It's crazy that USA AR and AK prices have basically switched over the past 20 years. I remember just after the AWB fell in 2004 A normal AR would be a minimum of $1000 while a decent AK would be about $400. Now a decent AR can be had for about $400 while pretty much any decent AK will be about $1000.
At the moment, an AK in Russia costs around $600, while AR-platform rifles start at approximately $3,500. For $1,000 in Russia, you can only buy Chinese Norinco AR-15 models.
Sheeeit.. crazy.. but also 600 for an AK is bloody expensive... I recall in 2000nds when I hand the ... Pleasure... to live in the Caucasus a regular full auto AK47 was 140$us in Dagestan.. sure they were illegal but common. But even then the saiga guns were 160$us back then in gun shops....600$ now is really high in my opinion, considering how many they churn out and how much Russians earn.@@casperarms
@@casperarms That's such a rip off. Russia should have literal tons of weapons that shouldn't cost more than $50-$100 for a rifle or pistol. Maybe not modern but modern enough.
Nah, it was still cheap "krinkov quality". That's why the company went under and filed for bankruptcy. One Thousand mags is nothing for a Izmash made AK's. People who owned them for years claimed they went through 50.000 rounds before having to replace the barrel. My own AK went through 4000 and it's still spotless.
@@coemgenvsrex1351 AKs were imported in the 80s. They were like $200-299 new. There were a lot more AKs later in the 2000s, but even in the 80s, "impossible" is not true. "Common" would be accurate.
Well it depends in the 80s they were norinco guns... From china.. then Clinton banned Chinese rifles... Then there was heaps of Yugo stuff comming from Croatia as Serbia was banned . In the 90s Russia had a ban from Clinton too but it wasn't a full ban. Bulgarians took up the slack . It's mostly the ATF that keeps the supply of AKS as unreliable .. one thing that surprised me was the Germans didn't keep making aks after unification would have been a great export business to the US and unlikely to get sanctioned. the ak wagon has always had a bumpy ride.. Russians should have came to the USA and made a sanction busting plant in the 90s and gave American Larry and AK enima 😊 dunno why they didn't .. America is the world's gun customer and they could make all this crazy shit they can't sell in Russia like 2 barrelled AKS and miniature guns and stuff @@duganashley1337
Well for me i initially just wanted to be familiar with both AK & AR platforms, But once i worked with an AK some neuron just stayed switched on while it was in my hands, and the manual of arms worked perfectly for me since i have those square slavic hands. The slav in me gives a natural affinity for the AK
@@usernamehhhs4540 Why good riddance? KUSA guns weren’t perfect but still impressive to say the least and their prices are even higher than before. On PSA website the PSA AK103 cost 800-900 while the KSA AK 103s on PSAs website cost 1300. They sell the competitors product more than their own product on their own website. I wonder why.
It's a shame that AK is so expensive on the current American market. Regardless of price, I'll always prefer AK over AR. I'd take rugged reliability over precision any day, since if I wanted precision, I'd use a bolt action rifle platform.
AR's are now reliable. You have parts everywhere for replacement, and replacement is easy, unlike an AK. If your AK is fucked, you don't have as many parts and replacement would be a pain in the ass.
the argument of ar being more precise than the ak is a myth and comes down to factors excluding the platform. brandon herrera has a great video on it but to summarize, the greater tolerances in the receiver and everything behind the barrel dont affect the accuracy of the bullet at all. more importantly, its the ammunition, the barrel, and the user. alot of aks in the states dont get access to good quality ammo, and even in post soviet countries, the ammunition is usually surplus and not always loaded consistently.
Rugged reliability? AK's break and malfunction just like AR's. Finnish Rk's are just AK's with enhanced precision due to better QC. The reliability of AK's isn't down to lackadaisical tolerances, but to myth. I would recommend watching a channel like ValGear, he's an operator in an active war zone where the AK is the predominant system, listen to what he has to say concerning reliability of AK vs. AR vs. BREN2 etc.
Я согласен, в настоящее время я работаю на оружейного мастера Калашникова в Техасе. У меня есть опыт работы с продукцией "Kalashnikov USA". Их продукция имеет плохой контроль качества, но он улучшился. К сожалению, компания объявила о банкротстве и в настоящее время не производит нового оружия. Американские автоматы Калашникова славятся тем, что они ужасно сделаны. У меня есть автоматы Калашникова из Румынии, России, Польши и Болгарии. Самые качественные - российские. Я бы хотел, чтобы моя страна не имела санкций против России, чтобы мы могли получать новые продукты от концерна «Калашников»
@casperarms my ranking system for what former Soviet countries made the highest quality Ak would be 1. Russia 2. Poland(FB Radom not WBP) 3. Bulgaria 4. Hungary 5. Egypt 6. Romania. Russia produces some of the best AKs and Poland is a close second in terms of quality. It’s hard to say with the Bulgarian AKs we get in the states because there are rumors they are lower quality than the military contract rifles. Hungarian AKs are pretty well made. Egypt while not being a Warsaw Pact nation made great AKs known as the Maadi. Romania makes the lowest quality Kalashnikov in the former Soviet bloc. They have the poorest quality control in their factories and some of the poorest metallurgy. I didn’t include Yugoslav, Israeli, Finnish, or Chinese Kalashnikovs as they deviated from the Russian pattern. US made Kalashnikovs far worse, with many having issues blowing up or parts breaking way sooner than their foreign made counterparts.
