I am buying Molot Vepr 7.62×54r. I know you have videos about it. I need to know if PSL or SVD steel mags will fit Vepr(not the hunting version, "assault" style." THANK YOU FOR ALL ROB AND FAMILY.
@@nikburisson9-pissedoffpeasant- That is a fun cartridge. I had a Mosin Nagant m91/30 for years and while very accurate for a battle rifle with any of the cheap stuff I could buy the best gun it gave me was letting other people at the range shoot it. Oh it was a blast watching them shoot it. Eventually I wanted something different and traded out of it for the something different I wanted.
My process is very straight foward: Step 1 - Watch every review on AK47/74 Operators’ Union. Step - 2 Wait for a firearm to pass the 5,000 round test. Step 3 - Beg/Explain to my wife why I “need” (want) another firearm. Step 4 - Buy it secretly without her knowing about it. Step 5 - Claim it has been part of my collection all along. Step 6 - Go back to Step 1 - Step 5 and repeat the process for an optic and accessories.
Let's be honest get whatever you want life is short throw a caution to the wind. Do whatever you want while you can when you can tomorrow is not promised.
As much as I want to do this , I've had over 16 aks , I end up having to sell at some point , being poor sucks. Right now i go with 556 ak74 use followers on ak74 mags works flawless , mine have anyways so yes is good option !
@@THE-REAL-DAK sucks but such is life brother!! We will climb out of this shiit one day or at least be at a point where we don't have to sell our beloved AKs! Another reason I'm glad I do videos because at least when they are gone I still have a piece of them in some way lol have a good one bro thank you for the reply, Poor's love guns too!!!
I cannot thank Mr. Rob Ski enough for steering me in the right direction so many times. Thanks to you, I KNEW what to look for when I bought my first "good" AK (Egyptian parts build AKM) and thereafter recommending outstanding accessories such as optics/mounts, muzzle devices, mags, slings, etc. I don't have a lot of AK's, but they are all GOOD AK's, i.e., my AKM, my Draco and my ZPAP M90.
I picked up my first AK last year, a Zastava ZPAP in 7.62x39, largely based on Rob's review. It's an excellent rifle and in its classic, stock configuration it's been simple, reliable, fun, and accurate. All I've felt the need to do is add an AK74-style muzzle brake, primarily for looks but I do like the recoil impulse a little better.
Solid advice Rob! Great coverage of those questions! I followed your advice years ago and started with my VEPRs and WBP AKs. Glad I did because VEPRs almost impossible to get now.
I really hope someone starts producing 5.45 domestically sometime soon. Especially since there are American companies making 5.45 rifles in decent numbers. 74 users are a creative bunch when it comes to keeping the platform alive! Let's pray we can figure it out. Thanks for the video Rob!
US Ammo companies either don't want to, or can't use Steel-cased ammo & brass-cased ammo costs much more. Also US Ammo Companies don't use berdan primered ammo which is better for AKs!
Great video. I've been buying ammo every pay for the last 6 or 7 years. Whether it's a box of 22 or 1000 rounds of 7.62x39, buy ammo every pay day. I bought a Mosin Nagant, sniper rifle with original scope and even has the leather scope covers for 600 dollars a few months ago. Unfortunately, 7.62x54R has dried up where I live. It's fun to shoot though. I just need to learn about the scope though.
Simple, well thought out practical advice and information. As usual you show how and why you are a such a valuable asset to AK owners and users as well as 2nd amendment supporters. Thank you so much for all you do and may God continue to keep you and your loved ones safe and healthy.
Excellent presentation Robski. I seriously agree with all your comments. Solid info. My first AK was an Arsenal underfolder. A lot of folks bitch about them, but I love mine to death. It's a milled receiver as well. My only AR hasn't seen the light of day in years since I got my AKs. Thanks!
I personally like the 7.62x39, due to it being a better hunting cartridge. And I can go 2000 fps with a 150 grain cast to save money, and get full power of the cartridge.
