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At the end of the past year, we reported about the release of Ukrainian KPYK CRC 5002 adjustable AK stock. This stock was first teased a couple of years ago and it has been in continuous development and field testing processes ever since. Shortly after the release of the stock, KPYK sent us a T&E sample and in this article, we’ll present to you our review of KPYK CRC 5002 adjustable AK stock.
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Design and Specs
The KPYK CRC 5002 stock is designed for fixed-stock AK rifles (both for stamped and milled receivers) and depending on the rear trunnion adapter used, it can be a fixed or left side folding stock. In both cases, the length, cheekpiece height, and buttpad height are adjustable. It comes in a cardboard box which includes the main stock body assembled with the trunnion adapter and trunnion wedge (black polymer piece at the base of the trunnion adapter), the buttplate assembly, a QD cup with its installation screw, three Allen wrenches necessary for the installation of the stock, a metal clip for retaining the folded stock on rifles with side scope rails, and the instruction manual.
As soon as you unbox this stock and hold it in your hands, you can immediately tell that this is a high-quality product. The quality of materials and hardware as well as the fit and finish are exceptional. What is really impressive is that despite having so many built-in adjustments, all the mechanisms have such tight tolerances and are so well designed and assembled that they make no rattling noise whatsoever no matter how vigorously you shake the stock. Besides the tight tolerances, there are little smart design solutions that contribute to this, like the pair of rubber inserts in the folding trunnion adapter which ensure a tight lockup.
Note the two horizontal rubber inserts on the sides of the trunnion adapter
The stock body is machined out of billet aluminum. The LOP and cheekpiece height adjustment buttons, the side-folding button and the cheekpiece itself are made of hard Delrin-like plastic. The locking parts of the adjustment and folding mechanisms are made of steel. The buttpad is made of rubber. In other words, the right materials are used in the right places.
The black plastic wedge ensures a tight fit of the stock to the trunnion/receiver
What I also really like about the design of this stock is that the trunnion adapter is a separate part attached to the main stock body. In the picture below, you can see an OD green fixed stock adapter next to the reviewed stock which has a side-folding adapter installed.
Although, as mentioned above, KPYK currently offers only fixed and left side folding options for fixed-stock AKs, this modular design with a separate trunnion adapter should allow them to easily add other options such as a side folding AK trunnion adapter, Picatinny rail adapter, AR-15 buffer tube adapter … you name it.
Trunnion adapter interface with the stock body
On rifles that don’t have a side scope rail, the stock is retained in the folded position via a magnet. If your rifle has a side rail, you need to install the aforementioned metal clip so that when the stock is folded, the clip will hook on the side rail. The clip height can be adjusted to accommodate for variances in side scope rails. Whether the stock will latch onto the side rail in any of its length positions, largely depends on the side rail type. As noted by the folks over at KPYK, they have seen side rails of lengths varying from as short as 8cm all the way to 15cm.
The side rail clip is installed over the magnet
The clip latched to a side rail
Like in the case of factory left side folding AK stocks, it is impossible to fold the KPYK stock over a side rail installed optics mount. It would be really cool if KPYK designed a folding mechanism that would fold over an installed scope mount or a right-side folding version of the stock.
Bottom view of the length adjustment mechanism
Overall, the design of this stock is extremely well thought out with meticulous attention to details. All this time spent on refining the design was spent well and they ended up with an outstanding product.
The cheekpiece height adjustment mechanism
KPYK CRC 5002 stock manufacturer specs:
- Weight: 510 grams (18oz)
- Length: 17.5cm – 22cm (6.88″ – 8.66″)
- Cheek Piece Heigth: 2cm maximum (.787″), 4 adjustment positions
- Buttplate: Adjustable +/- 3cm (+/- 1.18″)
- Finish: Cerakote
- Colors: Armor Black, OD Green, Coyote Tan
- Compatibility: Fort-250, MKM-072, SLR107R, SLR107R-11E, SLR107R-12, WASR-10, Other AKM/AK-74 based civilian rifles
Installation
The installation of the KPYK CRC 5002 stock is really straightforward. First, prepare the rifle by field stripping it and removing its stock. Then, assemble the KPYK stock by attaching the buttplate assembly to the stock body at your desired height using the two provided screws.
