm pretty inexperienced with AK's at this point, since I'm still in the process of educating myself on them, so I'm having trouble separating actual fact from internet "fact".


The answer to this seemingly simple question is ginormous, due to the number of nations which produced a semi-auto AK which was imported to the US and the huge number of "manufacturers" who slapped together AKs here. I'll try to give as concise yet informative answer as I can...


The AKs largely assembled in the following countries are usually GTG:

Bulgaria

People's Republic of China

Egypt (with the exception of the MISR)

Hungary

Poland

Romania (with the exception of poorly converted WASRs and somewhat oddball SAR-3 rifles)

Russia

Yugoslavia



Arsenal, Inc. guns are based on Bulgarian technology; they sell US assembled Bulgarian guns and also US guns made on Bulgarian tooling. They also sell properly converted Russian guns, but who knows how long that will last. Arsenal had a wave of QC problems a few years back but seem to have largely recovered from it.

There's a huge list of builders and a lot of them make pretty shoddy guns.

Krebs Custom, InRange, Piece of History Firearms, Investment Grade Firearms, AK-USA all put out good guns. Some guys swear by Rifle Dynamics, but I can't figure out what they do that's so special (they build real "fighting" guns, apparently). Many people avoid Century guns, but mainly they're importers. Most of the time they convert the low-cap guns okay. The SAR rifles were great because they were pretty much Romanian military guns... the WASRs not so much. Run away from anything that says Vulcan/Hesse or B-WEST (if it's a B-WEST receiver, not simply a gun they imported). Ohio Ordnance Receivers were the only game in town for a while for US builds, but those receivers were pretty crappy and had to be properly heat-treated after the fact to make them work out okay. The NoDakSpud receiver guns are the way to go, but of course it all depends on who built it.

Long tom coffin
04-25-2012, 10:00 PM
The answer to this seemingly simple question is ginormous, due to the number of nations which produced a semi-auto AK which was imported to the US and the huge number of "manufacturers" who slapped together AKs here. I'll try to give as concise yet informative answer as I can...


The AKs largely assembled in the following countries are usually GTG:

Bulgaria

People's Republic of China

Egypt (with the exception of the MISR)

Hungary

Poland

Romania (with the exception of poorly converted WASRs and somewhat oddball SAR-3 rifles)

Russia

Yugoslavia



Arsenal, Inc. guns are based on Bulgarian technology; they sell US assembled Bulgarian guns and also US guns made on Bulgarian tooling. They also sell properly converted Russian guns, but who knows how long that will last. Arsenal had a wave of QC problems a few years back but seem to have largely recovered from it.

There's a huge list of builders and a lot of them make pretty shoddy guns.

Krebs Custom, InRange, Piece of History Firearms, Investment Grade Firearms, AK-USA all put out good guns. Some guys swear by Rifle Dynamics, but I can't figure out what they do that's so special (they build real "fighting" guns, apparently). Many people avoid Century guns, but mainly they're importers. Most of the time they convert the low-cap guns okay. The SAR rifles were great because they were pretty much Romanian military guns... the WASRs not so much. Run away from anything that says Vulcan/Hesse or B-WEST (if it's a B-WEST receiver, not simply a gun they imported). Ohio Ordnance Receivers were the only game in town for a while for US builds, but those receivers were pretty crappy and had to be properly heat-treated after the fact to make them work out okay. The NoDakSpud receiver guns are the way to go, but of course it all depends on who built it.



Read and understood. Thank you for the enormously helpful response, this was great. There seem to be alot of WASR's floating around the STL area, usually with a $300-$400 price range. I've always heard that they were garbage, though, so it's good that you could confirm that.

Jay Cunningham
04-25-2012, 10:03 PM
WASRs can be great guns, but you need to know what to look for. If they run then they run. They'll always look rough, but can be very serviceable guns.

Long tom coffin
04-26-2012, 06:24 PM
WASRs can be great guns, but you need to know what to look for. If they run then they run. They'll always look rough, but can be very serviceable guns.