Love the videos Rob, strongly agree with the KISS principle for selecting your first AK. Definitely feel out the platform before adding all the bells and whistles where you don't necessarily need them
Sometimes you have enough ars and want something different or you live in a non free state and you want an ak but 7.62x39 are banned but you can get one in 5.56 or 5.54. That's what dumbfounded me about states like maryland you can't own a ak-47 but you can own an ak-74 or ak-101, politicians and gun grabber groups are stupid and have no idea what they're talking about. Sorry went on a little rant at the end there
100% right about the underfolders! My first (and sadly only) AK is an underfolder. Romy PM65 kit but with a polish AKMS style rear trunnion so the folder is straight AKMS type. It looked so cool and I thought I wanted the convenience of a folder. Then I started shooting it and immediately regretted not going with a fixed stock. Folders are fine for guys who are going to carry thier rifle 99% of the time and only shoot the remaining 1%, but for a range toy you want a stock! Luckily there's a couple adapters available that bolt through the rear trunnion and allow an AR buffer tube/castle nut with collapsing AR stock of choice. I got the one from definitive arms with no complaints but a fixed stock would've made everything much much easier.
Love these videos. You ALWAYS deliver SOLID content whether it’s videos about AK purchasing, torture tests, parts reviews, or general info on the Ak 47 platform. As a veteran thank you for everything that you do Rob Ski.
Thank you, Rob. Having been around the block with AKs for about 30 years, starting with a basic milled receiver AK, through all the weird and wonderful varieties, I’m now back to a basic Polish AKM with laminated furniture 👍😉
Thanks so much for these great tips, Rob! I'm currently in the market, so I'm trying to naviage these waters right now. I've gone back and forth between 5.56 Nato and 9.762x39, but I think it's time to stop vacillating and just pick one. Cheers!
I agree with you about the selection process. All advice is rock solid. Make sure you get to know the rifle and can use it proficiently before changing things
@@AkOperatorsUnion what do you think of sam7sf 84? It folds on right side so doesnt block optic. Also what would be your "go to war" ak if you had to choose 1? (Make and model)
Great advice, bought my first AK last year because of your channel, go a Zastava M70 zpap. Still stock and still loving it, only accessories I added was a slip on UTG butt pad. Fantastic rifle, hardly look at my AR’s anymore.
Just got my 3x from primary arms . Awesome, love it. Just a heads up for budget people you can do pay as you go on optics planet . (Think it was 4 payments of 79$ for the micro prism, payments taken from your account every two weeks) 🤜🤛
Hey Rob, thank you for the no BS useful information as usual. I as you know just got back into AK's for the first time in well over 20 years, I am using this exact approach. I currently have only one AKM and have been slowly tuning and adjusting it. At this point I am still working with the irons, giving it a shakedown and getting the rifle the way it should be in it's most basic form. Once I feel the time is right I will add a mount and red dot optic simply for Co witnessing the sights for quicker Target acquisition. Then I will leave it alone. I just placed another order and received from your store, the bolt hold open followers worked out great. Just wondering if in the future you would offer them in packets of five instead of packets of 10 as an option? I'd like to pick up another five with my next order. Thank you for all you do Rob it is greatly appreciated 👍.
I'm buying that shirt! Ha! I never thought I would ever see the day where AKs would go for what they are going for now days. I'm glad I bought all of mine when I did.
love your channel...your delivery of info is spot n no bullshit and entertainining...and I know you speak from real world experience....would love to have you as my neighbor.....and....thank you for your sacrifice and service to our country ... .much respect my not blood brother, I and many others would have your 6...if we were on the battlefield that unfortunately is coming.....love your channel ....I am not a veteran but ...have been shooting and hunting for 50 years, since age 4...even though we never met ..much respect my brother👍...Blessed Be to you and your family❤️🤍💙
9:35 I am glad you said that about the underfolder stock. It does kick more compared to the wooden stock. And the COOL factor. That is very true. I gained much experience at KMTC on my 1st deployment to Kaubal. We shot a lot.
Any love for the .308 AK rifles? I have a converted .308 Saiga and it is about my favorite. Strange days that ammo in that caliber can be had cheaper than 5.45! Zastava M77 is on my short list for the next AK.
Big bore AKs is like loving big women. They are not for the average joe but what you get in return is outstanding. I love hearing my big bores roar but finding quality ammunition for them is a chore and getting harder and harder.
@Peter Angles I am very familiar with that concept. I do not believe that you caught nor understood the concept that I was intentionally using that term as a synonym for full power.
The Zastava M77 is excellent but it does have more recoil than a FAL. On a different note you can always buy a PTR 91 for a similar price, they are heavier, but you can't go wrong with the roller-delayed blowback system.
I have to agree. I love my Bulgarian AK 74. But my Yugo M90A in 5.56x45 with a 1 in 7 twist heavy barrel is hard to beat. And you can't go wrong with a Yugo M70 in 7.62x39. And the best unicorn is my Yugo M85 in 300 AAC BLK! Talk about happiness!