Then place the plastic wedge into the trunnion adapter, push the stock into the receiver until the rifle’s rear trunnion tang holes line up with corresponding threaded holes in the trunnion adapter of the stock, tighten the two screws and then tighten the wedge through the hole in the trunnion adapter. The installation procedure is well described in the instruction manual.
Sounds easy, doesn’t it? Well, it is, but remember that we are dealing with AKs, which have tolerances of +/- one light year. As with any AK part installation, minor fitting is expected. My AK happened to be stubborn and I ended up touching the trunnion adapter with a file where the trunnion scrubbed the finish off of the adapter and using the ultimate AK parts installation tool, mallet, to persuade things. After 10 minutes of malleting, filing and swearing, I managed to fully seat the stock into the rifle so that the trunnion tang holes aligned and there were no gaps between the stock and the receiver. You must be patient not to scratch the finish on external parts when fitting the stock … don’t ask me how I know that.
The stock has a QD socket built into the right side of the folding trunnion adapter. You can also install the provided QD cup near the buttplate as shown in the picture below.
The trunnion adapter doesn’t add to the length of the gun more than the length of the rear trunnion tang itself on fixed stock AKs.
An AKM-pattern rifle with wooden furniture looks pretty old compared to a 100-series gun.
However, when retrofitted with KPYK stock and handguard (plus a couple of other mods), it looks much more modern than the 100-series.
As mentioned in the tech specs, the stock length is 6.88″ – 8.66″ when fully collapsed and extended. That results in about 11.6″ – 14.3″ of LOP adjustment range. Here is a set of pictures comparing the KPYK CRC 5002 stock to a 100-series side folding stock.
Performance
As mentioned above, the tolerances of this stock are tight and the design of all adjustable parts is very well thought out. The length of pull and cheekpiece height adjustment mechanisms work perfectly, solidly locking the adjusted parts in the selected positions. The side-folding mechanism also has a solid construction with a rigid lockup and the rather large button makes it easy to unlock the stock. The magnet retention of the folded stock worked great regardless of the stock length. The magnet solidly retains the stock in place and not only it won’t open under its own weight but even if you shake the rifle with the folded stock facing the ground. Yet it’s not difficult at all to unmagnet it and deploy. The buttpad material has just the right stiffness (not too hard and not too spongy) which makes it really comfortable.
When you upgrade an old warhorse like the AK with an adjustable and folding stock, and for that matter with one of such a great design, it really makes a significant difference. When you adjust the cheekpiece, LOP and buttpad height to your body anatomy, shooting stance and aiming device used, it just feels like a completely different rifle to shoot with a much faster sight picture acquisition and much more comfortable shooting experience overall. Lastly, it just looks awesome.
Price and Availability
The KPYK CRC 5002 stock is listed on the company’s website at an MSRP of $286. Well, at the time of writing this article, none of the KPYK CRC 5002 stock variants was available on their website because as the company officials told me, they donated all their inventory to the Ukrainian special forces when the Russian invasion started. The exclusive distributor of KPYK products in the United States is Legion USA who currently have these stocks listed for $299 and $359 for the fixed and folding configurations respectively.
Mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko. Note the KPYKized AK in the background. Photo credit: KPYK
Is it a good value for the price? Design and performance-wise, it definitely is. Whether to buy it or not probably depends on what role AKs have in your arsenal. If your AK is just for plinking, then maybe there is no need to retrofit it with such an advanced part. But if the AK is your go-to gun, it is definitely worth the investment.
I hope you guys enjoyed this review of the Ukrainian KPYK CRC 5002 adjustable AK stock. If you want a close-up picture of any part of the stock that is not embedded in the article or if I missed describing something, feel free to let me know in the comments section. Thanks for reading!
