Bulgarian or Russian 74?

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I'm looking for some advice/recomendations on which Ak 74 to purchase. Bulgarian? Russian? Any others to consider?
 
I have a Polish Tantal in 5.45x39.

Its a nice gun. Not sure where you are located, but I had to have mine modified to make it MA legal. It comes with a folding stock, grenade launcher and bayo lugs.

fun rifle, cheap money.
 
A while back I spent time looking for an AK in 5.45x39 and after some searching I settled on an Arsenal (Bulgarian) SLR-105. I've had it for about 18 months and have had no problems.

You can find them on GB and other sites for 700-1000 (more than WASR 2s and other similar rifles). They do make a version that is MA compliant, if that is relevant to you.
 
Bulgarian and Russian AK74s are nearly identical in design. In fact, early variants of the bulgarian '74 were in fact made out of russian parts with their serial #'s scrubbed. If you find a Bulgy '74 with the "double rivet" front trunnion, it's really russian steel.

For example- here's a bulgy AK74 (mine):
IMG_1044.jpg


and here's a Russian AK74 (built from a '88 kit... notice the dimpled barrel components)
86plum742.jpg


granted, you can get russian AK74's from Arsenal, or convert Saiga 5.45 rifles and have what is basically a 100% russian rifle. They have russian barrels, russian receivers, and a few US parts to make them 922r compliant. Arsenal Bulgy SLR's are built on Bulgarian receivers. That is one of the bigger differences between the two. My bulgy ak74 is bulgarian parts (barrel included) built on a US made NODAK receiver. So mine fits a 3rd category.

Polish Tantal's are a different approach to the platform primarily because of their muzzle brake and (typically) their folding AKM stock:
9e6dee33b450c4c24b47be36966ed80c.image.733x550.jpg

Typically these are Polish parts kits assembled on US receivers. I am not entirely sure about their current build origins. Someone else can explain that. They're pretty sweet as far as the AK74 platfor goes- about as unique as you can get.

There are romanian ak74 variants as well- WASR2's:
RomanianAK74.jpg

They're typically a little sloppier builds- but they're fairly rare in the US. Built on Romanian receivers, imported usually by Century Arms. One of the more unique things about the Romy AK74 is that it has a 45 degree gas return block, instead of the typical 90 degree GRB. It's one of those quirks that make it pretty interesting.

Most of these will display similar accuracy. The 5.45x39 round is a pretty good combloc caliber.

You can get any of these in Massachusetts. It may take some work, but it's not hard. Places like Henderson Defense out in Arizona will make an Arsenal rifle Massachusetts AWB compliant and ship it to a FFL here for a small price. There are other places that will do the same. If you live in NY, they'll do the same thing for you.

If you live in a free state, none of that concerns you.
 
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Gentlemen, thank you for the great info! Flintoid, I appreciate the time you took to put that together. Thank you! :)
 
If you are in MA, K-Var is now offering a NY/NJ compliant model.

http://www.k-var.com/shop/product.php?productid=17676&cat=430&page=1

Someone correct me if I am wrong but those should be a MA legal configuration...looks like they are using the similar FSB configuration (unthreaded and bayo lug ground) that was used on the Ban model SLR 105's




On the Romanian side I prefer the Intrac CUR 2 or MK II.

1018686019028342462S600x600Q85.jpg


See them up for sale every now and then on the auction sites or guns america.

In my experience I found their actions much smoother than Sar 2's or WASR 2's. You can find them in their imported configuration and do your own 922 compliant mods with a G2 HTS and US Stock set
 
If you are in MA, K-Var is now offering a NY/NJ compliant model.

http://www.k-var.com/shop/product.php?productid=17676&cat=430&page=1

Someone correct me if I am wrong but those should be a MA legal configuration...looks like they are using the similar FSB configuration (unthreaded and bayo lug ground) that was used on the Ban model SLR 105's

Thats an ok rifle for a Massachusetts resident but theres this:
"Rifles & Shotguns K-VAR does not sell nor ship rifles to the following states: CA, NY, NJ, and MA"
 
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