Alpha AK-105…ish [BUILD]

Photos by Patrick McCarthy

The last several years’ worth of news coverage streaming out of Ukraine, Syria, and Africa have shed a lot of light on current trends in AK modernization. 

In particular, those Kalash variants being toted by Russian special operations forces and the burgeoning class of Russian Private Military Companies (PMC’s). Despite the wailing of gnashing of teeth by vocal purists about “nyet, rifle is fine,” the truth is that modernized AKs are not a fad made up by social media influencers. 

Pic rails, M-LOK slots, lights, lasers, and optics can all be spotted with growing regularity on AKs wielded by the Motherland’s elite warfighters.

The concept for this project actually grew from another project — research for the author’s debut novel, Close and Destroy, published earlier this year by RECOIL’s parent company. One of the story’s villains — an ex-GRU Spetzsnaz officer working for a Russian PMC — carries a modernized AK-105. While the novel doesn’t outline each piece and part of the character’s rifle, it did give us the idea to build what it might actually look like. 

PARTS LIST

• Midwest Industries Alpha Folding Stock $290
• Battle Arms Development EKG Trigger $55
• Texas Weapon Systems Dogleg Rail $185
• Childers Receiver, Russian Markings $95
• Occam Defense 1913 Rear Trunnion $160
• JMAC Custom 4C KeyMount Brake $130
• JMAC Custom GBC-13 Gas Block $120
• Barwarus Alpha-1 Handguard $300

Since this is based on a fictional rifle carried by a fictional bad guy, we weren’t concerned with down-to-the-letter accuracy. The goal was to assemble something that generally looked, felt, and fired like the ultra-modern Kalashnikovs showing up on today’s asymmetric battlefields.

Copperhead USA, a custom AK builder in Phoenix, Arizona, executed the build, and assisted with sourcing some of the parts. The heart of this rifle is a Childers receiver with Russian markings and a Rosco Manufacturing 5.45x39mm barrel. We’ve had great luck with Rosco’s AR barrels in several of our other projects. Their 5.45 AK barrel is not available for direct purchase, but some third-party AK parts websites and builders do carry them. The barrel was cut to 14.5 inches and topped with a four-chamber KeyMo brake from JMAC Customs. 

The particular brake shown here is their “facing” brake. It is specially designed to be pinned and welded to a 14.5-inch barrel and “sheaths” approximately 1.3 inches of the barrel behind the threads to give the appearance of a shorter gun. Actual AK-105s have 12.4-inch barrels that end right at the combo front sight/gas block, but we chose to forego the $200 permission slip on this build. A 14.5-inch barrel partially covered by a rearward-extended muzzle device was a plenty good enough solution that still gave us a fast-handling rifle with the right look.

There are a very few examples of M-LOK handguards in the hands of Russian fighters, but the vast majority are running extended quad rails. We used a Kalashnikov USA Alpha rail, long enough to run right up to the gas block without being excessively heavy. These rails were manufactured in a partnership between KUSA and Barwalus. 

The latter still has some of these rails in stock at time of writing. Again, we weren’t compelled to spend exorbitant coin on the gray market looking for true Zenitco rails. But the fit, finish, and feel of the KUSA/Barwalus rail is a handsome and fully functional stand-in. The quad-rail forearm is complemented by a railed top cover from Texas Weapon Systems. Ironically, we have seen several photos of Russian FSB and FSO officers with genuine TWS rails on their guns, which makes this part an especially poignant choice. 

Plugging the rear of the receiver with an Occam Defense 1913 Picatinny trunnion gave us some additional flexibility in stock choice. Midwest Industries’ Alpha folding stock is an aesthetically accurate mirror to the multi-axis-adjustable folding stocks coming from the Eastern Europe market, while being more available and made in America. We rounded out the furniture with pistol and vertical grips from TDI Arms, another brand with a rich and well-documented history of use of conflict AKs the world over. Finally, we added two true “go faster” parts — the RAM Tactical magazine catch and Battle Arms Development EKG trigger. The EKG is a smooth, crisp AK trigger that we fell in love with quickly. 

EOTech optics — or illicit copies thereof — are one of the more popular Western optics to be found on rifles wielded by the likes of Russian KSSO (Special Operations Command) or PMC Wagner (now Afrika Corps). The weapon light is a Crimson Trace, and, yes, that is an airsoft clone PERST laser. The whole rifle was finished off in a deep, lustrous black Cerakote job by Pro 2 Customs, meant to mimic the Russian “squid ink” paint used in small arms factories across the former Soviet Bloc.

The light-recoiling 5.45mm round, combined with a progressive four-chamber brake and the extra weight of a fully accessorized quad rail gave us one of the fastest, softest-shooting AKs we’ve ever laid hands on. Not only did we meet our goal of building a rifle fit for fictional bad guys, but the end result is a fun-to-shoot AK that makes us lament the lack of 5.45mm ammo options in today’s market.

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