| Posted: Wed Jun 17th, 2009 03:56 AM |
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Dragon88
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I've wanted to get my hands on an AK-47 for some time. The Army obliged and sent me to Iraq, where I am currently deployed. I found an AK-47 in our team room which has been here for who knows how long. Most of the other guys had a passing curiosity with it, they would fiddle with the controls a second and pretend to fire it, then throw it back in a pile of junk. I, on the other hand, saw it as a project. Judging by the carbon buildup, it hadn't been cleaned since the Iran-Iraq war. That was an easy fix, though finding a few miscellaneous parts took some doing. Finally last week I scored some magazines and ammo and took it out to the range. Firing at close quarters range proved too easy, it is a wonderful rifle to shoot and performed without incident. Recently though I decided to make things interesting and take it back to the 100 meter line for some benchrest shooting.
With open iron sights from the 100 meter line, using an ammo can as a rest, the best group I achieved was 3.3 inches. This was with some bulk FMJ of unknown year and origin, though I recognized the headstamp as Prvi Partizan. I had to use the 300m setting on the sights as the 100m setting placed the rounds quite low.
Overall I am very happy with the results. The M-4 is a good battle rifle, but it was very satisfying to restore this old rifle and place rounds accurately on target from 100m with iron sights. I also shot my M-4 during that trip to the range, and honestly, I was left wishing that I had more 7.62x39 to fire the AK instead. My other regret is that I won't be able to take this rifle home with me when I leave.
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| Posted: Wed Jun 17th, 2009 02:41 PM |
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miestro_jerry
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There should be piles of 7.62 x 39 ammo in that country. The AK is capable of excellent shooting when it is clean and in good condition.
Thank you for your military service.
Jerry
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| Posted: Sat Jun 20th, 2009 11:08 PM |
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Timberghozt
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I stashed an AK I took off a fella that didn`t need it anymore in 91 in the back of my Bradley.I preferred it to the M-16 A 2 inside 75 meters.
Too bad the Army doesn`t at least have some way to have the barrel welded shut on the reciever end to bring em back as trophies.
Mine ended up in a hole with weapons of all types we had taken and carried a bit.Dug a hole with an m88,threw em in,then we threw thermites on top of em and buried em.
I had a decent Dragunov I took too.The optics were busted from 25mm HE rounds that hit the bunker he shot from..I wish I could have kept that rifle.
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| Posted: Sun Jun 21st, 2009 12:44 AM |
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miestro_jerry
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We have discussed the AK 74 Rifle, it is suppose to be better than the 47. It shoot s a 5.45 x 39 cartridge, that I have never seen any of.
We had the same problem coming home from Vietnam, there was a sign on one office that said something like" SKS is O.K., Ak No Way".
The AK is a great rifle and capable of a lot of good shooting.
Jerry
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| Posted: Mon Jul 6th, 2009 09:02 PM |
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Darth AkSarBen
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Be of good cheer, Dragon88 (and others). The company that started making the AK-47, Izhmash, also sell a versions, sort of a hunting "sporting" rifle that is imported into this country by the Russain Amercian Armory Company *aka RAAC, which is located in Indiana. I belong to a forum site at Saiga-12 Forums and to see that some of the Saiga rifles (and shotguns) are fully convertible back to their near identical state, here is another link to one that is done, page by page, to one of the Saigas in .223 caliber http://www.stu-offroad.com/firearms/saiga/saiga-1.htm and shows the final result on latter pages. Simple, work from home, restoration. Some call it conversion, while others point out that the restoration is using American parts to comply with 922r of the laws, and it gives a rifle with the same action as the AK-47 but only in a Semi-Automatic state. Magazines are plentiful, and work well, or you can also do a simple modificaton and use regular AK magazines.
I bought mine recently for $400.00 and did some minor upgrades to it. I still need to convert over the Fire Control Group (FCG) that one can find at many sources, like http://www.tapco.com or parts listed by major suppliers like Midway.com Midway AK-47 parts and just look under their "trigger" reference and see the 3 part compliance parts for the trigger group for the Saiga. Dinzagarms.com has some great pieces for doing the bulk of the restoration, and has some parts, like the trigger group, that is already slightly modified from the Tapco G2 to simply drop in place, plus some odds and ends of hardware.
So be of good cheer, because if you like 7.62 x 39 or the .223, or even the .308, they are here along with a selection of AK style shotguns in 12 ga, 20 ga and .410 ga.
My Saiga in .223 that I am working on.
Hope this helps.
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Vern
http://taurus45acp.com My site with NRA-ILA feeds and some good links and info.
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
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| Posted: Mon Jul 6th, 2009 10:00 PM |
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miestro_jerry
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Nice looking Black Rifle. How does it do against extremely armed Ground Hogs?
Jerry
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| Posted: Mon Jul 6th, 2009 10:40 PM |
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Darth AkSarBen
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The raccoon in the tree the other night, did not live to bother our cats and chickens anymore. The light on the end does an excellent job of illumination and keeps one free to do proper firearm holding.
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Vern
http://taurus45acp.com My site with NRA-ILA feeds and some good links and info.
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
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| Posted: Wed Jul 15th, 2009 06:23 AM |
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Darth AkSarBen
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Update. I converted the rifle some more with a Tapco G2 fire Control Group and did away with that awkward trigger/pivot thing inside and went with a single hook trigger. Very nice release now.
Would like to find a good load to tame the beat and also get some good groups. Clean it after I've shot it recently (new rifle) with Barnes CR-10 Copper bore solvent. Seems to bring in the gropus a bit just doing this.
Now....
Notice that the trigger guard is now moved up next to the magazine release? This is putting it back into the AK style like the factory. More balanced firearm in that position.
