I have built a couple retro ar15s and I would like to have a Soviet Afghan era AK74 clone. I've had a Bulgarian parts kit lying around for a while and Id like to turn it into early to mid 80's rifle. I've seen some with "Russian markings" added and would like to do the same. Who does the the Russian markings and also who could build this rifle for me? Sorry for the noob question just not sure were to go.

If you want to do it right, then pick a specific year.

Between 82 and about 86, there are many specific details that change. And if you're going to do the engraving, you need to decide if you're going to engrave the trunnion as well (not just the reciever). If you engrave the trunnion, then not only do you need to choose a year, you need to choose a serial number that would be correct for that year.

I would not recommend picking 1983, since I think that every real Ak-74 kit that came into this country about 2 yrs ago was an '83... So if you'd essentially be building a clone of a rifle that you could actually have a real kit for. Doesn't make sense in my mind.

-thirtycal

I guess I would choose 1982. So who does the engraving services?

Go to avtomats-in-action.com for the info you are looking for. Mario at Piece of History Firearms will hook you up with engravings and other details. If you have big bucks, Ted Marshall is the man for complete accuracy.

Yup going to avtomats-in-action is the best way to learn the differences between the years. Lots of subtle things change, like the size of the welds on the rails, the style of rivet head, the muzzle break, pistol grip, handguards, and buttplate.

I wanted to build a year-matching Afghan-era AK-74N for my 1984 NSPU-1PN34 night vision scope - notice the replica Russian optics rail (from avtomats-in-action).





I searched all over the web and in a variety of books for photos of a 1984 to make sure I got the details right. I had Mario (at POHF) do the selector engraving and notches, and another vendor did the front trunnion engraving. This whole thing was built on one of those unfired all-matching Bulgarian AK-74 kits that came into the country a few years ago before any of the Russian AK-74 kits came in. Those Russian kits didn't have an orginal barrel, but this bulgy kit did. I did the rivet & assembly work and finishing. I gave it a very light scuffing to try to make it look like it had been handled a bit.



If you want to build an 82, you'll want to look for photos so you can make sure you're using the correct handguards: There's multiple variants for both the upper and lower. Notice this rifle has the non-vented and scalloped upper and lower handguards.

-Thirtycal

Here's an example of a subtle change. Look at the difference in the shape of the Izhmash triangle logo near the date stamp. The 85 example is wider and more equilateral when compared to the slightly more horiztonally-compressed 82 example... Also, notice the spacing between the logo and the date, that changed too. And you can see that by 1984 (photos below), Izhmash stopped proof stamping the trunnion area:



Also, if you have numbers engraved, you have to pay very careful attention to the font used by the engraver. I provided all of ths detail to the engraver that did my trunnion trying to get this right - he got most of it right, but it's not perfect. Notice the year code is deep and is actually embossed into the casting (not engraved). Now notice the serial number is stamped by hand, and kinda random and imprecise. I know that all of that stuff is silly little details, but it all adds up when you're trying to build a good clone. Bad engraving can ruin an otherwise really nice clone.

-Thirtycal

Speaking of engraving, and how it can make or break a good clone: Here's a couple of retro M-16A1 clones I built. Again I did detailed research to find the correct logo styles, and provided artwork to the engraver:



Here's what I gave the engraver:



It was funny working with the engraver, because he wouldn't do the little 'circled r' registered trademark symbol next to the Colt logo. He said that would get him in trouble. I debated for a while with him on that point, but I gave in. I'm still kinda bothered by that. I like things perfect.

-Thirtycal

Good advice from the others.  Start with picking out the year you want to do that most closely already matches your basic Bulgarian parts set.
Then find the parts that match that style of AK74.
The AK Forum has a fantastic seties of photos detailing the differences and a breakdown of individual parts.

AK74 Production Modifications