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- Converting the PSA AK-V To Look Like A Russian Vityaz-SN PP-19-01 September 29, 2019Thanks to the US government restricting the imports of firearms from the Kalashnikov Concern in Russia, I pretty much gave up on my hopes of owning a Civilian Vityaz clone – or at least one from Russia. In case you don’t know the submachine gun I am referring to, the Vityaz-SN PP-19-01 is a 9x19mm submachine ...
- Comparing Original Russian Izhmash and Arsenal’s US-Made AK Handguards September 19, 2019In 1991, the Russian Izmash factory started producing AK-74M rifles with a uniquely styled glass fiber reinforced polyamide stock and handguard that we see today on newer weapons. The Bulgarians followed suit as they licensed the designs from the Russians. I’m not sure how closely the Bulgarians copied the design but now we can ...
- The Streamlight 88081 PROTAC HL 5-X 3500 Lumen Light IS a Beast On Your Side – Part 2 – Out of the box & performance report August 17, 2019As mentioned in the first post, I ordered a Streamlight 88081 from Amazon. It arrived and, of course, I had to immediately check it out. Here are a series of photos with the story told in the captions. This is the 88081 with the 18650 USB rechargeable batteries The box has two tables talking about ...
- Rick’s R4 Forgery August 16, 2019I always love it when folks send me photos of their firearms using our parts. Rick sent in these cool photos of what he calls his “R4 Forgery” and it is using one of our Galil grips. Very cool Rick!
- The Streamlight 88081 PROTAC HL 5-X 3500 Lumen Light IS a Beast On Your Side – Part 1 August 15, 2019One Sunday morning at about 7am, I was putting stuff in the trunk of my wife’s car when a surprised coyote carrying a dead reddish brown cat in its jaws ran by me about 20 feet away. I was startled but not especially worried – you could tell the ‘yote was just as ...
- A Kershaw Knockout Knife and Streamlight Microstream LED Light Are In My Pocket These Days August 10, 2019I have quite a selection of folding knives that I use all the time for work – cutting open boxes, plastic pails, insulation, tubing, etc. It’s funny but I wind up rotating through them for one reason or another – it may be because one needs to be sharpened and is too dull (my ...
- The Ryobi RY40620 24″ 40 Volt Hedge Trimmer Is Excellent – Seriously Portable Cutting Power August 2, 2019I told you about my very positive experiences so far with the Ryobi RY40230 String Trimmer in my last post. I bought a RY40620 24″ 40 volt hedge trimmer at the same time because it made a lot of sense to me to buy the whole hedge trimmer kit from Home Depot for $169 ...
- The Ryobi 40 Volt RY40230 Brushless String Trimmer and RYTIL66 Cultivator Are Amazing August 2, 2019Getting ready for this season’s outdoor chores on our 1.5 acre property, I had some decisions to make. For the last two years I had been trying to live with an anemic 18 volt string trimmer that was way, way underpowered for what I needed. I bought it after an old Homelite my father-in-law bought ...
- First Range Visit For the PSA AK-V August 1, 2019I’ve written a number of posts about the Palmetto State Armory’s second generation 9mm AK-V pistol and how impressed I was. After about a week,I finally got a chance to take it to the range with my daughter and a friend of her’s. Boy, did we have fun! First off, I cleaned and lubricated the ...
- PSA AK-V Part Four: Lubricating and Picking a Carrying Case July 22, 2019At this point, the AK-V is almost ready. As you may have noticed in the first post about impressions out of the box, it shipped pretty dry with just some oil to prevent rust and that’s just fine. In this post I’ll outline what I did to lubricate it and also the cool US Peacekeeper ...
- PSA AK-V Part Three: Changing the Brace, Adding a Red Dot and Installing A Quick Takedown Pin For The Dust Cover July 22, 2019Out of the box, the AK-V is impressive. The trigger is decent, the grip and handguard are functional but there were three things I really wanted to do – move to a SBA4 brace, install an optic and create a quick takedown pin so the dust cover could be removed (the big reason I ...
- PSA AK-V Part Two: First Thoughts Out Of The Box July 22, 2019A tad over a week from when I ordered my AK-V via the PSA website, Scott Igert, of Modern Antique Firearms, called and told me that the pistol had arrived. Let me give you a tip, there is such a huge backlog of people signed up for the “email me when it is in ...
- PSA AK-V Part One: Good Reviews Really Raised My Interest After They Fixed Initial Problems July 21, 2019Well, I bought a Palmetto State Armory AK-V in 9mm. I’ve been a PSA AR fan for years and years. I’m not even sure how many rifle and pistol kits of their’s that I’ve built. On the other hand, reports about their AK attempts kept me away from that product line until ...
- Computer Animation Video: This Does A Great Job Showing How Both An AR and M16 Operate July 20, 2019Folks, I always tell people you need to understand the basic mechanics of how your weapon operates. I’ve posted some slick videos in the past on how the AK-47, Dragunov. Glock pistol, AK-74, and AH-94 rifles operate and ...
- Really Cool Russian Page With A Detailed Breakdown of the 5.45mm AK-12 Rifle July 19, 2019Folks, there is a really cool page in the Russian language that has an excellent breakdown of the Kalashnikov Concern’s AK-12. You can visit it and get a ton of info . A trick I would recommend is to use your browser’s ability to translate a webpage – it will not be perfect ...
- Video: Max Popenker Discusses the History of the Russian SVD Designated Marksman’s Rifle July 15, 2019Folks, the number one firearm at the top of my bucket list is a Dragunov. I’ve wanted one for years and years and maybe if I get lucky and a firm either decides to make or import them, I’ll finally get to own one. In the mean time, I enjoy reading articles and videos about ...
- July 11th: Zastava Sold Out Of M91 Rifles In One Day – More Due in August July 11, 2019Surprisingly, Zastava has sold all of their first batch of M91 rifles. I say “surprisingly” because I thought the steep price would deter buyers. Atlantic Firearms had it listed at $3,144.99 on 7/10 and pretty much sold out the same day. I guess I should say I was alerted they were there ...
- Video: Kalashnikov Concern Releases the Civilian Version of the AK-12: The AK TR3 Rifle July 7, 2019I wish I had better news but Youtube cancelled the channel for the Kalashnikov Concern so the video is no longer available. I am leaving the post up so at least you can see the screen shots. Because of the import restrictions of the Russian firm Kalashnikov Concern, Americans will not get a chance to ...
- America And Independence Day July 4, 2019Last week, my wife and I had to drive to Dowagiac, a small town in Southwest rural Michigan, to get plates for a car. We’ve done the forty minute drive before and I always find it relaxing as we go through fields and small towns. As we passed through Eau Claire, I was so impressed ...
- Great Animated Video That Shows How A Glock Pistol Operates: It Really Clarifies Things! July 4, 2019As the saying goes, a pictures is worth a 100 words. Well, this video is worth a few thousand. I am very, very impressed by the fire control group that Gaston Glock created with the three integral safeties. In talking with a lot of Glock pistol owners, they aren’t very clear on ...