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Vern
http://taurus45acp.com My site with NRA-ILA feeds and some good links and info.
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
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| Posted: Sat Jul 18th, 2009 05:32 PM |
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miestro_jerry
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Around my area, the ground hogs can be really dangerous. They shoot back 
Sometimes they get the first shot off.
Jerry
Attachment: Military Groundhog.jpg (Downloaded 79 times)
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Ruger45
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I don't see why you can't bring it back as a war trophy. You will have to convert it to semi fire only and put in some American made parts to make it legal. But then it might be a good idea to write to the ATF and ask them if it can be done. Then it will be up to your C.O as to if it can or will be done.
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miestro_jerry
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Ruger 45,
If the weapon was converted to semi only and was BATF(&E) certified before entering the states you may have an argument. The conversion would probably have to include safe guards so that it can not be converted back or if it just a war trophy, that it would not be fire-able every again.
During Vietnam, it took some paperwork to get an SKS into the states with a soldier, but it wasn't the soldiers C.O. that made that happen, it was a processing unit for soldiers that were coming home. There are many bureaucracies in the Army and unit C.O. don't have that much authority. Some issues with weapons are more Army regulation than anything else.
As that I was a company commander for a time in the Army, there were many things that were more important for the health and well being of the troops than approving a soldiers request to bring home a was trophy.
After the Gulf War, General Schwarzkopf got an exemption on what you could bring back, he wanted to being home a jar of the desert sand, he got his wish. The restriction are in place to avoid many problems, like taking a new disease back to the states, or a weapon that could be very dangerous or property of the people of that country or national trasures.
I live amoung many veterans of WWII and many of them have ordinace that should not be in the hands of the public, such as hand grenades. One neighbor who has passed on, had a genuine stolen from the Army BAR.
A 60 year old grenade, mortar shells and many other items can be in "not working" or unpredictable condition. Every now and then in Europe they find an unexploded bomb, some are still workable, most aren't.
Jerry
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Darth AkSarBen
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Just a lot easier to buy a Saiga, and then buy the parts to replace the Russian counterparts and make it a semi-auto AK again. Only thing is in these rifled, the 223 has a center raised area around the firing pin that sort of smashes an imprint on the case. I can reload it but it does make the mark. The 7.62 x 39 has a different feature. The chamber is slightly reamed a bit larger near the shoulder and hence has sort of a 2 step neck after the shell if fired. It is hand-load-able and they seem to function fine. These are provision by the Soviet government to distinguish that which was designated to civilians, and that which was made for the military.
Perhaps you can keep the bolt from a .223. With a little gun smithing, that should be able to be fitted to an imported Saiga, adjusted for headspace. With the 7.62, I don't think there is any solution other than a different barrel. The Saiga also makes a .308 Winchester version and has no such government 'marking' as they don't make a .308 Winchester there in a military configuration.
That .308 converts just about the same as the other rifles, perhaps even more so.
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Vern
http://taurus45acp.com My site with NRA-ILA feeds and some good links and info.
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
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Darth AkSarBen
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miestro_jerry wrote: Around my area, the ground hogs can be really dangerous. They shoot back
Sometimes they get the first shot off.
Jerry
That's a prairie dog there, Jerry
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Vern
http://taurus45acp.com My site with NRA-ILA feeds and some good links and info.
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
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miestro_jerry
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I didn't ask his heritage, I ducked.
Jerry
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Darth AkSarBen
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Cool Bill!! You and I both have a .223 and a .308. I have been getting some interesting groups from it. It too, is a 16" barrel version. Getting a Saiga? HURRY!! I have heard a rumor that Izhmash factory is doing some restructuring and have not made any Saiga's recently. Just the scuttlebutt.
BigBill, I have found that 130 and 150 gr bullets seem to work better out of my .308. Yours might be a bit different. I came across some Remington Core-LOCK 150 gr PSP bullets at Dunhams for $14.99 / box of 20. Bought a few boxes, might need to go back and get some more.. here is why! Shot at a Pizza Hut box the other day and couldn't see where I was hitting on the box. I made a "dot" with magic marker and shot 5 times, and figured I see when I went up and got the target to see where I was hitting. When I got up on it, I found out.
This is with some Hodgdon Benchmark powder and 150 gr Hornady 150 gr SPBT bullets. I was trying to find a fast burning powder for this short lenght of barrel.
They seem to be very good rifles!
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Vern
http://taurus45acp.com My site with NRA-ILA feeds and some good links and info.
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
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miestro_jerry
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Got shootin'
Jerry
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| Posted: Tue Oct 20th, 2009 03:36 PM |
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Koller Arms
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miestro_jerry wrote: Ruger 45,
If the weapon was converted to semi only and was BATF(&E) certified before entering the states you may have an argument. The conversion would probably have to include safe guards so that it can not be converted back or if it just a war trophy, that it would not be fire-able every again.BATF
BATF says once a M.G. always a M.G. can't be made into a semi only. Can't even import the barrel any more.
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| Posted: Tue Oct 20th, 2009 09:20 PM |
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countryboy
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i messed around with a russian version a few years back. they are some solid weapons, i sent some were in the neighborhood of 500rounds thru it in the 6months i had it and never jammed or miss fired
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| Posted: Tue Oct 20th, 2009 10:24 PM |
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miestro_jerry
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A well make AK47 that is kept in good condition is an excellent rifle. Some of the rifle that I saw that came from China, weren't so well made, but they are make to be AKMs and for the American market.
Once some one fills the AK with mud or sand, then shakes it out, not field stripping it, shooting it a lot, that does damage. It will still shoot when the tolerances get really great, where the M16 won't. Accuracy may not be so great, but it still shoots.
Jerry
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