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Posted: 12/20/2008 9:08:35 AM EDT
Can anyone tell me the country of origin for the rifle shown below? It's an early Vector weld job receiver. The oval by the barrel pin has a K1 inside. I can't seem to find info on these numbers.
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Originally Posted By ––bullseye––:
If that was a K3 in the oval it would be East German... Could be K1 in oval was an E. German mark as well...I've not been able to dig up any info on K1 markings though. Maybe someone with a little more knowledge in this area will know more... I screwed up, it is a K3. Looks like it was an East German kit then? What type of stock/wood would have been on an E German AK? It currently has a blond wood stock set. |
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Quoted: Yep, if it's a K3 in an oval I'd say it was East German. Nice AKs...Originally Posted By ––bullseye––: If that was a K3 in the oval it would be East German... Could be K1 in oval was an E. German mark as well...I've not been able to dig up any info on K1 markings though. Maybe someone with a little more knowledge in this area will know more... I screwed up, it is a K3. Looks like it was an East German kit then? What type of stock/wood would have been on an E German AK? It currently has a blond wood stock set. Here's a useful chart: (don't pay attention to the "selector markings" part, you've got a kit build on a US made receiver so you won't have the foreign select-fire markings...the "factory stamp" reference part is very useful though.  ) As far as furniture is concerned, I've seen many different combos...there's a lot of plastic E. German stuff floating around, but I'm not sure how much of that was standard on the 7.62 AKs and what was used on the 5.45 AKs... (this is just a link to an example, this particular set doesn't come with the gas tube cover though...): http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?a=282628 I've seen variations of the sets on 7.62s that had bakelite buttstock, grip, and gas tube cover and then a blond wood lower handguard. If you like the wood the way it is now, I might just leave it. I'm guessing there were some E. German AKs that did have all wood...and I think all wood looks better anyway.  Nice rifle you've got there I'm sure, wish I had an E. German build.  |
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Quoted: Thanks for the info, I'll keep a copy of that table. I think I just keep the wood, not to fond of plastic stocks. Would the 71 stand for the year 1971? I can't say with any certainty, but it's a very plausible assumption... It's a 7.62 AK I'm assuming, and the 5.45 AK didn't come into common usage in Warsaw Pact countries until the mid to late '70s. A '71 production date on a 7.62 AK would make sense time wise, and looking at the trunnion that is a common place to put year of production. |
Your rifle in the photo was definately built from an East German MPiKM parts kit. I also have one. Vector Arms got a bunch of East German MPiKM parts kits and simply used them to build their "Polish" underfolders during the ban. If only they had known many people in this hobby would pay big bucks for the kits, they probably would've just sold them separately. But there weren't many options for kits during that time and they used what they had. 
For me it blows - it ordered a Polish PMKMS underfolder back in 2003 but has an East German MPiKM barrel assembly (front sight base, gas block, barrel, rear sight leaf), top cover, and trunnion. The underfolding buttstock is Polish (there were no underfolding buttstocks on East German rifles except their milled AKS version) as well as the handguards and pistol grip. Kind of a mutt rifle. A few times I've thought about just taking it apart and selling it separated for the parts. I'd imagine yours is quite similar to mine. Quoted:
Just as a side question, Did the Warsaw Pact countries adopt the 5.45? I have heard that they showed surprising back bone and stuck with the 7.62x39. Any thoughts? They certainly did but at different times than Russia - look at the Polish Tantal rifle, the Romanian AIMS-74 rifle, as well as others. |
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Unfortunately, there's no "all encompassing" place to find and ID parts. You simply have to gain a bit of knowledge and experience seeing them and even that isn't 100% - often you have, for example, East German-made AK parts but then you run across a very Russian part but with an East German arsenal mark. Even Romania seems to have made purchases to Russian for parts when they may have run low with manufacturing.
The very best way is to photograph it and post it so the experts can break it down for you. With a bunch of eyes on it, you tend to have some really accurate answers. |
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Quoted:
Just as a side question, Did the Warsaw Pact countries adopt the 5.45? I have heard that they showed surprising back bone and stuck with the 7.62x39. Any thoughts? Poland was producing 7.62mm rifles as late as 1981. I'm not sure if they made 7.62 and 5.45 mm rifles at the same time, or switched much later than the Soviets. Romania made 7.62mm rifles even later than the Poles. I've seen kits with 1985 dates. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Just as a side question, Did the Warsaw Pact countries adopt the 5.45? I have heard that they showed surprising back bone and stuck with the 7.62x39. Any thoughts? Poland was producing 7.62mm rifles as late as 1981. I'm not sure if they made 7.62 and 5.45 mm rifles at the same time, or switched much later than the Soviets. Romania made 7.62mm rifles even later than the Poles. I've seen kits with 1985 dates. Just as an FYI, I have a Polish build in 7.62 that is dated 1984. |
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