I’m a big fella so I need a longer length of pull so the fixed stock is the first thing to go. Other than that, I like to keep it simple. Great video Rob.
The 2nd Amendment isn't an endowed right it's a given right... Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are the inalienable rights, given by God! Not that I'm trying to by any means knock down the 2nd Amendment, but the Bill of Rights is written and codified by men!
It's not "Our Country" = because you're in the People's Republic of Washington State"!!! Florida, Texas & other Republican States are 2nd Amendment "Sanctuary States"!!!
I completely agree with you Rob in starting simple. You can always add exactly what you want later. And then it is uniquely your personal rifle, not something that someone else made.
I got my VEPR in the caliber that the Kalashnikov should have been from inception. 6.5x39(6.5 Grendel). Got plenty of Wolf ammo stacked up for it. I was rocking a 5.56 AK before it was cool, with my WASR-3. My battle rifle is a MOLOT VEPR in 308. So I'm pretty much covered for any situation. 😁
great video as usual. thanks for the info. and thats a good point about the ability to purchase ammo online, comiefornia has already forbid it, I believe.
I still regret not buying the $400 WASR 15 years ago. Now, none of the imports are cheap, or easy to get. Most won't even ship to my area, unless they come with a 10 round, low capacity mag.
WASR is the perfect first AK; imported, military grade, chrome lined, and by all accounts a "classic" true AKM. All AK parts will be plug and play, and it'll last several lifetimes. I LOVE Zastava, but man those new 1.5mm are chunky. Part of what I love about stamped AK is the lightness and maneuverability. That said, unfortunately with the sad state of imports these days, the WASR and Zpap are some of the only affordable foreign options. I'm still hoping that Pioneer has their shit together finally, a sub $800 Polish AK is pretty tempting.
@@TheNocturnalEvil holy cow 😅 I'm not sure what mine weigh, but I'm sure none are close to ten pounds haha. That would make damn near anything feel light. Like switching to a solid mahogany Les Paul to an alder Stratocaster.
My Bulgarian is a 1.5 or 1.6 MM receiver she’s a beast, but still all AK47 Type 3 parts from the Bulgarian Ministry Of Defense, with the Styer Cold Hammer Forged chrome lined barrel, assembled under the super vision of Ivan Kolev, and it shoots so darn good!
@@TheOfficialCaseMade they are (SSR-85C-2) by ISD LTD Bulgaria ...ive heard some people talk crap about them, or call them part builds, but it is sweet Hybrid design, built from Bulgarian Ministry Of Defense unissued Type 3 AK47's, with a Styer process cold hammer forged barrel, hard chrome lined, Barrel assembly, sights, bolt, carrier, top cover, and trigger guard, all from the Type 3 AK47, and an AKM 1.6MM stamped receiver instead of the original 1MM milled receiver, and AK74 Trunions, trigger guard, with the Blonde stock set. the Type 3 AK's were torn down at ISD LTD Bulgaria and built back up with the stamped 1.6MM receivers all on a production line under the supervision of none other than Ivan Kolev, Known from (Arsenal) and the 1.6MM were only ever done by the Chinesse until they built these rifles, They built these rifles to be the finest Imports to come to America, and man is it sweet! it was imported to Armory U.S.A/ Arsenal in Texas as single stacks in the early 2000's and milled out to take double stack magazines, but the later ones after Armory U.S.A sold out to another company are marked TGI, and are not quality guns from what ive researched. I was at the gun store when an old man sold his entire collection to the store, he saw i was interested in it and he pulled me aside and told me it was a very special AK and it was still brand new, in near 20 years of owning it he only fired 2 mags through it, and its worth some money now, i asked the dealer what was special about it and they told me nothing and i could buy it for $700 so i told them to hold it, and i came home and dug deep researching it, i found a man that was part of this program building these very rifles and he confirmed everything for me, and sent me to places i could find the info he was telling me, so i did and it all checked out! i bought it the next day, and i obly see a few here and there, but they are selling for double or more than i paid for it.
Good video. Just recently jumped back into the ak market (last time was back in early 2000’s when good imports were dirt cheap and ammo was Pennie’s a round). Well ended up with a k-USA 103 side folder and managed to find a shop that has Barnaul , wolf poly, and Romanian surplus in spam cans for around 35-47 cents a round .. thankfully I still had my old Bakelite mags , but still like the new magpul metal lug mags and some Bulgarian metal lug poly mags . Spot in for under folders.. had a couple and they were a literal pain to shoot more than a mag at a time.
