AK-USA / Chris Butler out of Florida put together this AK for me over the Christmas holiday. It started life as a basic Arsenal/Saiga 7.62x39 carbine. He shortened the barrel and affixed a permanent brake to maintain legal length of 16 inches. Refinish of all surfaces and polish of some internals. Chris is a great guy to work with, answered all of my questions and was prompt to return calls. The rifle did take a little longer to complete than was originally quoted (2weeks vs 5weeks) but hey, it was they holidays, stuff happens.
Then gun looks great cosmetically, which I really dont care much about. Function is what I want, and it delivers. Reliable as any AK, of course. I promptly switched out the pistol grip for a rubberized Hogue - this thing makes WORLDS of difference for my big hands - and installed a MI extended AK rail up front. My original intent was to swap the stock as well, but its installed with torx screws (never seen that before on any AK I’ve owned) so I’ll have to run grab a compatible screwdriver first.
The MI rail is fairly simple to install, its the exact same as their other model that has been out for a few years, but its about 3.5 - 4 inches longer in the front. This makes a lot of difference, in my opinion, in de-cramping the standard sized AK rail. By the time a light and sling swivel are installed, hand space starts to diminish. This extended version of their handguard helps fix this. The only downside is that you have to cut off the original sling hook on the front handguard retainer. No big deal, this rail is light and handy and I wont be going back any time soon. I had a hell of a time installing the TD rail panels, they fit very snug on the handguard and I had to force them in place with a few gentle ‘taps’. Must be the rail covers, because 3 other types I installed on the gun worked just fine.
The handguard helps with ideal placement of a Surefire G2 light, easy to actuate with the left hand thumb.
Very pleased with the work done - sure its an expensive gun, for an AK, but it was only a couple hundred more than a standard Arsenal, and the lighter, shorter front end is worth it alone, I think.
I’ll report back as I continue to experiment with the weapon.
I actually had one of those AFG’s on it for a few minutes earlier, my brother bought it and never used it, so I threw it on. I see the appeal, but it didnt, in my opinion, offer much more than the standard profile handguard. It struck me as a little more difficult to ‘grab’ when putting hands on the rifle from a slung position. I may experiment with it next time I go to the range, but for now I probably wont use it.
As for optics, we’ll see. If anything, it would be a micro in one of the new low-slung cowitness mounts.
I may do the ACE sidefolder, but I’m a little hesitant to start making permanent modifications to that area of the gun…
If you go that route, FWIW I got the Stormwerkz folding adapter and I like it a lot more than the Ace folding adapter that I previously had. Namely, the hinge pin doesn’t slowly come out a bit at a time, each time you fold or unfold, the way the Ace one did. The Stormwerkz one also locks in the folded position, while the Ace doesn’t.
The hinge pin issue is just my sample size of one; I’m not sure if it’s widespread as I haven’t encountered any other Ace folders.
Good to know, thanks. I dont particularly care for the whole AR stock on an AK thing, but it has its practical advantages. We’ll see.
Right now the only stocks I have lying around are a Romy wire folder and some older polymer RPK style stock. I like the KISS/compactness of the wire folder, but damn that cold cheek/chin weld…
I really like the looks of those shorter barreled AK’s but I have one concern.
The amount of carbon buildup inside the muzzle break and around the end of the muzzle is pretty substantial on the 5.45’s I have when I take them apart to clean.
I had a perm. attached one on a AK74 back in the day that cut loose on me (weld broke) and when I welded it back on I had literally a
1/4" of baked on carbon/lead inside the brake and on the end of the muzzle.
I know its an AK but still being able to clean the weapon after say a thousand rounds on the muzzle is desirable to me.
Maybe this has no effect on anything but it is still nice to be able to take it completely apart.
Interesting…Is there a good way to get even a half assed cleaning of the muzzle through the front end? I know Chris builds a ton of these, so I would think problems would have surfaced by now, but I also wouldnt be surprised if a lot of these guns ended up as safe queens. Maybe one of our AK wizards can chime in
I like being able to take the muzzle device off for cleaning, too, but you can just hose it (…with a hose…) from the chamber end, or from the muzzle opening, or using something else (WD-40? Brake cleaner? Any pressurized spray…) through the holes of the compensator.
If it’s a quality device, it’s chrome-lined, so it shouldn’t be a big deal…
I took a dremel/bench grinder to the rear tang and installed the ACE AK Skeleton stock, and added the US Palm pistol grip. Both are rock solid additions that are comfortable and durable.
