RPK-74

Anybody got one of these? Can you give a review, please. Thinking about getting one of Vector's with Plum furniture.

Thank's

I got one maybe 6 months ago.......very nice, the "plumb" is only noticable on the upper handguard. The lower and buttstock is black. I sent it back, and was told they looked at the other kits in stock and they were all the same. But I'am glad to have it..........virtually new.

Mine was a kit from ORF.............

you know, I got a Bulgarian 545 kid and a while back that was supposed to have plum furniture and it does have the slightest hint to it but it really looks black. will not sure what they said he was incorrect in some may be a lot more plum and others

I'd like to get and RPK 74. Is there a reliable vendor who sellsthe kits

ORF

anyone else? I said a "reliable" dealer. I won't do business with ORF.

I have looked around and have not seen anyone besides ORF selling the RPK74 kits. I would love to build one but cant justify the $$$.

Is the RPK 74 any more accurate then the rest of the AK74s?
If so by how much?

barrel length and accuracy are generally unrelated. Barrel weight and accuracy are only partially related. A lighter barrel will have more heat-induced opening of the groups. A heavy barrel will heat slower. But the rifling is not cut in the heavy barrel any more or less accurately than the light barrel. Heavy barrels with forward mounted bipods tend to see slight vertical stringing as the heat up, due to the pressure at the muzzle. Sometimes a shorter barrel is more accurate - the harmonic wave increases in frequencies but decreases in bandwidth. This is particularly true of pencil barrels, but the velocity loss may make a terminal balistic decrease.

So the long and short of it is, an RPK is made for squad level support and suppressive fire, not for accuracy. You may find one that is more accurate than a standard barrel, but there are no guarantees.

anyone else? I won't do business with ORF.
GP,
Thats too bad, were the only ones that brought in the demilled RPK74 kits. You can get a KVAR, good luck getting a trunion.
Guys,
Plum RPK74 kits just went up to $1099.95ea

Todd@ORF

The reason a longer barrel may increase accuracy is the same one that explains how to use all that gas wasted in front of the muzzle of an AK. Since the 16" barrel can't use all the potential energy in the 7.62x39mm round, by increasing the length of the barrel (to a point - some say 20") you burn more of the powder inside the barrel before the round exits the muzzle. More force behind the round will tend to result in better accuracy.

I will leave the issue of harmonics to someone with a hamonometer ;)

I've dealt with ORF several times with very satisfactory results. The rise in prices is simply supply and demand. It's the American way. Idiots are still paying the high prices, so obviously the demand is out-stripping the supply. GP can you explain why you won't deal with them? On this one I'm ignorant.

More force behind the round will tend to result in better accuracy.

simply not true.

I've dealt with ORF several times with very satisfactory results. The rise in prices is simply supply and demand. It's the American way. Idiots are still paying the high prices, so obviously the demand is out-stripping the supply. GP can you explain why you won't deal with them? On this one I'm ignorant.

Not an issue of cost. I am sick and tired of his lies; I no longer have any confidence in anything coming from ORF.

every topic ends up a pissing match...

vector new complete rpk 5.45 for $999 gunbroker.
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=94178352

I never quite understood why you would build a kit for more money than you can buy the whole gun.

I enjoy building and I justify my hobby by the dollars I save.

I have 2 RPK74's. They are both very nice rifles, and as far as AK's go, accurate too.

avgrant - I agree

I have an RPK74 kit that I purchased from ORF a while back. It was about $550 and was said to be in used condition. It's actually new except for the lower handguard which has a gouge in it, probably from the bipod of an adjacent rifle. I purchased a matching numbers receiver from NoDak Spud. Now all I have to do is wait until my build skills get good enough.

I don't think ORF is stupid enough to be able to actually mess up a parts kit order, so you should be OK.

Given the attitude he's taken with his dangerously out-of-spec galil receivers, if something was broken or missing from the kit, it would be the buyer's fault. Nope. I have completely lost all confidence I once had in ORF. I'll put him in the same group as his buddy Robert Hesse and NEVER support their businesses with one dime of my money.

Mark,

I mentioned in another thread that I am buying an RPK from Atlantic. They sell vector built RPK's, for less than you can buy a Vector, and for that matter, an RPK kit.

Just my suggestion. While I will probably refinish, it is better than spending a couple hundred dollars for a kit and receiver.

-myers

http://www.atlanticfirearms.com/admin/images/content/rpk74.jpg

What he said :P

-myers

yeah, I have atlantic Firearms ad in my in box - just trying to weed through all the paperwork for an FFL to order from atlantic.

