www.bluetimemedia.com

Are you tired of those flimsy, side-folding AKs? Is a wobbly weapon getting you down at the range? Well worry no more, commie-gun connoisseurs. Arsenal’s out with an under folding (hence the UF in the name) stock that locks in place with four sturdy pins. You’ll finally be able to rock a rifle with a rock-solid mount. Or so Arsenal says. Press release after the jump . . .

LAS VEGAS, NV– Arsenal, Inc. is proud to announce the expansion of its SAM7 Family products. The SAM7UF rifle is the latest in the growing group of firearms to join the modern SAM family and incorporates the latest technologies, quality, and workmanship the American market has come to expect from Arsenal and SAM7 series.

The SAM7UF is a 7.62x39mm semi-automatic rifle, manufactured on Arsenal’s legendary hot-die forged and milled receiver and incorporates the modern under-folding buttstock. Loyal to its traditions, Arsenal has manufactured the SAM7UF rifle with all mil-spec and premium components, including the hard chrome lined hammer forged barrel, reinforced polymer pistol grip and hand guards, stainless steel heat shield, the 90-degree vertical gas block with bayonet/accessories lug, and the original 14x1mm left-hand muzzle threads.

www.bluetimemedia.com

The SAM7UF utilizes the modern straight-back under-folding stock, which locks perpendicular to the action and the bore of the rifle. In order to provide a more secure and firm lock, whether in a folded or extended position, this stock locks on both sides of the receiver with 4 solid pins. This, with the additional reinforcement in the arms of the stock, stabilizes the rifle, which significantly reduces the climb, and gives the shooter much firmer control over the firearm for improved accuracy and effectiveness.

If the rifle looks familiar, it made a brief appearance as the SAS M-7 when Arsenal, Inc. released it as a limited run. Two years ago, Arsenal began serious work on a refined version that integrated maximum precision and new manufacturing processes. What cost just over $2,000 a few years ago will retail with the introductory price of:

MSRP: $1299.00

On top of this already amazing introductory price, the first batch of rifles will include a $50 coupon toward purchase of Arsenal accessories from K-Var Corp (www.k-var.com)(see coupon for complete details).

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

60 COMMENTS

  2. I would buy one of these today, but stupid Maryland banned AKs and their clones.

    But I can buy all the VZ58s and VZ2008s I want.

  3. “Are you tired of those flimsy, side-folding AKs?”

    …says nobody who has ever owned one?

    Nice ad for Arsenal though.. They can sell this for a few months, discontinue it, then offer it as a “new” product under a different name a couple years from now.

    • Quit whining. Have had many folding stocks and all other than AI were weak. The sam7uf has the most solid moving stock of any rifle ive ever shot.

  5. 1300 hunnert bucks? are you kidding me? There’s only really a couple of attractions to the commie guns. CHEAP guns and CHEAP ammo with reliability.

    1300 hunnert bucks ain’t cheap. My ruger american with scope cost half that. If you want to spend that kind of money get an M1, M1a or something you can be proud of.

    • Are you kidding me. Anyone who knows AKs would be very proud of that rifle, only a fool would not be proud of one of the best factories in eastern Europe and finishers in Las vegas building their rifle

    • Not as comfortable on the cheek or shoulder either. The modern side-folding AK stocks are a vast improvement. The Russians went with them for a reason. Underfolders are cool looking though.

    • Me too.

      SAM7SF has the galil-style safety (love it), Ak74 style muzzle break, better grip (but can’t mod it really), and better cheek weld than an Under-Folder.

      It was worth every penny. The thing is cherry. Lots of people got hung up on the game changer hype. All marketing blunders aside, the thing just the right combo of AKM, AK74, and AK (milled).

  9. Seriously?

    Comrade Zimmerman suggest that guns of Motherland are loose? I am disappoint.

    Looks cool but 1300 for an AK?

  10. Sometimes I wonder if anybody has ever shot a super nice AK, as opposed to a cheap one. There’s quite a substantial difference between the two.

    • “Sometimes I wonder if anybody has ever shot a super nice AK, as opposed to a cheap one. ”

      As far as TTAG writers are concerned, probably not. Doesn’t seem like AKs are much of a thing on this site.

      • Jeff: I have shot a lot of both kinds. Those who have not are usually the ones screaming the most loudly about the “high priced” AKs.

        Let’s not spoil all their fun.

        : )

    • For what it’s worth. In a true end of the world scenario I’d pick an AK over an AR if that was my choices. Honestly tho, I’d prefer a shotgun or bolt gun in that case.

    • AKs are always quality, some are more quality than others. I personally don’t mind paying more for an quality AK.

      But 1300 is steep. 1000-1100 is the roof I daresay. Then again I don’t buy LaRue or Noveske ARs too.

