Posted on 08/15/2012 10:48:31 AM PDT by blam
Americans Are Snatching Up Russian AK-47s In record Numbers
Geoffrey Ingersoll
Aug. 15, 2012, 1:17 PM
I'll never forget the first thing my ex-wife's father said to me: "Wanna go shoot an AK?"
I obliged.
It turns out Americans are turning to AK 's in droves to fill their home armories.
Russia doesn't mind, and neither do it's arms companies, like Izhmash, which are quickly shifting from military to civilian fabrication in order to fill all the orders.
Overall it's been a good deal for American enthusiasts, and for Russian investors, since existing laws banning Chinese imports essentially subsidizes Russian businesses.
Andrew E. Kramer of New York Times reports "And in the United States, Izhmash cannot be underpriced by Chinese competitors. The federal government has banned most imports of Chinese handguns and rifles since 1994.
Selling 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. Of the civilian arms, about 40 percent are exported to the United States."
To be clear, we're talking about perfectly legal to import, and to own in some states, civilian versions of the AK-47. One shot, semi-automatic. These companies have cut back on their fully automatic, military versions in order to supply the U.S. market.
Due to the Second Amendment and America's widespread culture of gun ownership, the US market for civilian weaponry is among the largest on the globe. The AK has not only a violent history, .
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(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
I like both as they both have different uses. For general purposes I like the SKS as I am particular to traditional style stocks.
For serious use I like the AK-47/s as the looks alone causes the faint hearts to loose bladder control.
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