I understand that, and I have seen descriptions of the BOLO's that might signal a bad WASR. It's also my understanding that the only final and true way to truly find out whether a WASR is good or not is to actually fire it, or at least to further mitigate the possibility that you are buying junk. But rare is the store that will let you "shoot before you buy", so I was looking at something further up the ladder. I don't mind spending a little more dough to avoid headaches.

VolGrad
04-26-2012, 06:57 PM
I've wanted an AK for a while but just never can seem to find the right one at the right time. I have always felt I didn't know enough to make an informed decision. Jay you know this as I've sent you a couple of messages in the past.

My dad (NOT a gun guy) recently ran across an amazing MAK90 Sporter for $400. He didn't even know what he had. I freakin' love it and have tried to talk him out of it to no avail. I hate the thumb hole stock but it's a nice little gun. All the ones I find for sale locally are in the $650-800 range. ABSURD.

Long tom coffin
04-26-2012, 07:03 PM
I've wanted an AK for a while but just never can seem to find the right one at the right time. I have always felt I didn't know enough to make an informed decision. Jay you know this as I've sent you a couple of messages in the past.

My dad (NOT a gun guy) recently ran across an amazing MAK90 Sporter for $400. He didn't even know what he had. I freakin' love it and have tried to talk him out of it to no avail. I hate the thumb hole stock but it's a nice little gun. All the ones I find for sale locally are in the $650-800 range. ABSURD.

HAHAHA! Trying to talk your old man out of his sweet deal. For shame, Vol, for shame :cool:

VolGrad
04-26-2012, 07:57 PM
HAHAHA! Trying to talk your old man out of his sweet deal. For shame, Vol, for shame :cool:

He wouldn't have even known it was a deal if I hadn't told him. :p

Besides, I just purchased a rifle for him as a surprise birthday gift.

jmjames
04-26-2012, 08:20 PM
I've wanted an AK for a while but just never can seem to find the right one at the right time. I have always felt I didn't know enough to make an informed decision. Jay you know this as I've sent you a couple of messages in the past.

My dad (NOT a gun guy) recently ran across an amazing MAK90 Sporter for $400. He didn't even know what he had. I freakin' love it and have tried to talk him out of it to no avail. I hate the thumb hole stock but it's a nice little gun. All the ones I find for sale locally are in the $650-800 range. ABSURD.

That's a very good deal for MAK90's. Changing out the thumbhole stock is a cinch. You'll need to check your parts count for compliance of course... but a US-made magazine and US-made furniture will do the trick quite nicely. :)

J.Ja

jmjames
04-26-2012, 08:25 PM
In terms of "good AKs", I think that even among the "good" makers (other than the US makers), it is still kind of hit or miss. When I was buying my Saiga 12, one of the things I learned is that how many gas ports and what size they are seems to be based on how much the factory workers had to drink the night before (or earlier in the day on lunch break). And that's coming from Izhmash, which is the "legendary" factory for these things, and the Saigas are generally well regarded (a lot of quality folks are basing their builds off of Saigas, it seems like). I had a PSL/FPK from Tennessee Guns (regarded as the far superior of the two bringing 'em in, the other being Century), built on a NoDak Spud receiver. All the same, the bore of mine had some rust pitting in it, not cool for a gun that cost $900. It also liked to FTF, though that was the magazine, not the gun. All the same, the maker should have been more selective about the magazine sent out since it was clear that it was hanging the rimmed cases up.

J.Ja

Jay Cunningham
09-19-2014, 09:39 AM
I wanted to reboot this thread in light of some new hardware that's come online in the last two years.

:cool:

Jay Cunningham
09-19-2014, 09:43 AM
Troy introduced a version of a forend rail:

https://troyind.com/sites/troyind.com/files/styles/large/public/1132.jpg?itok=n1jZTi-m


MagPul did a grip and magazines:

http://store.magpul.com/images/uploads/223_1353_popup.jpg

joshs
09-19-2014, 09:44 AM
I wanted to reboot this thread in light of some new hardware that's come online in the last two years.

:cool:

Have you used the RS Regulate mounts? If so, how do you like them compared to the Ultimak?

