AK-47 polymer furniture ?'s

A

awisler

New member
OK, as the AK forums are down, I thought I'd post this here. I'm looking for a polymer furniture set for a milled Bulgarian AK, and wondered if anyone had any experience with these. I'm not limited to US parts, so was going to get the Bulgarian set, but noted that some of the US made sets have an additional 1 1/4" length of pull in the buttstock, which I might like. How is the quality of the US sets compared to the Bulgarian ones? K-Var appears to have both -- any other good sources? Any info appreciated -- thanks.

Andrew
 
I just bought a Romanian SAR-1 (with enough US parts to allow for the use of 30-round magazine).

I'd like to replace the wood furniture with US-made polymer ones, too.

Dos anyone know a good source? Thanks.

Skorzeny

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For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the supreme excellence. Sun Tzu
 
Check out Choate USA (I'm sure they're in the archives here). I have an SA 2000M with their stock and I really like it. It's longer, so humans (like us) can use it too!
 
Check out ak47forums.com there is a thread on a guy who is putting a set on a SLR100. I just got a (yes, its US made) set from KVAR for a SLR/Polish kit gun. It seems very solid, a nice flat, smooth black. The lower front handguard has a metal heat shield built in. I cant wait to get that rifle in so I can put em on! With Bulgarian waffle mags from progressivearms.com the thing will be super cool.

[This message has been edited by MattP (edited September 24, 2000).]
 
Thanks for the replies. Frontsight -- are the Choate stocks you're talking about the Dragunov stocks? That's all I can see for AK's at their site. Matt -- is your polymer furniture Bulgarian or US made? Both are listed at K-Var, and I've heard that the Bulgarian are high-quality, but I'm not sure about the US made. They describe the US made buttstock as being slightly longer. It's good to hear about the heat shield, as I was concerned about that. I think I'll probably order the Bulgarian from K-Var, as the shorter stock may be slightly more maneuverable anyway.

BTW, my AK is one of the SLR-100H's, just shot it today and I like it a lot. Very solid and a nice, even gray park finish. The used Hungarian parts are pristine. I hope your Polish parts gun is good, as I've heard they are.
 
With the exception of the additional length of the buttstock and a few strategically placed, "Made in the USA" markings, the KVAR set is indistinguishable from the real Bulgarian stock set. It's as nice as they advertise.
 
Supposedly K-VAR bought the molds and tooling from a Bulgarian source. Bought a set for a Maadi and as Distructo6 said they are a very nice set with very subtle "US" markings on all 4 pieces. Looks very nice. There is another US manufacturer of polymer furnitue but it's not supposed to be close to the quality of this set and is also absent the heat shield in the lower handguard. K-VAR is advertising them for $85 now.
 
I bought the K-VAR US-made Bulgarian-style plastic stock set for my SAR-1. I'm very pleased with it. The quality is excellent. Getting the handguard on was a little tough (I had to squeeze it with vice-grips and twist it into place), but nothing broke and it looks and feels great.

I wasn't too happy about it being 1 1/4" longer than the originals, but it does fit me well (I'm 6'2"). Since you can get either the original or the US-made version, I think your choice should be based on the length you want. If you want compactness, are not too tall, and/or wear thick, heavy clothing when you shoot, I'd probably go with the shorter original Bulgarian. Otherwise I'd get the slightly longer U.S. version. I can't imagine that the quality could be any better on the Bulgarian version. Although I originally wished the U.S. version was the same length as the Bulgarian, now that I have and have used it, I'm not sure I'd switch if I could. Those original AK stocks are pretty short.

Doug
 
I've got Wes Drennan's walnut furniture on my SLR-95, but want to try the black synthetic furniture. Does the KVAR set use a military-style metal buttplate with trapdoor, or is it something else? I once had a Stock Options set, and the buttplate was molded in to the resin of the stock, kinda cheesy...
 
Does anybody have contact information for K-VAR?

Does it have a website?

Thanks.

