Bulgarian SLR-95 AK with US trigger group?

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Ash

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I picked up a Bulgarian SLR-95 AK sporter with the milled receiver and thumbhole stock. In the lightening cut on the left side is engraved Arsenal, while the left rear of the receiver is engraved three lines. The bottom line says "Made in Bulgaria" The middle line says "DIG VA BCH VA" but has a line drawn through it. These first engravings were done before the finish applied. The line-out is in the white, as is the top line, which is Intrac, Knox TN. I assume they were supposed to be imported by DIG or BCH in Virginia, but instead were imported by Intrac. It has a pinned on muzzle break.

What is odd with this rifle, though I do not complain, is the trigger group is a US made GTEC G2 double hook trigger and GTEC hammer and sear. This is three of the five needed US parts to put a standard stock on this rifle, easily accomplished with merely a US made pistol grip and butt stock if I wish.

Has anyone heard of SLR-95's being imported and having US made internals added by the importer? It's a thumbhole, so no internal guts are required at all that I am aware of. Also, the muzzle break has nothing written on it. Is it Bulgarian or US?

Thanks,

Ash
 
I haven't heard of Gordon Tech in a while. I wonder what that guy is up to now. He did a lot of nice work back in the day. His trigger group back then was the most highly regarded of the US made compliance parts, if I remember correctly. I have an SLR-95 as well, but mine has the original trigger group. And it's a real nice one, so I never replaced it. I instead replaced other parts to get compliant with 922r.

I used to have an SSR-99 AK made by G-Tech about 6 years ago. It was a nice rifle but I like my SLR-95 more.
 
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I have an SLR-95 as well...

It also came with the original trigger group...

Keep in mind that the slotted muzzle brakes that came on these guns are pressed onto a non-threaded muzzle and pinned...

If you decide to replace the muzzle brake, you might have to do some building...

Importation requirements (or the interpretation of them) were in flux when these rifles came in, plus the cast of importers was changing daily (ok, maybe not daily, but often)...

The DIG, Virginia Beach (VA BCH), marked guns are the only ones that I've seen, personally...

I should probably also mention that they're (the SLR-95s) really nice milled guns...

Forrest
 
I'm thinking about picking up an SLR-95 that's sitting at ye olde gun shoppe right now. If you don't mind my asking, how much did you pay for yours?
 
$450.00

This rifle has the top tang but not the bottom because of the thumbhole. Do the US made milled receiver stocks at K-Var work?

Thanks,

Ash
 
I used the olive K-VAR furniture on my SLR95. They sell sets that are for milled Bulgarian receivers. They are very easy to put on. All you need are a few long, thin screwdrivers and wrenches. The forend requires a little trick to put on, but it's a snap really. You just have to rotate the bar securing the forend.

That is an excellent price for that rifle right now, btw. I would have bought it for that much and never looked back. Once you get some decent furniture put on it, then it will be an even more awesome rifle. I also put a Mojo sight on mine, along with an Ace folding stock. I looooove it.
 
Fortunately, I'm going to stick with black polymer and as such, the forearm/gas piston combo can stay. All I'll need do is replace the US stock and pistol grip. With three fire control parts, that will bring me up to the five required and yahoo, 922 compliant.

Thanks for the info!

Ash
 
I think you got lucky on the trigger group. I don't know if they are the same as the old Gordon parts, but I replaced my SLR group with Tapco US made control parts and the trigger was much better stock Bulgarian. Mine did not have the lower tang so I had to put one in, which is a real pain. I can't complain though as I got mine for $425 like new. I have a Mojo sight on it but would recommend instead a rear adjustable conventional notch. I don't think aperature sights are very practical when placed a foot away from your face. To each his own though. Here's mine, love those bulgarian mags too.

100_0119.jpg
 
Ash, the other option since you already have the lower tang removed is
to buy US grip, foreend, and a side folder from ACE (US made) that uses
ACE's milled receiver stock block.

The Arsenals are hi-quality AKs and the ACE set-up would be a quality choice
for it.
 
Originally posted by ash
What did you do to install the lower tang?
Click to expand...

The lower tang is quite easy to install. On the original guns (with 'normal' stock and not the butthole stock), one end of the tang slides into the rear of the receiver on the inside and it held to the receiver with two rivets.

The tangs are available from k-var and global trades for next to nothing (and will probably come with the two rivets 'needed'. I know that mine did...).

To install the lower tang will require you to drill out the rear trigger guard rivet (located under the pistol grip). You will also need to drill one appropriately sized hole in the bottom of the receiver to the rear of the rivet hole to match the spacing of the holes in the lower tang. My SLR-95 receiver had the location of this hole indicated on the inside of the receiver by a slightly recessed indentation. I just drilled it out.

