#Ak

The NY Times has published an interesting article back in 2012 about the tourist shooting ranges in Cambodia. Its well worth reading, but what especially a reader’s attention was the .22 AK AR-15 in leading photo ( click though to see the full resolution photo). The rifle’s upper receiver is some variant of an AR-15,  maybe originally an M16. The lower receiver looks hand fabricated. The rifle furniture looks to be taken from a couple of different Type 56 Chinese AK rifles (or some other AK variants … I am frequently criticized by readers for getting my AK identifications wrong).

A reader spotted an AK-style rifle chambered in 12 Gauge at the Norinco booth at IWA ’14. Stamped on the side, underneath “Jianshe Industry, Made in China” is “USSG COCOA, FL”. This is an import mark that means this particular gun is destined for EAA Corp. / USSG Inc. of Florida. EAA / USSG are best known for their Russian and Italian imports.

My thanks to reader Foghorn_Leghorn who just introduced me to EverydayNoDaysOff’s epic AR-15 vs. AK vs. Mosin thread. Those looking to waste an hour (or more depending on how much you laugh!) should peruse over to the post most ricky-tick.

Optic mounting on an AK is problematic for two reasons: one, the platform is not ideally designed for optics mounting.  Second, when an AK operator does decide to shoehorn glass onto this six-decade-old design, there are actually many good options for solid mounting available, and the decision can be just as tough.

Although there are now about a million AR manufacturers out there, there is one thing that is the same on all of them. The grip. Sure you have grips with textures and finger grooves, etc. but no one has thought about length of pull. I am not talking about length of pull of the shoulder stock. I am referring to length of pull of your finger to the trigger. I am 6 feet tall and have long fingers. When I grab a rifle with the stock grip on it I tend to overreach the trigger. Introducing Accu-Grip. A grip that can be adjusted backwards or forwards to fit your finger length of pull perfectly. Why was this so difficult to think of?

Arsenal is selling a new lightweight side scope rail for AK rifles. The mount has a picatinny rail for mounting optics. It is CNC machined from aluminum and weighs 5.76 oz.

The Romanian Army has publicly unveiled the prototype of their new 5.56x45mm service rifle at the Expomil 2013 military exhibition in Bucharest. The rifle does not yet have an official name and is just being referred to as the “New 5.56mm Army Rifle”. The prototypes have been in use with Romanian soldiers in Afghanistan and will soon enter mass-production.

This video is for everyone who believes they might one day have their hands tied behind their back while starting down the barrel of an AK-47 …

Molot, which I believe is now part of the new Kalashnikov Group, has just begun selling their new Molot Vepr Carbine chambered in 9mm. I don’t have much information about it, all I know is that it uses regular Glock magazines, weighs 7.5 lbs, has an M4-style stock and a forward picatinny rail for mounting a red dot optic. At todays exchange rate it is selling for just over $1,000 USD.

The  Kalashnikov Saiga MK-17, the first ever civilian version of the rare balanced recoil AK-107, is set to go on sale in Europe next year. For years we have speculated on how well a balanced recoil system will work in the real world and so I cannot wait to get my hands on one and find out for myself. The first video of the MK-107 “in the wild” has just been posted on Youtube. It shows two Russian competition shooters shooting the MK-107 and the AR-15 side by side. In this (very unscientific) test the MK-107 appears to handle the recoil better.

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Kalashnikov factory and inspected the new AK-12, AS-1 and the latest version of the AK-74M. What is really interesting is that Kalashnikov appear to be making transparent magazines.

Last month  Izhmash officially became known as Concern Kalashnikov (although in the West I am sure it will be simply branded as Kalashnikov). I just noticed that they have uploaded their new logo (pictured above). The colors of the logo are the same colors as the Russian flag. I quite like the logo, with the rifle pistol grip, magazine and receiver in white making a “K”, although the color scheme and cut-out style remind me of the NBA and MLB logos. The old Izhmash logo is pictured below …

The Century Arms SB-47 is a “Stabilizing Brace” for AK pistols. It looks and functions almost exactly like the  SIG SB15 Stabilizing Brace Pistol we reviewed a few weeks ago. Like the SIG SB15, the SB-47 is BATFE approved and requires no tax stamp, despite the fact that it can easily be used as a uncomfortable stock.

This article was written by Claymore.

Expect newly manufactured AK magazines to be in short supply in the near future. The Army is soliciting bids to purchase 592,825 7.62x39mm AK magazines.