This year Century Arms had two big ticket items on the SHOT 2019 list. The first was the company’s custom line of AK-patterned rifles and Canik handguns that were worked on by a custom shop outside of Century. Century Arms gave them carte-blanche to complete different modifications to the AK rifles and with different finishes applied too. The Canik’s were done by a separate shop but still have that same individual flair to them.

Here’s something I stumbled upon at SHOT Show 2019 that’s not AR-15 related. The folks over at Acu Tek Arms just released their AK bull barrel and improved assembly. There’s actually been a couple cool new AK related products at SHOT Show this year. There’s the Armamentos .22LR AK Conversion Kit, Krebs Custom 9×39 AK-9 Pistol Prototype and the Kalashnikov USA KR-9.

Despite the fact that US gun market is and will remain to be the largest and most exciting in the whole world, there are plenty of restrictions that prevent a lot of really cool guns from coming here. 1989
Import Ban on Assault Rifles effectively stops civilian versions of most modern military firearms from ever being imported for the US civilian market. And since the ban doesn’t go anywhere any time soon, the only thing you can really do is to produce a replica of a weapon stateside, and that is exactly what Kalashnikov USA did with KR-9.

While visiting the Wolf ammunition booth at SHOT 2019, I noticed a very unique OD green AK pistol on the wall with a Gear Head Works PSB attached to it.  This wasn’t just any AK pistol, it was a Krebs Custom.  Not just any Krebs AK, it was a prototype AK-9 pistol in 9×39 with a custom made magazine!  Leave it to Mark Krebs to have a working prototype to use Wolf’s 9×39 ammo.

Armamentos was another gem hiding amongst the rubbish typically found in the lower basement of the Sands Convention Center here at SHOW SHOW. Their banner caught my attention. They advertised a .22LR AK47 conversion kit for a stamped receiver AK.

After a small run of custom AKs chambered in .223/5.56, Rifle Dynamics has added this rifle to their main product line due to the high demand. This new product is called RRD556 NATO AK. According to the announcement posted on the company’s social media pages, this project was possible thanks to the efforts of the K-Var Corp.

“Everything Wrong to Make It Look So Good” – according to Drew Boquet, the creator of this gun, that’s the motto of this build. It was made to replicate a Khyber pass rifle. At first glance, it seems to be just another AK project made with a hodgepodge of different parts, however, the more you look at it the more you understand that there is something unexplainably cool in the combination of these parts.

Just like the Svarog rifle that we talked about a couple of weeks ago, Saiga-9 Yarovit PCC is also named after a Slavic deity. This 9mm carbine is built by Kalashnikov Concern‘s custom shop called LOT (ЛОТ (Лаборатория Оружейного Тюнинга) – an abbreviation that stands for “firearms tuning laboratory). Let’s see what divine features Yarovit has.

If you browse the list of companies that will be exhibiting at SHOT Show 2019, you’ll notice a new company with a very familiar name – Zastava Arms USA. Apparently, the famous Serbian arms manufacturer now has a new US distributor.

Do you remember the postcards from the German Kampfschwimmers? In Mother Russia they have Frogmen too and they are jealous.

The history of the new generation of Kalashnikov assault rifles is quite complicated and often very scandalous. In 2013, Russian Ministry of Defense refused to finance the R&D for AK-12, over the years there were a lot of sudden and controversial design changes, and some experts remain skeptical about design features of the final version of the rifle, presented in 2016.

At the Leviathan x Big Daddy Unlimited Epic Shoot 2018 media event, Fostech unveiled some brand new products. The highlight of their presentation would have to be their Echo AK47 trigger. Although they have another interesting trigger along with a ridiculously lightweight magnesium handguard.

Kalashnikov Concern has released a new competition ready rifle called Saiga-MK Svarog (Сварог – name of a Slavic deity). The rifle is the first project of the company’s custom shop which they call “firearm tuning laboratory”.

Palmetto State Armory has introduced their new and improved KS47. The Gen 2 makes a number of improvements aimed at reliability and feeding but maintains compatibility with many parts from the Gen 1. Palmetto State Armory is offering the KS47 G2 in four configurations: 2 pistols and 2 rifles.

