Nyet! Rifle is fine!

da, rifle is fine...

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In military service, I think we'll see the end of the AK as we know it by around 2040, 2050. Just recently, Kalashnikov Concern released a video of an AK concept with a distinct upper and lower that can swap uppers and thus cartridges:



The main country keeping the AK alive is Russia and Russian guns are going to be impossible for us to get in the future. Russia keeps it alive out of economic and nationalist sentiment. They can't afford to develop a whole new rifle and a whole new cartridge for everyone and they're not going to license a foreign design. Most other former AK countries have dropped it, like Poland (MSBS Grot), China (QBZ-95 and QBZ-191), Hungary (CZ Bren 2), the Baltic States, and maybe some former Yugoslav countries. And I can't imagine Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania sticking with AKs for longer than Russia, especially considering Bulgaria and Romania are NATO members. Finland? Who knows, they like to have reverse compatibility with Russia.

On the commercial market, honestly, who cares? Its a consumer good and consumers can do whatever they want within the law - or not, if they don't care. No AKs since 1989 have been truly "collectible." SVDs aren't AKs, those are a different discussion.
 
Dont laugh..

I believe thats all Russian made stuff that the military uses Zenitco. The furniture probably costs more than an Arsenal AK.
The cost is even more laughable .
IDK I lost my interest in AKs when they hit $229 with 4 mags from 4 seasons, years ago. I bought my Norinco in the days of those ugly thumbhole/choate shit stocks.
Someday I might find classic wood furniture for it. It does have a side rail but I sold off the mount and scope years ago
 
lol - unless you like the feel of a chin weld, a riser comes in handy.

hanging all the Zenitco stuff on that SBR has made it porky but it is absolutely soft shooting...

no AK pattern I have ever owned used a press-fit side rail - all have been attached using rivets........ some have been installed crooked though:eek:

if you mean the fore end, the lower part is pressed into the receiver... with a hammer...
 
I'm conflicted. Most of this goes against the very notion of the platform of having a low manufacturing cost rifle that shoots well enough out of the box with no additional accessories and can be fabricated just about anywhere with basic tool overhead requirements. On the other hand, some of these features go a long way to solving the shortcomings of the platform with very little effort. The horizontal tab on the middle of the selector that allows for index finger manipulation is brilliant and not completely out of the spirit of the original. Reinforcement of the top cover to allow for reliable zero optics mounting is a logical progression. Yet, I kept going back to the famous mantra of "rifle is fine" in my head.

I think I'll continue to play Legos with AR pattern rifles and leave AK's alone (when I finally dip my toe in that area).
 
I'm conflicted. Most of this goes against the very notion of the platform of having a low manufacturing cost rifle that shoots well enough out of the box with no additional accessories and can be fabricated just about anywhere with basic tool overhead requirements. On the other hand, some of these features go a long way to solving the shortcomings of the platform with very little effort. The horizontal tab on the middle of the selector that allows for index finger manipulation is brilliant and not completely out of the spirit of the original. Reinforcement of the top cover to allow for reliable zero optics mounting is a logical progression. Yet, I kept going back to the famous mantra of "rifle is fine" in my head.

I think I'll continue to play Legos with AR pattern rifles and leave AK's alone (when I finally dip my toe in that area).

So you just described the AR.

The A1 was a great light rifle, WTF happened ?
 
So you just described the AR.

The A1 was a great light rifle, WTF happened ?
Catch words happened ("force multipliers"). And then manufacturers figured out guys like to accessories as much, if not more than women. I suppose I'm guilty on all fronts there as well.

But the original AR's were not in the same class of ease of manufacture as the AK. Stamped receivers and use of wood instead of furniture requiring injection molding means any factory could pump out the AK. Hell, even the springs on an AK are easier to fabricate.
 
Catch words happened ("force multipliers"). And then manufacturers figured out guys like to accessories as much, if not more than women. I suppose I'm guilty on all fronts there as well.

But the original AR's were not in the same class of ease of manufacture as the AK. Stamped receivers and use of wood instead of furniture requiring injection molding means any factory could pump out the AK. Hell, even the springs on an AK are easier to fabricate.

Easy for a developed country to manufacture.
 
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