Category Archives: Shooting in General

AK & Related Rifles, Gunsmithing, Serbia, Shooting in General, Yugoslavia

Two Rivers Arms Built Yugo M72B1

Once in a while I get to have fun.  For years I have worked with Two Rivers Arms making their grips so I knew they did a good job.  Well over a year ago, I bought two Apex M72B1 kits to have as prototypes but never had time to build them.  I must admit I have fun building rifles but the time just isn’t there any more.  So, given our new M72 handguards were almost ready, I called up Tim at Two Rivers and asked if they could build an M72B1 that looked like it came straight from the factory and that is exactly what they did.  Here are the amazing results of their efforts:

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Note, the following is our Yugo M70/M72 grip:

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Let me give you a quick run down of the parts you see above and a few you don’t:

  • Yugo M72B1 kit from Apex with a new Green Mountain barrel
  • Nodak Spud NDS-9 receiver
  • New virgin stock set from R-Guns
  • One of our Yugo M70 pistol grips
  • Tapco G2 FCG
  • RSA FCG retainer plate (I hate the shepherd hooks)
  • Real Yugo BHO Magazine

Two Rivers did the assembly, engraving, bluing and hooked me up with the right muzzle nut and cleaning rod.  This rifle looks simply amazing.  If you ever are looking for a builder, give them a shout … now if I can just afford one of their Tabuk DMRs some day 🙂  Tim, Shawn & Ed – thank you!!

Two Rivers Arms is at:  http://tworiversarms.com/ 

Our pistol grip is online at:  http://shop.roninsgrips.com/Yugoslavian-M70-M72-M85-M92-Grip-Yugo-M70-M72-M92.htm

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

Russia and also USSR, Shooting in General

The latest about the Vepr and Saiga import bans and the Kalashnikov Group Rebranding

gI_60121_Kalashnikov Concern

As you may know, in July 2014 the owner, Rostec, of the Baikal, Saiga and Vepr brands was put on the US sanctions list to punish Russia.  That apparently put a halt to about half of a 200,000 rifle deal being halted that they are now trying to find other buyers for and is hurting them financially:  http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30404648

Kalshnikov group is trying hard to improve the brand’s reputation and has approximately 30 different brands in the works.  As of 12/5/2014, they say they are focusing on Africa, Latin America and Asia-Pacific markets and not the US.  What I would read into that is that they are not publicly pushing to get back into the US.  Given how huge the market is here, I can’t help but feel they are still trying to get back in but there isn’t any public information about their efforts.  The two following stories about their rebranding efforts are interesting:

http://rbth.com/defence/2014/12/05/kalashnikov_targets_expansion_with_large-scale_rebranding_exercise_41991.html

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/12/prweb12365634.htm

Unfortunately, as of today, December 14th, there are no indications that we are going to see the Vepr or Saiga rifles coming back into the US any time soon.  Putin’s friends are still making a ton of money and the sanctions aren’t changing his mind any. The problem with sanctions in general is that they sound good politically but often don’t work very well.

The change in ownership from the huge Russian conglomerate known as “Rostec State Corporation” to the private individuals of Alexei Krivoruchko and Andrei Bokarev hasn’t yielded any changes thus far.  The initial hope was that by moving ownership of the Kalashnikov to someone/or a group not on the named sanctions list would improve the situation but that does not seem to be the case thus far.

Bottom line, no changes or “cracks” in the import ban are visible via publicly accessible news stories and such.  It would look like we are stuck, and will be for the foreseeable future, on the sidelines still unable to import the Russian weapons.

AR & Related Rifles and Pistols, Gunsmithing, Shooting in General

ATF letter stating that the Magpul AFG is legal for use on AR pistols

Please treat this as reference material only and not legal advice. The ATF does not always adhere to letters, states and local governments are doing their own thing and it’s hard to say what is acceptable or not just to be perfectly blunt. We live in interesting times unfortunately.

Folks, here is an ATF letter saying that an angled foregrip (AFG), such as Magpul’s models, can be used on an AR pistol.  This is the first time someone shared a definitive letter with me vs. hearsay.

12/14/2014 Update:  Here are scanned images of two different ATF letters saying AFGs can be used on AR pistols because they are not considered vertical grips:

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This is a second letter wherein they answer a number of good questions about AR pistols in general.  On page three is another comment that the AFG is allowed:

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The reason this matters is that a vertical foregrip is not legal without first registering the pistol as an “any other weapon” or AOW.  I recommend people print and keep copies of letters just in case they need to show someone that some aspect of a weapon was “approved” by the ATF at some point.  Just bear in mind that ATF letters are not absolutes but it helps to have them handy if asked.  A state or local government may have their own more restrictive regulations as well so this may not mean AFGs are legal for everyone everywhere.

