When Kalashnikov USA announced it was shipping its American-made rifles to dealers, we asked a simple question: “How much for your women?” No, wait. How much for the guns? The company demurred (that’s vocab nerd speak for “refused to answer.”) So I passed on the presser. Now, thanks to Mark Zuckerberg’s largesse (“greed”), we have that information for you. The buzz on the ‘net: they may be expensive but they’re made in America! Well, only if Kalashnikov doesn’t nalomat drov (“mangle the firewood”). T&E request submitted. $836 for the gun above (all prices MSRP). Here are the rest . . .
Kalashnikov Tactical Shotgun US109T $999
Kalashnikov Autoloding Shotguns US109L $874
Kalashnikov Autoloading Rifle US132 $719
Kalashnikov Polymer Carbine 132L $761
Kalashnikov Modern Rifle US132Z $924
Sks. AK. Saiga. Makarov. There was a time you bought Russian cause they were reliable, robust, functional and considerably cheaper than the competition.
Seems the prices have gone to competitive with the rest. Only reason to buy them now, is cheaper ammo….oh wait.
they have got to be junk buy a good gun and leave this crap on the shelf.
A grand for the US made Siaga is nuts. At $700 you may have had a deal.
They look nice though.
We were buying Russian made Saiga’s in CA for under 400 bucks a copy when last they were on our shelves at the gun stores. Double the price for the same gun?
It has been a long time since I looked at Siaga prices so I was spit balling. As it is I would be willing to pay some premium initially to help establish sales and keep Kalishnakov from rethinking the whole idea.
I remmber those days, but we all know California gun owners will pay any cost to get there hands on a rifle they can use detachable magazines.
If memory serves those detachable mags were 35 bucks a pop. 10 rounders and the mag well wouldn’t accept standard ak 30 rounders.
File down the mag catch just a little add a $5 bullet guide and standard AK mags work just fine.
That’s MSRP. After the hype has settled, you can probably get one for significantly less.
Homosexuality is a sin, but change is possible for those who truly seek it.
Those are street prices, once demand cools a little expect to see them around $800-850. I would pay $800 for an AK that is guaranteed not to be crap, defective or with a canted sight.
As would i for a quality AK minus all the problem all the others seem to have.
It is safe to say the days of inexpensive AKs are long gone.
Whats really twisted IMO is that one could buy a quality AR for less than a AK.
Low-ish prices, I almost blew my wad. ?
Furniture on “MODERN RIFLE” very tacticool, da? Maybe design outsourced to Archangel Manufacturing comrades?
Could be wrong, but that stuff looks like Mako Defense furniture. Which I’ve heard is fairly high quality.
It’s actually Command Arms Accessories USA.
If they make them in the tradition of the original AK’s IE: sturdy, tough, reliable, easy to clean/maintain then personally I think the pricing will be fairly close.
The Big thing is not rushing out to buy one the second they hit your local GS. Otherwise they’ll end up like the great black rifle(AR15) scare and GS’s will be jacking the prices right out the roof!!
JMHO.
Ugh, all that CAA garbage.
I’ve never been interested in the AK until a few months ago when RF introduced me to a new friend that made them. Now I’m interested. But only because it would be fun to learn to make and understand it, and only if it was the classic stamped metal version. I get the desire for an inexpensive, reliable, semi-automatic rifle in a moderate caliber. And if I can make it myself without exotic machinery, well now it’s really cool. Pig hunting with a home made rifle would be tons of fun.
But this? This doesn’t do it for me at all.
For those of you all about the AK, and there are some of you who are ALL ABOUT the AK, do you see the billet version as apostasy, or the pricier version like these some kind of affront to what the AK is about?
Or am I stuck in the past thinking these are pricey?
The very first AK-47 rifles were made with milled recievers. They moved to stamped because it was cheaper later in production.
Actually the first production examples used stamped receivers but these examples were rarely seen outside of the USSR. The aviation and missile industries had a higher priority over the use of stamped metal so the Kalashnikov was redesigned to use a milled receiver. The second generation with the milled receivers were encountered outside the USSR resulting in the myth of the early AK47s using milled receivers.
Later there was increased capacity for stamped metal so the AK reverted to the stamped receiver for subsequent production.
The first stamped AK had plain unribbed magazines, a lack of reinforcing on the top cover and a pistol grip that was more angled than later versions.
They have abandoned the initial stamped version because, ironically, it was too expensive to produce – Soviets didn’t really master the art of stamping for firearm production beyond crude designs (like PPS-43) by then yet, and so too many stamped receivers were defective at the end of the assembly line and had to be discarded.
