Back in 2015 the Obama administration banned companies from doing business with the Russian company Kalashnikov Concern, one of the popular manufacturers of Russian made AK rifles. That’s why Kalashnikov USA is now a thing — they’re building rifles here in the US of A to circumvent the sanctions and continue selling to the American civilian firearms market.

Now it appears that like the Trump administration is expanding those sanctions to include another company MOLOT-ORUZHIE…which means their VEPR line of firearms will be affected.

From the U.S. Treasury Department’s list of sanctioned companies:

MOLOT-ORUZHIE, OOO (a.k.a. OBSHCHESTVO S OGRANICHENNOI OTVETSTVENNOSTYU ‘MOLOT-ORUZHIE’; f.k.a. OBSHCHESTVO S OGRANICHENNOI OTVETSTVENNOSTYU PROIZVODSTVENNO INSTRUMENT KACHESTVO), 135 ul. Lenina, Vyatskie Polyany, Kirov Obl. 612960, Russia; Registration ID 1094307000633 (Russia); Tax ID No. 4307012765 (Russia); Government Gazette Number 60615883 (Russia) [UKRAINE-EO13661] (Linked To: KALASHNIKOV CONCERN)

What does this mean for US gun owners?

For those who already own a VEPR firearm there’s no problem at all — your gun is 100% legal and will remain so. You can do with it what you want, whether that means selling it or keeping it.

Gun stores with VEPR firearms currently on the shelves should also be OK. Again, as long as no further money flows to MOLOT-ORUZHIE there’s no issue. Guns already in the country will be exempt from any sanctions.

Importers and distributors, however, may have a problem. Firearms “in transit” which have been bought and paid for will probably be OK, but they represent the end of the pipeline. No more new guns would be able to be purchased from MOLOT and imported into the country.

The end result is that we’ll soon see the flow of MOLOT-made VEPRs slow to a trickle and then stop completely. Prices of these firearms will likely climb as supplies dwindle, but as there are other US-made AK pattern options on the market including those from the new Kalashnikov USA. And so it goes.

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50 COMMENTS

  1. Well…pretty much exactly the opposite of what I wanted from this administration.
    I’m wondering if Kalashnikov USA is selling shares?

      • Uh, no. Congress delegated authority to the president’s subordinates, to name foreign actors that would be barred from trade. So yes, this is very much Trump’s responsibility, now.

      • Nope, this is all on Trump. This is the Treasury Dept (an executive agency under Trump) expanding an Obama era Executive Order that Trump can revoke or rewrite at any time without any opposition, but has simply chosen…not to.

        Much like the other Bush, Clinton and Obama import bans.

        • EXACTLY bb043 This has zero to do with Congress and everything to do with Trump.

          But then again Trump is the one that said Republicans were mean and not covering enough peoples medical with their neighbors money. I expect this and more from the Hillary supporting two Corinthian fake Conservative.

    • It seems no matter what we want, Cold War 2 is here to stay. I understand a lot of us want Russian weapons back, but Trump isn’t going to just undo sanctions out of good faith. That’s not how the game works, and considering the latest behavior from Syria, Iran, and Russia, I can’t blame the government for getting tougher. What Putin wants doesn’t mesh with the west. And I say that assomeone who respects what Putin has done for his country.

    • I’m not going to complain about this one, sorry. Would love to have a VEPR, but these sanctions are not for ATF reasons. The sanctions are political.

      If you’re going to sanction Russia, you don’t say, “Well, we have to look out for our gun owners and keep them flowing, but hey, we’ll prevent the import of hydralic widgets.”

      So, some industrious Americans can fill the gap.

    • I just ordered a 23″ .308. I was wanting one for a “Veprunov” build, but I planned on later this year. I decided to pull the trigger today before the prices get hiked to stupid levels. Sort of like what I saw VEPR 12 prices do after Kalashnikov concern weapons were banned and people thought Veprs were also banned. I saw increases of about 30-40%. Now they were offering a $200 cash back for accessories on the Veprs.

      The thing that sucks is there were multiple companies making parts or doing work on Saigas and Veprs to convert them from sporting to an even more sporting appearance and performance. Those people are going to suffer.

  5. Treasury is operating under the 2014 Obama regulations — the very same that the Senate says Trump cannot rescind without Congressional approval. The vote that crammed the regs down Trump’s throat was 97-2. All the Dems and most Reps voted in favor. Only Mike Lee and Rand Paul voted against.

    https://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2017/06/senate-approves-russia-sanctions-that-limit-trumps-power/530382/

    Given the phony Russia/Trump “investigation” currently in progress, any attempt by Trump to rescind these regs would be political suicide. Even his own party would turn against him, as it did by approving this mess by 97-2.

    Trump was wrong. We don’t need to drain the swamp. We need to drown the rats.

  6. Well Ralph makes a damn good point.

    I just came here to express my disappointment in the administration but I suppose my disappointment is really with the party… rather, my FURTHER disappointment is with the party which is growing into an everlasting disappointment.

    In any case… I also came in here to say that I am fairly certain Kalashnikov USA has nothing to do with Kalashnikov Group (formerly Concern). They’re just using the name to sell rifles.

    • Actually until the sanctions were imposed on Russia they were the importer for Kalashnikov Concern. Once they weren’t allowed to import the guns anymore, they decided to make them.

