postban
aka Johnny Rifleseed, spreading gunliness
Owned many varieties of this weapons platform. Chinese, Russian, Romanian, Egyptian, Polish, and even US made. All have been semi auto versions of the selectfire military ones. Every pic below is guns I have owned or own now.
They use different internal parts than the selectfire or full auto ones do. You cannot just swap a few parts and make on a machine gun. Certain full auto only parts are required and you need to do machining, welding and fairly precise at that and also not fear 10yrs prison each to make them full auto.
First off there is a lot of ignorance and genuine fear of these weapons.
People will say "what do you need an assault weapon for?". This is damn near Pavlovian and due to either plain old lack of knowledge or years of media conditioning that certain guns are bad, that somehow the pieces of copper and lead that come from them are more evil, more deadly or able to do more damage than good 'ol wholesome deer rifles. The favorite deer rifle around these parts is the 30.06 or thirty-ought-six to those phonetically challenged. It has vastly more power, nearly twice the energy on impact that any of the guns below have. Bullets for it are available in every gas station above the knuckles in the mitten that is Michigan.
All that potential for evil, millions of HIGH POWERED RIFLE 30.06 ammo, why is it not fretted the way an AK and it's moderately powered little rounds are? Ignorance.
So then the ignorant will say, "it's not the power, it's the high capacity mags" and "if you need more than 5rds you should not be allowed to hunt". Well hunting regs are very specific about that, 5rds is all you are allowed to hunt with and I follow that law. 5rd mags are available for all these guns. The larger capacity mags are for "uses other than hunting" so therefore the argument of theirs that you don;t need them for hunting is irrelevant because you don't use them for hunting. If their mind is so limited that a gun or part not used for hunting is not to be owned they clearly have no clue as to the very nature of firearms ownership, the core of it which has absolutely nothing to do with hunting. There is the housewife FEAR "AK's will shoot through schools" and then the Liberal FEAR "AK's will shoot through limos" and the Bubba FEAR "AK's will scare liberals and get them to ban mah deer rifle" and the Old guy at the range FEAR "AK's will get my skeet gun banned, you don't need them"
I have run into and battled every possible level of AK ignorance and fear, just bringing it on home my friends, can I get an amen
I regress slightly, this post is NOT to argue the validity of owning AK's, it is to provide information to those considering purchase or for current/past owners to show off their guns.
You wanna show yer ass, start yer own thread.
Excellent sources of info, AK forums;
http://www.ar15.com/forums/forum.html?b=4&f=64
http://www.akforum.net/phpBB2/index.php
http://www.akfiles.com/forums/
http://www.assaultweb.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi
My favorite are the Early Chinese imports from the 80's.
This is my Clayco Spike AKM 47, approx 1983-84 import. It originally had a blued finish. I had it parkerized and coated with baked on moly paint for a tougher finish. Has fired many thousands of rounds, great reliability, accurate enough to break clays at 80yds (the pit) everytime.
Next is an Egyptian Maadi ARM. Same caliber 7.62x39. This is built on tools sold to the Egyptians by the Russians. These have the same rivet pattern, materials and finish of the Russian guns, also the same great Laminated wood, very tough and resistant to abuse. These were imported in '93-'94 and due to the Bush 41 1989 Foreign Semi Autos ban had to have thumbhole stocks. Many were converted to standard pistol grip form by legally substituting compliance parts. Google "944r compliance AK47" if you want to know more.
Next is a Romanian SAR3 223 or 5.56x45 caliber AK47. It fires the same round as the US Military M16 or M4. These were imported from 1999 to 2002. They were assembled by Century Inernational Arms which caused many problems. Misaligned Gas tubes and front sights, poor quality triggers and rough finishes were common. They were cheap though, $250ish typically. Their are also SAR1 and SAR2 models in 7.62x39 and 5.45x39 respectively. I have owned all three variants. All featured a feature new to the AK market and that was an integral optic mounting plate. This one has been parkerized and moly coated as well as had a 22mm AK74 muzzle brake installed. Eliminates muzzle climb but not flash, increases perceived blast though.
Another look with polymer furniture;
This is a Romanian SAR1 in 7.62x39. Has standard hardwood stock set, optic plate, uses hi cap mags and drums.
This is an Egyptian Maadi RPM, basically a long barrelled version of the ARM or AK47. This one has Russian RPK Laminate stock set. It uses any high cap mag or drum, caliber 7.62x39. Bipod is standard.
This is a Polytech "double folder". These are rare and expensive. Both the stock and bayonette fold making this one of the most compact and unique AK's. Mine was a stamped steel receiver but you can also find Milled receiver versions if you wanna drop $1600+. The underfolding stocks are not my favorite to shoot. They look pretty sweet though.
This is a Valmet M76 Tube stock Folder. Caliber is 223 or 5.56x45. The reason you will find more in 223 than the much more rare 7.62x39 version is cost of ammo at the time of importation. 7.62x39 was around $1 a round at the time. Imported in late 70's to mid 80's from Finland. These are highly regarded as some of the best AK47's ever made. It has a robust folding stock, excellent accuracy, awesome looks and unique features. These came with a cleaning kit in the tube stock, flash hider with integral bayo mount, tritium night sights, NATO spec parkerized finish and strong poly furniture. On the heavier side from combloc AK's but way more accurate with same reliability. Seriously bad ass and seriously expensive. Expect to part with $1500 for one like this and over 3k$ for one in 7.62x39.
Pictured along with the M76 is an Armalite AR180 Costa Mesa I had as well.