@@robbecker2377 Wow, thank you! That’s quite interesting. I actually suspected that Polish and Bulgarian AKs are the best copies. I especially like what Bulgaria is doing. They have essentially produced a number of parts that aren’t their own designs but are Soviet designs that were never implemented. I’ll talk about this in one of my future videos.
Kalashnikov USA produced the best of the US made Kalashnikovs. While they were decent rifles, they still had horrible quality control. Rifle Dynamics and other AK “producers” are actually gunsmith companies who don’t produce the core components of the Kalashnikov themselves unlike Kalashnikov USA or Palmetto State Armory. They use WBP parts which are commercially produced in Poland. Most Kalashnikov builders use parts kits from deactivated military rifles imported from the former Soviet Union and other combloc nations. They are then built here on US made receivers, these have plenty of problems. Most US produced Kalashnikov receivers suffer from poor metallurgy, improper heat treating, or incorrect dimensions. If you need any more information on US made or non Russian made Kalashnikovs let me know
@ Polish and Bulgarian AKs are very high quality though the Polish are more comparable to Russian produced ones as they had very tight quality control. It’s hard for me to get a proper opinion on the currently produced Kalashnikovs from Bulgaria are different from the military rifles. I can confirm Bulgarian produced AKs under communism were almost indistinguishable from Russian ones due to such high quality standards. The best examples of which being the Bulgarian made AKS-74U
Very correct. Kalashnikov USA was the closest to make a decent AK, and it went belly up. PSA keeps cutting corners and using commercial parts, unfortunately. Wasr 10 currently makes more sense than any other and uses genuine military grade parts. Zastava and wbp use commercial parts and arsenal aks are $2k each
So are Meridian AK’s, Krebs, and Fuller AK’s to name a few high ender AK’s made in the USA. Just like theres expensive AR’s at 2 thousand plus and cheap ass AR platforms. AR’s are kinda boring actually. At least AK’s have a commie block mystique about them in the western hemisphere which is why people buy them. They’re not the same boring AR crap. PSA AK’s are decent and fill a need with an average gun owner demographic without dumping out your savings account. No one is forcing anyone to buy a PSA. Honestly, most of the pre ban SAR’s and Chinese AK’s were not very good in the quality control department either with all the canted sights and non concentric threads encountered on 80% of them.
PSA AK's are now the good American AK's nowadays that are not as expensive as Krebs, Meridian, or Rifle Dynamics. They can withstand more rounds in full-auto torture test than most foreign AK's, including Russian ones.
@hoppinggnomethe4154 Lol, ok grand thumb. PSA is the bottom of the barrel, one step about i.o. inc. PSA metallurgy is nowhere the quality of eastern block metallurgy.
AKs are fun and they break the monotony of ARs and AR based rifles but they aren’t for the faint of heart having to spend a ton of money to modernize them and also dealing with parts fitting since AK specs can be all over the board depending on manufacturer
I have Russian pre ban Ak 74 , Romanian wasr underfolder and Palmetto US made AKSU in 556. I can guarantee there are more aks in the US than anywhere in the world, in civilian hands at least.
I'd disagree.. I don't think there is let's say3 million AKs in civilian hands in the USA ? Maybe I'm wrong. But I'd say there is in Pakistan .. in Afghanistan too and easily 2 million in the public's hands in Yemen . I'd guess there is under 1 million in Russia I'd recon the US and Russia have similar numbers. Gun ownership is much lower in Russian but about 1/5 or all guns people own are ak based firearms .. well since the 1990s at least..
@@manchagojohnsonmanchago6367 you maybe right, but judging by Average salary in Pakistan and average cost of Pakistani made Ak, I don't think there are many Aks in civilian Pakistan market.
@@manchagojohnsonmanchago6367 Maybe not having the most AK's, but it is one of the countries with the lots of AK's and has the diversity of AK's like none other. It is also the only country with lots of superior aftermarket upgrades for AK's.
Kusa was never a russian company. They were never affiliated with any russian companies. Kusa is also now bankrupt because they made crap guns. Anything imported is still preferred but will be a minimum of 1200 bucks. Palmetto state armory is the only American ak worth a damn
Bought a Egyptian Maddi AKM and Milled Norinco in the 80's...the rifles and mags were very affordable, the spam cans were just hard to find and expensive for the first few years.....still have both and they run great. Think I paid 199 for the AKM and 229 for the Norinco. both came with 4 mags, cleaning kit, sling. oh yea and 99$ NIB Russian SKS's.......the good ole days.
I own 2 dozen AK rifle variants. All but one are manufactured overseas. The AK is such a historically significant design that you could no more control the spread of it than you could control the spread of shoes or the automobile.
I would say the Yugo/Zastava AK is the only one that could be excluded from the list of foreign AK variants that would be applicable to a copyright law (Also IMI's Galil). Zastava's rifle is different enough that it stands as a separate sub-type of the AK series. It has many features of the AKM yet retains a 45-deg gas block, retention spring to hold the dust cover, longer foregrip with three vents versus two on Russian pattern AK's, last round bolt hold open, chrome lined bolt and bolt carrier, rifle grenade capable, etc that differentiate it from the original AK-47, AKM, and newer AK-100/200/300 series rifles. They also never adopted 5.45x39mm, and were some of the first factory built 5.56x45mm AK pattern rifles (along with IMI's Galil).
