I’ve been quietly studying up on the AK type rifle for the past year or so with the intent of learning how to use one of the most popular rifles ever produced. To me, it seems like handy information & skill-set to have. Problem being, none of my local friends have AK type rifles… I’ve handled them at numerous gun shows, but never had the opportunity to fire one. I had however decided I wanted the original caliber.
A couple months back, Aim Surplus had what I thought was a good price on crates of surplus, brass cased Yugoslavian 7.62x39 ammo. So I bought a couple and a big box of “European” magazines apparently pattered after the no-rib Chinese type. Yes, I bought ammo & magazines before I decided on the rifle.
As for the rifle, I started with an Arsenal SGL21-94 from K-Var Corp. It’s a Russian made stamped receiver with an original folding stock.
I wanted an optic mount, QD sling point & a light mount up front but didn’t want a fully railed hand guard/gas tube so I used an Ultimak M1-B mount with the standard lower hand guard.
*{The Wilson 10/2 will NOT fit the Ultimak unless both are modified. The 10/2 was milled to clear the Ultimak and the Ultimak was milled to clear the QD swivel which will now stick through the 10/2. Very do-able, but not for the faint of heart.}
The only other modifications made are the excellent US Palm pistol grip, Krebs Custom trigger pin retaining plate and MK-VI enhanced AK selector lever(*Note my SGL21-94 uses the MK-VI instead of the MK-VI-S). I’m also using a Blue Force Gear VCAS padded sling.
I know I’ve probably made some purists sick to their stomachs, but I’m not a collector. If it’s in my safe, I want it to be as useful as possible. So far, only a few magazines through her but it runs great and seems like I made good choices so far. I welcome any comments, criticisms or tips on running an AK. Be specific, I’m new to this system.
Do you think that advice holds in this case? He really hasn’t done anything to adjust the manual of arms very drastically. Had he gone with a side charging handle, extended magazine, ambi-safety, etc. I’d be inclined to agree with you, but the only deviation I see here is the extended safety lever but that’s not something insurmountable if he were to pick up a stock gun.
I agree to a point, but if his is like mine you can make out the irons through the T-1, and turn the T-1 off. Not exactly 1:1 with “stock” but a reasonable facsimile.
I also find, from my own use, changing sighting systems to be less of an issue than the operation of the gun. For example, when I did my AK experiment in '08 I found learning the controls far more of a challenge than the iron sights that I started off with.
Thanks for the post. I just bought an Arsenal and was thinking about doing these mods. Now I don’t have to find the links myself. I think the only thing I will do differently is the sling set-up, and will probably just opt to install the BFG wire loop.
Good advice. I just added an RSA last month and am using an HK hook because it’s what I had handy, but now that I like the setup I’m going to use a MASH as I think it’s more secure in the long run.
The only thing I don’t like is the extended safety lever - and not for the reason you might think. I think they are 100% awesome except the ones with a hold open notch. I don’t like the idea of adding a huge hole to allow a lot of debris inside the gun in the area of the fire control components. It is an invention to satisfy range nazi’s- I just leave mine action closed and tell them to check it themselves if they don’t believe me. Once they see I know what I am doing they usually leave me alone.
I simply cannot convince myself that 1K for an AK is reasonable.
I remember when, not too long ago, the best sub-$800 AR was an AK.
Now, AKs cost more than base quality ARs.
WTF?
Anyway, back to the thread, nice AK.
It’s what I would do to an AK if I had (have) one again.
i can remember a Chinese ak with the 1.6 mm sheet metal stamped receiver (most AK’s including yours are stamped from the 1 mm thick metal) was going for $250 B.C. (before Clinton). And this was in Californian. California legislature refuses to let the AW ban expire, so we have all the stupid “evil features” laws like: No mags greater then 10 rounds! No “flash suppresor”, no folders (overall length greater then 30").
I bought TWO Century arms WASR Romy AKs. 1 single stack (to be converted to DS later) for $480 OTD and one Double stack WASR ($595 OTD - 10% tax here, and the DROS fee). I refinished them both with Alumahyde II from brownells (i did not air dry, i baked at 200 degrees for 5 hours) and redid the wood with Formby’s tung oil. I am very happy with them and anticipate they will be going for $700- 800 in 5 years.