I've had three more that I don't currently have pics of. They are Maadi MISR (sold), SAR2 (sold) and Sile Import AK47S (sold)
Will be adding much more, feel free to post and discuss your AK47's or AK74's
Here is an idea of what the wound ballistics of the standrad military cartridges do in these and similar weapons;
They use different internal parts than the selectfire or full auto ones do. You cannot just swap a few parts and make on a machine gun. Certain full auto only parts are required and you need to do machining, welding and fairly precise at that and also not fear 10yrs prison each to make them full auto.
First off there is a lot of ignorance and genuine fear of these weapons.
People will say "what do you need an assault weapon for?". This is damn near Pavlovian and due to either plain old lack of knowledge or years of media conditioning that certain guns are bad, that somehow the pieces of copper and lead that come from them are more evil, more deadly or able to do more damage than good 'ol wholesome deer rifles. The favorite deer rifle around these parts is the 30.06 or thirty-ought-six to those phonetically challenged. It has vastly more power, nearly twice the energy on impact that any of the guns below have. Bullets for it are available in every gas station above the knuckles in the mitten that is Michigan.
All that potential for evil, millions of HIGH POWERED RIFLE 30.06 ammo, why is it not fretted the way an AK and it's moderately powered little rounds are? Ignorance.
So then the ignorant will say, "it's not the power, it's the high capacity mags" and "if you need more than 5rds you should not be allowed to hunt". Well hunting regs are very specific about that, 5rds is all you are allowed to hunt with and I follow that law. 5rd mags are available for all these guns. The larger capacity mags are for "uses other than hunting" so therefore the argument of theirs that you don;t need them for hunting is irrelevant because you don't use them for hunting. If their mind is so limited that a gun or part not used for hunting is not to be owned they clearly have no clue as to the very nature of firearms ownership, the core of it which has absolutely nothing to do with hunting. There is the housewife FEAR "AK's will shoot through schools" and then the Liberal FEAR "AK's will shoot through limos" and the Bubba FEAR "AK's will scare liberals and get them to ban mah deer rifle" and the Old guy at the range FEAR "AK's will get my skeet gun banned, you don't need them"
I have run into and battled every possible level of AK ignorance and fear, just bringing it on home my friends, can I get an amen
I regress slightly, this post is NOT to argue the validity of owning AK's, it is to provide information to those considering purchase or for current/past owners to show off their guns.
You wanna show yer ass, start yer own thread.
Excellent sources of info, AK forums;
http://www.ar15.com/forums/forum.html?b=4&f=64
http://www.akforum.net/phpBB2/index.php
http://www.akfiles.com/forums/
http://www.assaultweb.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi
My favorite are the Early Chinese imports from the 80's.
This is my Clayco Spike AKM 47, approx 1983-84 import. It originally had a blued finish. I had it parkerized and coated with baked on moly paint for a tougher finish. Has fired many thousands of rounds, great reliability, accurate enough to break clays at 80yds (the pit) everytime.
Next is an Egyptian Maadi ARM. Same caliber 7.62x39. This is built on tools sold to the Egyptians by the Russians. These have the same rivet pattern, materials and finish of the Russian guns, also the same great Laminated wood, very tough and resistant to abuse. These were imported in '93-'94 and due to the Bush 41 1989 Foreign Semi Autos ban had to have thumbhole stocks. Many were converted to standard pistol grip form by legally substituting compliance parts. Google "944r compliance AK47" if you want to know more.
Next is a Romanian SAR3 223 or 5.56x45 caliber AK47. It fires the same round as the US Military M16 or M4. These were imported from 1999 to 2002. They were assembled by Century Inernational Arms which caused many problems. Misaligned Gas tubes and front sights, poor quality triggers and rough finishes were common. They were cheap though, $250ish typically. Their are also SAR1 and SAR2 models in 7.62x39 and 5.45x39 respectively. I have owned all three variants. All featured a feature new to the AK market and that was an integral optic mounting plate. This one has been parkerized and moly coated as well as had a 22mm AK74 muzzle brake installed. Eliminates muzzle climb but not flash, increases perceived blast though.
Another look with polymer furniture;
This is a Romanian SAR1 in 7.62x39. Has standard hardwood stock set, optic plate, uses hi cap mags and drums.
This is an Egyptian Maadi RPM, basically a long barrelled version of the ARM or AK47. This one has Russian RPK Laminate stock set. It uses any high cap mag or drum, caliber 7.62x39. Bipod is standard.
This is a Polytech "double folder". These are rare and expensive. Both the stock and bayonette fold making this one of the most compact and unique AK's. Mine was a stamped steel receiver but you can also find Milled receiver versions if you wanna drop $1600+. The underfolding stocks are not my favorite to shoot. They look pretty sweet though.
This is a Valmet M76 Tube stock Folder. Caliber is 223 or 5.56x45. The reason you will find more in 223 than the much more rare 7.62x39 version is cost of ammo at the time of importation. 7.62x39 was around $1 a round at the time. Imported in late 70's to mid 80's from Finland. These are highly regarded as some of the best AK47's ever made. It has a robust folding stock, excellent accuracy, awesome looks and unique features. These came with a cleaning kit in the tube stock, flash hider with integral bayo mount, tritium night sights, NATO spec parkerized finish and strong poly furniture. On the heavier side from combloc AK's but way more accurate with same reliability. Seriously bad ass and seriously expensive. Expect to part with $1500 for one like this and over 3k$ for one in 7.62x39.
Pictured along with the M76 is an Armalite AR180 Costa Mesa I had as well.
I've had three more that I don't currently have pics of. They are Maadi MISR (sold), SAR2 (sold) and Sile Import AK47S (sold)
Will be adding much more, feel free to post and discuss your AK47's or AK74's
Here is an idea of what the wound ballistics of the standrad military cartridges do in these and similar weapons;
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