As far as I understand, patent law works in such a way that making even relatively minor structural changes to a product can exempt it from copyright infringement penalties
I never heard the "you own noithing" Idea defited to this exteme... Like owning a copyright because you own a physical copy of a peice of mieda which used that copyright is one thing... Saying you iown the whole company/person who is the copyright holder just because you own a ripp off is another entrily! Like how on Earth can anyone honestly believe that? Like the chinses factory knows exactly what it is doesn't hince wwhy it can still do it!
It’s simple data packages and parts kit companies like KalashnikovUSA apparently had the Data package for the 100 series and companies like PSA piggy backed off it took short cuts making one of the worse Kalashnikov copies apart from I.O inc making awful copies of such rifle.
Don't PSA or Rifle Dynamics make good AKs? I was told that American AKs from good companies, especially those made by people who have dealt with Soviet and Russian AKs, impress with the quality of the parts, their machining, and some unusual coating that makes the weapon more grippy and less slippery.
@casperarms nope US made aks are all garbage and seen as a joke among American ak enthusiasts. The American ak market caters to low information consumers who want an "ak47" that they might put 100 rounds through. Kusa going under is a hilarious story of mismanagement that I suggest you dig into. Akfiles has a good thread on it.
@@casperarms The problem with American companies making AKs isn't just about them being good. It's more about them maintaining quality and STAYING good. KUSA made some very good AKs at first but like so many others beforem them started cutting costs and corners. They also started dabbling in some rather deceptive trade practices. Their quality paid the price for it and now they are no more. I don't have first hand experience with Rifle Dynamics but PSA makes decent AKs. At least right now they do. They also make decent ammo for them under their AAC branch (but I really wish they'd hurry up with 5.45). I have several other ComBloc AKs of varying origin and those are definitely higher quality in my opinion. However, the PSA AKs I have are at least decent (and a lot cheaper).
You live in 2007 or something? Russia was not the best ak manufacturer available in united states since the 90s. Polish beryl are manufactured new by lucznik from Radom and are state of the art native for 556 aks' that are better made than the 100 series' 556 variants. They are not surplus. And can come to USA without any hassle. They are expensive but so is the 100 series. The Poles have not that many less years of experience building ak rifles than Russia. Starting in the 50s, going strong as of today. And as for domestic USA production Psa makes cheap aks' much below the price point of the 100 series yet they 100% can compete with them. They are built competent and with good materials. And cheap too. These are not the times when the only good aks were those from romanian parts kits or new expensive Radom manufactured beryls and tantals.
this video is factually inaccurate Kalashnikov concern is the official and original manufacturer of AK's. Kalashnikov USA is an American brand that makes inferior clones of AK's and was created after sanction cut off supplies of legit AK's
americans didn't gain control of the russian brand; the american wing of the russian brand broke off and is now separate from russian company which still exists under russian ownership
Russians are making AR’s now, they are making some pretty good DMR’s. It goes both ways. They don’t pay American companies for making AR’s. The difference is Americans are making them for the civilian market who enjoys the Klashnekoff rifle, for its versatility and fun. Where the Russians are making ARS because they are a precision better weapon and have realized that it’s far superior than the AK. So they are making them for their military.
When You When You neglect Your Domestic gun industry, can’t make a Good new military rifle to save Your Soul and sell alotta cheap 7.62 to Americans, now they make better rifles than Your Ancient heritage design: God Bless America We’ll import Your Culture too
The early 2010s were the hayday for the Ak in the USA... its over now. Now the only guys that use them are people that want to be different. It only makes sense if you operate in an area of the world that uses aks, but not here in the usa. It used to make sense when you could get a saiga ak or other decent Ak for $300.... now you pay $1,000 for the crappiest AKs. They just cant compete with the Ar anymore. A very reliable Ar is $800-$1000, and it will run laps around any ak. The ammo used to be so cheap... id buy 1080rds of 5.45 for $85, good ol' 7n6.... now that same ammo costs $700 for a case. 7.62 steel case junk ammo is .50 cents per round. It used to be like $2 a box. Not worth it. My buddies and i would split 2 1080rd cases for a weekend trip to the range and just burn through the ammo while we camped in the middle of nowhere. It was cheap fun... now that same range weekend would be $1,000. Thats insane. Between the optics mounting options, ammo selection (everything fromm m855 to mk262 to 300 blk)... 545 and 762 aks just cant compete, parts avalibility, parts commonality, ubiquety here in the states gives the Ar an edge. When i first got into guns i was definately an Ak guy, but over time i realized the limitations of the Ak. Optics are a pain to mount, sights are a pain to adjust, sights are always canted and never straight so youve got to mess with them, I had a itzmash brand new that would not zero because it was so canted... it shot 12 inches left at 100 yards... has to heat up the sight and bend it. I can accept that on a $300 gun, but not 800-1200. Any Ar in that price range smokes those aks. I absolutely love the 545 cartridge, i love the design of the AK74, that ak74 muzzle breaks just looks so badass and works so well... but i keep an AR next to my bed. And thats what i use to protect my life. If i was foced to use an Ak i would be completely fine with it, but if i had the choice im choosing ARs all day every day. In other parts of the world the ak makes more sense, but here i use a basic m4gery.
