In this TFB TV review, James gets to try out Magpul’s new “Zhukov,” a folding and telescoping AK-47 stock built from the ground up with the Kalashnikov in mind. Is the relative budget price of $99 worth it for this polymer folder? James tells you in this video. The gun used is a Saiga SGL-21 Russian AK.

Guns used in this video:
Saiga SGL-21 AK-47

Accessories used in this video:
Magpul Zhukov stock
EOTech XPS

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The full transcript follows ….

– Hey guys it’s James again for TFB TV.

Today we’ve got the new Magpul Zhukov folding stock for the AK system.

I spent some time with it this morning putting it on, very easy to put together.

It’s inexpensive, $99.

And as with most Magpul products, it’s really well built.

It’s got quite a few features.

As you know it’s a folding stock.

You’ve got a little tab here.

You depress that, and it’ll fold in and positively lock against your receiver.

Conversely it’s just a simple, no button press to fold it back into place.

You also have a trigger right here where you can adjust, you can telescope the stock in and out.

Now as you may have noticed watching me do that, the telescoping feature is a little bit more rigid than I would like.

It locks into place positively but the movement maybe should be a little bit easier.

Whereas with the folder, you feel it positively lock.

It’s pretty easy, a little too easy to fold it back into place.

And then there’s no button or mechanism you need to activate to put the stock in its original position.

And there’s also, on the rear end of the gun, there’s a loop for a sling.

So this thing’s pretty well-loaded in terms of features.

Another thing that you may have noticed, whenever I was using the folding mechanism on this stock, is that it doesn’t interfere with, if you have an optics rail and you’re using the side mount on your AK, this folder won’t interfere with that.

Moreover…

you can fire the gun with the stock folded.

So that’s a nice plus because a lot of times folding stocks on AKs can either, if you have a left side folder, prevent you from using a side mount optic, or if you have a right side folder, it might interfere with your reciprocating bolt.

(gunshots) So I’ve been shooting with the Zhukov stock for a few weeks now, and it’s been amazing.

In fact I think this was long overdue for Magpul.

It’s just as good as my standard Bulgarian fixed stock.

It’s just as good as any fixed stock, but you get the benefit of being able to adjust it and fold it, which are huge pluses.

I’m just amazed they took this long to get around to it.

The execution was excellent.

This is a great stock, and at $100.

Try getting a Bulgarian tri-folder on your rifle for under $100.

That said, I mean there are, like I was saying earlier the tension’s a little annoying.

Like, this isn’t as smooth as it could be.

Whereas I feel like the telescoping feature isn’t as smooth as it could be, whereas the collapsing feature is a little bit too loose.

And maybe that’s adjustable, I didn’t see anything in the manual that said it was.

But that said, really those are not huge negatives.

Especially with the value that you’re getting from this product.

And of course nobody would believe that the Zhuk worked folded if I didn’t show them.

So, let’s have a look.

Check it out, like I said you can charge it.

It’s possible, it’s still kind of a pain in the ass.

I mean you’re really right there.

But it is possible to charge it.

More importantly it’s possible to shoot it.

(gunshots) God, who would want to do that anyways? Still cool to be able to do it but, shit, I don’t know how you’d hit anything.

You guys can probably already guess my conclusions about the Zhukov from what I’ve said throughout this video so far.

And I’ve got to preface it by saying I’m not a Magpul fanboy by any measure.

I did have to pay for this, Magpul didn’t send this to me for eval.

I bought it just because I said, “Hey, it’s Magpul, “it’s probably going to be pretty high quality, “and it’s 100 bucks.” Again when you’re talking about a folding stock for $100, folding and telescoping, I can’t think of any option available out there for that price.

You might be able to get the folding and telescoping AR stock adaptors, which are fine, but nothing like a custom-made for the AK folding and telescoping stock.

So in conclusion I think this is an excellent buy and I would even say maybe a must buy for you AK owners out there who are interested in a folding stock.