I've wanted an Afghan era AKS-74 forever. Sooo, I finally got one. I put this together on an Arsenal SLR104FR. I'm not into the tacticool trinkets that seem to be the flavor of the day on AKs, but there is something I just love about classic AKs. The hand guards and Izzy bakelite mags came from Oleg at Rusmilitary.com I was skeptical of ordering from overseas at first, but Oleg came through with quick delivery and they are all new unissued. I had to fit the hand guards because they were never even sanded at the lips. The mustard double hook sling  and Soviet bakelite grip are from http://www.russiansurplus.net. The delivery was really quick and again they were unissued condition. The triangle stock is Izzy and I was really lucky when I found that on gunbroker. I took it for a song and it is also brand new.

Sweet looking rifle.  Thanks for sharing

Looks amazing with that wood. You did it right, good job.

Back in the day the 104's never existed so we had to get our own folders installed if we wanted the AKS-74 look.

You might even try an RPG sight if you want to get funky








Z

Thanks TX-Zen. I actually got the 104FR with the polymer stock set. I couldn't find a triangle 4.5mm stock for the life of me anywhere. The Bulgarian stocks that were plentiful just a couple years ago have dried up.
I finally found an authentic NOS Soviet Izveshk 4.5mm stock on gunbroker for 1/3 of what they normally sell for. It had never been mounted and I had to clean up the cut for the locking mechanism. It's perfect now.

I've debated on optics for it to be authentic Afghan era. I haven't decided yet, but the RPG sight is a definite possibility. You would know better than anyone, but were there collimator sights in use at that time?

Love the look, but I like my 7.62.

Nice Sputnik, I have the 7.62 covered as well with my Intrac MAADI and my Hungarian SA85. So far, I love the 5.45. It was dead on right out of the box
and a kid could keep the muzzle under control.

I like the RPG sight and fun with it but it is a PITA and not practical. It works but it is probably the oddest and most difficult optic choice for an AK. Great for photos though

As far as I know collimators were not in service til the early nineties but could also be very late eighties. 1P29 was in service in the late eighties and NIT-A was a contemporary collimator but I don't know it's exact service date. NIT would be a challenge to get used to as well because it's so foreign to most of us Westerners.

I think all you need to complete the look is a short collar brake like the one in the bottom but that's a technicality really.





Z

I always wondered what a short collar brake was.

Just to chime in - I ordered a Bulgarian chrome lined brake from K-Var for my SLR-104. When I received it it was the short collar version (as pictured by Z). Unfortunately, it would not screw down far enough to engage the detent on the front sight. Therefore, I had to send it back to K-Var where they tapped the threads further down into the brake. Once I received it back, it now fit's perfectly. My original brake that came on the rifle was a long collar version. I'm not quite too sure what the main difference is, in the interior dimensions, however, there is definitely a difference.

Awesome looking rifle BTW!

Funny TX-Zen, I have a Soviet two piece short collar I am getting right now. I already planned on taking that extra step. I figured the RPG sights would be a pain in the ass to use,
and I wasn't so sure about other options that would be period correct. I'll probably just use a non-period correct optic and call it a day.

The only rifle I use a technically period correct optic on is my 1988 Izzy 74 with 1P29 and 1PN58, but otherwise I use anything and everything on all my rifles. My SLR105 actually has Rakurs zeroed it for it right now and I regularly move optics between rifles. On my two main SGL31 shooters I have settled on Kashtan, Obzor, TA31 and PK01-VS ut everything else gets shifted often. (I guess those would be technically period correct also, but since we are in that period right now I don't count it)


Good score on the two piece, it will complete the look nicely. I can't say enough how much I love the 80's laminate AKS-74. Hot!

And speaking of bakelight grip I decided to hit up russiansurplus.net myself and get another pair.



Z

An American-made copy for 922R compliance.  It should be marked with the Arsenal logo and US.  I swapped mine out with a short collar chrome lined brake that I had from an unused/mint Bulgarian kit, and plum furniture from the mother homeland.   I have a mint condition, non-scalloped 74 pattern laminated set from the late Caliri47 on the other AK forum, but I haven't installed it on anything yet.