You can get a fucking good AK for $900 - $1000. Get a PSA, a Zastava, a WBP, or a WASR-10. I'm not tripping. PSA now makes some of the best AK's, and their $1000 line of AK is actually good. The full-auto torture test proved them to be better than many foreign imports, including Russian.
It all thanks to Soviet Union didn't have the concept of "Intellectual Property", "Patent Right" and "Copyright". Everybody can copy AK pattern rifles. Mikhail Kalashnikov was dirt poor after Soviet Union dissovled because of that.
No he had a military pension and a pension from the factory he worked at what screwed many of these peoples pensions was the inflation in the 90s . Otherwise he probably would have had quite a reasonable pension by Russian standards.. Putin later adjusted peoples pensions to solve this but it never quite matched what they were meant to get. I would not say he was in abject poverty though. He had a holiday house, a car and apartment a monthly income and so forth.. but yeah when he met stoner he probably realised the Soviet system wasn't the best
When I was in Afghanistan 2012 the old Afghans said that they liked the Chinese version of the AK better when they fought the Russians. It was made better. Anyways, an American AK has a higher quality than the Soviet version too. America is producing the RPG also. Hey, if all of your new NATO members are use to Soviet block equipment. You produce them yourself to arm them. When I was in Ukraine at the JMTG-U we trained everyone on the AK but we couldn’t find one that wasn’t 15+ years old. Making them yourself is worth it.
Higher quality, many times the price, which wasn’t the intention anyways. I can make a better bic pencil but the one I stole from my job can write just fine too.
American AKs are not better than Russian AKs, the US may have better manufacturing capabilities than Russia or China but we don’t have the technical data packages or decades of experience making AKs that they do hence PSA and especially Century arms AKs having pretty poor reputations
None of the usa made AKs are military grade. PSA, RILEY use commercial grade parts, their bolts and pins are garbage and will start failing after a few thousand rounds. Head spacing becomes an issue as well once past 5k rounds Currently the only readily available AKs considered military grade which you can depend your life on are wasr 10 and arsenal
@@David-cj8wv You have never heard of Krebs and Meridian. Also, PSA now makes good AK's, unlike their past. They learned from their mistakes rather fast, unlike Century Arms.
@@frankkiri398 That is false. PSA AK's survived way more rounds in the full-auto torture test than many foreign AK's, including Russian AK's. Also, mil-spec doesn't always means good. Don't use that word here. In the US, a heck ton of commercial grade parts for guns are way better than what we got in the military. A civilian can easily buy or build a way better AR than an M4 carbine. Most of my drill sergeants build their own AR's for personal use. They all told me that you can buy an AR in the civilian world that is way better for a lot less - $600. A real military M4 carbine costs like $2000.
It's crazy that USA AR and AK prices have basically switched over the past 20 years. I remember just after the AWB fell in 2004 A normal AR would be a minimum of $1000 while a decent AK would be about $400. Now a decent AR can be had for about $400 while pretty much any decent AK will be about $1000.
At the moment, an AK in Russia costs around $600, while AR-platform rifles start at approximately $3,500. For $1,000 in Russia, you can only buy Chinese Norinco AR-15 models.
I parted out my AR build with quality components on sale. Cost me $543. Stock AK build? $829.
Sheeeit.. crazy.. but also 600 for an AK is bloody expensive... I recall in 2000nds when I hand the ... Pleasure... to live in the Caucasus a regular full auto AK47 was 140$us in Dagestan.. sure they were illegal but common. But even then the saiga guns were 160$us back then in gun shops....600$ now is really high in my opinion, considering how many they churn out and how much Russians earn.@@casperarms
@@casperarms That's such a rip off. Russia should have literal tons of weapons that shouldn't cost more than $50-$100 for a rifle or pistol. Maybe not modern but modern enough.
A decent Ar is not $400 sorry buddy.
Kalashnikov USA filed for bankruptcy just this past year.. their shit was overpriced and not that great quality tbh. Imports still reign supreme.
So, Kalashnikov concern was right, it seems
American AKs in the 90s: *Bleghhh*
American AKs in 2020s: “I Will fire a thousand mags before I yield.”
Nah, it was still cheap "krinkov quality". That's why the company went under and filed for bankruptcy. One Thousand mags is nothing for a Izmash made AK's. People who owned them for years claimed they went through 50.000 rounds before having to replace the barrel. My own AK went through 4000 and it's still spotless.
My brain says AR, my heart says AK
my heart says ak12 but my brain says ak74n
ak in 556 my guy. its the move. at least now with ammo prices etc... lol
My wallet says PSA
Sandplanet = AR
Snowplanet = AK
Your brain is wrong.
I was buying used import AKs from the 90s for like 250-300 dollars in the year 2000. They were everywhere. Definitely not "impossible" to find.
he said back in the 80's
@@coemgenvsrex1351 AKs were imported in the 80s. They were like $200-299 new. There were a lot more AKs later in the 2000s, but even in the 80s, "impossible" is not true. "Common" would be accurate.
