Retro or Modern which one are you?

[Mossberg Man 1]

SO as I have been spending time here in this wonderful forum I have noticed that there are typically two types of Saiga owners. You have your retro classic that love the simplicity of the true design and that is what they strive for, or you have the modern tactical which enjoys adding all of the little bells and whistles, so I am just wondering, Which one are you and how even is the distribution?

[rob-cubed 74]

I straddle the fence. I much prefer poly furniture but otherwise believe AKs should look as Kalashnikov intended...

[Simply Saiga 0]

One of each, but if I could only have one, it would be in traditional wood furniture, (preference for ironwood's black walnut over com block laminate).

[russiangunrunner 10]

classic, any day, and by classic it covers solid wood, laminate, plum poly, AK underfolders, ak triangle side folders, poly side-folders, wire folders, PK-A optic, pk-as optic or any of the PSO using the ak74 side mounts....

 

"tactical" usually means tapco furniture and other random crap people think makes their rifle better.....

 

i'll stick with "classic"

[Matthew Hopkins 1,065]

 

any questions?

Edited April 14, 2010 by Matthew Hopkins

[KC913 324]

I prefer the blacked out tactical type look. Lasers and that sort of thing look quite ugly to me on AK's, but I like having rails and a vertical grip. I also dig the look of the skeleton style stocks rather than classic. Might pick up another cheap AK and keep it wood just to have both.

[GregM1 241]

i have one of each. what does that say. i cant vote. lol.

[n102788 6]

I just got a tapco original buttstock (to replace the wood one i painted black) and have a quad rail (tactical i guess) but my fav and considered modern tactical for an ak is my eotech. I like the option to put hatever i want on the rail (dont have anything on it now). So i guess i have a classic looking ak in the back and a modern tactical ak in the front. Its the mullets of ak's.

[mav 459]

I straddle the fence as well, love the classic AK look, but love it in poly, and there is just no beating a ultimak rail on anything.

[Greenhorn21 7]

i love both but in a combat situation its important to have rails for sights and flashlights/lasers.

[storm1 2]

mine is not done yet but i gotta say i love the original, wood look, its subtle and you know what it is an ak47. too much stuff on a an ak and it starts to look like a toy.

Edited April 15, 2010 by storm1

[PinkFloyd 63]

I've got an AK with wood and lovely furniture, but I've added little things to modernize it. You don't need flashy rails and lasers to make an AK more ergonomic. Krebs custom safety, extended bolt and mag release, better flash suppressor, tritium optics... all virtually invisible to looks but really make a difference when shooting.

[Rhodes1968 1,638]

Depends on what you call retro as I like to think some things can be improved and only enhanse its roll as a MBR.

 

I would not use wood unless forced to its just inferior to the new composites available today. Wood belongs on things I dont have tote on my back.

Sights should be iron but can be improved in a few ways like aperture or using the expensive dog legs that have flip sights to increase accuracy.

Caliber also as I doubt the Ruskies dreamed that one day the 308 to be fired from the AK.

 

No optics, no electronics, nothing to break or fail.

Is AK.

[paprotective 362]

I had the wood briefly and liked it alot.

 

I had a Wood Classic and a Poly Tactical type.

 

Now I have Poly Tactical and Simulated Triangular Bulgy stock with factory handguard.

 

Going back to the wood on the 47' when I can get a COMPLETE set and not piece-meal...

 

Keeping the 74 in Poly Tacitical

 

 

Al

[ae13291 3]

wood for sure!! not really a big fan of poly furniture althogh some look pretty clean.

[Juggernaut 11,054]

I started out tacticool as you could get... and have evolved to more the elemental and pure form of the AK...

[shades_of_grey 1,092]

I started out tacticool as you could get... and have evolved to more the elemental and pure form of the AK...

 

A lot of people do.. they evolve into purists as they gain experience with and learn to appreciate what the AK's really built for.

 

I started out a tiny bit tacticool... bought a Tapco T6 for my first SGL20. I know, I should be slapped.

