It's about the Kalashnikov, not the money...right?

Recently on my "home" forums of TheAkforum another member and I got into a rather heated discussion.See, another forumite had asked for recommendations on a quad rail for his rifle and one of the first recommended was one made by UTG, an Airsoft manufacturer. UTG is also one of the bottom of the barrel Airsoft manufacturers. I interjected and stated that these rails had known issues (not staying in place, bending easily after being warmed up, out of spec rails) and that it would be better to spend $40 more and get a solidly built quality piece, like the K-VAR 405USPR rail than waste money on "Cheap junk".

He took issue with this and said "Just because something is expensive, doesn't mean it's quality", which is completely true. However, one can easily differentiate between cheaply made and poor quality accessories versus inexpensive quality accessories, and vice versa for the more expensive ones. You see, the motto for TheAKforum is "It's about the Kalashnikov, not the money". Originally, this referred to the late Gunsnet's owner David, who was constantly having membership drives, needling frequent sellers, and badgering people to "upgrade" their memberships to fund his own personal Title II weapons collection. Some how this noble motto has now morphed, in the minds of a few, into justification for slapping the most crudely made, unreliable, cheap junk on their rifles.

Some good examples are the following: Anything made by UTG, anything made by Tapco (except for their G2 trigger), anything made by Barska, Leapers, Command Arms and a host of others. In fact, it would much easier, and brief, to make a list of quality accessory manufacturers for the AK.

Now, if you're the type of person who wants to play "dress up" with their rifle, of any make, in order to look "cool" to all the mouthbreathers at the Range, then you should read no further. If you're the type of person who says "Well I only spent $300 on this rifle, why should I spend more on a red dot?", read no further, because there's no getting around that mindset.

Unfortunately, cheapness is quite prevalent in the AK community, and for good reason; AKs are (comparatively) cheap. Certainly much less expensive than ARs or any other popular rifles today, except maybe the venerable 10/22. Not saying all AK aficionados are like that, I certainly am not, but people with that attitude do make up a large chunk of the population. They want their rifles to look like the latest cover of SWA(N)T Magazine and impress all of their buddies. They also want to do it on a "budget" and not have to save money.

Let's look at what you get for these "budget" items, when in fact if you saved up just a bit more, you'd have quality and not the issues you're about to see.

1) Handguards: The original Eastern Bloc polymer handguards are metal lined. Why? Because they get hot and the metal handguards help diffuse heat. Leave these critical pieces off, and you have a melting handguard on your hands. None of the other commonly available US or imported handguards have these heat shields other than the ones available from K-VAR, and yes, you will pay for it (about $50 for the upper and lower HG).

2) Folding stocks: A very popular mod, and one that is found on many rifles, including all of mine. Now the original Easter Bloc/Chinese folding stocks all have some things in common: Metal hinges. Why? This is a high stress area and you don't want your nice side folding stock's hinge to shatter when you're buttstroking an Imperialist Capitalist Pig, or pro-Democracy Student Protesters. For US Made folding stocks, K-VAR, ACE, and DPH are the only way to go. All of the others will break. Why? They use cheap plastic hinges. This became such an issue that for a while Tapco's website actually had an announcement addressing it.

The good news is they also have a lifetime warranty. Small comfort.

3) Magazines: Oh boy oh boy, my personal favorite. Up until fairly recently, all US Made AK magazines were junk. I mean, "won't feed reliably in any rifle" junk. Polymer feed lips and locking lugs with not metal supports. What does that mean? That with the repeated stress of removing and inserting a magazine at a static range the lugs will  eventually shear off and the feed lips will deform. That's a big deal, particularly if you're someone who likes to take training classes or shoot practically at the range in preparation for self-defense. Search on Youtube for "AK Magazine Drop Test" and you'll see what I mean. Quality polymer AK magazines will run you between $15 and $30. Look for the Izhevsk mark (Arrow in Triangle), the Bulgarian Circle 10 ((10)), etc. If it was made in the US, it is junk*. As a general rule, don't buy magazines made in countries that never issued the AK to their armed forces. By the way, you can get perfectly good steel mil-surp AK magazines for under $11. Yes, they're heavier and not as cool as polymer, but they'll be used by your great, great, grandchildren.

*We'll see how the USPalm magazines bear out over the long run.

4) Optics. This is another area where I frequently face palm myself after talking with other AK enthusiasts. Once again, it's "Why would I spend $xxx on my scope when I only paid $300 for my rifle?" I can't say why you might, but I can tell you why I do.

• I want something that will last as long as my rifle
• I want an optic that actually enhances the performance of my rifle
• I don't want to have to constantly change batteries or re-zero the opticI don't want something that will crack a lens or dent a tube during a training 

Pretty good reasons, right? You bet. That said, you don't have to spend exorbitant amounts of money on these. Look at my post on the PK-23 for an example of a perfectly good sub-$250 red dot optic. For under $300, you can have the PK-AS, which is part of the latest generation of Russian optics for the AK series of rifle. Now yes, I do have 3 Aimpoints in Larue QD mounts for my other rifles, but that doesn't mean I don't ever use my "truck gun". Quite the opposite in fact. As to why I went for the Aimpoint/Ultimak combo on these weapons was more dictated by my need and what those rifles had than anything else, cost included. My SLR-107FR has a scope rail, but you would have to constantly attach and detach the optics mounted here to use the side-folding stock. Which is rather annoying. My Dracos (soon to be SBR'd, come on ATF!) lack the side rail scope mount, so it was just easier to use the Ultimak and the Aimpoint Micro wouldn't throw the balance off on these weapons.

In conclusion, while it is indeed about the Kalashnikov, and not the money, don't abuse your weapon by throwing the cheapest of Airsoft made junk on it. Its cruel and makes Uncle Mishka cry!