#AKM

Welcome to another edition of TFB’s Photo Of The Day. We don’t get contributions from readers too often, but it happens. Today is such an occasion, and it’s a pretty interesting one. Mike Owen of Meridian Ordnance LLC sent us pictures of various Russian AKs taken in the Horn of Africa.

Welcome everyone to the 198th edition of ‘Hot Gat or Fudd Crap?’, one of our many series here on TFB. If you’re new to the series, this is where we look at the most obscure firearms that are actually for sale and ask the question – is this Gat a sweet deal or only have Fudd appeal?  Each week the TFB staff weighs in with their thoughts, but readers get the final say in the poll at the bottom of each article.

Photo Of The Day: The Mauritanian Armed Forces are the military forces of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. The Mauritanian Armed Forces are composed of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and National Gendarmerie, and they are responsible for defending Mauritania’s borders and protecting its people. Here we see them conducting Dynamic Shooting Drills, in a pretty cool picture with their red berets. In terms of small arms, they use a mixture of AK-47, AKM and the Chinese Type 56.

The Ruger American Rifle series has become a popular, affordable line of rifles that include the Ruger American Ranch Rifle, one of which comes chambered for 7.62x39mm. For the American Ranch, Ruger opted to incorporate their own magazine design from the Ruger Mini-30, also chambered for 7.62×39. However, the 7.62×39 cartridge is most synonymous with AKM pattern rifles, thus, many people have been hoping for a Ruger American Ranch Rifle that accepts AK magazines. Enter Firecastle Customs, who recently announced their AK magazine adapter for Ruger American Ranch Rifles chambered in 7.62×39.

Midwest Industries recently released a new AK Light & Laser Mount for AKM pattern rifles that attaches to the barrel. The new AK Light & Laser mount features two 1913 Picatinny rails, one on each side, with 2.1 inches of space for mounting, well, lights and lasers. The mount also has a cutout to allow for the cleaning rod to remain in place under the barrel. Midwest Industries’ specs can be found below.

Despite the launching of many 7 PRC rifles and loadings at the end of October, Hornady quietly launched an updated lineup of their Sub-X bullets, as well as their subsonic 7.62×39 loading using said Sub-X bullets. The Sub-X bullets utilize the familiar red-nosed expansion tip, but these tips have been enlarged to enhance the bullet’s expansion at much lower velocities. For the moment, it appears that the 255-grain 7.62×39 projectiles only come as part of their factory-loaded subsonic cartridge series, while the rest of the Sub-X lineup are available as just the projectiles. Hornady previously listed the 190 grain .308 caliber bullets under the Sub-X line, though they’ve now also listed .357, .452, .458, and one more .308 caliber offering.

The Egyptian Maadi, specifically the Steyr imported ARM, has always been one of the better examples of imported AKM pattern rifles. These rifles are built on Russian-made tooling by Russian-trained technicians and workers. Back in the ’80s and ’90s, it was as close as you could get to an actual Russian-made AKM. Unfortunately, only a couple thousand of the fixed stock model ARM and even less (some say only 50) of the “Crutch” style folding stock models were imported.

Palmetto State Armory continues to increase their AK accessory lineup under their Soviet Arms line of products with the new Soviet Arms Rail Mount for optics. Milled from billet 6061 aluminum and adjustable for not only different spec side rails, but the rail can also be moved forward or back on the mount to suit the end user’s needs.

If you’ve been eyeing the Ruger American Ranch rifles, specifically the ones chambered in 7.62x39mm, you’ve probably noticed that Ruger opted to use their own proprietary magazine from the Mini-30 rifle. While no one seems to be complaining about reliability with the Mini-30 magazine, there have been complaints online that AK pattern magazines aren’t an option for owners of the Ruger American Ranch rifles. One man, Mr. Brandenburg, has begun to offer his services in converting the Ruger American Ranch rifles to accept AK magazines.

I know what you’re thinking, “Didn’t TFB already cover the WBP Jack back in December?” Yes, we did. But this is a new version of that rifle. The WBP Jack SR deletes the side rail mount for optics bringing it in line with how the AKM was originally issued. So I see this more for those who want a more early AKM clone correct rifle or plan on running a dust cover rail, or UltiMAK setup for an optic.

Atlantic Firearms has introduced the DIY Zastava M70 that you can add whatever M70 stock, pistol grip, and handguard set to, which allows the user to customize their rifle right off the bat. AKM rifles have become much more modular in recent years, including lots of options when it comes to furniture. The ability to start off with the shooter’s desired stock set may save some money if they can pick out which stock set they’d like, as well as not having to add to the unused gun accessory pile from the stock set they didn’t want.

It’s now three weeks since Vladimir Putin’s Russia invaded Ukraine. We have seen the Ukrainian Armed Forces put up an impressive fight while Russia’s forces have stalled since their initial attempts at a lightning advance failed. While images of burnt-out or abandoned Russian armoured vehicles have dominated the news and social media there have been some interesting small arms seen. Everything from the newest Ukrainian AR-15s to Russia-backed separatists with Mosin-Nagants.

The Meridian Defense Pestilence is one of four rifles from Meridian Defense Corp’s Apocalypse Series.  Each of these rifles is handcrafted by using a mix of both imported and American parts.  These special projects division “apocalypse” themed rifles aim to be a cut above the rest in both looks and performance.  Rather than taking their word for it, I borrowed a friend’s Pestilence rifle and headed to the range to see just how good this AK variant could be.

First unveiled at TFB’s GunFest 2021, the Zastava PAP M90 PS is the newest rifle from Zastava Arms that’s destined for American shores. The Zastava Arms M90 features a fully chrome-lined 18.25″ barrel that comes with an adjustable gas system from the factory.  All of this in a 5.56 chambering makes the M90 a very desirable option for fans of AKM pattern rifles. Zastava Arms USA CEO Ranko was kind enough to allow me to do this full in-depth review of this pre-production rifle. Let’s go over what sets the M90 apart.

Zastava Arms USA will have a new M70 AKM configuration coming around in late February 2021. Zastava USA brought their new rifle to TFB’s GunFest 2021 for us to get a good look. The modernized M70 will have numerous new features coming from the factory, such as a specially made muzzle brake, full length, M-LOK compatible aluminum handguard, a side-mounted optics rail that’s aligned with the barrel, along with a Tango Down pistol grip and Magpul Zhukov stock.