Jay Cunningham
09-19-2014, 09:46 AM
I've use the original RS mount, not the latest version. I think they're really well done, though I personally would have liked to see the original style mounts combined with the new style locking lever. I understand why he did it the way he did it, though.

Jay Cunningham
09-19-2014, 09:46 AM
RS Regulate mount:

http://lh6.ggpht.com/-njKyihY_Jso/UYhB8_p-KMI/AAAAAAAAAH0/Cxr5oVCPqHA/s640/AKML%252520302%2525202.jpg

Jay Cunningham
09-19-2014, 09:49 AM
Krebs Custom has an extremely impressive looking KM forend:

http://www.krebscustom.com/mediacenter/products/large/robski1.jpg

I have no personal experience with it.

Jay Cunningham
09-19-2014, 09:53 AM
Texas Weapon Systems has a railed dustcover replacement and an interesting fore end:

http://www.texasweaponsystems.com/v/vspfiles/assets/images/Handguard/Main%20Image%202.png

Jay Cunningham
09-19-2014, 10:01 AM
Parabellum Armament has some interesting stuff:

http://www.parabellumarmament.com/IMAGES/prodbillboard_RCS.jpg

Jay Cunningham
09-19-2014, 10:09 AM
For those willing to take the plunge, Definitive Arms does a full 5.56mm AR mag conversion with release and BHO:

http://1001.nccdn.net//000/000/0df/2ae/23350_1387920117_30_23350.jpg

http://1001.nccdn.net//000/000/0ad/80b/11796_1377822037_207_11796.JPG

LOKNLOD
09-19-2014, 12:18 PM
Thanks for bumping this Jay. I've got an SLR107CR that doesn't get nearly enough lovin'. Once upon a time I had intended to SBR it but am not convinced there is enough juice in that squeeze to justify the cost/effort. I really would like a functional muzzle device on it, though. And it would really benefit from better sights or the ubiquitous T1/H1 setup. It appears there are more options for getting that done now days than back when I was looking.

My experience with the AK/SKS family has always been that they sure do seem to heat up fast. What are your thoughts on these metal handguards? Are they effective in disappating heat or just a way to burn my whole palm instead of my fingers only?

Jay Cunningham
09-19-2014, 12:46 PM
Thanks for bumping this Jay. I've got an SLR107CR that doesn't get nearly enough lovin'. Once upon a time I had intended to SBR it but am not convinced there is enough juice in that squeeze to justify the cost/effort. I really would like a functional muzzle device on it, though. And it would really benefit from better sights or the ubiquitous T1/H1 setup. It appears there are more options for getting that done now days than back when I was looking.

My experience with the AK/SKS family has always been that they sure do seem to heat up fast. What are your thoughts on these metal handguards? Are they effective in disappating heat or just a way to burn my whole palm instead of my fingers only?

I don't have any first-hand experience with these new handguards.

Doug
09-20-2014, 12:18 PM
My experience with the AK/SKS family has always been that they sure do seem to heat up fast. What are your thoughts on these metal handguards? Are they effective in disappating heat or just a way to burn my whole palm instead of my fingers only?

AK Heat

The same goes for the heat from the ultimak gas tube/hand guard replacement. Touch that bare handed and you won't again ;)

If Manta Rails would develop a picatanny rail cover for the Ultimak which extended 90 degrees down both sides of their part, I would buy in a heart beat. This company makes a supressor cover so whatever magic material they are using apply it to heat reduction on an AK.

Here is a video of full auto m4, 7 mags dumped full auto, Cold Miser beats Heat Miser on temperature!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4ksR13jDyU

Jay Cunningham
07-24-2015, 12:08 AM
Has anyone gotten a chance to play with the MagPul Zhukov handguards?

MSparks909
07-24-2015, 01:06 AM
Has anyone gotten a chance to play with the MagPul Zhukov handguards?

Currently have the Zhukov handguards on one of my WASRs and my SAM7R. I like the added rail length compared to the factory AK handguards. The only caveat I have with these handguards is that they transfer more heat to your hands than the factory handguards do. After about 60 rounds at a decent cadence I start wanting gloves. Other than that no complaints. Will be ordering 2 more for my SLR 107 and 104.