More than just weathering - AK-74N in Detail *56K Prohibited*

[Latvian291]

The AK-74 in Detail

As someone who has studied firearms for years, done some real steel gunsmithing, and has experience in the military, I regard the AK-74 as the perfection of the modern rifle. It is the perfect balance of simplicity, ruggedness, accuracy, and technological achievement. I wanted to do this great rifle justice in airsoft form.



I chose an ICS AK-74M. It is actually an AK-74N since the M model has a folding stock and this rifle does not. The gun is both internally and externally stock, aside from the ICS wood kit which is standard on some versions of this gun. I wanted to show what could be done with a basically stock rifle.

This project is “more than just weathering.” This means that I wanted to weather the rifle for a realistic look, but I wanted to add more detail than the standard weathering job. This involved studying as many pictures of real in service weapons and reproductions as I could and forming a composite picture in one rifle. Also, what I discovered along the way made it necessary to develop a “back story” for this rifle. Anyone who collects real steel milsurp rifles will understand that every rifle has a history, in strange symbols and cryptic details, that can be understood by the educated reader. Very little is known in the West about the AK-74 as very few made it through the iron curtain unlike the iconic AK-47.

An overview of the stock rifle:

ICS did a good job of recreating the AK-74N. Many details are true to the original, but allow me to make a few initial observations. Firstly the rifle is dated and serialized. It is marked Izshevsk (Arrow in triangle) 1976. This is a second year production AK-74. With this date one can identify a few features that an early AK-74 should have that this rifle does not. For example it should have the early 45 degree gas block, where the ICS version has the early 90 degree block introduced in 1977 (without the bayonet lug). It also comes stock with the perfected late polymer flat black furniture, where it should have early glass polymide furniture. I did change out the stock but the pistol grip is still a later production part. The wood furniture available from ICS is a rare example of extremely early, prototype wood furniture. Note the dubious cooling slots in the wood and the lack of retention springs.. Although the ICS furniture is a very accurate re-creation of Russian laminate wood, only very early furniture had these features as it was basically modified AKM wood taken directly from the AKM production line. The front furniture is otherwise identical in appearance and manufacture to the original. The rear wood stock is solid wood. This is an impossible feature since even the wood for AKMs was of the laminated variety. Why ICS chose solid wood over laminate I do not know. They did, however, do a good job with the lightening cuts that are the hallmark feature of the AK-74 rifle.



There is one important feature I should discuss here. In contrast to the AKM, the real steel AK-74 was finished in a new type of black enamel paint which was applied over a phosphate treatment. AK-74s that have seen long hard service are not worn to bare metal usually. Although the black paint wears off, the phosphate finish is applied underneath and is the last thing to wear off on the real gun. ICS used a black enamel paint to finish their AK-74, something I found attractive. Note that other companies actually blue the receivers of their AK-74s, which is grossly inaccurate and also probably more expensive. Such is the downfall of airsoft companies not sufficiently understanding the real life counterparts of the replicas they manufacture.



Since the ICS replica is basically a melange of both early and late features, I decided that my rifle would be an arsenal refurb. Rifles in Russian arsenals were often given an overhaul if they broke down or after a certain period of use. I did this to “explain” why late features like a 90 degree gas block and modern pistol grips would be found on such an early 1976 production rifle. With the refurb concept comes a host of appropriate markings which I will explain.

Weathering the metalwork:

Upon weathering the metalwork of this rifle I made one important change to the usual recipe of abrasive steel pads. After wearing the paint from the high points of the metal finish I cold blued the areas of bare metal. This provided the look of a “finish under a finish” that the real life counterparts were designed with. It also took the edge off the contrast of white bare metal against black paint. I wanted the rifle to look “worn but not worn out” so I did not go crazy with the steel wool. After all this rifle had also been refurbished at the height of the Afghan war by Russian arsenals. In defiance of my prejudices from working with real steel guns, many different types of non-ferrous metals will take and hold bluing.



At this point I also carefully stripped the receiver cross pins which you can see on the receiver. ICS painted them but the real steel pins have no finish whatsoever.

The wood:

Russian wood is often imitated and rarely duplicated. The wood furniture set needed a lot of work to say the least. First, the wood was stripped with chemical stripper. Using the minimum of sand paper will reduce the risk of cross-grain scratches.





Once the original shellac is removed, the stocks are weathered and marked with several stamps. I weathered the stocks lightly by usual means. I added several stamps which add to the realism of the result. First, adding the last three to four digits of the serial number is a typical Russian practice. With a Lee Valley stamp kit I marked the butt-stock and the hand-guard with the rifle's serial number. I also added a refurbishing mark which looks like a box with a line through it. On Simonov SKS-45s the Russians also used a series of Xs. At this point, random letters and numbers can also be stamped on the wood. Remember to only use letters that have Cyrillic equivalents!