  12. Emfourty and Paul:

    Can you suggest some manufacturers / importers to consider?

    I’m looking for my first “real” rifle and have been contemplating evil black rifles of one form or another. I’m willing to pay for quality, but not overpay, and could use the benefit of others’ experience.

    • I’m in the realm of custom AKs. I’ve got one built by http://azex.co/ that is absolutely spot on and easily the best AK I’ve ever handled in my life.. But of course I paid big money for it. (I am open to offers though, I’ve been wanting a milled AK more.)

      Otherwise, you have your Arsenal AK’s that are pretty decent, especially the milled ones. The stamped ones -are- nice, but I don’t really think the price tag is justified when a milled version is just an additonal paycheck out of reach. If you’re into stamped AK’s, converted Saiga’s will do you fine. VEPR’s are another consider. If you just want an AK, Yugo PAP’s are cheap and I think really awesome for what you get, but the furniture tends to be limited on the ones built on the RPK receivers.

      so, ultimately, depends on how much you wanna dump on an AK. Realize that you’ll never get your money back if you buy a high end one because an overwhelming majority of people are fine with $500-600 AKs.. But you’ll probably enjoy it far too much to want to sell it anyways.

    • FWIW, I own a few very nice AKs – Saigas, PAPs, and kit-builts – but I started with a WASR 10/63. The WASR is still probably my favorite to shoot, and it’s the one that I know is absolutely 100% reliable, having put thousands of rounds through it with zero failures.

      Sort of ironic that if I had to grab one rifle out of my safe and run, it would probably be the one AK that most AK snobs look down on.

  13. AKs, now with AR prices!

    The most I’ve ever paid for an AK based weapon was $900. And that was for a Vepr in x54r.

  14. I just turned down buying a used Arsenal milled recvr AK with green furniture. Not sure what parts get mfrd where and what parts get put together where but I thought it looked like a parts gun and not something completely manufactured and assembled at the same place. It looked and felt cheap. I had a Polytech Legend milled receiver AK many years ago and sold it (wish I hadn’t). That was a solid hunk of metal with good fit and finish. No way in hell I would pay $1300 for an AK. There’s a blue million(s) of them out there and they will eventually go the way of the AR (complete upper and lower for less than $500 total including transfer and frt.) unless the gubment does something silly.

  17. John L: depends what you want and what the wallet will bear. Bottom tier is parts guns, builds from Century. Total pig in a poke: most work great, some come with canted sights and ill-carved magwels resulting in wobbly (but still-functioning) mags. Next step up is Saiga de-neutered builds. Top tier is milled arsenals. Beautiful rifles. I have three; never had a FTE, and only one FTF (my fault, not the rifle’s). Shouldering and firing the three tiers shows immediate differences in workmanship. They all tend to go bang, but there is more pride of ownership in the milled. Downsides of the milled are price, an extra pound of weight, and if you want to replace the buttstock your options are more limited as greater number of stamped receivers in the marketplace means more accessories geared toward them. The rear portion of a stamped receiver is shaped differently than a milled (one tang vs. two, IIRC), so the two buttstocks are not interchangeable.

  18. Many snicker at pricey AKs, but it’s no different than ARs: different price points for different wants. Don’t care about a FA or a chrome-lined barrel? Smith and Wesson has an option for you. Money is no object, and you want a moon rock embedded in the stock and a Faberge Egg perched atop the gas block? I’m sure it’s only a matter of time…

  19. Looks like a great AK…but for $1,300 is a for sure PASS!

    I’d pay no more than $700 for an AK like that.

    • Yeah, for $700, you can get yourself a real nice Century 😉 …just twist your head a little to one side and you’ll never notice the canted sights!

      • You know Century doesn’t actually build most of the AKs they sell right?

        Century is the current importer for the Zastava PAP series, some of the nicest AKs ever sold in the US for less than a grand, and certainly for less than $700. The PAP rifles are on-par with or even better than some of Arsenal’s offerings.

        I’ll let you keep thinking that all AKs associated with Century are crap, though. More for everyone else.

        • Ahhh don’t have to get all scratchy on me there Chief. Just a little CAI dig. If you ever ended up with a canted-sight CAI special, you’d probably want to get a good dig in every once in a while yourself too. I didn’t say ‘all’, btw. It’s more like a game of pot-luck with that outfit. And the stuff they do make themselves certainly aint on par with the Bulgies.

  20. I’m really getting tired of these guns prices, they’re beyond the realm of ridiculous at this point…

    It’s an AK, it shouldn’t be anywhere near the $1000 range, espeaically the wire stock version. Hell, I wouldn’t even pay $1300 for base model AR.

    I saw a Glock 21 Gen 4 at Gander Mountain today for $750, $750, I’m not making that up. Bone stock, nothing speaical, just a Glock, $750.

