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Posted: 1/5/2009 5:55:09 PM EDT
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I have an oportunity to purchaseone of these rifles (Arsenal SLR 95) and I have a few questions.
What would be a fair price? How does it rank as far as quality of manufacture? How hard is it to change out that hideous thumb hole stock? I have been reading that milled receivers will not take all stocks. Thanks |
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The quality is second to none.
As for stocks for milled rifles, they're pretty easy to come by. The harder part, which may or may not matter to you, is replacing the lower stock tang, which comes on a standard ak47, but not on the thumbhole versions. Most of the stocks out there have the cut for the lower tang, even though it's not really needed. There are a _very_ few older US made stocks floating around that are not cut for it though. My point in bringing this up is that you may not want the stock to look like something is missing. You can buy the proper tang from kvar and install it, but that will require you to drill a hole and rivet it into the lower rear of the receiver. Here's a thought though, if you don't want to try riveting the lower tang in... The old US made stocks that didn't have a cut for the lower tang used a different method of reinforcing their connection to the rifle. - Where the original stocks attached at the upper and lower tangs, the early US made ones attached at the upper tang and then you also drilled a hole in the front of the stock and after putting the stock in the rifle, you took a large washer and a wood screw and screwed the washer into the front of it in a way that would not let the stock move around in the receiver - much less move back out of it. So between that and the attachment at the upper tang, they were solid. Now, what you could do would be to buy the lower tang, but just use it as a "dummy" for looks, but not really rivet it in. As long as you used the washer up front instead (which can't be seen except when you have the rifle apart), the setup would be nice an sturdy. Should work well. Then again, it probably wouldn't be all that hard to just use a rivet if you set it up right. Just some stuff to think about. This stock is correct for a milled rifle: 
This one is correct for a stamped one: 
Here's the lower rear tang I'm talking about: 
( By looking at the photos, you can see that one place to get these items is http://www.k-var.com/ ) Edited to add: If you switch to a standard pistol grip setup, make sure to put enough US made parts on the rifle to make it 922r compliant. - Since it's a milled rifle, that will require one less US part than the stamped ones require (because milled rifles don't have a front trunion, which is one of the "countable parts" listed in the rules). Do a search here for 922r and you'll find all the info you need on the subject. |
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Quoted:
Thank you for the info, Why would a parts count be in effect with an existing rifle? I thought that this was for newly assembled rifles from kits. Just the way it was written. Since it is a milled rifle you need 5 american parts. If you go with Ironwood design's bolt through the stock method and a pistol grip that will give you three parts. I always change out the FCG which counts as three parts so if you do both you will have 6 us parts. |
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922r only applies to weapons that have a certain number of "evil" features that make the law consider them "assault weapons" in the technical sense.
In it's original "as delivered" configuration, the SLR-95 was specifically designed to get through "loopholes" in that importation law (which is entirely distinct from the now expired 94 assault weapons ban). This is basiclly how things happened: In '89, Daddy Bush re-imposed the "sporting purposes" restrictions on importation of foreign weapons. That rule was originally part of the 1968 Gun Control Act, but in 1986, the "Firearms Owners Protection Act" removed those restrictions. Immediately after that, "assault weapons" began being imported from various countries again, but the anti-gun people had a conniption and talked George Bush into reinstating the law in 1989. After that happened, the companies importing the weapons decided to look for ways around the law. That's when they came up with their first idea, which was to use thumbhole stocks to technically eliminate what the law called a "conspicuously protruding pistol grip" by making it not "protrude conspicuously". Later though, some enterprising person further analyzed the technicalities of the law and noticed that the law only applies to weapons that have more than 10 _specific_ imported parts. When I say specific parts, I mean that the law actually lists each and every part that is actually counted as a "part" as far as the law is concerned. Parts that are not on that list do not count either for or against the "parts count" number. Only the ones on the list can count either for or against weather or not a weapon is considered "imported" in a legal sense. Now, when this aspect of things was noticed by certain "enterprising" people, someone started manufacturing some easily switchable replacement parts for these weapons here in the USA. So... with enough parts that are made in the USA on a given weapon to bring the number of imported parts on the weapon down to no more than 10... Presto... the weapon is no longer considered imported, and the law does not apply to it anymore. Meaning that if you have enough US made parts on the weapon to keep the number of imported parts to no more than 10, it is okay to have the "evil" features on it (like the "conspicuously protruding pistol grip" etc). I realize that all this mumbo jumbo sounds completely retarded, but remember... we ARE talking about the government. So... getting back to your original question... if your slr-95 is in its original "as imported" condition, it is perfectly legal... _However_, if you want to replace the thumbhole stock with a standard "AK-47" style separate pistol grip and butt stock, you will have to replace enough of the foreign made parts with US made ones for it to legally be considered a domestic rifle (not imported). As stated above, this means that it can't have more than 10 foreign made parts. If you google the topic, you'll easily find a list of the specific parts that apply to AK type weapons (or you can surely find the list on this website if you search for it in the AK section). At any rate, to make a long story short, on a milled AK type rifle, that usually requires you to put 5 US made parts on the rifle. If your specific slr-95 (a milled weapon) doesn't have either a "muzzle attachment" or threads for installing one, then you could reduce the US parts to as few as 4, but since most do have a "muzzle attachment" or a threaded barrel, the correct number is 5. Now, if we were talking about a _stamped_ type AK, you would need one more US part because stamped AK's have a front "trunion", which is one of the "countable parts" listed in the law. So, the bottom line after all the BS is said and done, is that in most cases, a milled AK will need 5 US made replacement parts while a stamped AK will need 6 in order to be legal in a "pistol grip configuration". But all that tends to be confusing, so the best thing to do is go find the list of "countable parts" for the AK style weapons and just make sure that you have no more than 10 imported parts if you put the weapon in a "pistol grip configuration" as opposed to leaving it in it's "as imported" condition (thumbhole stock). To put it another way, with the thumbhole stock on it, it doesn't need the US parts, but with a separate pistol grip and butt stock it _will_ need to meet the 922r parts count rules. Again, I'm sorry for such confusing crap, but we have uncle sam and the anti's to thank for it. 
Okay... I've tried to explain the thing in as many different ways as I can. I hope it made at least a _little_ sense to you. Google 922r. |
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