I can’t really criticize if you got what you want except for 2 things i don’t think i’d do myself
1- $1100 for a stamped AK - too much! At that price i’d have gotten a milled receiver AK at least…
2 - you live in a state that allows folding stocks, lucky you - but then there is that huge muzzle brake installed. If it works and you like it, that’s great, but why get a folder then ADD to its length?
Do i have tips in my finite wisdom, yeah, firstly at some point you will possibly want to detail strip the fire group if only to clean, replace parts or refinish. The pins for the hammer and trigger are held in by that worthless bent “shephards crook” and easy to take out, but not easy to put back in! So buy the Shephards crook replacement plate, a lot of people make them and they are cheap - $5 -10 if you google “AK 47 shepherds crook replacement”
My advice is avoid polymer mags and use only steel mags! unless they have steel reinforcement at the latching points they might wear out too fast!.My new Double stack WASR came with one - 10 round polymer Tapco mag. Utter P.O.S. this mag - i went shooting yesterday and put maybe 40 rounds through this mag, the front part is not steel reinforced and already it is wearing out! Fortunately steel commie surplus mags are cheap and work very well, (being in California i can only get blocked 10/30’s or 10 round steel)
If it did not come with the in-stock cleaning kit, and you decide you want one, caveat emptor and do not buy the first and cheapest one you find on the web! i spent $10 for the cleaning kit from somebody, if i remember who i’d call them out but i forgot who i got it from - and it came with everything, except the brush and swab attachment are NOT THREADED INSIDE! WTF! So i got a cleaning rod for both my AK’s and a useless cleaning kit that has the brushes that won’t screw onto the rod. I just use my regular cleaning rod but i did get burned on the buttstock cleaning kit.
If you buy Eastern Europe “surplus” AK stuff most of it is pretty good, looks right, not too expensive, and works how it is supposed to.
AVOID CORROSIVE AMMO unless you plan to clean the gun 5 minutes after you shoot it, and again the next day or else wind up with a rusty mess of a rifle!
This probably does not apply to you or maybe it does, someday you may want to remove your buttstock. Google it and they tell you pry out the buttstock with a screwdriver. Hah ahahah! that NEVER works, on a wooden buttstock you will break at least one screwdriver before giving up and deciding it is impossible - most of them are in there tighter then a cork in a champagne bottle and a BEEYATCH to get out! But - someone on another forum told me how you get the buttstock out:
Clear the weapon, field strip and remove the bolt etc. Remove the two buttstock screws. Then grab the rifle by the barrel like a baseball bat, and whack the end of the buttstock as hard as you can on a soft surface (i used my bed). It might take you many tries, but keep bashing the buttstock, rotating the weapon as you do so you hit on all four sides, top and bottom being most important. Examine the gap between the wood and the receiver, the wider the gap grows means it is about to come out. The stockmay come loose after 3 or 4 smacks (that’s what happened with my new double stack) or it may be so tight it is going to take 20 - 30 smacks, but the butt stock will come loose!
Nice looking ak. i have just recently started toying with the idea of working up an ak. you have done well my friend. i will follow in your footsteps in the near future.
Not much I’d change there, you did good with the items and brands you selected. I’ve never seen someone attach a sling mount on an Ultimak top rail yet though. I hope the rail stays tight. This weekend at an AK class I saw one student lose his lower Ultimak handguard and another’s optic came loose on a MI/US Palm optic-specific upper handguard… No Loctite on the screws. Proper installation of your accessories is key.
As far as corrosive ammo, that’s where Ballistol comes in. I think most of the fear of shooting and cleaning up after corrosive ammo comes from the horror stories of how hard it was to clean up their rusty rifles after they waited too long. Think of it this way: Wiping up spilled paint on a floor is easy; If you let that paint dry first, you’ll have a lot more work cut out for you.
I think it’s a supply and demand issue. AR’s are so plentyful and they have the manufacturing process down to a science.
The AK’s are more hit or miss and require hands on fitting and modifications. Not to mention the fact that the dollar is worth about 30% less than it did 3-4yrs ago and most of these AK’s/parts are purchased through converted funds. The AR’s are a made in the USA and we don’t have to go take the hit as much since we’re not converting on the international market.