    Am I just becoming old man cheap, where everything is seems expensive because I remember “the good ol’ days”…? Or are things getting that bad?

    • Well, gungenie has two versions listed as retail in the $640-690 range, so I’d say the price is a little high, yeah. Especially given sales tax will – depending on the state and FFL – about balance out the transfer fee if you order one.

      On the other hand, depending on the state you live in, you can walk home with it the same day rather than waiting for it to be shipped, getting over to the ffl, etc.

      Still … Call it a $150(ish) convenience charge on a $600(ish) gun.

      Seems a bit steep. Sounds to me like they’re playing for an uneducated market. But that’s why I asked what I did above… 😉

  21. Can’t say I’ve ever experienced an arsenal rifle with a wobbly folding stock. Their side folders are TIGHT.

  22. I just bought a brand-new PAP underfolder for less than $600 bucks. I fail to see how this is more than twice as good.

      • I have no doubt that this is “better,” for definitions of “better,” but more than twice as good? I just can’t see it.

        • They are worth the price, despite what many say. Especially when you start getting into the SAM series rifles.. You’ll wonder why you even doubted once you shoot one.

  23. Thirteen hundred dollars?? This is an AK we are talking about right? For 1300 there are better items on my list.

    • i have a sam 7 uf you get what you pay for.oh and you need a muzzle brake another 80 bucks. it only comes with a thread protector.i put a spikes tactical on mine then you need a 2 point bungee sling 20 bucks.if you shot it you will start saving up your money to get one.my friend did just that

      • It’s nice to know that not everyone talks shit (I started to say trash, but in this case it is shit). At least a few people actually try a product before trashing it. I noticed that one person made the comment that if you shoot an Arsenal SAM series AK 47, you will know the difference and will not want to shoot anything else. The SAM series made by Arsenal is one of the best shooting AK47s that I have ever come across. For those comparing the Arsenal Sam47 to a cheaper version ak47, they’re not even in the same category! If you are going to compare the guns, one needs to shoot each gun before you start to complain about the higher priced one. Once you compare the guns equally, you will have NO desire to shoot another stamped ak47.

  24. Автомат Калишнаков самая великая оборонная система в мире!

    • Не для 1300 долларов это не так. Калашникова должны быть дешево.

  25. Arsenal has really got a good racket going. They buy Russian saiga sporting rifles in bulk for probably as low as 150-250 a piece and then convert and mod them for another few hundred and sell them for 1,000 -3,000.
    While they produce great ak’s from russian stock one can just buy a saiga sporter and convert it and customize it to one’s exact liking for half the price as a Arsenal. Although my last saiga convert cost me near 1,500(500 saiga rifle, 800 in carolinashooterssupply parts and another 100 for some convert help from a gsmith) but my first two saiga converts were under 800. If I couldn’t do most of the work myself and didn’t have access to aftermarket parts I’d buy Arsenal or Poly ak’s as there are no better when compared to the garbage that is out there, but a saiga converted by yourself is the best ak one can get.
    As for folding stocks moving(underfolders suck) all but one of my saiga converts have side folders and they are rock solid. Even the wire stock the amd65s are pretty good but nowadays one can build a solid ak with a tight side folder. Being ak’s are more short-mid range battle rifles I think a folding stock is a must on one. You can stick on all kinds of stocks on ak’s, endless forearm and muzzle options as well. No idea why more don’t do saiga converts.

    • The SGL series are essentially Saigas, but actually it’s believed that Arsenal/Legion have somewhat of a legal grey-area import scheme that allows them to import the rifles as non-sporterized barreled receivers, so they may not actually be going through the same conversion process that you would with a Saiga.

      Regardless, the SLR series are actually made in Bulgaria, not Russia. The SA series rifles are made in USA on original Bulgarian tooling, with some parts likely being imported from Bulgaria.

    • You generally find the SGL series rifles for around $750 on the market, which is fairly in line with the rest of the market considering you’re getting a pretty proven conversion to begin with. Otherwise, the $1000-$1300 claim really, REALLY only applies to the Milled AK’s made in Bulgaria.. In which case, you might want to avoid just in case you might like it or something, because they are defintely the Cadillac of AK’s

  26. Honestly, for a milled Arsenal AK, $1300 MSRP is pretty reasonable. As the article stated, the last few have been around $2000.

    There are cheaper options, but not all cheaper AK’s are created equal. If you want a really smooth AK for around $600, go pick up a MAK 90. They are beautifully built rifles, and still reasonably priced.

    • Most MAK90s are nice, but I’ve seen some that are rough junk as well. My last neighbor had a stamped MAK90 that had pretty poor fit & finish, despite being hardly ever used.

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