POHF 1988 Izhvesk AKS-74N

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - POHF 1988 Izhvesk AKS-74N

Posted: 11/24/2014 1:02:55 AM EDT

PIECE
OF HISTORY BUILT 1988 IZHVESK AKS-74N

PART
1.

Would
like to share my newest rifle. A 1988 Izhvesk AKS-74N built by Mario
at Piece of History Firearms. It's damn good looking, it's a
shooter, and the details follow.

Somewhere
along the line I realized my life was just empty and incomplete
without
a Soviet AKS-74 clone. Specifically
a late '80s clone, for it's plum goodness and because I already had
'79 AK-74N clone.

Three
ways to scratch this itch occurred to me. 1. Get a relatively
affordable Bulgarian AKS-74
kit, and
have the trunnion
remarked with Russian markings. 2. Get a SLR -104-34
and maybe
hunt down and add some plum handguards and an earlier flash hider.
Possibly
weld
over the "S" and "F" and have the Cyrillic
markings added.
Or 3. Get a 1988 Izhvesk kit from RGUNS and work from there.

I
went with what I consider the most historically interesting,
"authentic,” and certainly most expensive route. I.E. route
number 3.

First
we obtained a 1988 Izhvesk parts kit from Rguns:

"Izhmash
military AK-74 5.45x39mm assault rifle parts kit. Unissued, like new
condition with matching serial numbers."

https://rguns.net/shop/russian-izhmash-ak74-5-45x39-parts-kit/

Despite
reports of some long wait times for shipping with Rguns, my
transaction went smoothly and the kit arrived in about a week.

Next
stop was KVAR for a 74 barrel, US trigger group, US gas piston, 4.5mm
triangle folder, and side folder mechanism:

At
the time they offered
a
"Izhmash
Left-side metal folding buttstock. Russian metal with straight edge
and smooth plate.” Item AK-IFS. KVAR does not seem to carry it
anymore.

4.5mm
folder with smooth back plate

Trigger
Group - https://www.k-var.com/shop/AK-922S.html

Gas
Piston - https://www.k-var.com/shop/AK-53GUS.html

Mechanism
- http://www.k-var.com/shop/KR-001.html

Barrel
- https://www.k-var.com/shop/AK-176B.html

Again,
a positive business transaction.

Now
I needed a receiver. My receivers of choice for a while now have
been Childers Guns. As I understand it they start life as 80% Polish
Shells and then "All holes are machined using CNC to insure
accuracy. The receiver is heat treated in our salt bath to 40 HRC.
Each receiver has the following completed. Top rails trimmed. Mag
well trimmed. Lower rails spot welded to receiver.” In addition
Childers will machine the appropriate holes and cuts for any number
of side folder and under folder variants.

http://www.childersguns.com/Receivers

It
was a pleasure doing business with Childers Guns. They are very
responsive to their customers, have a huge array of options, and
deliver a quality product in short amount of time. (No year long
wait times for an individual receiver, or waiting for a particular
run of a receiver you need.) Moreover, one can order ones receiver
with a custom serial number – NICE! If I remember correctly I
ordered 3 receivers for 3 different kits and got them all delivered
within 2 and a half weeks.

Put
in an order to Copes for some US made followers.

http://www.copesdistributing.com/made-545x39-ak74-follower-black-p-5609.html

I
wanted this to be AKS-74N as it offers a lot more
versatility, so I needed a side rail. There was only one choice, a
Collector's Source DFW rail. They periodically offer high quality
replicas of Soviet rails.

http://www.collectorssourcedfw.com/optics-side-mounting-rails.html

So
I now had a pile of parts and a deeply aggrieved wallet. It was
builder time. I had the makings of a great, "heirloom” rifle and
it deserved to go to the best. So off the kit went to Piece of
History Firearms.

http://pieceofhistoryfirearms.com/

I
knew Mario of POHF would deliver a quality build. I was/am already
fortunate enough to own several of his builds.

Oh
Snap! It's my bedtime. To be continued.

Posted: 11/24/2014 1:41:25 AM EDT

[#1]

That's a great build, but I never understood spending all of that money and using a receiver that isn't accurate. By that I mean doesn't have the "correct" rate reducer hump, incorrect selector lever bump location, etc. Don't get me wrong, Childers receivers are great (I have three of them myself), but if you're already spending the money I would wait for a 74u LLC.

Again, just my opinion and I readily admit I can get too anal about these things.

Posted: 11/24/2014 7:24:51 AM EDT

[#2]

Wow.

