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Sturgeon's House

Alex C.

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Everything posted by Alex C.

  1. Teaser coming for 74 stuff: My most basic impressions: The triangle stock is awesome when the weather is nice. When it is hot they burn your cheek off. When it is cold they give your cheek frostbite. The folding polymer stock is awesome and stores a cleaning kit. The ribbed dust cover is cooler looking, but I'm a sucker for retro styling. Palm swell on the wood is thicker than on the polymer.
  2. So as featured above you can see I got a wild hair and decided to build a light (sub 6 pound) AR variant. It worked. Weighed it today again: So then I remembered my old (1980s) Colt AR15a2 carbine w/ 2 position stock and all that. I weighed it with sling attached: CAR15 wins by a fucking lot. FML.
  3. This thread is not dead. I have just been out and about. New additions coming soon including the Israeli stuff and 5.45 rifles.
  4. So I completed my ultralight AR15 build. I could shave off a half pound but it would cost me quite a bit (titanium BCG, buffer, receiver extension, misc other small things). Parts: Rock River lower with their two-stage trigger A2 grip (was the lightest option I had, it formerly had a magpul) MFT minimalist stock Random endplate with sling loop Standard Colt M16 BCG AERO precision upper without forward assist 14.7" pencil barrel with pinned gemtech suppressor adapter Aero precision lightweight mlok handguard Holosun optic Shot it this weekend with no problems at all. Gun works and shoots great, and my goal was to have a rifle under 6 pounds I could actually use for stuff. Bone stock 6920 for comparison (with issue nylon silent sling)
  5. Man you really went all out on that rifle. Last I remember it was a box stock gun with an ACOG on it.
  6. The new M4s with the A1 upgrades are heavy and I hate them. The thicc barrel is bullshit, but at least you have an ambi safety I guess. All that thiccness in front of the receiver with the "wrench flats" for mounting the 203s: And I guess they are slapping their cage code on every part they can now:
  7. I got to shoot the regular one when a friend had it for T&E. They even sent him 1,000 rounds so we really got to run it (and I kept a box of ammo for the hell of it, Mr. ammo collector guy). Say what you will but those pistols are pretty damn incredible. I was making hits at 200 meters with ease and everything about the gun just feels terrific. $7500 worth of terrific? No, hell no but I could see maybe $2,500 or so.
  8. In 1989 an import ban was put into place barring foreign military style rifles from entering the country. Companies did all sorts of goofy stuff to get around it (thumbhole stock and milled off bayonet lugs). However rifles could still have original magwells that would accept military magazines. In 1997 the ban was strengthened by a Clinton executive order declaring guns that could accept military mags as "non-sporting" and hence fell under the import ban. The Saiga cannot take military mags because without the guide, rounds just slam nose-first into the bottom of the barrel. Hence, the Saiga mags are proprietary and have the built in (err, molded in) bullet guide.
  9. Newer style extractor: Spring loaded firing pin for commercial ammo: Where shit gets weird. Look at this fucking clownshoe of a trigger group. Linkages and all that nonsense. Mikhail must have hated this! Hammer released: Distance of hammer to trigger is almost bullpup level of nuts: Bump rivet: No bullet guide: Barrel has relief cuts for standard AK101 handguard: Ported gas block. No accessory lug: Russian "Y" stamp: So that's really about it. These are neat rifles, and a great example of how a military firearm can be successfully adapted into a conventional sporting arm. They are not going to win any accuracy contests, but this one is no less accurate than my new production Mini 14 (and they were cheaper before the stupid Obama import ban). This one will hold 2.25-2.5 MOA with good quality match ammunition (yes, I actually wasted match ammunition one day seeing how good a Saiga could shoot with an optic) and you could do better with handloads. However the trigger is about as bad as any bullpup I have messed with and that really holds it back. For anyone curious I paid $700 in August of 2018 for this and it was in like new condition. I bought it because they will never import any more of them and I thought the price will only go up as time goes by. Also I may do a 101 conversion down the road, but for now I am happy with it.
