There is a article about it in tactical-life but doesn’t tell much…I was wondering if anyone had more info on it.
Just from what I can see in the article and their site, I am not impressed.
If you want a quality AK, go through Rifle Dynamics or Red Jacket. Krebs is also a great choice if you want to go rail crazy like the one shown.
Honestly, there’s little wrong with the AK hardware. It’s just a change in software that’s needed. The biggest weakness of the AK (optic options) is over, between mounts like ultimak and hinged, railed covers like what TWS is putting out.
They actually look pretty decent to me. I’m a big fan of a simple Ultimak setup but if I was looking for a full blown custom build I might give them a try. It looks like they offer Cerakote, it might be nice to have an outfit that specializes in AKs do a Cerakote job on an AK.
hacks
I bought the print magazine with the article in it (because I have an article in the same issue 
) and my first thought when I turned to it was “WTF is this abortion?” I am by no means an AK purist, but there reaches a point where I don’t understand why someone wouldn’t just buy an AR.
Interesting. Rail is excessive and probably heavier than it needs to be. A 4 sided rail would have been better IMHO.
I am more of an AK-purist, to copy Rob’s vernacular, however I kind of like these builds because of how extensively modified they are. They do not wreak of the usual Crapco modifications that are so typical these days. Of course, I am sure the pricing would turn me off; the price list for their shop services sure did.
Cheers
I’m not an AK purist exactly, but I’d rather keep the functionality similar to the original so my training and practice readily applies to any AK.
I can see the use for a few rails, but this one is excessive.
Not really feeling the love on these…
good lord :rolleyes:
Their site has me convinced that Operators should choose these AKs…
I think many of you are overlooking the utility of having a rail that can double as a sundial in a pinch.
All that bling, and I still don’t see a way to easily manipulate the safety while maintaining a firing grip.
Looks like somebody jammed a pineapple over the barrel. Six damn rails! Maybe that’s where you attach your telephone switchboard. You know, for when you’re operating.
retracted.
Admittedly, that last pic does make them look pretty damn ridiculous.
Cheers
So, not being especially familiar with handling AKs, which of these mods are bad ideas? Left-side charging handle seems like a pretty good one, as does their mag-release mod. The magwell looks useful (never reloaded an AK except from a bench). The diagonal rails look like they can be removed, which would shed a little weight.
-B
Left side charging handles are useful. They preclude the use of side mount optics though, and usually get in the way of buttstocks that fold to the left.
The notched selector lever is a great idea. Adding an extended tab to the selector is also very nice, since it lets a right handed shooter toggle the safety with their trigger finger.
Magwell: hopefully a harmless mod, but could be bad. AK mags are rock’n’lock. They don’t slide straight in. Any kind of magwell would need to permit the rocking motion, unless they made the gun require custom modified mags (which would be pretty stupid for anything outside of a race gun).
Extended mag release: usually a good thing, but their design precludes the ability to knock the old mag free by whacking the lever with a fresh mag. Then again, if this is meant to be a race gun that takes modified magazines then the knock-old-mag-free-with-fresh-mag maneuver wouldn’t work anyway.
The value of the AK over the AR is cost. If the cost of your AK exceeds the cost of the AR, the value is gone.
No matter where they put the charging handle, how wide they make the funnel, or how big they make the magazine latch, it’s going to be slower to reload than an AR.
We have a guy that shoots with us that constantly rants about the superiority of the AK over the AR. But he shoots the thing in 5.56, and he’s had more malfunctions with his AKs alone than all of the AR shooters combined in 6+ years of matches. :no:
A bit overdone, IMO… but form follows function.
It you lose none of the reliability or durability of a quality stock AK, then maybe someone will have a use for it.