Much of this excitement derived from the fact that this new AK-pattern rifle promised to be revolutionary; a bold promise for a system that is renowned for its simplicity and durability, a system that has been the most popular assault rifle ever produced, a system that has been chugging along with only a few minor design tweaks for over half a century.

Specifications:

The SAM7SF is a 7.62x39mm AK-pattern rifle manufactured by Arsenal Company of Bulgaria and then re-manufactured, stateside, into its final configuration by Arsenal, Inc. in Las Vegas, Nevada. It has a total length of 38.2” and a folded length of 28.4”. The SAM7SF weighs 8.5 pounds, which is about 11 ounces heavier than a stamped-receiver AK.

The barrel on the SAM7SF is a hammer forged and chrome lined Bulgarian made 16.3″ barrel made with a 1:9.45″ twist rate. Arsenal claims that this barrel is made using “Steyr technology” (although without specifying much more than that) which also lends to the pedigree of the SAM7SF. This barrel is crowned with a one-piece removable AK-74 style muzzle brake mated via the somewhat common 24×1.5mm right-hand threads on the front sight block.

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Negative Observations:

If you’ve read this review to this point, you would probably assume that I am as much in love with this rifle as my other Arsenal rifles. However, I have some concerns with the folding stock.

Similar to the more notorious Yugoslavian underfolding AK rifles, or over-folding shotgun wire stocks, the operator may experience some cheek bite due to the stock’s wire-style chassis. As stated, I did not shoot and measure groups for this rifle simply because the stock was unmanageable for me – the end of that buttery trigger pull was greeted with a shock through my cheek, courtesy of the metal folder.

Note that this was more prevalent in supported or prone shooting, not so much with standing. As a multiple AK owner and an avid rifle shooter, I don’t believe operator error was the cause of this issue. For that matter, in is this author’s opinion that the Bulgarian triangle folder is one of the better and more comfortable AK folding stocks made.

To make sure I wasn’t the only one having this problem, I had two of my students I was with at the time test the rifle out. Both also found the stock to be uncomfortable while shooting. The only owner I could locate on AK47.net also stated that he felt the stock was “not as comfortable” as the triangle folder.

Accordingly, I’d be aware of the potential problem, but realize that Arsenal has suggested that this problem is extremely uncommon among SAM7SF owners, few though there may be at this point. Moreover, note that Arsenal suggests (minimally) that shooting this rifle from prone may be uncomfortable, and that, as a precaution, Arsenal does not recommend adding any material to the stock.