A seller checking a Saiga gun at the factory in Russia. CreditOleg Nikishin for The New York TimesDemand for new military guns in the Kalashnikov family has evaporated. Simple, durable and relatively cheap to manufacture, about 100 million have been produced over the decades, or about one for every 70 people on earth. AdvertisementSelling Saigas in the United States is integral to the enterprise’s evolving business model of making single-shot civilian guns to occupy workers and equipment in between government orders for fully automatic assault rifles. About 70 percent of the factory’s output is now civilian rifles, up from 50 percent two years ago.
In Summary: My favorite is the SGL21-94, which is the civilian-legal version of the AK-103 on a Russian saiga receiver. The AK-103 is essentially a AK-74M chambered in 7.62x39. It comes with the AK-74M improvements to include the polymer handguard, polymer folding stock (considered the best folding stock option for the AK platform). This is an original Saiga AK 47 7.62x39 by the Izhmash Russian Company It has never been fired, comes in case with all original equipment and Manuel. It has upgraded tapco furnitur.
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Of the civilian arms, about 40 percent are exported to the United States.That means American consumers are now buying about the same number of Kalashnikov-style weapons from Izhmash as the Russian army and police. This shift has been encouraged by the Kremlin, which wants to revive a range of military industries by improving their economies of scale and helping them blend military and civilian manufacturing., a state holding company of which Izhmash is a part, is pursuing this policy across a range of industries, from aviation to truck manufacturing. The goal is to improve efficiency as Russia begins a $613 billion rearmament program, financed by oil money.It was with this mandate, Mr. Kuzyuk said, that he came to Izhmash as chief executive in 2010 after working for another Russian Technologies enterprise, Avtovaz, the maker of Lada cars. (In May, he moved to yet another company in the group that makes helicopter parts.) Video From Izhmash, With Love. At Izhmash, as with other Russian military plants, he said, “the basic problem was the volume of production was significantly lower than what the factory had been designed for” — essentially a land war between superpowers.Although AK pattern rifles are used every day in global conflicts, very few are bought from Izhmash because of the ready availability of used guns as well as licensed and bootleg copies.
The Russian army isn’t planning many new orders until, a new model to be introduced this year, is widely available.The sales of civilian rifles in the United States are helping to pay for the factory’s retooling for the AK-12, ultimately making it cheaper for the Kremlin. AdvertisementOwen Martin, owner of, a gunsmith in Manchester, N.H., that specializes in Kalashnikov rifles, said that, by the same token, Russian military orders were helping keep down the price of AKs he and others buy in the United States. “It means our guns are cheaper,” he said.
“Nobody perceives it as unpatriotic.”American gun sales rose sharply in 2009, after President Obama’s election and the onset of economic recession. Sales of semiautomatic rifles, in particular, benefited from customer concern that Mr. Obama would seek to more tightly regulate rifles with features resembling military weapons, according to Lawrence Keane, senior vice president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.Izhmash benefits from American gun laws that are looser than in its home market. In Russia, consumers can buy a long-barreled firearm only with a police permit, which requires a clean criminal sheet, a diploma from a gun safety course and a medical certificate of sanity. In the United States, laws vary by state, but buyers often need to clear only an F.B.I. Criminal background check.However, gun control in Russia is less strict than in some other former Soviet countries. Estonia, for example, proscribes carrying a weapon while drunk.
“If they did that here, well, nobody would hunt,” said Igor V. Anisimov, the Izhmash director of foreign sales.
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