Well it depends in the 80s they were norinco guns... From china.. then Clinton banned Chinese rifles... Then there was heaps of Yugo stuff comming from Croatia as Serbia was banned . In the 90s Russia had a ban from Clinton too but it wasn't a full ban. Bulgarians took up the slack . It's mostly the ATF that keeps the supply of AKS as unreliable .. one thing that surprised me was the Germans didn't keep making aks after unification would have been a great export business to the US and unlikely to get sanctioned. the ak wagon has always had a bumpy ride.. Russians should have came to the USA and made a sanction busting plant in the 90s and gave American Larry and AK enima 😊 dunno why they didn't .. America is the world's gun customer and they could make all this crazy shit they can't sell in Russia like 2 barrelled AKS and miniature guns and stuff @@duganashley1337
@@coemgenvsrex1351 Yes, everywhere in the 80s, dude. We have Finnish Valmet, Egyptian Maadi, and ChiCom Norinco.
Well for me i initially just wanted to be familiar with both AK & AR platforms, But once i worked with an AK some neuron just stayed switched on while it was in my hands, and the manual of arms worked perfectly for me since i have those square slavic hands. The slav in me gives a natural affinity for the AK
Good to hear your voice again!
Didn't KUSA go under recently?
Looks like I spent too long preparing the storyline for this video 😅😅
its been known in the 2a community
Yes
Yup, and good ridance.
@@usernamehhhs4540 Why good riddance? KUSA guns weren’t perfect but still impressive to say the least and their prices are even higher than before. On PSA website the PSA AK103 cost 800-900 while the KSA AK 103s on PSAs website cost 1300. They sell the competitors product more than their own product on their own website. I wonder why.
Essentially, americans pulled their "Budweiser" trick once again.
It's a shame that AK is so expensive on the current American market. Regardless of price, I'll always prefer AK over AR. I'd take rugged reliability over precision any day, since if I wanted precision, I'd use a bolt action rifle platform.
AR's are now reliable. You have parts everywhere for replacement, and replacement is easy, unlike an AK. If your AK is fucked, you don't have as many parts and replacement would be a pain in the ass.
the argument of ar being more precise than the ak is a myth and comes down to factors excluding the platform. brandon herrera has a great video on it but to summarize, the greater tolerances in the receiver and everything behind the barrel dont affect the accuracy of the bullet at all. more importantly, its the ammunition, the barrel, and the user. alot of aks in the states dont get access to good quality ammo, and even in post soviet countries, the ammunition is usually surplus and not always loaded consistently.
Depends on ammo too
5.5y are more available in wrstern continents
Rugged reliability? AK's break and malfunction just like AR's.
Finnish Rk's are just AK's with enhanced precision due to better QC.
The reliability of AK's isn't down to lackadaisical tolerances, but to myth.
I would recommend watching a channel like ValGear, he's an operator in an active war zone where the AK is the predominant system, listen to what he has to say concerning reliability of AK vs. AR vs. BREN2 etc.
Have you ever owned them?
Я согласен, в настоящее время я работаю на оружейного мастера Калашникова в Техасе. У меня есть опыт работы с продукцией "Kalashnikov USA". Их продукция имеет плохой контроль качества, но он улучшился. К сожалению, компания объявила о банкротстве и в настоящее время не производит нового оружия. Американские автоматы Калашникова славятся тем, что они ужасно сделаны. У меня есть автоматы Калашникова из Румынии, России, Польши и Болгарии. Самые качественные - российские. Я бы хотел, чтобы моя страна не имела санкций против России, чтобы мы могли получать новые продукты от концерна «Калашников»
Which AK variant among the copies produced by Warsaw Pact countries do you think is the highest quality?
@casperarms my ranking system for what former Soviet countries made the highest quality Ak would be
1. Russia
2. Poland(FB Radom not WBP)
3. Bulgaria
4. Hungary
5. Egypt
6. Romania.
Russia produces some of the best AKs and Poland is a close second in terms of quality. It’s hard to say with the Bulgarian AKs we get in the states because there are rumors they are lower quality than the military contract rifles. Hungarian AKs are pretty well made. Egypt while not being a Warsaw Pact nation made great AKs known as the Maadi. Romania makes the lowest quality Kalashnikov in the former Soviet bloc. They have the poorest quality control in their factories and some of the poorest metallurgy. I didn’t include Yugoslav, Israeli, Finnish, or Chinese Kalashnikovs as they deviated from the Russian pattern. US made Kalashnikovs far worse, with many having issues blowing up or parts breaking way sooner than their foreign made counterparts.
@@robbecker2377 Wow, thank you! That’s quite interesting. I actually suspected that Polish and Bulgarian AKs are the best copies. I especially like what Bulgaria is doing. They have essentially produced a number of parts that aren’t their own designs but are Soviet designs that were never implemented. I’ll talk about this in one of my future videos.
Kalashnikov USA produced the best of the US made Kalashnikovs. While they were decent rifles, they still had horrible quality control. Rifle Dynamics and other AK “producers” are actually gunsmith companies who don’t produce the core components of the Kalashnikov themselves unlike Kalashnikov USA or Palmetto State Armory. They use WBP parts which are commercially produced in Poland. Most Kalashnikov builders use parts kits from deactivated military rifles imported from the former Soviet Union and other combloc nations. They are then built here on US made receivers, these have plenty of problems. Most US produced Kalashnikov receivers suffer from poor metallurgy, improper heat treating, or incorrect dimensions. If you need any more information on US made or non Russian made Kalashnikovs let me know
@ Polish and Bulgarian AKs are very high quality though the Polish are more comparable to Russian produced ones as they had very tight quality control. It’s hard for me to get a proper opinion on the currently produced Kalashnikovs from Bulgaria are different from the military rifles. I can confirm Bulgarian produced AKs under communism were almost indistinguishable from Russian ones due to such high quality standards. The best examples of which being the Bulgarian made AKS-74U
American AK’s suck, imported ones are way better. 🤷♂️ it’s just a money grab here.
