Prologue:
I have been a long time AK74 advocate. I'm a fan of light and fast intermediate cartridges, among them 5.45 and 5.56.
I'm a huge fan of the Kalashnikov and variants and with 5.45 being sparse, I decided I needed an AK in 5.56. With this in mind I set out to find a go to rifle to fill my needs.
I ultimately decided to find a Beryl. Just so happened around this time RTI had some in stock and lowered the price to $799. SCORE!!
2013 Production.
Dealing with RTI:
Well, this was an experience to say the least. I ordered on the 3rd and after a voided order, waiting on compliance parts, and multiple emails to the sales manager I was able to pick the rifle up on the 19th.
I will say for my trouble i was able to convince them to include an extra Polish Beryl mag at no cost. I ordered 2 extras with my Original Purchase.
Overall, I am satisfied with the final result, but may be a bit apprehensive to deal with RTI again.
Initial Thoughts/ Under the hood:
FIRST THING I DID WAS DITCH THE BUFFER....
I felt the overall quality was very good. There are some minor gripes, but overall the quality is comparable, and some may say better than Arsenal. My gripes include the visible milling marks on the BCG, and the finish is a little weak. The finish wear on the FSB drum was from a sight tool.
Another gripe may be the bayo lug was not finished. But, at least the material is there (they didn't just shave it), and one day I could finish it myself.
Here is the pictures of the brake. I'm not sure if this is pinned on right, or wrong. There is some confusion on which is the right way. I do know it's different than Gen 2 archers.
TOP
BOTTOM
Fit and finish is excellent. One of the smoothest actions I've felt out of the box. Sights are straight. There is also a spot in the rear sight for a tritium vial.
The receiver is square. The rivets are well formed. Bullet guide looks good.
IO actually did an OK job opening the magwell up. Mags fit sung. I like the extended mag release alot. It's benefits become apparent during stressful mag changes.
The BCG and Bolt look very good. (other than the milling marks)
The trigger was.....OK. I opted to replace it with an ALG AKT. It was a bit of a chore to dial it in (the dowel pin for safety interference) on the Beryl as it doesn't have your typical AK safety. It all worked out in the end and the trigger is excellent. IO does include their own trigger pin retainer.
The safety lever is a love/hate type thing.
I hate the BHO cut out.
I do however love the tab. Unlike the Krebs safety, it does NOT dig in to my trigger finder when disengaged.
I also could not take the IO "tactical" grip. I felt ok, but overall quality sucked. I opted to find a mini Beryl grip "look alike". I found this older CAA Ak grip on eBay that fit the bill.
The stock is a 4 position and has a very nice rubber pad. It is very solid and does not rattle.
Fully collapsed:
Fully extended:
I was going to use a traditional polish sling, but opted for a VCAS 2 point AK edition sling. It works better with the rear sling mount. It's also neat there are sling loops on both sides of the handguard retainer. A plus for you southpaws out there.
Off to the Range:
I started with a simple function test and fired a mag through it. All Wolf Gold 55gr. Flawless. My intial impression on recoil was WOW. This thing nudges you. Very comparable to, if not softer than, the SLR104's I used to own. It could be the nice butt pad, the brake, or even a nicely tuned gas port. My point is, it's a soft shooter and very controllable.
Off to abuse the mags a little. I dropped the rifle on the mags a few times. I also dropped it on the butt a few times. Lastly I did a few push ups on the mag. No signs of stress. No breakage. I will say Radom must have figured out how to make a decent military AK mag without steel reinforcements. Time will tell however.
Next was dialing it in. It was very close A slight elevation and windage adjustment and I was in business. My last 10 shot group as very tight at around 40-50yds. I will say this rifle is more accurate than I am, and loves 55gr.
Later on Mattylight gave me the chance to shoot with the optic rail and a x4 scope. I will most definitely pursue this combo in the near future. It almost felt like cheating. The adjustable stock came in real handy with the scope in prone.
My rifle did not seem to particularly hard on brass. Here is a picture of 4 rounds I captured. Mattylight did point out the brass is bouncing off of the dust cover at times. Ejection is strong and consistent though, and it lobs 'em in the standard AK fashion.
Sorry to disappoint though. No sand tornado or creek. :angel_sma
Final thoughts:
Simply said, I am impressed!!
This is a quality AK and was a STEAL at $799 IMO.
I will recommend this to anybody looking for an AK in 5.56. No hesitation. You 5.45 guys will love it.
Fabryka Broni is a winner and I hope they can get more imported into the country. A mini Beryl pistol would be awesome.
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Originally Posted by Arik
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