I also installed brass reinforcement pins (also Lee Valley). These pins are found in virtually all AK-74 furniture. I use special solid brass nails and screws which are installed into pre-drilled holes and then ground down with a dremel tool, just like the real deal (although in Russia they use a “dremelski” I'm sure).

On this rifle I tried an experimental treatment. I used a stain marker to simulate laminations on the butt-stock. This required patience and careful masking as well as several pictorial references. The rest of the furniture was also stained to simulate years of dirt and oil as well as to imitate the dark Russian furniture often seen on well loved rifles.

The final finish on the wood is amber tinted shellac. This is what Russians have always used for their rifles from the time of the Tsars. Shellac is a natural product made from insect excretions that is quick drying and efficient. As the shellac wears off, it is replaced by dirt and natural oils that protect the stock after the finish is gone. This stock had shellac reapplied during refurbishment. Fine brushstrokes and indiscriminate application are hallmarks of real Russian furniture. It might help to have a few Vodka shots before trying this yourself.

Lastly I applied a rack number to the stock with white house paint. Rack numbers are unit applied by hand and are usually 3 digits.

Metal Markings:

The bane of the milsurp collector is the ubiquitous communist electro pencil. It's like having a kid scribble numbers on your rifle with an engraving tool. During refurbishment Russian rifles have the old serial numbers ground off and are re-serialized with an engraving tool instead of number stamps. It is more efficient to use an engraving tool, often known as an electro-pencil, than to carefully re-stamp the numbers. I recreated the often haphazard engraving on my rifle that would have been applied to it during arsenal overhaul (vodka helps for this too). I ground places on parts where the original serial number might have been and applied paint and electro-pencil scribbles. I have seen a combination of 3 and 4 digit serialization often on the same rifle in real steel examples. This is no “neat and tidy” Armalite rifle!







I also added refurb marks which appear on many of my real Russian rifles. Also the letters OTK are always seen on military contract items in Russia, so they appear as well. Some indiscriminate stamping with letters and numbers is also a good idea to use all over the rifle. Remember to use Cyrillic equivalents. Letters and numbers can also be added to the pistol grip to simulate mold numbers and ink stamps.

The rear sight was stripped and refinished to look more like the real steel. Note that on the real gun the sight is merely phosphated with no black enamel finish.



The magazine has been stamped with some ink stamps:





Overall, I am satisfied with this project.





BEFORE Picture:

[SlippGun]

I'd damn well say you should be satisfied with that. Reading that post, was like reading a good book.

As amusing this may sound, thoroughly enjoyed reading that.

+1 man.

[ViR]

Yes very interesting post.... "like reading a good book" +1

Great work!

[Redzephyr]

Latvian, I don't know what to say. That's just a beautiful AK.

[Latvian291]

Thanks Gents. It was such a fun project!

[Drake]

Very nice work and great article. I love the attention to detail.

[Coma]

I dunno, I found the writing to be a bit preachey but thats just me : p

+1 on a beautiful AK! Is the mag a RS conversion?

[Latvian291]

The mag is a G&P. They are the only manufacturer that have done the "bakelite" magazines correctly with swirls of black from the moulding. Sorry for being preachy..but you will be SAVED!

[Relja]

very nice

[Donster]

looks great! though personally, i am a fan of the folding stock version.

Do you have any before pictures so i can compare them with the after pictures?

[ColtFarmer]

very well written, enjoyable post.

needs real steel reference pics.

also, wheres the dirt?

[Latvian291]

Before picture added at the end. I have found many reference pics for real firearm replicas of real steel (Tantal's Collector's Source is the holy bible) but I haven't found a nice detailed gallery of a real steel plain AK-74 or N model. There were some captured or in service pictures of AKS-74s and other varieties that I used.

You can see the pics I've based my rifle on here (if the website decides to work)

http://www.avtomats-in-action.com/proindex.html

[sixb0nes]

Loving it! Nice work.

[mrbishi]

Thats a right job lad, i think you have the weathering spot on, a lot of people get carried away with the steel wool.
I dont mind being "preached" to when its good solid information, as above.

What were you using for stamps?

[Latvian291]

Originally Posted by mrbishi

Thats a right job lad, i think you have the weathering spot on, a lot of people get carried away with the steel wool.
I dont mind being "preached" to when its good solid information, as above.

What were you using for stamps?

For stamps on the metal, a Lee Valley letter and number stamp kit for wood and soft metal. This was used on the stock as well. The INK stamps are a result of carefully carving the designs into masking tape then painting and using the letter stamps in combination.