So I really had my heart set on getting a WASR, but that wont be happening any time soon, and I REALLY wanted to get another AK as soon as possible, so I figured my next best option would be a DDI rifle.

I was curious if there were any significant differences between the Hungarian and Polish rifles.  I feel like I was watching a video where someone mentioned the Hungarian one being different in some way, but I cant for the life of me remember what it was, or what video it was so I could go back and see what was being said.

Also, should I care that the barrels arent chrome lined?  I dont plan on shooting corrosive ammo, but I feel like the option is gone if the barrel isnt chrome lined.  I dont know what Fenocite is, but if I did shoot corrosive ammo out of it, should I be worried about it or is Fenocite good protection against corrosive ammo?


Thanks.

The Hungarian ones can't use some aftermarket handguards but that's about all I know.

Ahh... okay.  That makes sense.  I dont remember anything specifically about that, but from what I remember it would make sense that it had to do with something involving handguard compatibility.

It takes about 5 min and a file to make wood/poly handguards to a Hungarian. Not quite sure how it is with metal handguards.

Yeah, I have one of the Hungarian ones, and I would have to shave off a bunch of wood from the tab that pokes into the receiver to get regular AKM handguards to fit.

I think it has been pretty universally agreed upon that Fenocite/nitride has superior corrosion resistance qualities over chrome lining.

If that, takes me about 5 seconds with a dremel.

Usually there are no issues with the receiver end, in the front, the Hungy handguard cap has two little tits at the top of the cap that face backward, just takes a second to trim the handguard a tiny bit to fit.

Gunplumber (Arizona Response Systems) would disagree. He explains his position in a thread on the files.

Well any debate on which one is superior aside, Fenocite is good enough to where I dont really have to worry too much about it, right?

Not unless you are shooting a belt fed machine gun there the barrel gets REALLY hot. But for tactical hobbyists like us it works fine.

There was a post in the AR discussions about this and Nathan from Faxon did a great job explaining some technical details about it.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_118/693734_Nitride_vs_chrome_lining.html

I just picked up my Hungarian DDI rifle last week. I'm happy with it. Everything is straight, rivets look perfect, finish is awesome, trigger feels great. Like others have said, unless you are shooting full auto, I don't believe the barrel is an issue.

And i'm in agreement with Gunplumber on this issue (a rare occurrence to be sure, lol).

I'm fine with nitride for a range toy like an AR , they may even be a tad bit more accurate. But there is zero chance they are more corrosion resistant, and if god forbid you ever had to use your rifle in a serious all-out SHTF situation i'm pretty sure you would sleep better knowing it was chrome-lined. Chrome-lining is NOT just to resist corrosion, it aids in extraction, this is really the most important point and is usually ignored by people preaching the about the benefits of nitride. But go ask a Vietnam era vet about the difference between chrome-lined and non-chrome-lined barrels sometime.

Wow, lots of interesting reading about nitride vs. chrome lining. Seems like a lot of the marketing I've been exposed to about the superiority of nitride is just that. Either way, both processes appear to perfectly suitable for a semi-auto rifle.

While Gunplumber knows his shit, I really have a hard time taking his position on nitriding seriously. He basically claims that it does little more than change the appearance of the steel, and does nothing whatsoever for corrosion resistance or hardness. This seems to go against all testing that has been done on the process.

Just in the AK world alone, there are several militaries that currently issue AK derivatives which utilize a nitride process for barrel steel - Poland (Beryl) and Switzerland (SIG 55x). The Swiss have used this process for decades on the 55x series of rifles, and those rifles are considered by many to be some of the most accurate and durable service rifles out there.




There was way more of a systemic failure with the first M16s than a simple issue of barrel steel & coatings. The original Colt design specified chrome lining of the bolt carrier, bore and chamber.. Army Ordnance Dept. called for all of that to be eliminated in production to save cost. Then, to further count beans, they didn't even have the first lots of 5.56 ammunition loaded to the correct spec provided by Colt, and as a result the ammo was spectacularly filthy and never burned properly in the early M16, leading to many instances of squibs and FTEs related to short stroking and chamber fouling.

IOW they sent a rifle with NO anti-corrosion properties whatsoever into a harshly corrosive environment, and issued cartridges that were highly dirty and ran underpowered in the rifle.

That is a long tale of institutional fuckups that fall square on the lap of the US Govt. I'm not a massive M16 fan but the design as specified by Colt, with the specified ammunition, would likely have worked just fine in Vietnam and would have saved many lives had the Army not try to fuck with it to save money.

I have both the DDI Hungarian AKM with the Fenocite barrel and the DDI milled Bulgarian with the chrome lined barrel. Both are very well built and have been awesome shooters and very accurate.

One gunsmith says something and that is conclusive proof?

I'm sure you can find one auto mechanic that says "fuel injection sucks, carburetors are the way to go", one airplane mechanic that says "fly by wire sucks, stick and rudder it the only way to go", or one computer administrator that says "virtual machines suck, bare metal is the only way to go". People like this usually have one thing in common, they get laid off in thier late 40s to 50s because they don't invest in their knowledge and everything they knew is now obsolete.

Moral of the story: never stop learning and don't be afraid of new technologies.