School me on Polish AK's

[Dogabutila]

I have a lady friend who really loves my AK's. She is polish. I'm thinking it would be amazing to get her one. Yet, I don't know anything about them. So. Feed me your knowledge.

 

[Rem700fan]

Akforum.net has a sub forum dedicated to Polish ak's.

 

[rob-cubed]

I'm not lucky enough to own any earlier Polish imports, but the pre-ban Radom builds are well-made. Beautifully finished parts.

The (affordable) stuff for sale now is mostly Century builds on demilled Radom parts, with US receivers and non-chromed barrels. That said the milled Polish that CAI offers are very nice looking. The US Tantal builds ('74) were known to have some early issues with barrel bore size so stay away from Century builds on that particular rifle.

Poles also made their own mags for both platforms but the plastic ones are known for being prone to crack.

 

[erwos]

The IOI Archers are pretty good rifles at their new price point (~$1000). Look out for the "Pioneer Arms" rifles; there's still some confusion as to exactly how Polish they are...

 

[davsco]

the Polish ones are where the muzzle points back at you?

 

[Scott7891]

Apart from the I.O. Archer which is a ripoff IMO for what you get from how much it costs plus many proprietary parts associated with it it is the only true Polish-made AK available on the market. Even the 7.62x39 variants coming in from Pioneer Arms to I.O. as well only use Polish barrels and receivers, everything else is Romanian.

Your best bet are U.S. assembled rifles using Polish parts kits. The only mass-built one that has shown to be of any decent quality is the Century-assembled milled Polish 1960 line. They can be had for less than a thousand. The main two issues I have with it are a) the U.S. barrel is unchromed, buttoned, and with no type of interior protection of the bore thus depending how much you shoot, longevity, and durability are in question plus b) if you want to show her how Polish it is from markings, stamps, etc. you won't be able to with this rifle since it is a U.S. milled receiver gun. Milled receivers are also the trunnions; stamped models at least retain the original factory trunnions with the markings.

Your only other option if you want a quality Polish AK is to buy a parts kit and have it built professionally. There are both stamped and milled Polish AK kits but they are becoming increasingly hard to find. The stamped AK route will be much cheaper. Get a kit, Romanian factory barrel, nodak spud receiver, get a good AK builder and you are good to go.

 

[Al's Snackbar]

the Polish ones are where the muzzle points back at you?

 

[Zombie_013]

I'm not lucky enough to own any earlier Polish imports, but the pre-ban Radom builds are well-made. Beautifully finished parts.

The (affordable) stuff for sale now is mostly Century builds on demilled Radom parts, with US receivers and non-chromed barrels. That said the milled Polish that CAI offers are very nice looking. The US Tantal builds ('74) were known to have some early issues with barrel bore size so stay away from Century builds on that particular rifle.

Poles also made their own mags for both platforms but the plastic ones are known for being prone to crack.

I got a few steel Polish AK mags at the last Chantilly show...the fit in my Arsenal SGL 20 is great and they feed nicely.

 

[rj1974]

Dad picked up a Polish M60 from Gun Connection last year . He likes it .

 

[ColonelHurtz]

I have a (gasp!) Lancaster UF built on a 1.6mm receiver. It's a beautiful gun.
The Polish guns are known for good metallurgy, machining and finish.

 

[F-Stop]

Mike at Mid County built mine from one of the very nice polish parts kits he stashed away many moons ago. Not sure if still has any. The bolt and barrel look fantastic.

 

[BPSballistics]

the Polish ones are where the muzzle points back at you?

I happen to be polish and find this enraging. I dont care what anyone says dude its just a joke take it easy relax its a forum for fun. I can understand if we were talking about something minor to joke about but making fun of a lineage is by far no means funny and flat out ignorant. Thats like if I was on here slinging the N word around.

 

[Grey_Man]

Enraging? You must have went nuts when White Men Can't Jump came out.

 

[BPSballistics]

Enraging? You must have went nuts when White Men Can't Jump came out.

No its called being proud of my heritage and Im not going to allow someone to slander the Polish just because some one decided to call us stupid and it stuck with us. And if you think its fine and funny then your just as ignorant. And if this website condones in racism slanderism and or insultations of Race,Sex,Relegion or heritage then its a shame. I thought this website was a good community in which a young gun enthusiast like my self could learn from and enjoy not read insulting jokes about my nationality background.

 

[rob-cubed]

I got a few steel Polish AK mags at the last Chantilly show...the fit in my Arsenal SGL 20 is great and they feed nicely.

Yeah their metal ones are good to go, like their AK parts nicely finished and built to close tolerances. The Poles were also one of the only countries to produce '74 mags in steel which are equally high quality.

The plastic ones feed fine and are fully reinforced. I have a few and they've never had any failures but it's a more brittle plastic than the Bulgarians used and tends to crack at the back near the base of the feed lips. Seen lots of pictures of this.

The newer Beryl 5.56 mags are all plastic but it's a different formula and more durable than earlier mags. I have a few of those too and they work great in my Bulgarian.