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.

ATF Opinion Letter on AR Pistols – Some Key Considerations

December 14, 2014 RoninsGrips

In this ATF letter, the author asked the ATF’s opinion on a number of great AR pistol related questions. I am paraphrasing a few points I found important to help folks doing full text searches for opinions:

1) An AR lower receiver is neither pistol nor rifle until it is built the first time. If you want to make a pistol, a lower receiver must *never* have been built in a rifle configuration.

2) AR pistols do not have a barrel length restriction.

3) AR handguards can be used on an AR pistol

4) An AR rifle and pistol can be in the same household — note, and this is a personal comment, what got a guy in trouble years ago was that he had only an AR rifle and a pistol upper with no lower to mount it on. I don’t remember all of the details but the main thing here is that you never want it to look like the only reason you have a pistol/SBR upper is to put in on your AR that is legally classified as a rifle.

5) Magpul angled fore grips (AFGs) are permissible on the bottom accessory/picatinny rail.

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.

Uncategorized

Jeff’s Yugo M70 Underfolder with our Bulged Handguard Set

December 6, 2014 RoninsGrips

This is Jeff’s Yugo M70 underfolder with our bulged Yugo M70 handguard set:

The handguard is based on a Zastava design that you will see on some of their import models. Our design has a reinforced bottom and uses an extra thick gas tube cover based on a wood M70 handguard set. The gas tube cover needs the Yugo gas tube retaining clip for a snug fit.

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.

Music

This is so cool – USAF Band does a flashmob at the Smithsonian

December 6, 2014 RoninsGrips

Every once in a while I see a cool music video and this is one of them – the USAF band does Jesu, the Joy of Man’s Desiring, at the Smithsonian air and space museum. I hope this gets everyone in the holiday spirit. I will be humming it in the shop today for sure!!

Uncategorized

Scott Igert’s Custom Yugo M92 PAP with Dark Russian Plum Furniture

December 5, 2014 RoninsGrips

Scott Igert owns Modern Antique Firearms in Benton Harbor, MI, and is the force behind the Michigan Gun Exchange website. He replaced the furniture on the below Yugo M92 PAP:

The grip is our ARM9 (which is my favorite grip by the way and use it on my own rifles) and he used a Yugo M92 Ferrule Cut furniture set for the handguards. Both are in our Dark Russian Plum color with a blasted finish for good looks and a sure grip. I also like the contrast between the black ferrule and the color of the handguards – I think that is a nice accent.

ARM 9 Page: http://shop.roninsgrips.com/Custom-Bulgarian-ARM-9-Grip-Converted-For-All-AKs-w-Screw-BulgyARM9WithScrew.htm

Yugo Ferrule Cut Page: http://shop.roninsgrips.com/Yugoslavian-M85-M92-Ferrule-Cut-Handguard-Sets-M85M92HandguardsFerruleCut.htm

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

December 4, 2014 RoninsGrips

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:

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:

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.

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.

Uncategorized

Izzy’s Wild C39 Micro SBR With Our Orca Handguard

December 4, 2014 RoninsGrips

This is Izzy’s wild SBR based on a C39 Micro with our Orca handguard:

Here are the details from Izzy:

I put a 7 slot magpul one piece rail section, drilled and tapped on the actual [handguard and the] rail is very strong I may add. The micro was something in my head for awhile so when I saw this 6.5 in with a billet receiver I was sold. Not too much was added to make it what it is.
My own design charging handle.
VZ 58 side folding stock drilled and pinned then use para cord for the extension
NRM Defense did the cerakote in Tungsten with all the controls in black
SLR muzzle brake
Red star adjustable trigger assembly
Magpul grip and mags with a Bravo Company vertical fore grip

The web page for our C39 Micro Orca handguard is: http://shop.roninsgrips.com/Custom-Century-C39-Handguard-Our-Orca-Model-C39MicroOrcaHandguard.htm

Flashlights and Lasers

How to upgrade Surefire M951 Weapons Light with a $10-20 LED Reflector

December 3, 2014 RoninsGrips

I really like Surefire weapons lights but they can be very expensive. If you haven’t noticed it, there are some great deals on new in the box Surefire M951 weapons lights on eBay. Now hear’s the thing – they are new old stock – they have the old Xenon bulbs with them but these things are often unused or lightly used and include the picatinny rail mount and pressure pad. You can upgrade them to an LED for often less than $20 for both a brighter and longer lasting light.

To find the Surefire M951, the trick I found is to search for one of the many “kit” packages that are for sale. The light I purchased was a “Surefire M951 Kit02” to be exact.

The M951, and a number of other Surefire lights used the P60 Xenon bulb. There are a ton of LED upgrades out there and I opted for one from Amazon. The following text links are to the actual LED reflector I bought off Amazon and used – I just had to remove the external spring (it pulls right off) and put it in my M951.

There are a lot of P60 module offerings on Amazon now and they are all very affordable. I used BestSun and it has worked just fine. Take a look on Amazon [click here] and pick based on the higher/highest sales volumes and score. By the way, I recommend Amazon because you can see the scores, reviews and usually you can return defective merchandise quite easily.

It was incredibly bright!

Surefire sells replacement heads for the M951 but they are pricey – $45 and up. It held up fine on both a 9mm and 5.56 AR. It was a fun conversion project and my buddy has it on his AR now.

Again, lots of offerings for P60 drop in modules – be sure to check out Amazon.

Ronin's Grips

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

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Jeff’s Yugo M70 Underfolder with our Bulged Handguard Set

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This is so cool – USAF Band does a flashmob at the Smithsonian

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Scott Igert’s Custom Yugo M92 PAP with Dark Russian Plum Furniture

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Izzy’s Wild C39 Micro SBR With Our Orca Handguard

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How to upgrade Surefire M951 Weapons Light with a $10-20 LED Reflector

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When Strength and Quality Matter Most

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Sources For AR Parts

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When Strength and Quality Matter Most