Hi everyone,

I have a couple AK's that I have been planning to have the barrels shortened on. Ive been delaying this project over and over again; most likely it will still be a little time before I make a move.

First off these won't be SBR'd, but instead will have flash hiders pinned until I can legally have them SBR'd.

I wanted to know what peoples' first hand experiences were with shortened AK's that featured the traditional AK-104 Gas Block/Front Sight Combo (SLR-107CR, Bolton Gas Block, etc.) vs the AK-103K (Standard AKM Front Sight pushed all the way back to the OEM Gas Block. Seen on Krebs Saiga Conversions).

I did have a Definitive Arms AK103U that had the AK-103K style front end that I let go due to just "thinning out the herd" of AK's combined with the fact I did not want a muzzle break pinned to the front. With these rifles I'll be able to just get the flash hider on from the beginning. I did like the compactness and weight savings of the shorter configuration though.

I do not have any experience with the SLR-107CR styled front ends. So is there anything to gain with the 104 style gas block? Is the weight savings a noticeable jump from the AK-103K front end?

Not only that, but from a gun smithing perspective is there any advantage to leaving the standard gas block in place? I'm assuming when pushing the front sight post back that the standard gas block remains untouched? Does replacing the gas block have any affect on the integrity of the barrel, gas block, and rest of the components?

This would be performed by a competent gunsmith; not by me.

Now I do happen to have two of the older Krebs Custom AK-104 Gas Block/Front Sight Combos that I picked up a long time ago. So the part about dropping an extra $100+ on the gas blocks is not of concern here. However, looking at how much the gas blocks sell for now I could let them go and have a case of ammo or the work for the front end mostly paid for.

Thanks for any advice