To fix that, they had to tap into German expertise (apparently, stamping is what Hugo Schmeisser was actually working on at Izhmash, as opposed to the common myth of him contributing to AK design). And while they were working on setting up the process and making it produce satisfactory results, they switched back to the tried & true milling for receivers.
I recall people were ripping me a new one for claiming that a US-made quality shotgun starts at $1K.
And this… this is just pressed sheet metal, a commodity-quality barrel and cheez-whiz.
Anyone want to revise their estimate of what it costs to make a gun in the US?
Ever since that post I have been hankering for a Model 12 in 20 Ga. Thanks you old coot.
I cannot say enough good things about the model 12. I sent many ducks and geese to their reward with a 12 bore model 12 in the day.
I picked up one, and a 50s era savage in .30-06 this weekend. And a pm9. Good weekend.
The only complaint I ever had with the model 12 and it’s a minor one, is the weight. It’s a solid gun.
Let us know how that savage shoots. My best bud in school had a 99 savage. Near as we could figure it was from the 30’s. Hell of a shooter when we could afford the .300 savage shells for it.
JWM, shoots great. You didn’t think I’d go the whole weekend without shooting it did you? Seems to like the 180gr pills a little more, and shoots a few of those with 4064 right at a MOA. No idea how it shoots factory rounds. Now I bed and float it and work on the trigger and see what happens.
That mirrors my experience with the 06. It seems to favor the heavier bullets. At least the factory loads from 40 years ago. Never hand loaded for that round.
My sons savage .308 tends towards the heavier bullets also. He does handload for the round and his best loads are in the 165+ weight.
It costs whatever people are willing to pay for it…
It’s officially cheaper to buy a decent paper shooter AR than it is to buy a decent AK that isn’t a POS
Exactly. I’m wearing a sturdy had next time I go outside. Pigs must be flying.
People complain about WASRs, but mine has been running like a Swiss clock for half a decade. It eats everything I feed it and is about as accurate as I am. I like the wood carbine. That one may actually stay that way and not get Magpuled out. I’m rally surprised they don’t have a Magpul version. (Both MOE and Zhukov) A MOE version would make the “modern” one look a lot better.
Century Arms has Magpul parts on their US made AK’s, guessing they have an agreement with each other and preventing Magpul to be offered on these and why they went with CAA. http://www.centuryarms.com/products
I don’t think that is the case with magpul. DDI is set to release a MOE version shortly.
I bought a Saiga sporter, same thing as the us132 for $500 two years ago. Paying $719 seems kind nuts
A friend ordered a US132Z, it was due in at the FFL today. I think his cost was around $750 out the door. I’ll try to see if I can talk him to some range time this week to check it out.
The barrels are not even threaded. Looks more like they are trying to sell on name alone vice quality. RWC number for this rifle seems to be IZ132Z, same pic used for both rifles.
Not impressed.
Guess I’ll build another Stoner.
Sorry but at that price I’d rather go to Atlantic Firearms or AGS and get a DDI with the magpul zhukov furniture for 850.
Someone was giving me grief when I said the AR was hitting the better side of the economics these days due to this stuff. I guess the real advantage is that 922R is a non-issue with this. Where’s another country that has an awesome AK manufacturer when you need them?
Romania and Bulgaria with Poland getting ready to enter the market too. Egypt, Hungary, Ukraine, and Albania COULD enter the market but no importer stateside is making overtures to acquire from them.
I would say Serbia but their PAP’s use brittle metal so their long-term durability/reliability comes into question.
I’m not sure where you heard that Serbia uses brittle metal in the PAPs but that is completely false. If you’re thinking it’s because of the 1.6mm receiver and the thicker trunnion that’s to make up for “brittle metal” then you are just making assumptions. You know what happens when you make assumptions. The thicker receiver and trunnion are for launching grenades. There is also a button on the top cover to keep it from flying back when launching grenades and a grenade launcher/gas cutoff. I do know supposedly the chinese used thicker receivers to make up for their metalurgy but I don’t even think that that is correct. It seems like it was made up by a hater of AKs and all guns made by China. People used to bad mouth chinese AKs until they realized that cheap doesn’t necessarily mean poorly made. Now they are highly coveted. Anyways, the Serb AKs rock and are very very robust. Happy labor day.