And woo hoo - KVAR just got in 45 round mags!

uuurrrrggh! The Kvar price for black Bulgy waffle 45 round '74 mags is $70 each.

I'll have to pass on this - what about the 45 round brown bakelite - anyone have those in stock?

uuurrrrggh! The Kvar price for black Bulgy waffle 45 round '74 mags is $70 each.

I'll have to pass on this - what about the 45 round brown bakelite - anyone have those in stock?

Damn Mark, that is actually a bargain price for those mags.

What do 20 round mags for a STI comp gun sell for?

Damn Mark, that is actually a bargain price for those mags.
Those are new production magazines. They're not military mags as far as I know. $70 is about $45 out of line.

They clearly have the circle ten brand.

http://www.k-var.com/shop/images/d_947.jpg

Now I have seen COPES selling bullshit Bulgarian mags that are not ARSENAL mags but some kind of bogus aftermarket crap.

I figure an Arsenal brand mag would be properly designed military grade hardware even if there is no actual military user of the product.

The Russians and only the Russians are going to stay with the AK. They will be the only "military" users of the weapon platform.



Everyone else is going to use the M16.

Your price expectations are out of touch with reality.

One East German AK74 mag is a $20 mag. You think you should be able to buy that mag in the picture for $25?

Dream on.

K-Var sells factory new 30rd AK74 mags for $25.
http://www.k-var.com/shop/product.php?productid=16876&cat=248&page=2
Sure the plastic part is molded differently, but the basic design is the same. Sorry, but the differential for adding 15rds is not $45. The real incremental cost difference is likely less than $1 once they get the new mold paid for. They can sell at whatever they choose. If they get that high price, good for them. However, I'm not buying. Relative to the price of other new manufactured magazines that are available, their price is way out of line.

What does an old, used and obsolete bakelite 45 round mag sell for? $75?

I bet K-var sells out of these within a couple of weeks.

Remember, the $100 bill of today has about the same buying power as that of a $20 bill in Y2K.

Yes, about the same.

What does an old, used and obsolete bakelite 45 round mag sell for? $75?
The same reason that tons of old stuff sells for more than new stuff. Supply is verly limited relative to the demand, there is no more supply available, and what they are represents a time in history.

On the other hand, these new magazines have a supply that is only limited by the number the manufacturer decides to produce and demand relative to the bakelites is less because they are less historically significant. When considering the total manufacturing cost (incremental cost of each piece plus R&D plus tooling), the total manufacturing cost per piece actually goes down the more that are made. As an example of this, I just bought some AR15 mags for $9 each. On the other hand, original Armalite waffle mags are priced through the roof.

There is no supply side problem as there are probably millions of the bakelite ak74 mags available on the world market for pennies each. The problem is one of importation and market demand.

Now you figure Arsenal Bulgaria, which is a world famous weapons manufacturer, knows that the competition their new mags faces is millions of surplus commie bakelites.

Do you actually believe that they produced this mag so they could sell a thousand or two to the USA market?

LOL!!!

My guess is that these things are current production milpsec magazines of the highest quality produced on contract for users of the RPK74. That is the business that Arsenal Bulgaria is in.

People are getting some kind of wrong idea about Arsenal Bulgaria and I lay the blame for that at places like Century Arms and Copes Dist where they are selling "Bulgarian" aftermarket trash magazines like they were the real thing from Arsenal. That crap is crap, not from Arsenal Bulgaria.

I'll leave you with a word of warning about things that are hard to get in the USA but are things that actually flood the world market.

In 1975 the only places you could get a CZ75 pistol were Germany, Canada. An early model CZ75 in the USA was a $1500 pistol.

How much are they now?

BTW, don't order any. In a week or two I'm sure you won't be able to.

I've got mine coming.

Don't misunderstand me - I am not saying there is anything wrong with the black 45 round bulgy mags.

They are more expensive than I had anticipated. I would buy them at $40


They are too expensive for me right now for my application. I have enough 30 round magaines (over a hundred) to make the 45 round a "cool toy" but not a nessity.
K-var can charge whatever they want. If people don't buy at the $70 price, then they can either sit on them or reduce the price.

If they sell out quick, then they can raise the price.

Atlantic doesn't have the guns in stock anyway. The e-mail I got this morning was several weeks to fill the order.

The thing is strictly a cool toy. I most often use the five and ten round mags at the range. I really only use the 30 round mags when at an informal range or shooting area.