AK-47 polymer furniture ?'s

[awisler]

Krept -- yes, of course I ment the "pistol" grip -- I usually make it a point to proofread before I hit Submit, but this one must have slipped by.

I guess my question was if the "Bulgarian made" set for milled receivers also had the same features as your "US Made" set from K-Var (i.e., thinner pistol grip, no trapdoor) -- it sounds from your response from K-Var that it probably does. This is a bit disappointing to me, too, though I may still get it anyway. Thanks.

 

[DougB]

Regarding the pistol grip, the US-made K-VAR plastic stockset I got for my stamped SAR-1 rifle came with a pistol grip very similar (nearly identical, I think) to the original plastic pistol grip that came with my SAR-1. It could stand to be a little thicker, but it seems fine to me (maybe because I was already used to the SAR-1's). I'd say it feels slightly smaller than a standard AR-15 pistol grip. I have fairly large hands (double-column handguns feel fine to me).

Doug

 

[krept]

Well, I was still trying to decide whether to keep the stock set or not... then I checked out the two remaining parts. The upper handguard IS a pain in the rear to get off, so I tried the lower first. As mentioned, it just requires the small lever on the right side to be moved forward, and the whole thing comes off.

Now for the kicker... The part on the polymer lower grip that inserts into the foremost portion of the receiver is shaped like an upsidedown "T" and the hole in the receiver is shaped like a horizontal bar. To get it to fit in, it honestly looks like one must shave/cut off the vertical portion of the T shape. Even then, I wonder if some of the horizontal part of the T shape would have to be shaved off to fit the receiver properly.

Again, I'm not sure if I have a milled receiver that is not exactly to spec. It was imported by Izhmash (sp) and made by Gordon Tech and I think it even said Arsenal on it... I am also quite new to this and it may very well be the case that fitting is normally required to properly seat the furniture. And also because I'm new, I'm still not quite aware of the terminology used to describe the rifle, so "piston grip" kind of threw me for a loop. Apologies for sounding picky.

In any event, the polymer stocks (as apart from the "plastic" ones that are a little cheaper) are of high quality and I still recommend them. You might want to check with the tech, possibly get some measurements of your receiver beforehand and compare them to what the tech says the measurements for their pieces are - just a thought. I do, however, think KVAR is a good company to deal with and they certainly make a quality product. At worst, you'll have to do some drilling and fitting.

And on the pistol grip... I was considering something like AGRIP that is made for pistols... I think it's a wrap around grip with adhesive. This might make the grip a little thicker and more comfortable at the same time... something to think about.

 

[Bulldog]

Food for thought:

{This applies to those replacing Misr-Maadi or SAR-1/2/3 furniture or going from thumbhole config to pistol grip config through the use of U.S. made parts.}

The SAR rifles have 5 U.S. made parts: Pistol grip, trigger, hammer, disconnector, and gas piston. Since the SAR is a bare bones AK with no muzzle device, these 5 U.S. made parts allow you to have a pistol grip configuration while still allowing the use of unmodified imported full-capacity magazines.

The Misr-Maadi only has 3 U.S. made parts: Trigger, hammer, disconnector. To keep the Maadi in a pistol grip configuration and to use imported full-capacity mags, you must add two more U.S. made parts. Generally, it is suggested that U.S. made followers and floor-plates be added to any imported full-capacity mags you intend to use with the Maadi, but you could also replace, for example, the full stock set with the K-var U.S. made polymer set, which would give you 3 more U.S. made parts. You could also just replace the pistol grip and the gas piston while keeping the original furniture.

The pistol grip that is supplied with the Bulgarian furniture set is... Well, Bulgarian.

Using this pistol grip could (theoretically) cause legal problems down the road if you don't watch out for you parts count. Replacing just the stock and handguards is okay, as those parts are already foreign.

(I can't believe I'm actually beginning to understand this stuff...)

By the way, milled thumbhole AKs will require more U.S. made parts in order to convert it to the pistol-grip configuration, as milled AKs have one or two more parts than the stamped variants.

I highly recommend perusing www.ak-47.net and their forums and/or the AK forum over on www.assaultweb.net to get more specific info regarding all of the legalities of AK variants.

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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 30, 2000).]