Skorzeny

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For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the supreme excellence. Sun Tzu
 
The buttstock does feature a fuctioning trap door for your cleaning kit.

Like I said, other than the additional length and the "Made in the USA", you would have a hard time telling it from real Bulgarian furniture.
 
http://www.k-varcorp.com

I currently have a Bulgarian set on my SAR-2. It's high quality and durable. It has the heat shield in the lower handguard, and the trap door & metal butt-plate on the stock.

Here's a pic of my SAR-1 with the Bulgie set before I switched it over to the SAR-2.

sar1a.jpg


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¡Viva la RKBA!
Bulldawg: NRA, GOA, TSRA, Shiner Bock Connoisseur.
Bulldawg's Firearms Page

[This message has been edited by Bulldog (edited September 25, 2000).]
 
I ordered a US polymer set from KVAR last week for my SLR100. Should be here today. Everything looks pretty easy to replace except the front two handguards...

I also remember reading (on the AK forum) that the screws for the stamped receiver fit the milled stock set much better. I talked with John, a tech at KVAR, and he assurred me that the milled screws are perfect for the Bulgarian milled receiver and all parts are made to Arsenal of Bulg.'s specs. I'll try to slap them on tonight or tomorrow and post how everything went.

I wish Hogue made some cool AK stocks, but I can't blame them... you know how touchy those AR folk can be ;)
 
Regarding the K-VAR US-made stock sets, my stamped receiver stock (for my SAR-1) has a metal buttplate and trapdoor for the cleaning kit. But I think I read that the milled receiver version does not have the trapdoor. I'm not sure about this, and I have no idea why this difference would exist, but if its important to you, and you have a milled receiver AK, I'd check on it before ordering.

Doug
 
The upper handguard is the one that is interesting to change out. had to cut mine off with a Dremel and it wasn't as easy as it sounds. Once it's off you have to twist on the new one- easier than cutting off the old one. If you want to keep the wood upper you would be better off just buying another gas tube (apporx. $8.00). Once the top one is off the bottom handguard comes off easy (lever on front part of handguard rotated forward). Exchanging the lower guards out is easy.
 
I received the stocks from KVAR yesterday. They are (as mentioned) the US made set. Look very high quality. Some problems: First (and biggest) the pistol grip is too thin. Maybe I have Russian wood on my Bulgarian AK, but the thin polymer grip is definately a no go in my book. The buttstock does not have the trapdoor, which is also a big minus. There are also no holes in the buttstock to mount them onto the tangs of the receiver, but that was expected. The foremost end of the buttstock also must be adjusted to fit in the rear hole of the receiver. The upper and lower grips of the foreend also do not have those two ventilation spaces, which I also like.

Overall, the quality of the stocks is outstanding, but the little things like the thin pistol grip and lack of trapdoor turned me off. That good ol beat up war wood is going to stay on.
 
Any responses to Krept's post compared to the Bulgarian set for milled receivers? Does the milled receiver Bulgie set have the trap door, and is the piston grip as described for the US made set? Any problems mounting the Bulgarian buttstock on a milled receiver? Thanks for all the info.
 
just FYI...


I spoke with a tech named John from KVAR before I ordered the set. He did tell me beforehand that the stocks for Bulgarian milled receivers do not have the trapdoor stocks. I was surprised when my AK came that it did have a trapdoor on the wooden stocks... someone on another forum said that this might mean it was a Russian stock set.

And by "piston grip" I'm guessing you mean the pistol grip as opposed to the upper forend grip that is near where the gas piston is. This one threw me off as well. The specs as far as the base of the grip and where it attaches to the receiver are the same as the wooden one, but the polymer grip is about a third or even half as thin as the original ones. I don't know if this again is attributable to the fact that this might not be Bulgarian furniture, or if the extra width was needed to prevent the wood from cracking.

Interestingly, the tech from KVAR said that ALL of their components for the Bulgarian rifles are made from specs provided by Arsenal.
 
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