So, the same guns we used to get at twice the price and no Tiger rifle? Pass…
I don’t know anything about the AK, but if this is a milled receive, that seems like a good thing, compared to stamped steel. And the auto rifle appears California (and perhaps NY) compliant. So why are people saying this is a POS? The furniture? The price? It can’t be the vaunted reliability. Until recently, when the bottom fell out of the market, it was hard to find an AR for less than $800 (and waaay up), and just the uppers I like usually start at $650 to $900. Is the AR really that much better for plinking paper or hogs?
That US132 model definitely looks NY legal, which is what caught my eye. No pistol grip and no muzzle device, from the looks of it.
They have stamped vice milled receivers. They don’t say it’s stamped, I would think if they were milled they would state that.
While looking up to see if they state milled or stamped, I did find this on their site “Tapco slant AK47 muzzle brake” They are threaded 14×1 LH so the muzzle brake maybe be replaceable.
http://www.kalashnikov-usa.com/firearms/autoloading-rifle-us132z
Also at the end of this video, sort of in the background off camera they state all the rifles and shotguns on the wall were made in Russia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzUdOxZoruM
Totally irresponsible to make a Blues Brothers reference without a clip.
Kinda funny talking about guns quoting a movie that is predominantly Chicago in nature.
Come to think of it, how did Carrie Fisher get her hands on a full auto M16 in Illinois?
How do you think?
LESO M16, Chicago PD/Cook Co Sheriff, hotish chick.
Let’s not forget she also deployed a rocket launcher and a flame thrower. I think she took over Wile E. Coyote’s account with acme when he retired.
I don’t care what they cost. I’ll buy one (if I can) just to piss off the scheisskopfs who run the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Just a heads up guys these are not real Kalashnikov’s. Kalashnikov USA is in NO WAY affiliated with Kalashnikov Concern of Russia. They were Kalashnikov Concern’s final importer before the ban, and now due to the protection afforded by important sanctions are using the Kalashnikov name without any licensing, input, or Kalashnikov parts. Completely different product.
If you want to fact check, The Firearm Blog did a big piece and interview with Kalashnikov USA.
Sweet, that DDI AK is looking better and better.
As cool as all this is I’d really like to see some modern Russian handguns for sale here. Those have to be easier to bring in than rifles. >,,>
No more Russian handguns, ever.
Clinton banned them under the permanent part of the ’94 Crime Bill aka “AW Ban”.
The closest you can get to a modern clone of a Russian handgun is the Italian Arsenal Strike One since it was designed with input from Russia and is in service with Spetsnaz.
>> The Italian Arsenal Strike One since it was designed with input from Russia
It has not been “designed with input from Russia”. It has been designed by two guys, one of whom is Italian and the other one is Russian.
Okay great. This year we get out the reliable stuff. Next year – PLEASE BRING OUT THE MK107.
Will never happen.
MK-107 is a specialized design. These people have no affiliation with the real Kalashnikov Concern.
Heck we already have problems cobbling together a regular AK just to function correctly imagine how horrid our clones would be of the MK-107!!!!
Meh. Real men make their own AKs from a $300.00 parts kit. I agree with the posters about AKs and other Soviet Bloc stuff is supposed to be cheap. Growing up in the 80s, nice AKs were everywhere for $250.00 and few wanted them, everyone wanted a Mini 14 or a bolt action, even ARs weren’t very popular where I shot at.
I built my own Maadi, it was much more gratifying than buying these overpriced and ugly versions. No canted sights, put in a cheap and sweet Tapco G2 trigger, the thing is a joy to shoot, accurate, no FTF or FTE in over 2,400 rounds and it looks leagues better than any of these “American AKs”.
That is something I would like to try but i have no idea of the how or where you would find it.. any links/reccomendations to get someone started?
thanks!
Hi MP:
Fortunately there are plenty of good sources for DIY AK builds. If you have never done it before though, I recommend you find a local friend who has. It is much more involved that ASSEMBLING an AR. With an AK parts kit, you will actually be building the rifle, forming the receiver from a flat, welding in the rails, riveting the receiver into place, riveting in the trunnions, populating the barrel, parkerizing the gun, etc. Unfortunately, if you don’t have a well equipped machine shop, you will have to invest about $400.00 to $900.00 in the specialized tools you will need like a receiver jig, a press, a spot welder, etc. It is only worth it if you plan on building more than one AK so you can amortize your investment in tools.
If you only want to build one AK, I recommend a place like Rifle Dynamics out in Las Vegas, you can go and take a class in how to do it, you will build, complete and fire your own AK. It is excellent, but you have to go to Vegas and they are not cheap. But it is well worth it if you have more than a casual interest and really want to learn how to build AKs. It is VERY addictive, we have a team on Calguns that has collectively built hundreds, if not thousands of AKs and AK variants.