Very nice.

Posted: 11/24/2014 9:02:42 AM EDT

[#3]

Nice. Looks great.

If it was my build, I would have used a different receiver.

Posted: 11/24/2014 12:36:18 PM EDT

[#4]

Nice, very nice, very nice indeed.

Posted: 11/24/2014 2:06:51 PM EDT

[#5]

Quote History

Quoted:
That's a great build, but I never understood spending all of that money and using a receiver that isn't accurate. By that I mean doesn't have the "correct" rate reducer hump, incorrect selector lever bump location, etc. Don't get me wrong, Childers receivers are great (I have three of them myself), but if you're already spending the money I would wait for a 74u LLC.

Again, just my opinion and I readily admit I can get too anal about these things.

View Quote

My 88' Izhevsk AKS74N is built on a 74ULLC with a Bulgy barrel.

Posted: 11/24/2014 2:29:30 PM EDT

[#6]

Very nice OlSarge! Thanks for posting the pics.

Posted: 11/24/2014 2:50:25 PM EDT

[#7]

What is the armor its on?

I'd love to have an old APC / tracked vehicle to use as a backdrop

Posted: 11/24/2014 7:46:16 PM EDT

[#8]

Quote History

Quoted:

What is the armor its on?

I'd love to have an old APC / tracked vehicle to use as a backdrop

View Quote

MT-LB

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MT-LB

Posted: 11/24/2014 7:54:43 PM EDT

[#9]

Thats not a bad thing, down the road you can always rebuild it on a llc when they are more available.. i think it looks great!

Posted: 11/24/2014 7:55:47 PM EDT

[#10]

Quote History

Quoted:
Thats not a bad thing, down the road you can always rebuild it on a llc when they are more available.. i think it looks great!

View Quote

Posted: 11/24/2014 9:16:52 PM EDT

[#11]

Quote History

Quoted:

That's a great build, but I never understood spending all of that money and using a receiver that isn't accurate. By that I mean doesn't have the "correct" rate reducer hump, incorrect selector lever bump location, etc. Don't get me wrong, Childers receivers are great (I have three of them myself), but if you're already spending the money I would wait for a 74u LLC.
Again, just my opinion and I readily admit I can get too anal about these things.

View Quote

It's not about the money - it's about the time. I'll be enjoying and shooting my rifle for a solid year instead of waiting on a slightly more accurate receiver. As the saying goes "A bird in hand is worth two in the bush."

Don't get me wrong, the lack of a trigger bump IS annoying/regrettable. Mario could have fixed the trigger bump for me, but the cost to squeeze ratio for that work wasn't worth it to me.

He did add the left side selector hole stem hole reinforcement stamp by recessing the receiver some.... this is however almost completely invisible behind the rail - LOL.

The right side selector level hole reinforcement depression being off is fairly hard to notice with the selector lever mounted, so it doesn't bother me excessively.

An actual 1986 example. Picture taken from Tantal's amazing website: http://www.avtomats-in-action.com/pro17.html

EDIT - LOL. Yeah, it does bother my OCD.

Posted: 11/24/2014 9:37:18 PM EDT

[#12]

Quote History

Quoted:

MT-LB

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MT-LB

View Quote View All Quotes

View All Quotes

Quote History

Quoted:

Quoted:
What is the armor its on?

I'd love to have an old APC / tracked vehicle to use as a backdrop

MT-LB

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MT-LB

yours?

Posted: 11/24/2014 9:48:38 PM EDT

[#13]

Very nice! I wish I went this route with my 88 izzy kit but I ended up building it myself. No side rail and fixed stock version.

Posted: 11/24/2014 10:20:50 PM EDT

[#14]

PART
2 - THE COMPLETED BUILD

It's
an exciting day when you get the call that your build is done. And
this one was worth the wait.

She
looks GOOD.

Starting
at the front and working our way back.....

The
smooth collar faceted muzzle device is distinct to a 74 from this
era.

A
late 80's 74 should also have the barrel parts dimpled on, not
pinned. And Mario at POHF did a great job on this difficult work.

You
can see the faceted muzzle device versus an earlier style Bulgarian
muzzle device, and the dimpled barrel parts versus pinned barrel
parts in this picture:

The
half tick marks on the rear sight leaf you see here are also distinct
to a late 80's 74:

Here
you can see it's minty parts matching innards:

Piece
of History Firearms recreated the proper Russian/Soviet selector
markings:

As
you saw in one of the above pictures, Mario will mark your rifle with
a tasteful "PHF” in a rectangle if you desire. And I did ;)

And
of course it is a sidefolder – making for a very compact package:

Posted: 11/26/2014 1:10:54 AM EDT

[#15]

PART
3 – COMPARISON PICS

Some
comparison pictures I snapped, showcasing the '88 Izzy AKS-74N versus
a Bulgarian AK-74. Both rifles built by POHF.