    • I’m wondering if there isn’t some sort of connection still. Kalashnikov Concern’s protests over Kalashnikov USA seemed pretty weaksauce.

  7. Never had any desire to buy THIS until now…and I hope we don’t get into a SHOOTING WAR with Putinville over Syria. No way Trump et al could’ve’ opposed this…

  8. Well hell far, i guess that leaves kusa and some yellow river specials as far as magazine based shottys go

  9. This was bound to happen sooner or later since Molot is bankrupt and Kalashnikov Concern is in talks to buy their factory.

  10. Such bad reporting in this story, Kalashnikov USA has nothing to do with Kalashnikov Concern. They just stole the name but are in no way affiliated with the Russian company. Get your story straight T.A.G.

    • Actually they do. They used to be Kalashnikov Concern’s importer before the sanctions were imposed. Now that they can’t import the guns they make them themselves.

    • Nate, nowhere in the post does it say that Kalashnikov USA and Kalashnikov Concern are related. Maybe reading out loud would help?

  12. Vepr 12 is a very nice AK pattern shotgun
    The price has been about $900 at my LGS
    I have wondered why they haven’t been affected by the Russian sanctions until now
    After all, they are made in Russia !

  13. I was a Cold War soldier. I’m gald we never got to DEFCON1.
    Watching Larry Vickers at a Russian Military museum a few years ago was fantastic. I thought we where finally on our way to a relatively peaceful world.

    Obama screwed that up and Trump seems to be making things worse. Obama was always a war monger.
    For those that don’t know Bernie Sanders was always pro war. It was never widely reported. He publicly supported the illegal bombing of Serbia. And he supported funding for the Iraq war.

  14. The last I heard, Russian “Molot” is Bankrupt and will be Sold. Can’t get very butt-hurt about this.

  16. Molot is in bankruptcy, and the whole kit and kaboodle is being sold off. Now that they can’t sell their production to the US, which is a major market for them, and Kalashnikov Konzern (Russia) is producing AKs for export, it’s hard to imagine that things will end well for Molot-Oruzhie.

    They were interesting guns. Built much heavier than equivalent Kalashnikovs, so one can only imagine that production costs must have been correspondingly higher, (arguably) without an offsetting advantage to the consumer, and that inefficiencies, ultimately lead to bankruptcy.

    Can’t really see what use sanctioning a bankrupt company serves. It’s an empty gesture really.

  17. I’m for sanctions on Russia. I’m for guns. If I was a robot, my head would explode. Maybe this will help American manufacturing. MAGA?

  18. Rarely does Congress have such bi-partisan support for a bill, but in this case the bill is very fair because it doesn’t affect VEPRs that are here. Well done with common sense and protection for those already owning VEPRs!

  19. Unfortunate, because the VEPRs really are the class act of factory built AKs. Glad I got my VEPR 12 folder a couple of years ago and my 23″ x54 with real (Russian, not US replica) SVD type laminate stock (and stunningly accurate for a non-custom AK) earlier this year. In military terms these are behind the times so sanctioning Molot is just petty BS.

    • That was going to be my next purchase and is just heard back from sgm about their prototype 20 round magazine that would basically turn it into a battle rifle that would share the same round with my mosins. I guess that won’t be happening now.

  21. Does it really matter, using an AK for anything in Semiautomatic mode is about as useless as tits on a boar hog, maybe good for wanta be show and tell! Although back in the day it was a better platform (More reliable) than the M16, especially on full auto, pain to use prone
    magazine resting on ground would sometimes induce a malfunction, SKS was much handier but no full auto!

  22. I PREDICTED that Herr Trump being from New York would screw gun owners the first chance he got despite his lying to the NRA. What did Trump not lie about in his campaign?

  23. If Trump is serious about rebuilding the US manufacturing industry, the most logical step would be to ban importation of any and all firearms.

    I mean, think about it. Gun manufacturing is one of the few things that are still going steady, so it’s much easier to kickstart it. There’s crazy demand for all the fancy foreign guns, and there are already plenty of small businesses cranking out guns in this country. Right now they’re mostly cranking out ARs, but if they could sell a US-made AK for $2K, because the demand outpaces the supply that much? You can bet they’d diversify in no time. So:

    1. Growth and expansion of American businesses, many of them small.
    2. More well-paid American blue collar jobs.
    3. More factories and workshops, and trained workers to run them, for future “make it in USA” expansion on other manufacturing industries.

    It’s a win-win-win, right?

    • 100% US made are only $499+ right now from ddi, century arms, and psa. Why would the price skyrocket to $2k?

    • I don’t consider the government restricting my ability to purchase what I want to be a win.

  24. Last time I checked, Molot was a) bankrupt, b) yet could not be sold, strategic asset and all, c) kept selling hideously heavy, RPK-based shotguns and semiauto that no one but comp shooters, tactical fanboys, and very few guides-going-cheap (some liked .308/x54R Veprs as guide guns) really wanted.

    They did had limited use as a source of refurbished mil stuff, like Mosins (irrelevant to US buyers), and they did produce semi-decent pump (Bekas), but everything else was just meh.

  27. I HAVE TO SAY VEPR MAKES A DAMN GOOD RIFLE..I LIKE THE RUSSIAN 30-06 CAL..THEY WILL BE A COLLECTOR PIECE

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