Palmetto State Armory have introduced a new 9x19mm AK pistol. The AK-V is based on the Vityaz-SN 9mm AK-based submachine gun. The new AK-V feeds from PSA’s CZ Scorpion style 35 round magazines and comes in three packages: with a railed forened, a magpul M-LOK forend and a traditional forend. All three have SBA3 adjustable braces with a folding stock option coming soon.

The very first Kalashnikov rifle that received the AK-47 model designation is displayed in the  Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps which is located in Saint Petersburg, Russia. This rifle has always been somewhat mysterious because its appearance is quite different from the AK-47 that was actually adopted.

It’s a well-known fact that the AR is categorically superior to the AK and the Kalashnikov is suitable only for dirty commies and the poors. There are a lot of reasons for this fact, but today we are going to focus on reliability and the ballistic differences between common FMJ for AKs and ARs, after touching briefly on the ergonomic inferiority of the AK.

AK-12 and AK-15 rifles were adopted by the Russian military at the beginning of the current year. These rifles inherited the best features of the AKM/AK-74 and added a number of small design changes that bring the good old AK to the 21st century. Although most of these changes are generally known to us, there is still quite a bit of mystery concerning how exactly some of the parts are redesigned and constructed.

A cache of weapons was discovered as a residential property in Belfast, Northern Ireland following a heating boiler fire. Two AK-pattern rifles and two sawn-off shotguns were found along with a supply of ammunition.

Recently, on September 19, Russians celebrated a very unusual annual holiday – “The Gunsmith day”.  As usual, I tried to use this opportunity to shoot some interesting weapons and get some footage. The project was named “Kalashnikov evolution”. It documents all main variations of the AK platform created in its cradle – the Izhmash factory in the city of Izhevsk, Russia.

Meridian Defense Corporation has designed four limited edition AK rifles themed after the four horsemen of the apocalypse – Pestilence, War, Famine, Death. The first rifle of this series is the Pestilence which is already available for preorder. Other three rifles are set to be released in 2019.

In this article you will meet a brand new Romanian Cugir WS1-63SB chambered in 7.62×39 mm. The rifle is available for just a little short of 900 Euro or roughly 1 000 US Dollars in Germany.

In the first part of the article, I talked about some general advantages of red dot sights on an AK. I am sure they are obvious for seasoned shooters, but less experienced gun owners might find them useful.

You have probably heard and read about the quite successful attempts of 3D printing AR-15 lower receivers. I am sure after seeing these 3D printed receivers, many people have been wondering if receivers of other firearms can be printed, too. Particularly, many of you have probably asked if it is possible to print an AK receiver. To answer this question, Brandon Herrera ( The AK Guy) 3D printed a milled style AK receiver, built a rifle based on that receiver and test fired it to see if the receiver will survive.

In the last 20 years, the market of weapons accessories expanded dramatically: grips, stocks, red dot sights and lasers, slings, handguards, and countless other products filled gun shops and online stores, giving gun owners an opportunity to spend much more money without actually buying more guns.

Larry Vicker‘s guide of the Kalashnikov (Volume 1) is now ready to be delivered to your coffee table. This book will stand out on any table or shelf, in its Red Alert-red, full of AKs and AKMs.

In February 1993 members of Aum Shinrikyo cult traveled to Russia including among them a mechanical engineering graduate of the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Through a Russian contact they were able to tour several arms production plants and glean information on handling various weapons and explosives. During these lectures hours of video footage was taken to document the operation and mechanics of each weapon. At some point during these exchanges a single AK74 rifle was illegally procured with orders directly from leader Shoko Asahara to be smuggled back to Japan. This would serve as a template for the group to produce a rifle of their own.

We’ve been comparing the guns of the Fallout series of post-apocalyptic video games to their real-world counterparts and today we’re going to examine the handmade rifle.

Arms of America has announced the availability of a new AK rifle called WBP FOX. These new rifles are imported from Poland. They are made by WBP Rogow from completely new parts. Let’s take a look at the features of this rifle.

Texas Weapon Systems has launched a new line of AK direct red dot sight mounts called BDM (Bitty Dot Mount). These mounts are designed to be installed onto the rear sight block replacing the rear iron sight. The manufacturer claims that “this little red dot mount is the smallest, lightest, and beefiest on the market“.