the vepr is heavy, and front end heavy in particular. the rpk receiver has been chopped so that fitting a nilitary type buttstock to it requires major repair work to the receiver. the same goes for the handguards. the oem handguard is somewhat fragile and replacing it with military style guards is a pain.

the stamped receiver of the vepr is not longer, but it is thicker walled (1.5mm v. 1mm found in european akm's).

marc krebs makes a good living by converting molot built/robarms imported vepr's back into military configuration.

the arsenal inc./las vegas, nevada built sam7 variants are top quality milled (type III) ak47's. again, they are heavy, but more authentic than the vepr. check these out carefully.

if a stamped akm (type IV) is what you want, look at the custom builds by ohio rapid fire, inrange, ak-usa and marc krebs.