 

I've since evolved myself. Now I'm "retro" I suppose.. if that means wanting my rifle to be as current mil-spec as is reasonably possible, (meaning I want an AK-103, not a wood-stocked AKM).

[imarangemaster 315]

Retro: Classic AKM with Bulgarian AK74 wood furniture and slant brake. (I know it is an IO, not a Saiga, but if it was a Saiga, it would still probably be wood. One I had had the same type wood furniture).

[icefire 10]

I wish I could have one of each, as I can appreciate the clean original look, but mine is for home defense first, as i live way out in the mountains with inadequate law enforcement. it would take LE hours to get to where I live if they would even respond. So, Mine has rails , a laser, and a flashlight for neccesity. when I get more money, the next Saiga I get will be Retro. Might be a while, though, money is tight right now....thats why I havent restored (converted) mine yet, but I will....

Edited April 15, 2010 by icefire

[Shellshock1918 1]

I voted for the Modern because it still retains the basic visual aspects of the classic AK. And by modern I mean this:

Edited April 15, 2010 by Shellshock1918

[thehopping1 105]

I guess I'm a fence dweller too. I have a quad rail on my x39 (mostly to dissipate heat) and an Ace ultralight stock. That's my main riffle that was built for functionality. However I would love a 308 or even my S12 in wood. More or less to be a little different.

[denden 16]

Geez, I may have voted incorrectly. I thought poly furniture in the classic style would still make the rifle a classic for the purpose of the poll. The non-classic option had the word tactical in it. Tactical in my mind means rails, lasers, flashlights, night vision stuff, collapsing butt stocks, camo color schemes, satellite intel terminals, etc. If poly furniture makes the rifle "modern", then I should have voted modern. Does this mean the voting instructions have to be examined by a court of competent jurisdiction to make sure my hanging chad vote didn't influence the final outcome?

[Klassy Kalashnikov 1,393]

I would say I am torn. I love a good old fashioned looking AK with some beautiful wood. I also like a lot of the more modern builds with rails, red dots, etc. for my own guns I have went both ways with it, both modern and retro builds. As long as it ain't mall ninja it's cool with me!

[evi1joe 1]

I'm modern-- I like poly over wood and wouldn't be without a tech-sight and an eotech w/ QD mounted on an ultimak.

[Rhodes1968 1,638]

I look at things like this and try to be as practical as possible.

 

The AK is designed for practicality and reliability obviously so things done to the rifle should reflect that attitude. Poly is lighter and stronger using it means my rifle is lighter and stronger. Aperture sights are just more accurate than blades, collapsible stocks more functional and allows the rifle to fit a taller person. Flash Hider instead of the slant brake due to low light use and so forth. No excess weight or protrusions in particular should be on a MBR in my book.

 

Tacti-cool is a way of saying things were added for impractical aesthetic reasons that just don't fit a no nonsense rifle. If I have to worry about dropping the rifle there's something on it that shouldn't be.

 

Unless you are a collector there are just too many gray areas.

[sailor 6]

Mine (I only have one) is converted Saiga style, not AK-47. It is meant to be the basic self defense tool, reliable, capable of close-in and out to 300+ yards of whatever happens. I would love to have a "traditional" Ak-47, just because that is the grand daddy of the "everywhere" rifle, but funds do not allow at present. It is fun to see all the approaches to both traditional and tacticool that a Saiga/AK-47/AK/74 can be shaped into, though.

[Paulry 50]

BOTH!

[Nailbomb 10,221]

Depends on the gun.

 

My S-12s have a lot of rail, yet I plan on putting wood on my x39 and my AR of all things is rail free.

 

I can enjoy either when built right.

[dlcjr1973 24]

Retro in style but modern in composition.

 

Regards,

 

Sapper

 

[bigsal 757]

I was never into UTG, TAPCO, USPALM or any other tacticool crap that breaks in the field. That being said I don't own any wood other than on my SKS's. I don't know where that puts me.