Obvious
differences being the hard wood (LOL) on the Bulgarian versus the
plum polymer and triangle side folder on the AKS-74N.

Trunnion
markings:

Russian/Soviet
selector markings versus Bulgarian selector markings. Mario at POHF
did the AKS-74N markings, the Bulgarian has Childers Guns markings.

One
of the earlier/above pictures showcased the differences between the
muzzle devices and the dimpled vs. pinned barrel parts.

I
took these comparison pictures at the range recently. The AKS-74N is
of course mine, and the Bulgarian 74 belongs to my buddy. We got to
put some rounds down range, and how the Izzy shoots will be the next
update.......

Posted: 11/26/2014 5:15:48 PM EDT

[#16]

Great job, OlSarge! Very nice build and fantastic background props.

Posted: 11/27/2014 12:42:12 AM EDT

[#17]

oh so sexy!!!!!

Posted: 11/27/2014 1:02:51 AM EDT

[#18]

One of my most favorite posts on the site so far. Thanks for sharing.

Posted: 11/27/2014 1:35:14 AM EDT

[#19]

Gorgeous build and well worth it!

Posted: 11/27/2014 2:08:05 PM EDT

[#20]

Damn. IM me if you ever find yourself having to separate with such a piece.

Very nice.

Posted: 11/28/2014 8:42:21 PM EDT

[#21]

Mario did my 88 also and I couldn't be happier with it. It's my only actual safe queen because it's so damn nice.

Great write up and pics too, thanks for posting. I enjoyed it. Also love what you did with the PGO-7. It's not the most comfortable optic but it does work and I've had fun with mine on the SLR105. Really funky but cool.

Z

Posted: 12/5/2014 12:24:30 AM EDT

[#22]

Appreciate it everybody!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.....

Kisara - I had one of your AR-15 pictures as my wallpaper for a year or two... (Had an extended rail with the FSB cutout. Maybe two flashlights? Some kind of red sticker on the buttstock? Anyway, it was a sweet build.)

TX-Zen - Your write up pushed me over the edge on getting one. Thanks!

Posted: 12/5/2014 12:43:47 AM EDT

[#23]

Quote History

Quoted:

Mario did my 88 also and I couldn't be happier with it. It's my only actual safe queen because it's so damn nice.

Great write up and pics too, thanks for posting. I enjoyed it. Also love what you did with the PGO-7. It's not the most comfortable optic but it does work and I've had fun with mine on the SLR105. Really funky but cool.
Z

View Quote

I know how you feel - I have a '74 AK-74N clone built by Mario and that's my safe queen. I got it zeroed and after that couldn't bear the thought of beating up that Russian iodine furniture. I don't mind shooting the heck out of this '88. I'll be sad when the factory ink stamps on the furniture wear off... but such is life.

Posted: 12/5/2014 6:42:40 PM EDT

[#24]

Awesome build OlSarge

Here's my '88

Posted: 12/5/2014 8:15:03 PM EDT

[#25]

Quote History

Quoted:

Awesome build OlSarge

Here's my '88

http://i399.photobucket.com/albums/pp80/trn_photobucket/2014-11-01135906_safe_zps22060a75.jpg

View Quote

NICE!

Is that the Blue Force Gear AK Sling?

Posted: 12/5/2014 9:07:19 PM EDT

[#26]

Quote History

Quoted:

NICE!

Is that the Blue Force Gear AK Sling?

View Quote View All Quotes

View All Quotes

Quote History

Quoted:

Quoted:
Awesome build OlSarge

Here's my '88

http://i399.photobucket.com/albums/pp80/trn_photobucket/2014-11-01135906_safe_zps22060a75.jpg

NICE!

Is that the Blue Force Gear AK Sling?

Thanks, and yes thats the BFG AK sling. I have a Russian double hook mustard sling but I ended up not liking the hook on the stock loop; the BFG at least sort of looks a little bit traditional while functioning great.

Posted: 12/5/2014 10:42:55 PM EDT

[#27]

Quote History

Quoted:
Thanks, and yes thats the BFG AK sling. I have a Russian double hook mustard sling but I ended up not liking the hook on the stock loop; the BFG at least sort of looks a little bit traditional while functioning great.

