Collecting the
AK family of small arms
A brief guide to Collecting the AK47 by AK47 Dood
Collecting
the AK47 and it's accessories sounds simple right?
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Get a
cup of coffee and get ready. Being an AK47
enthusiast is not an easy thing. It can demand
as much cost and sacrifice as any three other
hobbies rolled together. There are a seemingly
endless amount of items to collect and with
price tags as low as $1 for many collectable
AK items, it's an addictive habit for sure.
There are differences between countries, between
years, between calibers, between factories
even differences between versions of the same
model. |
What makes
all these AK47s so different?
There
are differences in factory marks, proof marks,
production runs, materials used, all within
the same version of many items and accessories. |
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There's a rifle, bayonet, magazines,
scopes, spare parts, cleaning kits, blank adapters,
different stocks, canvas pouches, grenade launchers
and even armorers kit replacement parts. I
won't even get into prototypes, special forces
equipment and other one of a kind finds of
indeterminate value.
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In addition
the the plain vanilla AK47 (AK) there are;
the big cousins (PKM, RPD, RPK, SVD, etc) the
newer versions (AKM) the folding stocks (AKS)
the shorty (AKSU or Krink) and now, all the
US made versions |
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So where
to start collecting the AK47?
Lets start with
the basics. There are the guns. The AK47 family
of Assault Rifles. So here comes the first of
many choices. Decide if you are going to collect
working rifles or parts, that's right there are
lots of people who collect the remaining parts
from the full auto AKs from many countries. In
addition some of the largest private collections
are comprised mostly of deactivated rifles collected
in Europe.
But maybe you
want to collect the real deal. Working rifles
are typically built from parts kits (Parts
from old rifles) so another choice will be
to build the AK yourself or to have a professional
builder do it for you. Unless you are a licensed
manufacturer with a reason to do so, you can
not make new Full Auto AK47s in the United
States so if you have the money and inclination,
you might choose to collect full auto AK47s
built before the ban, these will cost thousands
of dollars each, but can be lots of fun. |
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The cheapest
way to start collecting the AK47
Lets go the other way and look
at some of the lowest costing methods of collecting
the AK Off the top of my head the cheapest
thing would be the oil bottles, usually they
are less than $2 or $3 and there are dozens
of versions of them. They were issued to the
soldier with the rifle and a cleaning kit,
which is the next cheapest thing to collect.
AK47 cleaning kits typically cost under $10
and most are closer to $5.
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AK Magazines are probably next
cheapest to start collecting and they are just
as easy to find as the other items, until you
get tot he rare stuff as in any collecting.
There are plastic, steel, US made,
and all sorts of versions in magazines.
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AK47 Muzzle breaks
and blank adaptors are another way to collect
items from the rifles you like best without buying
the whole rifle, or for those cases where we
can not get our hands on the whole rifles
Again with the
kits, mags and muzzle breaks as in other accessories
and even the rifles, there are differences
between countries, between years, between calibers |
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What's the
best AK accessory to collect?
My favorite thing to collect is the
AK47 Bayonets. The bayonets have all the variety,
good looks, rugged design and construction and the
history that the rifles they were issued with. I've
found AK47 bayonets at all types of gun shows, yard
sales, gun shops, websites and flea markets. The
AK bayonets are an interesting and convenient accessory
to collect, easily carried even if you find one on
vacation, drop it in the mail and it will be waiting
for you at home. Most of the AK bayonets are
still under $50
There
are lots of collectors guides, Martin Ivie's
book is the one for the AK bayonet is a great
resource that includes just about every version
and variant known. This gives the AK bayonet
collector the ability to know how well their
collection is doing and how many more are needed
to complete it. For more about the AK
bayonet collectors Guide, Click Here |
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What other
AK47 items are there to collect?
I would be neglecting
a large portion of collectors if I didn't mention the
Magazines, Canvas Gear, Uniforms, Insignia and Ammo
I'm sure I'm missing things too
The Oil Cans are another
thing I would collect if I was looking to expand, they
are super cheap to buy and look cool on a shelf in
the gun room
This website is being
designed to help the AK collector, check back, we'll
be improving things and adding on as we have time.
If you have questions or ideas contact us. Enjoy |
