Arsenal Barr-M1

I have to admit I’m a bit of a fan of the generic AK47; one of the coolest looking assault rifles ever made. I owned a Chicom Type 56 version with the under-folding butt way back when we could shoot selfloaders, I admit in its original calibre of 7.62x39mm it would not win any prizes for accuracy. But that’s not why I had it, as it was huge fun to own a piece of modern firearms history.

Time moved on and post 1988, and once the manually operated hybrid AR15s became accepted, then it seemed anything purpose-built was also in vogue. As I recall Sabre Defence started offering the Saiga M3, mann-opp AKM and I was both pleased and a bit surprised to see the old/new 47 back in style. Firing one for the first time felt like a guilty pleasure! Accuracy-wise, the 7.62x39mm Saiga could not hold a candle to the 223 Rem AR15 and in doing so very much excluded itself from the then Practical Rifle scene.

This was not helped by these comps being very AR-biased and shooting out to 600-metres. Yes, the AK is a 300-yard rifle at best (with a push) but surely more people shooting is the goal, so why not tailor comps so that it and similar guns could compete? It would have been easy enough and not to the detriment of the ARs either!

223 maybe?

Regardless, calibre was the real sticking point of the AK, as the general ammo quality available in 7.62x39 was military grade and was not particularly accurate or consistent in the short 16-inch tube. There are a number of countries that use AK-derivates and have opted for a 223 Remington 5.56x45mm chambering instead; the Israeli Galil and Finnish Valmet are two good examples, with the calibre transforming performance.

Saiga offered a 223 version, but bang up to date from FSU Connections is the Bulgarian-made BAAR M1 from Arsenal JSCo. – Kazanlak. Essentially, it’s an AK74 and almost identical to the M3, though there are two major differences. First, the receiver is not a sheet metal pressing but a milled, hot die forged blank and is a much nicer job. Secondly, there’s no night vision mount on the left of the receiver, which is the usual way to fit an optic such as the Russian POSP day scope. As I discovered this is not the liability it first seems, as FSU offers a compatible base that can be fitted. Though optional, I see this as mandatory, as and as we shall see, the BARR shoots very well but iron sights don’t cut it much over 100/200-metres!

The BARR comes as standard with the basic plastic furniture – skinny pistol grip, short length of pull (LOP) butt and ribbed forend lower and upper. Also, the AK74 ported tube muzzle brake, which is remarkably efficient. FSU dressed it up a bit with the TDi LHV 47 forend kit, which offers a fuller lower section, with the upper handguard showing an integral Picatinny rail, which is useful for optical mounting, along with the MOLOT Picatinny vertical fore grip.

The after-market pistol grip is the fuller VEPR-12 type that gives more feel and control. There’s not a lot you can do with the standard AK butt with its short 12.5-inch LOP and tiny shoulder footprint. But what you can do is fit the extended rubber recoil pad originally designed for rifles fitted with the GP30 under-slung grenade launcher. This ups the LOP to 13.25-inches, which does make a difference as does the wider, deeper shape. FSU also offers the full, military birch laminate furniture, which does look nice and also the CAR15 buffer tube conversion that allows the use of any AR15-type telescopic butt.

The standard rifle (as described) comes with a canvas sling and 1x 10-round polymer magazine, a 30-rounder was also supplied along with a more modern slotted muzzle brake.

Solid little piece

Though short at 37.5-inches, the BARR is a solid little piece, weighing a brawny 3.65kg (8lbs) empty, though it balances well. The barrel is 16-inches and I’m unsure of the twist rate but I think it’s 1-9-inch judging from what it was shooting, bullet weight-wise. The action uses the same, twinlug rotating bolt system of the AK, which from my experience has proved both reliable and primary extraction friendly in all rifle derivatives, calibres and ammo types I have used over the years.

The bolt sits in a carrier that has a fixed cocking handle at the front, which is simply pulled back and released. The safety is the large and clunky, twin position lever on the right of the action: up SAFE with bolt partially blocked and down FIRE. It requires you to let go of the pistol grip to operate!

The mag release is a push-forward lever at the front of the trigger guard, which is operated by the left hand thumb, as you grip the mag with the rest of the hand and roll it forward and out. The trigger is a single stage unit with long take up, so much so you might think it’s a 2-stager. However, it’s smooth and surprisingly light, breaking at sub 5lbs.

Sights are standard AK with a tangent U-notch at the rear, which is elevation-adjustable only via a sliding block and is marked from 100- to 800-metres. The front is a protected A-frame with an elevation/windage adjustable post that requires a pusher/screw tool for the job.

As no optical mount was fitted, I had to go with the irons, though a drop back cantilever base on the forend rail could be used to fit a scope over the action or a compact red dot instead! I chose three ammo types; Russian Barnaul 55-grain FMJ in their familiar lacquered steel case, S&B 55-grain FMJ and my 69-grain Sierra BTHP Match King reload. The two-55- grainers are very much the old US M193 ball military loading.

I bombed up the 10-round mag only to find it stopped at five. I’ve experienced this before with AKs, as often they have an integral capacity limiter block fitted, so I took it apart. The platform is extended so much that it reduces capacity and there’s not a lot you can do about it. However, the Arsenal 30-rounder does what it says on the tin. There’s also no way to hold the action open, as and unlike the more modern M3s, there’s not even a manual bolt hold open catch, which is a tad annoying.

Like all mann-opp AKs I have used, the BARR proved to be 100% reliable, with not even the slightest hint of hard primary extraction. The only problem you do get is your right hand thumb getting bashed by the ejecting case, which seems nothing at first but over a long string of shots it gets more noticeable. I put a glove on to protect my delicate little pinkies, but the solution is to fit a drop-back handle, which is what I did with my Saiga M3.

Conclusion

Though only shooting, irons accuracy was good; off the bench at 100-metres I was grouping within a four-inch square with all the ammo brands. Which is very much up to expectations, I would guess with an optic you could expect one-inch or there about. Average velocities were interesting, with the Barnaul at 2974fps, the S&B 3036 and the reload 2572. The only problem here is that the low butt, in conjunction with the high mount on the POSP scope, or a generic Picatinny AK, mounts pretty much kills any cheek weld, which leaves the head unsupported. That is just the way of it. On my M3 I opted for the CAR15 butt conversion, with an adjustable height comb that solved that problem.

FSU can also provide this ability, along with other useful accessories, which would include two or three 30-round mags, as using that 10/5-rounder gets old very quickly, given the sort of use the BARR will be put to. Overall a good example of an AKM/74 if you’re in the market for something different, but I note prices have risen since the last time I looked!