Very correct. Kalashnikov USA was the closest to make a decent AK, and it went belly up. PSA keeps cutting corners and using commercial parts, unfortunately.
Wasr 10 currently makes more sense than any other and uses genuine military grade parts. Zastava and wbp use commercial parts and arsenal aks are $2k each
So are Meridian AK’s, Krebs, and Fuller AK’s to name a few high ender AK’s made in the USA. Just like theres expensive AR’s at 2 thousand plus and cheap ass AR platforms. AR’s are kinda boring actually. At least AK’s have a commie block mystique about them in the western hemisphere which is why people buy them. They’re not the same boring AR crap. PSA AK’s are decent and fill a need with an average gun owner demographic without dumping out your savings account. No one is forcing anyone to buy a PSA. Honestly, most of the pre ban SAR’s and Chinese AK’s were not very good in the quality control department either with all the canted sights and non concentric threads encountered on 80% of them.
PSA AK's are now the good American AK's nowadays that are not as expensive as Krebs, Meridian, or Rifle Dynamics. They can withstand more rounds in full-auto torture test than most foreign AK's, including Russian ones.
@@frankkiri398 PSA is now the good American AK maker. WASR-10, Zastava, WBP, and Arsenal are foreign.
@hoppinggnomethe4154 Lol, ok grand thumb. PSA is the bottom of the barrel, one step about i.o. inc. PSA metallurgy is nowhere the quality of eastern block metallurgy.
AKs are fun and they break the monotony of ARs and AR based rifles but they aren’t for the faint of heart having to spend a ton of money to modernize them and also dealing with parts fitting since AK specs can be all over the board depending on manufacturer
you don't need to modernize them, the rifle is fine the way its. In its original form it killed more people than the black plague
Guy at 3:41 was in for a BAD day with that thumb placement. My damn heart stopped 💀💀
Glad to have your voice back!! I'm here for the authenticity. I re-subscribed.
KUSA recently filed for bankruptcy
Jewish lightning?
I have Russian pre ban Ak 74 , Romanian wasr underfolder and Palmetto US made AKSU in 556. I can guarantee there are more aks in the US than anywhere in the world, in civilian hands at least.
A land blessed by God, nothing more to add 🇺🇸
But Romanian aks' are not under sanctions. Nor any other ex-soviet-now-nato countries. Only the actual Russian izmash tula aks' are.
I'd disagree.. I don't think there is let's say3 million AKs in civilian hands in the USA ? Maybe I'm wrong. But I'd say there is in Pakistan .. in Afghanistan too and easily 2 million in the public's hands in Yemen . I'd guess there is under 1 million in Russia I'd recon the US and Russia have similar numbers. Gun ownership is much lower in Russian but about 1/5 or all guns people own are ak based firearms .. well since the 1990s at least..
@@manchagojohnsonmanchago6367 you maybe right, but judging by Average salary in Pakistan and average cost of Pakistani made Ak, I don't think there are many Aks in civilian Pakistan market.
@@manchagojohnsonmanchago6367 Maybe not having the most AK's, but it is one of the countries with the lots of AK's and has the diversity of AK's like none other. It is also the only country with lots of superior aftermarket upgrades for AK's.
I like this short video, but I’m looking for a follow on one explaining the proliferation of AK production by many different companies inside the US.
Kusa was never a russian company. They were never affiliated with any russian companies. Kusa is also now bankrupt because they made crap guns.
Anything imported is still preferred but will be a minimum of 1200 bucks.
Palmetto state armory is the only American ak worth a damn
Bought a Egyptian Maddi AKM and Milled Norinco in the 80's...the rifles and mags were very affordable, the spam cans were just hard to find and expensive for the first few years.....still have both and they run great. Think I paid 199 for the AKM and 229 for the Norinco. both came with 4 mags, cleaning kit, sling. oh yea and 99$ NIB Russian SKS's.......the good ole days.
I own 2 dozen AK rifle variants. All but one are manufactured overseas. The AK is such a historically significant design that you could no more control the spread of it than you could control the spread of shoes or the automobile.
Well said
Probably traded some enriched uranium for it
My Heart & Brain say "HK" ...... but my Wallet says "AR and AK" - - - -
Funny this video popped up because I just recently ordered a PSAK GF5-E from Palmetto State Armory and will soon be picking it up in a few days!
I'm very pleased to see new video! Greetings from Indonesia 😁👍
I thought Finland bought their own license from the USSR to manufacture the RK-62 though?
Yay AK !!
The Bulgarian Arsenal is a licensed copy.
