Arsenal SLR-104 before and after.

[coolhandluke]

It's been a little slow here in the milsurp area so I figured that I'd post photos of my latest project...an SLR 104 done up as a late 80's / early 90's AKS-74 clone.

As received (Model 104-31...same as 104 FR)...

Below are photos after replacing the furniture (NOS Izhmash plum handguards, pistol grip and Tula sidefolder) and picking up some matching accessories (plum Izhmash mag and 6x5 bayo, drop case, mag pouch, and mustard colored sling). A special thank you goes out to Neanderthal as he pointed me to AKFiles.com which is where nearly all of the parts and accessories were sourced and Tommy from Sooner State Pawn for locating the rifle for me.

 

[CAR-AR-M16]

Looks great! Love that plum furniture.

 

[Biggsly]

Looks good.

 

[Glocktogo]

Nice!

 

[coolhandluke]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I was very happy with the rifle after shooting it for the first time recently. A majority of the comments that I had read about the triangle stock stated that it was uncomfortable and amplified the felt recoil considerably. I didn't find either to be an issue. I much prefer the smaller footprint, shorter LOP, and the higher comb on the triangle stock (vs standard stock with dip near wrist). Recoil was minimal although the reverberation of the recoil spring through the stamped metal stock was a little noticeable. The rifle shows no signs of being over-gassed and that probably has something to do with complaints of excessive recoil. Follow up shots aren't something that I've really attempted with rifles before (most of mine are milsurp bolt action and I never felt the need with my Carbine or Garand), but it wasn't overly difficult. Shooting off-hand at 25 yards, results were fairly consistent to the target below.

My only complaints would be the trigger which is a long double stage. It breaks cleanly, but I did catch myself flinching with it on a couple occasions. I also had three FTF's due to light primer strikes (shooting 70 gr Uly). All three rounds showed very light marks on the primers and had no issues popping on the second try. I made sure to thoroughly clean the firing pin channel in the bolt afterwards so hopefully this solves the problem.

Tommy ordered the rifle from one of his distributors so it was not handpicked. Thankfully the sights are dead straight and there were no noticeable issues with rivets etc. The manual says that these rifles are laser bore sighted by Arsenal Bulgaria and it printed great right out of the box without requiring any adjustment to the FSP.

First three shots:

 

[D. Hargrove]

Great big thumbs up on this one, looks great!!

 

[MadDogs]

Very nice!

 

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

Looks good! Love the plum furniture.

 

[Fredkrueger100]

Very nice indeed. I wouldn't mind having one of these. I have always loved the looks of them.

 

[zghorner]

IMO you have the ultimate civilian AK. I love everything about it, very nicely done.