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Stickman
30 July 2009, 10:35
Midwest Industries Universal AK Rail

http://www.midwestindustriesinc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=241

My first impressions were that everything appears to be well machined, and anodized a deep rich black color. Of course the niceness of the rail is offset by the brute functionality of the AK itself. I'll be the first to admit that I've never thought of the AK as a good looking weapon, and while not ugly, its more that I look at an AK they way I see a spork. Simple, functional, hard to mess up, but with a few drawbacks.

The rail concept for an AK is nothing new, and there are some very nice, and rather expensive AK rails on the market, and there are also a slew of cheap imported rails as well. I have a hard time paying more for a rail than I did for the host weapon itself. The flip side to that is that I won't throw an import rail of dubious quality on ANY weapon system that I own. I would rather keep a weapon basic, than to slick it up, and introduce problems into the system. The Midwest Industries Universal rail balances this out quite nicely. A high quality rail and a good price (MSRP $124.95)




http://stickman.rainierarms.com/galleries/AK/0O2P0083-A-1024-Stick.jpg

Stickman
30 July 2009, 10:36
Installation of the rail is straight forward, there are two primary components, which are the upper and lower handguard. There is also a locking piece, and a few sets of screws. The only tools needed are your brain, and the allenwrenches that come with the handguards.

For people who are familiar with the AK, removal is as straight forward as field stripping the weapon, flipping the lever to pull off the lower handguard, and rotating out the upper handguard piece. If you are like me, who spends more time with the M4 platform, it will take a few extra minutes as you remember the top handguard is rotated out. I'll be doing a installation writeup at a later date to show how simple this really is.

After pulling it apart, the bottom rail goes on, clamps to the barrel, and after you slip the gas tube back in, the upper rail pops on and is secured with a few screws, and you are done.

Rail lockup is tight, and there is zero movement. The rail is secured to the barrel, and mounting optics, lasers, lights, VFGs or sling mounts all end up being very straight forward. The rails are cut to the standard 1913 spec, so most any railed accessory should mount without a problem.


http://stickman.rainierarms.com/galleries/AK/0O2P0072-1024-Stick.jpg




http://stickman.rainierarms.com/galleries/AK/0O2P0082-1024-Stick.jpg

Stickman
30 July 2009, 10:43
To sum it all up, this is a rail that I would own and install on any AK that I was looking to upgrade. The ability to solidly mount lights, optics, VFG, and anything else is an asset in my book. Whether your AK needs these items is another matter, and I understand that some AK purists will not see a need. However, there is little question that optics and the above items rule the modern battlefield, and the Midwest Industries Universal AK rail is a good way to get your AK up to speed.



http://stickman.rainierarms.com/galleries/AK/IMG_0190-1024-Stick.jpg



http://stickman.rainierarms.com/galleries/AK/0O2P0084-A-1024-Stick.jpg

Stickman
30 July 2009, 10:48
WEVO Staff will be writing up a installation guide for this item, I'll add a link when that is done.

For any questions or comments, use the below link as this is a read only resource thread.



WEVO Midwest Industries AK RAIL COMMENT THREAD (http://www.weaponevolution.com/forum/showthread.php?p=11665#post11665)