Legal firearms owners in the U.S. are, in some ways, like any other group of people. A large number of us are traditionalists, owning firearms because our parents and grandparents owned firearms and wanting the kinds of guns that were popular with our parents and grandparents.
Others of us, though, are contrarians. Part of the appeal of firearm ownership is the fact that there are a large number of politicians and government bureaucrats who want us disarmed, and there is a part of us that love owning firearms partly because it makes people like Kamala Harris and Tim Walz foam at the mouth. (Does that make firearm owners the real punk rockers of the modern era, sticking it to “the man?”)
Maybe that same contrarian attitude makes AK platform rifles more appealing because those who hate guns seem to be demonizing Russia and anything even vaguely associated with Russia (the AK was originally designed by Mikhail Kalashnikov) even if the item isn’t vaguely associated with Putin. Even if you’re not a fan of Russia, just being contrary to Harris and Walz has its appeal.
But AKs have gotten more expensive in the U.S. over the years. One manufacturer, though, has released a more budget conscious AK for those who particularly like that platform. James Grant writes,
[The Pioneer Arms Under Folder 5.56mm AKM firearms] retail for around $900 and have a street price of around $720. While this might seem expensive compared to old Romanian SAR-3s back in the early 2000s, compared to modern offerings, these guns are a fair bit cheaper. Plus, they include a ton of great accessories that would normally cost a shooter an additional $100 to $200. For example, the new Pioneer Arms AKs ship with three 30-round polymer magazines in the box. They aren’t steel-reinforced, but in my testing, they feed and function fine in every 5.56mm AK I had available to test them in. This includes my Polish WBP Jack, Foxtrot Mike FM-102 AR, a converted Saiga, and both of my Bulgarian Arsenal SLR rifles. (An SLR-106UR Krink SBR and an SLR-106CR mid-length gun.) Would I trust these magazines with my life? In a pinch – yes. If I had stronger, steel-reinforced magazines, I would still use those first. Another awesome accessory included with the Pioneer under folder is a pair of muzzle devices. The first is your standard scoop compensator, and the second is an aggressive two-port brake that cuts the recoil to almost nothing. The only downside of the aggressive brake is that it makes an already loud firearm comically loud. In all fairness, though, it’s a firearm, not Red Ryder.
Okay, so, you should be using ear protection when you are out on the range anyway (whether that range is in your (hopefully large and secluded) back yard or you go to a dedicated off-property range), but with this one, you’ll want to be especially careful to protect your hearing.
You can see a video of Pioneer Arms’ AKM in action below.
Still, if you’re of a mind to want an AK and don’t want to spend a small forture on it, this AKM may be one to consider.