Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire AK-47 panic

Following another round of sanctions, demand for Russian-made firearms like the AK-47 rifle has picked up in recent days.

The U.S. and European nations have imposed economic sanctions targeting Russian companies over the country�s role in backing separatists that are fighting the Ukraine government. Additional penalties could be handed down in response to the downing of a Malaysia Airlines flight late last week. Federal officials believe the jet was shot down by a surface-to-air missile fired by rebels in eastern Ukraine.

The sanctions unveiled on Wednesday include Kalashnikov Concern, the maker of AK-47s and Saiga firearms. American companies are now prohibited from having Kalashnikov products imported into the U.S.

According to the Treasury Department, new transactions with Kalashnikov would violate the sanction, while current AK-47 owners can keep or resell Kalashnikov products. The Treasury also said distributors with an inventory of Kalashnikov firearms that aren�t fully paid for should contact the Office of Foreign Assets Control.

Impact Guns, which operates two stores in Utah and one in Idaho, has limited or no stock of several Kalashnikov models online. A Saiga AK-47 and AK-74 made by Arsenal, a Las Vegas-based company that modifies guns imported from Russia, are listed as out of stock. The AK-74 uses a smaller caliber than its older sibling.

Craig Ball, director of operations at Impact Guns, said the stores have seen increased interest from buyers looking for AK-47s over the last few days. Gun stores typically don�t keep many AKs in the pipeline, he added.

�Then something like this happens, and the supply dries up,� Ball explained.

Quick on the Draw

Impact Guns reached out to distributors as soon as news of the sanctions on Kalashnikov broke, but most distributors have stopped taking orders.

�Some were quicker on the draw than others,� Ball said.

Atlantic Firearms, a Bishopville, Md.-based distributor that specializes in AK-47s, is telling customers that many of its Russian firearms are unavailable.

�Due to recent import restrictions, we have had a run on our supply of Russian manufactured firearms. We are currently SOLD OUT of the Russian AK47 CAK-132 Wood as of 7/17/14. We are working with our importer to try and acquire what we can but are expecting price increases,� Atlantic Firearms said in a message on one product page.

A similar note appears on Atlantic Firearms� product page for the Saiga IZ240 AK-74, Saiga-12 IZ109 and other models.

K-Var, one of the primary distributors for importer FIME Group, lists multiple versions of the AK-47 and Saiga-12 shotgun as out of stock.

�The products of Kalashnikov enjoy great demand in the United States,� Kalashnikov, which is named after AK-47 designer Mikhail Kalashnikov, said in a statement published on the company�s website. �Preorders on civilian products are three times the annual volume of deliveries. Thus, the sanctions taken against Kalashnikov go against the interests of American consumers.�

Considering the import ban, some buyers may be looking to make an investment in AK-47s and other Russian firearms. Ball noted how Chinese versions of the AK-47 became rare commodities and went up in value when shipments to the U.S. were banned.

�A lot of people are looking down the road,� Ball said when asked about a possible jump in AK-47 prices.

I guess they will have to buy a rifle that actually hits what it's aimed at now...

Elections matter.

No they don't.

I've read right here that there was absolutely no difference between Obama and McCain or Obama and Romney. I read right here that a dead cat would be just fine. You must be mistaken about that election thing.

Light in the darkness. Maybe the dark market in AKs will take some of the pressure off .22 rimfire ammo. But I wonder if Wolf and Tula ammo and components will be affected as well.

so a republican wouldn't be putting sanctions on Russia right now?

Not at all sure a Romney admin would have this problem to deal with. Sort of think relations would have been a bit different with competency in the White House.

so you believe Romney would have kept Russian separatists from going ape [bleep] over the Ukranian leadership choosing to go with an EU partnership over a Russian one, preventing the Crimea region from being annexed by Russia and ultimately not shooting down a commercial airliner.

Romney had that power?

HAHAHA!!! EXACTLY!!!!

You think Zero hasn't completely F'd up international relations, totally and completely for the worse?

With any luck at all....

Nonsense, you can hit a barn with it, as long as you're inside the barn...

There are at least a couple of US companies making AK's. The one I have will do about ~3 MOA with a cold barrel. I'be be interested in a milled AK just to see if the stiffer reeciver worked better, but I'm not gonna pay $1K+ for one of them.

Rock River announced a AR that takes AK mags some months ago, but I've never seen one for sale. Maybe they'll get off the stick now.

We've had Hillary Klinton and John Kerry as Sec of State. Romney and McCain could have done better.

yes, I believe Obama has hurt us

but that doesn't answer my question about Romney stopping the annexation of Crimea

heck, the Bulgarian AKs are better anyway. I'm hanging onto my old Arsenal SA93

It doesn't matter what Romney "would have done". Nothing could matter less.

Any speculation on that, or any other subject is mute.

What DOES matter is that we never, ever, ever have another POS like we have now in office, or top government officials to do his bidding.

Time to work toward something that has a smidgen of preventative action for future mistakes, not speculate what might have been...

GI, can onry own AK if tark funny.

Rove,

Dragon Rady

EVERYTHING would be different. Our entire world relationship as rebuilt and maintained with President Romney would look little if anything like what it is under Obama. And I do mean under. The situation in the Ukrain is not a static occurance bound to have happened regardless of what else is/was going on in the world. It is the result of dynamic relationships. Separtist ideology would certainly have been present but any action to mobilize it as it has been of late would have been subject to pressures from established relationships between world nations. For all I know Putin could have had such a grand relationship with Romney that he would have converted to Mormanism by now. But of this I am sure; with President Romney our relationship with Russia and President Putin would have been less adversarial and quite possibly more amicable than the lack of relationship that exists now. Obama not only has destroyed our relationships with allies and potential allies, propped up radical muslim revolts with our money and blood, and caused the U.S. to be less respected in the world, he has also established a strong veil of confusion about what the hell the United States really is and what it will do next. To imagine events of late would have occured with a different President exactly as they have with this sorry excuse for a president is short-sighted to say the least.

had anyone but the kenyan running American foreign policy, America's power and influence would not have deteriorated to the point where Putin and his commie thugs would have attempted to do what he is doing now.

I beg to differ. Matters would be a whole lot different re many domestic and foreign issues had Romney been elected.

There is no way that his agenda would have been the same as Obamas.