You would think the Russians are missing out on a boat load of cash by not exporting AK-74 and AK-47 stocks. They must have warehouses full of this stuff. Not to mention, they are probably still tooled up to produce mass quantities. What gives?

there is no doubt in my former military mind, that there warehouses full of those stock sets........the problem is that, like everything else, getting a export licence to get them here.

from my understanding there was a treaty, or somekind of agreement the russian signed in order to keep getting their welfare payments from us, that they can't export certain things into this country...maybe AK furniture or gun parts is one of them.


however, if you have your heart set on obtaining genuine soviet stock sets, there is a guy on e-bay (andyarts), and I believe he slso sells on one of the gun auction boards, that you can buy those stock sets, I hadn't seen the 74 ones, with the cutout on the stock, and the straight cut lower handguard, just the AKM ones..........but be prepared to pay some big money for them....and have a long wait.

I bought a SVD stock set from him, it took about 2 or 3 months to get to me, what with russian customs...but I did get it, brand spankin' new and beautiful.

Although I hate to endorse "the other site", .nutz' classifieds section is second to none for finding real Ruskie stuff.  Go there.  

It worked for me.  

NOTE: I can suggest another site here without fear of retribution!  

The Russians dont really officially export the stuff. Its all grey market. Its very hard to find the stuff for sale in Russia, and when you do no one knows how to ship it out. The only real place to find them is in flea markets in the large cities. Even then its only a few parts here, few parts there. In the small towns, its almost impossible.

   There are very few people that sell allot of the stuff and can ship it out. The one I know of is also the main supplier for Andrei (AndyArts). He is located in Izhvesk, and buys the stuff from Izhmash and army depots. The only way he can ship it out is by agreements with certain customs agents (bribes). Thats also one of the reasons its so expensive even from Russia. Also, Russians are not that stupid. He knows that we sell a AKM stock set in the US for $150, why should he only sell it to us for $10 (US importers ussually charge 3 times what their net cost is-Your $150 AK kit  probably cost the importer about $50). This supplier is the only one that Andrei knows about (met him also)that can ship the stuff out of Russia. This supplier is  a pain to deal with, is disorganized, takes forever and doesnt speak any English.

    Also, Izhmash has not really produced laminate stocks for the AK in almost 20 years. Allot of the people that knew how to do it have retired, died or left the area. There is still some still being made or being finished up, but not nearly as much as before. For example, the supplier in Izhvesk (met him during my trip to Russia)told me he could only get 1 or 2 SVD stocks out of the factory a month due to production capacity. Also the new stuff is nice, but still not the same as the old stuff.

  I buy the stuff from Russia and then sell it to the US on the internet. It always sells very quickly. I ussually post it on AK-47.net (large market)and on Sturmgewehr.com .

Interesting...I wonder what makes Bulgaria different?

Izhmash still makes AK stuff and stocks, but they have changed over to plastics. First it was the plum stocks starting in the mid 80s, then to the black stuff in the early 90s.

Bulgaria has a larger export market also. I guess they dont as much Gov't hassle to deal with. Their transition to  capitalism has been allot smoother. On a side  the US Govt also controls the Bulgarian export system. One British military gun broker was complaining about not being able to get any more guns out of Bulgaria because of the US controls.

Also, if I remember correctly K-var has some sort of partial ownership in Arsenal of Bulgaria. That probably helps them get what they want.

The good thing is, the factory in Kazanlak Bulgaria has been deeply in bed with mother Russia for years, so alot of good stuff comes through this satellite country. I also met a truck diver that drove between the two factories and told me who supplied who what.
I even had a post sample RPK-74 that had the Russian markings milled of to have the circle 10 markings etched into it. I still atest to this day that Bulgaria never made a stamped receiver on their own. Guess where they all came from? :) Stot is correct on the old Russian wood assesment, and unfortunately they have been destroying huge quantities of it in the past few years.
-C