This is the AK video I was looking for. I was dead set on buying an AK with an under folding stock. But, I believe you have changed my mind and will buy one with a fixed stock. Yes, the under folding stock looks cool as hell. But, I think I would shoot it 95% of the time with the folding stock extended. Shooting it folded would be fun for a few magazines. But, the fixed stock is now seeming more realistic. Thanks for the video!
I am looking into obtaining a 5.56 AK. Largely because of logistics. I do not want to stocking another caliber. I had an 7.62 Romanian AK, but I gave it to a friend after he lost his in a divorce.
I was going to buy a 102 from psa, but this weekend at the little gun store in my small town I saw a little gem, an Arsenal SA93, very well taken care of an hardly fired from the previous owner. I bought it for 899 before taxes. Makes two milled and one stapmed Romy in the collection. It is very easy to find this ammo in my state. But having an AK or two in 5.56 is a very smart idea
I get an adjustable lop stock, but folding stocks for compactness and storage always seemed pointless to me. Ok, they're shorter, but they're also now twice as wide. They still take up the same area, just in a different dimension. And for that total lack of space savings, you introduce a fragile failure point.
I was looking at getting my 1st ak . Really like the wbp jack and the arsenal sam7. Such a tuff choice . Really leaning towards the jack to be honest. That Russian sunburst is calling my name. Great video Rob love the content 👌
get the jack and you wont look back. seriously. love that thing. especially in 556 since 7.62 prices are dumb right now. Feels great to go out with all the AR friends and be able to finally use some of their ammo since they always used my 9mm at the range. payback!
Get the Jack, stamped receiver AKMs are durable enough for military usage, so civilian usage ain't an issue. Milled receiver AKs like the SAM7 are no doubt more rugged, but they are not worth the overinflated price they go for. You can also try the Zastava ZPAP, they are more ruggedly built than regular AKMs.
Here in Switzerland I have access to a couple of great options - a 103 straight from Izhmash in the motherland itself, or a milled Bulgarian AK. Both seem extremely well made. Any advice on preference between the two? Also, Robski, what's the reason you lean toward a stamped over milled receiver away from the range? Weight savings, maybe?
I'd say always buy Russian first, both for the sake of heritage and because Russia is in deep shit right now. It's best to get one in case you can't in the future, although I'm sure things are very different from here in the States, where all Russian imports are banned.
@@dogg92 This was my thinking, as well. While there are still a handful of genuine Kalashnikovs available here, I've been hearing that pretty much anything with Russian written on it will be no longer allowed import - I suspect at least so long as the shenanigans in Ukraine continue. While Switzerland isn't a member of the EU, they do tend to comply in varying degrees with EU dictates regarding many, if not most, things due to economic and political coercion.
I just bought a Norinco with a very low round count. Couldn't be happier. I also have a meridian defense milled volk that's an absolute tack driver. I will never sell either of them. I was also lucky enough to get a vepr 12. That too will never be sold. Everything else I have I would sell if the price was right.
I actually prefer it being harder to customize IF I'm planning on "pimping out" an AK. My favorite AK's I currently own are my Zastava Ak's and one of which I pimped out real nice and the thing I like about that is beings it was harder to find the correct parts I needed and the fact most of them took slight to moderate modification to utilize and work reliably it added to my appreciation to the final product. I took a Zastava and made an Alpha AK out of it. NOT with the easy to find parts either. NO. I sourced and used parts that are unique did all the work myself. Did it damn good to I might add.
I like my ARs a lot but I love my AKs. 7.62 still my favorite round and easy to find. I have two Romanian MD65 underfolders and a Khyber in 5.45. The ammo situation is a beating with 5.45 prices. 5.45 is a great round but similar enough to 5.56 that I'm happy it's an acceptable quasi-equivalent substitute. I like the AK platform, the selector switch feels more natural to me and theres nothing like the sound of charging an AK. Plus you don't get the puff of smoke in your face from the AK breach like you do with the DI system in the AR. People are doing some really awesome innovations with the AK platform that provide all of the options for rails, M Locks, etc that are worth checking out. Even if you're an AR devotee and overall gun enthusiast, you're kind of missing out not having an AK in your collection.