Never knew this
"Personally, I prefer an AR15." -George Washington
I would say the Yugo/Zastava AK is the only one that could be excluded from the list of foreign AK variants that would be applicable to a copyright law (Also IMI's Galil). Zastava's rifle is different enough that it stands as a separate sub-type of the AK series. It has many features of the AKM yet retains a 45-deg gas block, retention spring to hold the dust cover, longer foregrip with three vents versus two on Russian pattern AK's, last round bolt hold open, chrome lined bolt and bolt carrier, rifle grenade capable, etc that differentiate it from the original AK-47, AKM, and newer AK-100/200/300 series rifles. They also never adopted 5.45x39mm, and were some of the first factory built 5.56x45mm AK pattern rifles (along with IMI's Galil).
As far as I understand, patent law works in such a way that making even relatively minor structural changes to a product can exempt it from copyright infringement penalties
I never heard the "you own noithing" Idea defited to this exteme... Like owning a copyright because you own a physical copy of a peice of mieda which used that copyright is one thing... Saying you iown the whole company/person who is the copyright holder just because you own a ripp off is another entrily! Like how on Earth can anyone honestly believe that? Like the chinses factory knows exactly what it is doesn't hince wwhy it can still do it!
Hey guy they are no longer in business.
The Americans: Hippity Hoppity, your Weapon is now our property.
Such an ignorant comment.
@@hoppinggnomethe4154 what's so ignorant about it?
Well it makes a change from oil.
Well russia did also stole thw secrets on how to make the atom bomb from the US 😂
Pakistan gunmakers laughing at this. 😂
It’s simple data packages and parts kit companies like KalashnikovUSA apparently had the Data package for the 100 series and companies like PSA piggy backed off it took short cuts making one of the worse Kalashnikov copies apart from I.O inc making awful copies of such rifle.
Well Ak was designed in soviet union. So it doesn't really belong to russia
you're just a bit late to the party, but this is still a good video 👍
Sadly americans sure cant build an ak like russia. The "just as good" mentality is stronk here...... Spoiler: they aren't even close to just as good.
Don't PSA or Rifle Dynamics make good AKs? I was told that American AKs from good companies, especially those made by people who have dealt with Soviet and Russian AKs, impress with the quality of the parts, their machining, and some unusual coating that makes the weapon more grippy and less slippery.
@casperarms nope US made aks are all garbage and seen as a joke among American ak enthusiasts. The American ak market caters to low information consumers who want an "ak47" that they might put 100 rounds through.
Kusa going under is a hilarious story of mismanagement that I suggest you dig into. Akfiles has a good thread on it.
@@casperarms The problem with American companies making AKs isn't just about them being good. It's more about them maintaining quality and STAYING good. KUSA made some very good AKs at first but like so many others beforem them started cutting costs and corners. They also started dabbling in some rather deceptive trade practices. Their quality paid the price for it and now they are no more.
I don't have first hand experience with Rifle Dynamics but PSA makes decent AKs. At least right now they do. They also make decent ammo for them under their AAC branch (but I really wish they'd hurry up with 5.45). I have several other ComBloc AKs of varying origin and those are definitely higher quality in my opinion. However, the PSA AKs I have are at least decent (and a lot cheaper).
Russia can do somethin good? WTF?
You live in 2007 or something? Russia was not the best ak manufacturer available in united states since the 90s.
Polish beryl are manufactured new by lucznik from Radom and are state of the art native for 556 aks' that are better made than the 100 series' 556 variants. They are not surplus. And can come to USA without any hassle. They are expensive but so is the 100 series. The Poles have not that many less years of experience building ak rifles than Russia. Starting in the 50s, going strong as of today.
And as for domestic USA production Psa makes cheap aks' much below the price point of the 100 series yet they 100% can compete with them. They are built competent and with good materials. And cheap too.
These are not the times when the only good aks were those from romanian parts kits or new expensive Radom manufactured beryls and tantals.
KUSA turned out a lot of Junk. As stated in the video it was mainly the name. No wonder they're gone.
Welcome back, Russian voice over.
Oh my God, guys, I was gone for just one video 😅😅
Hello
Hi ^^
Helo :D
this video is factually inaccurate Kalashnikov concern is the official and original manufacturer of AK's. Kalashnikov USA is an American brand that makes inferior clones of AK's and was created after sanction cut off supplies of legit AK's
Sorry, did you try to watch the video?
There's no such thing as an AK clones nowadays because the AK design is public domain, my dear dumb friend.
americans didn't gain control of the russian brand; the american wing of the russian brand broke off and is now separate from russian company which still exists under russian ownership
Kalashnikov profited from selling the AK vodka.
Russians are making AR’s now, they are making some pretty good DMR’s. It goes both ways. They don’t pay American companies for making AR’s.
The difference is Americans are making them for the civilian market who enjoys the Klashnekoff rifle, for its versatility and fun. Where the Russians are making ARS because they are a precision better weapon and have realized that it’s far superior than the AK. So they are making them for their military.
not true Russian ar clones were first produced and marketed to hunters in Russia the Russian military began using them later on
The Russians don’t use AR’s now in their military.
Another ignorant comment. There is no such thing as an AR clone. The design is public domain. Any company can manufacture their own AR.