Although I'm set up to rivet AK stuff, I decided to use a couple of small socket head cap screws (bolts) instead of rivets (in case I ever want to put the original butthole stock back on (for whatever reason)), so I placed the nut and lock washer on the inside against the tang and tightened from the outside. The heads of the socket head screws look almost like rivet heads anyway and, of course, when the pistol grip is on the rivets (or screwheads) are inside the pistol grip and not seen at all.

If I finally decide to rivet it, it'll take three minutes (mostly to take the PG off) whenever...

I doubt that I'll ever rivet it...

Personally, I'd put the synthetic stock on the gun (that's what I did)...

I have a couple of ACE folders on other AKs and, while they're OK, I've kind of lost my love for them. For one thing, I find that they're not quite as solid as I would like. The couple that I have wobble a tiny bit from top to bottom, which is most noticable when you mount the weapon to your shoulder and align the sights on target.

One of the ACE units is mounted on a Chinese MAK-90, using the cut-off-the-tang mount. The ACE adapter required considerable work to fit the 1.5mm receiver and Chinese rear trunion and, with the tang cut off, precludes other stock options without replacing the rear trunion. I have found that the EG and Romanian wire sidefolders work extremely well, are very solid when locked open, and are available for a fraction of the cost of the ACE units. If I had to do it over again, I would have used an EG SF on the MAK-90. But, I admit that decisions about folding stocks hinge :))) on very personal, and subjective, things... One nice thing about the ACE stocks is that you have the choice of three lengths...

Anyway, I recommend the solid stock on the SLR-95. The gun will look wonderful with it on, and 'installing' the lower tang is really quite easy...

Have fun with your SLR-95...

Forrest
 
The lower tang is quite easy to install. On the original guns (with 'normal' stock and not the butthole stock), one end of the tang slides into the rear of the receiver on the inside and it held to the receiver with two rivets.
Click to expand...

Correct, however a lot of these receivers don't have the slot for the lower tang, and you have to cut it yourself. Which is the hardest part. If you already have the slot then it's simple to put the tang in. I used screws and nuts with loc-tite in case i want to remove it later without drilling/grinding rivets out.

The option of using the ACE stock is a good one. The only drawbacks I see are they stocks are pretty expensive when you figure the cost of the mounting block(plus another block if you want a folder), and you have to cut off the top tang which means you're permanently altering the gun out of standard stock configuration. However without a LOT of work the gun will never be standard AK anyway since it's pre-ban, that may not be a big deal. I'm still considering an ACE setup myself. Right now i've got a FAL grip, TDI railed lower handguard with a vertical grip i'm playing with on mine.
 
Originally posted by Fingolfin
Correct, however a lot of these receivers don't have the slot for the lower tang...
Click to expand...

The couple of SLR-95s that I have seen all had the cut for the lower tang, so I automatically thought that they were all cut for it...

Just goes to show what thinking does for you...:)

No slot does make it harder...

Thanks for the info...

Learn something new every day (of course, there's always tomorrow to forget it again...:))

Forrest
 
So I take it that installing the lower tang is necessary for changing over to more standard AK furniture?
Click to expand...

Really I don't see why you couldn't get by with just the one tang, provided the stock has a snug fit in the receiver. It won't be supported very well but should be "enough". If it's between cutting a lower tang slot or just having one tang, going with just one would probably be worth considering. If you already have the slot, might as well install the second tang as that isn't hard at all.
 
No, not necessary at all.

So I take it that installing the lower tang is necessary for changing over to more standard AK furniture?
Click to expand...

I have an SLR-95 I bought in 1997. I didn't like the butthole thumbstock, either, so I went with a US-made synthetic furniture group. K-Var supplied the lower tang and rivets, but after studying the installation, I simply bedded the buttstock socket with Devcon Marine Epoxy (tinted black) and put it together using the upper tang screw.

I don't miss the lower tang at all, and you'd have to look fairly close to see it's not there.

aksmall.gif
 
I have read that the Intrac slr 95 rifles with the USA trigger groups in them also have a USA made gas piston (unmarked).
 
How would you replace the trigger group on a SLR-95? I see a pin running through the receiver, is it easily driven out or is there another trick?
 
THe trigger group is replaced just as it is on any other AK.

If you can weld, take a peice of flat steel teh same thickness as the upper tang, shape it, and weld it on. THat's what I did;)
 
Ok, how is it done on any other AK? Simply hammer and punch the trigger group pin out?
 
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