South Korean AKs For Finnish Defense Volunteers

@Kutunluu How long do you think it'll take for receiver cover to start wobbling and zero to begin to wonder?

@Max G Hard to say as I only handled it for couple of hours. RK62 has the same receiver cover design, but it feels much more robust. It might be just because of the weight.

@Kutunluu Call me a pro-Russian, but IMO AK-103 or 203 would have been an arguably better choice since the receiver cover is nit just hinged, but also comes with a cammed lock that made the rail return to zero each time and keeps it really tight. But that's just my personal view on it.

@Max G Sure, but it was an open tender and they wanted to have similar rear and front sights as the issued RK62.

@Max G MPK actually has an earlier batch of AK-103 based Saiga MK semi-automatics, but due to the EU trade embargo of Russian firearms, military equipment and certain dual-use goods in place since 2014, Russian rifles couldn't compete in this tender. I'd guess they would have had good chances of winning the tender, should they have been able to compete.

There's also a batch of some AK-74M in 5.45 (which is not in Finnish military use), but I'm not aware are they functional or not; at least they have to be converted to semi-auto if they are functional.

@Kutunluu The RK 62 cover is however reinforced at the rear with a thick reinforcement tab attached with 10 spot welds.

@J0h1 Interestingly these embargoes are successfully ignored by many players :D
I noticed EU trade policies are quite restrictive in themselves for the members. I'd bet many EU countries would love to make some business in Russia in terms of produce export: it's a pretty darn large market.

@Kutunluu Yeah those peep sights are only available on the AK-12/15

@Max G Indeed they are ignored (using Belarus on the large scale especially), you can even buy an Izhmash Saiga TR3 from several Finnish gunshops, both the 5.45 and 7.62 variants. I don't know the exact details how they are brought to Finland (at some point some Izhmash rifles were brought through Israel with their grips changed, so they would classify as Israeli production), but they are genuine Izhmash civilian variants of the AK-12/15 6P70/6P71.

I would have chosen the 7.62 Saiga TR3 or the IWI Galil ACE 7.62x39, but MPK has a shoestring budget and as a state-organised association they can't openly disrespect the embargo.

@J0h1 Yeah, being a state-run group, it'd be too arrogant to buy Russian stuff: too many eyebrows would be raised by too many people.
I do think that ACE is actually inferior as a battle rifle. If it's just a training appliance for reservists to keep the skills up with, it'd be good enough, although expensive, knowing Israeli prices.