  10. So next up we have the humble Saiga. The Saiga is a sporting rifle Kalashnikov Concern markets towards hunters and such. Really short history: They introduced them in the 70s but they didn't sell, then companies like Valmet made the Valmet Hunter, Norninco with their Hunter, and then in the 90s the Russians got back in the game. The Saigas sold well and are seldom seen in stock form. Most of the Russian AK rifles you see in the USA are just converted Saiga rifles, which is by no means a bad thing. All the parts are there and it doesn't take much to get these into a more military configuration. They moved the trigger back on Saiga rifles relative to the military kalashnikov to accomodate the sporting stock: Handguard secured by a screw instead of a clamp. If I were going on a hunting trip with this rifle I would loctite this sucker on: Most puzzling thing. The saiga rear sights are only adjustable to 300 meters, and every adjustment is moved a click up (100 is where 200 should be and so on). I dont know why they did this, nor do I know why they are different colors: Even if you painted on your own numbers it wouldn't get you very far: Saigas are not threaded: Notice the safety lever's "dimple". There is no relief cut in the receiver to rest the safety. The safety slides off the receiver to be held in place. I don't know why they did this: Bolt hold open: Not triggered by last shot. Really just a strange and unnecessary feature IMO: To be importable, Saigas have no bullet guide. The magazine itself does the job the guide normally would: AK100 series top cover and spring assembly: No sear engagement surface, but enough meat to utilize the bolt hold open: Solid piston:
  11. Would be happy to take requests for weights and measurements in here. But we have a few more to cover: Galil (classic), Galil Ace, Valmet M76, an AK74M, and most interesting to me a Saiga sporting rifle (brilliant rifles really, and a great example of how to adapt a military rifle for sporting purposes). Would also do stuff like the VZ58, FNC, and Sig 550 for the sake of comparison.
  12. So we had one mega-hog that was big and mean enough to keep all the sow herds out of the trap. He was trapped, shot in the face, and hauled out so the coyotes and buzzards could finish the job: Not but a few nights later we caught the first sow herd: And they were promptly loaded up and taken to some exotic meat guy in the city who exports most of it to Europe. For some reasons Europeans view these as exotic and desirable. Protip to the Euro dudes on here, don't but this shit. It is pretty disgusting: So 32 hogs were trapped here but there are more sow herds to get, and the remaining boars must be hunted one by one.
  13. The new thin bolt: Thin stem bolt: The bump rivet that starts the bolt's rotation (instead of an extension on the bullet guide): Guide riveted: Receiver guts: Handguards w/shield: Big threads for the big brake. Also bayo lug: Gas block differences: Notice lightening cut: BCG lighter because of cut: AKM vs. AK100 bolts: AK100 bolt stem thickness: AKM stem thickness: AKM left: Top cover is same thickness as receiver:
  14. Well onto the AK100 series gun. Well, kind of. This is a Legion converted gun but I can use it to highlight some differences here I would like to showcase. Anyways the proper 7.62x39 AK103 rifles are folders so just imagine you see a folder here I guess. Notice the selector moves up into a recess in the dust cover. Other than that, pretty AKM-like. 74 style 90 degree gas block. Also notice accessory lug. 1000m rear sight: Injection-molded polymer AKM grip: Polymer hand guards with stainless heat shields: Double rivet trigger guard: Has a rail: Smooth dust cover unlike AKM: The famous "bump rivet": Vent holes cast into gas block: Underside: Smooth piston head: Conventional recoil assembly:
  15. No of course not, I was just curious. If you can translate something from Russian to English for me I would be very grateful.
  16. Logistics makes sense, but so does the fact that he was an older guy (over 50 at the time) wanting more powa just like our older guys who want 7.62x51 back. I know 7.62x39 with its taper, low thermal load, and diameter help the AK’s reliability. Perhaps he thought the 5.45 would negatively impact the rifle’s mechanical performance (does it?).
  17. Naw, he’s probably just happy they tore that STG44 off his sculpture and replaced it with an AK a while back. But have you read “Kalashnikov: The Arms and the Man”? Why was he opposed to 5.45? I know he was all for just using an improved 7.62x39.
  18. Hey, If you’re not first, you’re last. Also fortune favors the bold, and often the stupid.
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