[jithaca]

New forum mmber Ptica provided the following pictures of this early production AK74. Thank You Ptica!

It is a DEACT of what looks to be an issued rifle with all the early features

Interesting that it has a 5 digit serial number

The upper handguard is the non-vented non-beveled type. The cut out for the upper handguard retaining clip is at the end instead of in the middle. We have been thinking that the late wood stocked AK74s were the ones with no vents and no bevels, maybe its the other way around. Can someone who recently bought one of this type from Rusmilitary check and see if theirs has the cut out at the end. This would go along with the early rubber coated butt plate type stocks he is currently has.

Is that an exra hole in the muzzle brake?

The early style Gas Block & Front Sight Base

It has an angled & ribbed trigger guard with only two 2 rivets instead of 4

The selector lever hole doesn't have the relief pressing on the receiver and it has the AKM type stock tang

The selector notches are the long type like you see on the AKM

 

[heartbreakridge01]

that is a pretty interesting trigger guard, very nice pics, im assuming its a deact or thats a new style chamber


what keeps people in europe (im assuming where these deact come from) and pressing out the barrel and putting a new one in and having a nice fully functional AK?

 

[Stottman]

that is a pretty interesting trigger guard, very nice pics, im assuming its a deact or thats a new style chamber


what keeps people in europe (im assuming where these deact come from) and pressing out the barrel and putting a new one in and having a nice fully functional AK?

Barrels are the controlled part, along with the bolt. Some countries control any major part, to include the bolt carrier.

 

[jithaca]

The trunnion are demilled on most of these, the locking lugs are milled away. In most of Europe the barrels, bolts and trunnions are controlled items and are not available to the public.

 

[heartbreakridge01]

ahh, thanks for the info, can you get ahold of deact in the US? or would it fall under the once a machine gun always a machine gun law?

 

[RyanE]

:shock: I want.

I looked at all of my '74 upper handguards ( beveled & vented, non-beveled & unvented, and belveled & unvented) and the cutout is the same place. I'm not sure what you are getting at.

I think the more interesting feature is the lower handguard which has the distinct cutout with sharp edges. I assume that this is an early feature.

Also note that the serial number (nx476) is less than 200 away from the 1973 example in the reference section (nx288).

 

[jithaca]

The receiver is concidered a machinegun in the USA, so no DEACTS.

 

[Stottman]

I could be wrong, but that deact looks like it is a Ukrainian market model. They dont deact the locking lugs.

 

[jithaca]

I could be wrong, but that deact looks like it is a Ukrainian market model. They dont deact the locking lugs.

They do look intact

 

[brownstown]

Great pics. And thanks for sharing them. Very nice to see some of these early features.

Intresting the Hg and trigger guard...Cool..

 

[Tomovich]

Very interesting and informative pictures. Thanks for taking them (spacibo bolshoi!) and thanks Jerry for posting them.

That is an extra hole in the muzzle brake and the weird thing is that it's finished over like it was meant to be there. I still have that brake I got on one of my Bulgarian kits that has an extra hole in it, but in a slightly different place.

 

[ptica]

Sometimes need a professional photograph Im newbie in photo...

A lot of questions about deacts, all on photoes:

 

[jithaca]

Thank you for posting the additional pictures ptica.

 

[Leper]

I could be wrong, but that deact looks like it is a Ukrainian market model. They dont deact the locking lugs.

they also don't do that in Russia. I checked when I was there last.

 

[jithaca]

The upper handguard is the non-vented non-beveled type. The cut out for the upper handguard retaining clip is at the end instead of in the middle. We have been thinking that the late wood stocked AK74s were the ones with no vents and no bevels, maybe its the other way around. Can someone who recently bought one of this type from Rusmilitary check and see if theirs has the cut out at the end. This would go along with the early rubber coated butt plate type stocks he is currently has.

My brain was out to lunch. I guess I had Krinkov handguards in mind, the early ones have the cut on the end, with the mid to late ones in the middle.

 

[jithaca]

Some do, nearly all of the Krinkov trunnions are toast as are the AK100 series rifles. I have two or three of the Tula AKSU's that were given to me, as they were not useable. I also have a trunnion from an AK105 that is done the same way. You can see in this comparision pic (demill on top) there is not much removed. They shoot some black paint on the cut, so you have to look real close. The older ones and the non-Russian done DEACts seem to have untouched trunnions.

 

[SVDS]

Also thanks for the photos - very interesting rifle.. This grip looks unusual, perhaps a variant I've never encountered

 

[Tomovich]

Is it my imagination or has the hammer been butchered also?

 

[jithaca]

Yes the hammer, gas piston, sometimes the bolt carrier, the bolt and the barrel. some of the more recent ones that are built as MMg's from the start, have GBs that have not been drilled for the gas port.

 

[Tantal]

Very nice, thanks for the images! I appreciate the chance to look these over.

Jerry, the upper is what has generally been identified as originally for late model RPK-74, right before the plastics came out. They seem to be commonly matched to 74 wood in these days.

I was wondering what you were talking about on that retainer location, hehe.

Late AK74 wood uppers from 1982 until 1985 did not have cooling vents but do have side bevels. If you need to see actual images of late Soviet rifles with just such a set-up, send me an e-mail.

In almost all cases, the upper and the lower on just about any version of AK usually match very closely in width where they meet in the middle, for instance early the AKM uppers came in two distnct widths (ealier ones being identical to AK and matching the lower entirely along it's length), as do vented AKSU uppers which have two basic widths, and so on. I'm sure you already know this, but I point this out to contrast the width of the non-beveled upper here against the lower, which it would overhang.

The removal of the cooling vents on the upper is truly a later modification and took place on both AKSU, AK-74 and RPK-74 rifles in later stages of their production.