Stamped steel for a high price
good stuff
everyone can steal the ak design
When You
When You neglect Your Domestic gun industry, can’t make a Good new military rifle to save Your Soul and sell alotta cheap 7.62 to Americans, now they make better rifles than Your Ancient heritage design:
God Bless America
We’ll import Your Culture too
The early 2010s were the hayday for the Ak in the USA... its over now. Now the only guys that use them are people that want to be different. It only makes sense if you operate in an area of the world that uses aks, but not here in the usa. It used to make sense when you could get a saiga ak or other decent Ak for $300.... now you pay $1,000 for the crappiest AKs. They just cant compete with the Ar anymore. A very reliable Ar is $800-$1000, and it will run laps around any ak. The ammo used to be so cheap... id buy 1080rds of 5.45 for $85, good ol' 7n6.... now that same ammo costs $700 for a case. 7.62 steel case junk ammo is .50 cents per round. It used to be like $2 a box. Not worth it. My buddies and i would split 2 1080rd cases for a weekend trip to the range and just burn through the ammo while we camped in the middle of nowhere. It was cheap fun... now that same range weekend would be $1,000. Thats insane. Between the optics mounting options, ammo selection (everything fromm m855 to mk262 to 300 blk)... 545 and 762 aks just cant compete, parts avalibility, parts commonality, ubiquety here in the states gives the Ar an edge. When i first got into guns i was definately an Ak guy, but over time i realized the limitations of the Ak. Optics are a pain to mount, sights are a pain to adjust, sights are always canted and never straight so youve got to mess with them, I had a itzmash brand new that would not zero because it was so canted... it shot 12 inches left at 100 yards... has to heat up the sight and bend it. I can accept that on a $300 gun, but not 800-1200. Any Ar in that price range smokes those aks. I absolutely love the 545 cartridge, i love the design of the AK74, that ak74 muzzle breaks just looks so badass and works so well... but i keep an AR next to my bed. And thats what i use to protect my life. If i was foced to use an Ak i would be completely fine with it, but if i had the choice im choosing ARs all day every day. In other parts of the world the ak makes more sense, but here i use a basic m4gery.
AR for nerds and/or controlled environments. AK for war. It’s just reality.
You can get a fucking good AK for $900 - $1000. Get a PSA, a Zastava, a WBP, or a WASR-10. I'm not tripping. PSA now makes some of the best AK's, and their $1000 line of AK is actually good. The full-auto torture test proved them to be better than many foreign imports, including Russian.
so basically it was a smart american messing over part of the russian arms trade
It all thanks to Soviet Union didn't have the concept of "Intellectual Property", "Patent Right" and "Copyright". Everybody can copy AK pattern rifles. Mikhail Kalashnikov was dirt poor after Soviet Union dissovled because of that.
No he had a military pension and a pension from the factory he worked at what screwed many of these peoples pensions was the inflation in the 90s . Otherwise he probably would have had quite a reasonable pension by Russian standards.. Putin later adjusted peoples pensions to solve this but it never quite matched what they were meant to get. I would not say he was in abject poverty though. He had a holiday house, a car and apartment a monthly income and so forth.. but yeah when he met stoner he probably realised the Soviet system wasn't the best
Dude, that time Mikhail met Eugene was a great meeting of the two Titans. It still fascinates me.
@@hoppinggnomethe4154 yeah was curious to see
it's joever now AKs are gonna have picatinny on the mag, stock, grip, bolt, and muzzle too
Ignorant comment. Even Russians put Picatinny rails on their AK's.
Capitalism
The Americans did more favor to the designer of this gun than the soviet russians themselves.
Nothing like StG-44 is a German cheap copycat of AK-47
-Capitalism copyright strike
When I was in Afghanistan 2012 the old Afghans said that they liked the Chinese version of the AK better when they fought the Russians. It was made better. Anyways, an American AK has a higher quality than the Soviet version too. America is producing the RPG also. Hey, if all of your new NATO members are use to Soviet block equipment. You produce them yourself to arm them. When I was in Ukraine at the JMTG-U we trained everyone on the AK but we couldn’t find one that wasn’t 15+ years old. Making them yourself is worth it.
Higher quality, many times the price, which wasn’t the intention anyways. I can make a better bic pencil but the one I stole from my job can write just fine too.
American AKs are not better than Russian AKs, the US may have better manufacturing capabilities than Russia or China but we don’t have the technical data packages or decades of experience making AKs that they do hence PSA and especially Century arms AKs having pretty poor reputations
None of the usa made AKs are military grade. PSA, RILEY use commercial grade parts, their bolts and pins are garbage and will start failing after a few thousand rounds. Head spacing becomes an issue as well once past 5k rounds
Currently the only readily available AKs considered military grade which you can depend your life on are wasr 10 and arsenal
@@David-cj8wv You have never heard of Krebs and Meridian. Also, PSA now makes good AK's, unlike their past. They learned from their mistakes rather fast, unlike Century Arms.
@@frankkiri398 That is false. PSA AK's survived way more rounds in the full-auto torture test than many foreign AK's, including Russian AK's. Also, mil-spec doesn't always means good. Don't use that word here. In the US, a heck ton of commercial grade parts for guns are way better than what we got in the military. A civilian can easily buy or build a way better AR than an M4 carbine. Most of my drill sergeants build their own AR's for personal use. They all told me that you can buy an AR in the civilian world that is way better for a lot less - $600. A real military M4 carbine costs like $2000.
I have one of the Kalashnikov USA saiga shotguns, the build quality is good