View Quote View All Quotes

View All Quotes

Quote History

Quoted:

Quoted:

Awesome build OlSarge

Here's my '88

http://i399.photobucket.com/albums/pp80/trn_photobucket/2014-11-01135906_safe_zps22060a75.jpg

NICE!

Is that the Blue Force Gear AK Sling?

Thanks, and yes thats the BFG AK sling. I have a Russian double hook mustard sling but I ended up not liking the hook on the stock loop; the BFG at least sort of looks a little bit traditional while functioning great.

I had a double hook RPK sling.... I just took off the second hook, because you're right, the hook on the sling loop is lame. I was trying to think of something cool to do with the hook...... like make it a key chain fob or something...

Posted: 1/1/2015 7:33:50 PM EDT

[#28]

PART 4 – FUNCTION AND ACCURACY

Happy New Years! Hope everyone had a great holiday season.

OK, so how does it run/shoot?

Have taken the rifle to the range two times now.

Range Trip 1. Fired approximately 75 rounds of Russian Surplus 5.45. Used 2 Russian plum magazines. Wasn't able to put out targets so got a rough zero on a 200 meter metal plate and plinked at various rocks to check for function. No malfunctions of any kind.

Range Trip 2. More exciting. Fired 62 rounds of 5.45 Silver Bear. Zeroed the weapon against a 100 meter target with 22 rounds. Then fired at torso sized steel at ranges from 100 to 300 meters. Able to get consistent hits on all targets. Performance directly comparable to what I can do against same targets with a 16” AR15 and irons. Was very pleased. No malfunctions of any kind.

The weapon felt good in the hands. Recoil was negligible. I have heard that the triangle folder is less pleasant in 7.62x39, but in 5.45 it worked well and provided for a good cheek weld with the iron sights. The tourniquet wrap provides a little cushion and a lot of insulation against the heat/cold.

I unfortunately haven't gotten a chance to shoot any groups against paper. But when I do so, I will post pictures of what we achieve.

Posted: 1/1/2015 7:40:44 PM EDT

[#29]

So far I've been able to ID an MTLB, a BRDM-2, and a T-54/Type59 tank. So... who's armor?

Gorgeous AK's, truly works of art.

Posted: 1/1/2015 7:46:57 PM EDT

[#30]

Quote History

Quoted:
So far I've been able to ID an MTLB, a BRDM-2, and a T-54/Type59 tank. So... who's armor?

Gorgeous AK's, truly works of art.

View Quote

I believe it's property of the AZNG if I have the location right. It's been awhile since I walked around the fenced in exhibit. Definitely makes an excellent backdrop for that gorgeous '74.

Posted: 2/24/2015 10:56:08 PM EDT

[#31]

Roger, displayed in Arizona.

Posted: 2/24/2015 10:56:52 PM EDT

[#32]

Shot a 9 round group today to confirm zero. Not my best work but I was getting tired.

Zeroed 2 other rifles today.

Posted: 2/27/2015 9:58:41 PM EDT

[#33]

Great build, but what is the pink stuff you wrapped the triangle folder in??

Thanks
Rum

Posted: 2/27/2015 10:44:39 PM EDT

[#34]

It's a Russian tourniquet.

Posted: 2/28/2015 2:52:56 PM EDT

[#35]

A tourniquet it is -

I got mine here:

http://www.russiansurplus.net/product_p/tourniquete.htm

Russiansurplus.net is totally good to go.

Posted: 2/28/2015 3:41:12 PM EDT

[#36]

Quote History

Quoted:

Russiansurplus.net is totally good to go.

View Quote

Yep done a lot of business with them myself

Posted: 2/28/2015 3:59:06 PM EDT

[#37]

Got out of the AK74 game years ago. With some regret. These pictures do not help. Thanks for showing them.

Posted: 2/28/2015 7:18:42 PM EDT

[#38]

I gotta ask...how much does a project like this cost?

Posted: 2/28/2015 7:46:22 PM EDT

[#39]

Quote History

Quoted:

I gotta ask...how much does a project like this cost?

View Quote

CarlosC - It was your family AK picture that really got me into collecting AKs. The Christmas pic I posted above was a partial homage.

In terms of cost? I posted links to all the components and the builder on the first page if you want to do the math. I'm not going to add it up as that would be terrible depressing. I bought this and that at various times so it wasn't too financially burdensome. I can say I really enjoy shooting it.