You can also check out this e-book on Amazon that a fellow Calgunner Nicoroshi published, he walks you through the entire process. You need both volumes. http://www.amazon.com/Build-Your-Own-Headspace-Population/dp/1939812321/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1439905943&sr=8-1&keywords=how+to+build+an+AK
Good luck, building my own AK is one of the most gratifying things I have ever done as a shooter.
At least the Russians understand the poor state of our economy. Fact is $700-$800 is arguably the same amount of money as $400 10 years ago.
That ‘Modern Rifle’ is fuuuuuggggly.
I’m reminded of the meme stating “nyet, rifle is fine”.
AKs’ only appeal is that they are cheap, mass produced weapons. Now even that diesn’t apply.
WTH would spend $900 on a friggin AK??
AK also has an appeal of a design that is known to be highly reliable both on paper and in real world. I paid over $1K for my 5.56 Arsenal back in the day, and if I had to pick one rifle from my gun safe that I could keep, it would be the one.
I’m sure it’s a great rifle at pistol range.
*sigh* Yet another person who thinks that AKs are only good to hit a barn at 100 yards.
FYI, the standard Russian military AK manual specifies the minimum acceptable spread when zeroing to be 5 MOA at 100 yards. Minimum – below that, the rifle goes to the armorer. That’s quite sufficient to hit a human sized target out to 300 yards or so.
Apparently my attempt at sarcastic humor was not successful.
I’m sorry. It’s just that there are enough people who would write such a thing seriously, that by now the default assumption is that it’s not a joke. Poe’s Law in action.
Aaron, actually alot of people are willing to pay $900+ for a top quality AK, Arsenal AKs are a prime example.
I have done a ton of research on AKs over the last 2 months. It just seems like all the ones out there now have problems of one kind or another and they are going to cost you around $600. So for another $300 to have a piece of mind knowing you have a high quality rifle minus any problems and so on, that $900 price point starts to look better.
I myself have not been able to get myself to pay $900 for a AK yet, but i already own a Poly Tech MAK 90 thats been converted to 922r legal.
I tell people all the time that if they could get a mak 90 for a good price, grab it asap.
Getting it 922r legal is inexpensive and you have a whole rifle, a modern day AK thats being sold out there nowadays is nothing more than a parts gun.
Stopped by the LGS today, friend’s IZ132Z who thought he was ordering the US132Z was there. It is no doubt the rifle in the image above. Full CAA treatment, Tapco trigger and US Palm mag, has a letter from RWC stating it meets 922(r) requirements.
“The foreign made parts used in your rifle are:
1 ) Receiver
2) Barrel
3) Trunion Block
4) Bolt
5 ) Bolt Carrier
6) Gas Piston
7) Magazine Body ( US Palm was the ONLY mag sent with the rifle )
8) Magazine Follower ( US Palm mag)
9) Magazine Floorplate ( US Palm mag )
10) Buttstock ( CAA Buttstock )”
I have a copy of the letter that was sent.
Muzzle brake was not screwed on either. Thin barrel, much thinner than a Century Arms C39V2 that was also received for a customer today. On the receiver it stated it was made in Russia and had Tullytown PA also by the serial number.
It did come with their red and white KALASHNIKOV USA PRODUCT CATALOG 2015.
Price was $800, taxes, shipped. maybe small amount of profit, as the buyer and FFL are long time friends. But not sure how they are going to claim this a US made rifle, US assembled maybe but not from 100% US parts. The FFL and took some pics of it, I have the catalog that was shipped with it.
It has a bolt action 7.62×54 with a modern looking stock and action, target .22lr, semi auto .22lr, shotguns, etc.. in the catalog. Much more than what is on their website under the catalog tab. They can’t claim it’s old stock with a catalog that is more up to date than their website.
I can take pics of the catalog if TTAG mods would like to share it with other readers.
Don’t know why people are bothering with these things. They are hardly “new” since the REAL name of the company, RWC, has been selling these half-assed conversions for a while now. Their quality control is definitely hit or miss. They also look exactly like Century Arms half-ass conversions too.
Arsenal was at least able to import new Bulgarian parts to assemble new SLR-107’s. Say what you will about them being overpriced but at least they are being built with milspec parts from a professional military arsenal approved by NATO who knows what they are doing with supervision from said factory rather than these KC “knockoffs” charging us a premium just for the name to prey on the AK ignorant which is a vast amount of people in this country especially gun owners.
Wouldn’t the twin have too much power for something like the TAT, especially for somebody riding it their first time? I might learn on a KLR