The lever is pretty much for administrative locking back of the bolt. The BHO mags and mag followers merely hold the bolt back while inserted into the mag well after the last round had been fired by physically blocking the bolt from moving forward. Dropping the mag removed the obstruction and lets the bolt slam home. The bolt staying back on an empty round is a clue that the gun is empty though. Some guys swear by them while other swear at them.Originally Posted by cclaxton
*RS Regulate Affiliate*
I am sort of at the point of "it's an AK" and run it like an AK. If you want an AR that does AR things in a bigger caliber.....it's called 6.8 SPC. If you want an AK (which is the Gen 2 Glock of rifles in my world), get a good one, and run it. Hobby AK's with lots of stuff are like hobby AR's raped by the Tapco catalog.
Just a Hairy Special Snowflake supply clerk with no field experience, shooting an Asymetric carbine as a Try Hard. Snarky and easily butt hurt. Favorite animal is the Cape Buffalo....likely indicative of a personality disorder.
"If I had a grandpa, he would look like Delbert Belton".
I can argue both sides of this point...
On the one hand, if there really were commercial AKs available in the $500-600 range that seemed to be virtually guaranteed to run, and mags and ammo were still significantly cheaper than 5.56 from the same makers, I might bite off on that argument.
However, having spent a year, several thousand rounds, a dozen matches, and multiple classes with an AK I can say that I find it to be problematic in several ways. In my experience the sights and the trigger are the most limiting factors to accuracy, caused not by the sight picture but the method by which they adjust being a bit gross. The trigger, which some say is actually good, is hit or miss across samples and presents a pretty significant change to those used to even a stock AR trigger. The Ultimak rail and T-1 solved the sight issue for most, but I think the RS Regulate, especially in it's more refined current design, which also allows for the legacy 30mm Aimpoint to be mounted, is better. And, the impending Geissele trigger will certainly be an improvement.
Also in my experience, the stock and handguards are too short, sling mounting options are limited, the grip sucks, and magazine changes are slower. While there's really nothing to be done about that last bit, until now (or, impending) there really weren't any good solutions. I agree with the sentiment that trying to turn an AK into an AR by porting over AR parts is a no-go. But, with the impending Magpul furniture being purspose-made for the AK, I think there are some definite ergonomic improvements to be made.
So, for me, the only reason to go with a stock AK would be if I could get one <$600, know that it would run, and was willing to invest the time to truly get it sighted in and regain my familiarity with it. Since none of those things are likely to happen, my renewed interest in the gun is far more angled towards fiddle-fart than anything else. It does strike me as silly to take a $600 gun and add a $100 stock, a $100 handguard, a $200 optic mount, and a $600 optic. But, then, that gets you a $1600 AK while 6720 similarly upgraded would actually only be about $200 more. But then I'd have yet another AR, instead of something new to play with.
Rob, I actually agree with all that. I have wrote many times in the past that once we could get red dots on an AK,most of the issues were solved. Keep in mind,this is true of all modern rifles.
My point was more of things like trying to get the bolt to lock to the rear on the last shot. I have AK's in a variety of configurations that run from totally modified to near stock. I also have a couple of very cool Draco's. Of all of them, my Arsenal SAM7SF with the RS Regulate optic mount and light mount is easily my favorite and doesn't need any thing other than the optic and light mount, and a sling. I am going to try going to a micro T1 on it instead of the current Aimpoint ml3. The key to that gun, like my AUG, is they are not AR's and need to be run differently. Folks get into trying to make things work like AR's and Glocks. Things that AR's and Glocks do well may not be things your systems do well. Learn (which takes that "work" thing) to run what you have efficiently and cleanly and don't worry if that is different than what someone is doing on a video with an AR.
Just a Hairy Special Snowflake supply clerk with no field experience, shooting an Asymetric carbine as a Try Hard
"If I had a grandpa, he would look like Delbert Belton".
Definitely agree re: modifying the operating system to mimic some other platform. It's actually part of the reason I'm against all this "ambi" crap for the AR.
Part of the fun, if one is interested in fun with guns, is learning the different operation and tweaking methods of running the gun. For example, the popular "bash the mag" technique of changing mags on the AK was something I found I could do reliably and quickly when I was shooting that gun exclusively, but was a skill that deteriorated quickly when I wasn't shooting the AK. Therefore I changed to, and advocate, removing the empty mag with the weak hand first, then retrieving and inserting the fresh mag. Similarly, I found that rolling the gun inboard to run the bolt when wearing gloves was a non-issue but that when not wearing gloves the rear sight would cut up my hand, so I started rolling the gun outboard, which also turns out to present the magwell to my weak side to insert the fresh mag. Coming up with those techniques, and then passing them on to others, was what made shooting the AK fun for me.
Well, that and beating AR shooters at things like the Mod Navy Qual in an EAG class, or in a local two-gun match!
AK Mags that lock the bolt back on an empty magazine. Pics.
More pics https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/1...72174239070337
Works well. Note the one mag picture shows the follow doesn't have the flush backstop.
I had some problems with really dirty mags. Cleaned and painted them.
The gun seems to be sensitive to the magazine "nose width" at the front of the mag where you first place the mag into the gun. I had to take the dremel to one mag to get it so it wasn't so tight. The other mags work great.
That a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state;
They don't lock the bolt back, they hold the bolt back.
Ok, fair enough.
Operationally, when you remove the mag, you have to manually rack the bolt anyway.
I have to say running an AK is quite different than an AR.
Cody
That a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state;
Which, as I mentioned above, is half the fun, and buyers/owners really shouldn't attempt to make one operate like the other.
Like most things, many AR owners buy an AK and then set about looking for ways to geek it up to make it look/behave like an AR, trying to substitute cash/fiddle-fuck for skill/experience. This is a recipe for failure and is an excercise in stupid. Sooner or later these people either (a) realize their folly and start to appreciate the gun for what it is, and isn't, or (b) fail.
This is the beauty, to me, of the new Magpul parts that are coming out. They don't try to make the AK not an AK, they simply enhance what the AK is for modern American techniques and body sizes.
As your now realizing, one mags you bought accomplish nothing.
The "top tier" guys in Russia have done a remarkable job trying to M4 the AK out.
At this point, I think National Pride is the only thing keeping them from just using M4's, and I wonder why anyone else bothers to use the AK, barring "It's what we have" and "It's for my fun".
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