Legal Disclaimer:  I am not an attorney and am not giving legal advice.  I am just passing this information along and it is up to you to determine what you can/can’t do.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

Sources For AR Parts

The following are all vendors of AR parts including barrels, handguards, triggers, magaziness and what have you that I use and recommend:

Beware no-name knock off websites selling generic import stuff. Some of the parts are counterfeit and not rated for firearms use.

AK & Related Rifles, AR & Related Rifles and Pistols, Shooting in General

The Best M4/AR Collapsible Stock Review I have Read – Maybe My F93 Isn’t Quite Up To Snuff

As you may well know, I am more of an AK guy than an AR guy but I must admit that I really like collapsible stocks.  A few years back when I built my personal M92, I opted to use a Yugo M72 rear trunnion an Ace modular adapter and their M4 stock adapter so that I could use a collapsible stock.

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I liked the Ergo F93 because I had seen it back when Magpul owned it and bought it on sale.  Now, I have to admit that I bought the stock and really liked the feel.  I never did a drop test and it never occurred to me to do a drop test. I have never done any real stress testing of it in terms of carbine courses, etc. — mainly a lot of range sessions and never a problem … until someone told me about a test done on the F93.

In reading this review, the F39 broke on the first drop – according to the author, even Ergo knows they need to overhaul the design to reinforce the latch mechanism.

I’m very happy with my Magpul AR stocks and will continue to use the ACS, CTR, and PRS stocks.

So, with no further a do, check out this cool stock review:

http://blogs.militarytimes.com/gearscout/2012/02/01/buttstock-bashfest-gearscout-finds-out-just-how-far-tough-talk-goes/

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

AK & Related Rifles, Gunsmithing, Shooting in General

What we believe in

Hello everyone,

I’ve had a few guys ask about how Ronin’s Grips started over four years ago. Basically, I needed a grip for a Yugo M70 and I couldn’t find one. It’s as simple as that. Some guys were talking about casting them and it dawned on me that I knew how to make them but just had to figure out the materials and best process that I could do in my small shop. Needless to say it has grown on me. I am deeply indebted to the guys on www.AKfiles.com for helping me get started and I sold grips on the Marketplace subforum for the first year or so before I started the website. It has been an amazing four years and I can honestly say that overwhelming majority of American gun owners are awesome people – smart, honest, want to help and so forth.

Once I realized that I actually had a business running – it kind of hit me one day that it was no longer a hobby -I knew that in order to compete that I had to stick in a niche where the big boys couldn’t play – that of specialized AK grips and furniture to help guys with 922r compliance. I understood the market, believed in the reliability of the rifles and just found the engineering around them fascinating in general.  With this said, our furniture for AK rifles serves as the core of our business.

As Ronin’s Grips grew, I realized that there were three key ingredients we needed to never lose sight of: to turn out the best products we can, always stand behind them and take care of customers. I know a lot of groups make comments like that but let me explain.

First, we make every product by hand for each order. We aren’t some big company with an injection molding machine cranking out thousands of identical parts per day. Instead, we mix the plastic, add the coloring and pour the liquid into the molds. We then drill, sand and polish all by hand. Nothing fancy – just plain good old fashioned hard American work and pride. It takes time and every product we produce is as unique as the guys that use them. In short, our products have “character”.

Second, we stand behind our products. It’s amazing to look back at the thousands of products we have made over the last four years to almost as many customers. Whenever there is a problem with a product, we strive to make it right. We really believe it is only right to stand behind what we make. We know guys are using our products with their families and their friends. We know they want to use them hard and hand them down. We try really hard to do things the right way and we are still learning about how to do things better.

Third, to us, the customer really matters – you really matter. We know that you work hard for your money and are proud of your firearms. We must earn and keep your trust and that only happens through delivering excellent customer service made up of honesty, respect and perseverance. We take to heart the old saying that one should treat others how they want to be treated. Mistakes happen but more than anything, I want you guys to know we will make things right – we will take care of you.

I would like to think the three beliefs I just listed are what make us different.  We are growing largely though word of mouth plus we have a ton of repeat customers.  To me, that must mean we are doing some things right but I also know we must continually try to improve and not sit on our laurels.

I hope this gives you a bit of insight about us – that there is a lot more than just products on a web page for sale — that we really believe in providing you with value.

From me and my family to all of you – thank you very much.

Sincerely,
George Spafford
Owner, Ronin’s Grips
www.roninsgrips.com