KALASNIKOV USA KR-9 RIFLE

[Henry Brown]

I recently obtained a KR-9 9X19MM rifle made by Kalashnikov USA. While pricey, I have been favorably impressed with it. The overall finish is well done. It is accurate and reliable with what ever 9X19MM I have thrown into it in the 200 rds I have run through it so far. The only issue has been the tendency for the flash hider to walk forwards on the muzzle threads. This seems to have been cured by my adding a No. 9 "O" ring to the base of the threads to lock it down.

I am curious to know if anyone else out there in Kalashnikov land has tried one out. Regards!

 

[10mmlover]

This is the downside of the rifle compared to the kp9 pistol. With the pistol variant, it has the usual AK style detent on the gas block to keep the muzzle device from moving. Mine doesn’t have any kind of brace and all of the places selling the picatinny butt plate mounts are out of stock. I ended up filing to SBR it the same day I got it, so it’ll be in it’s correct form soon enough. That said, I’ve been reading and watching a lot about kalashnikov USA and they’re not some fly by night outfit. It looks like they’re putting serious quality into their new line up.

What loader is that? Some kind of stripper clip for 9mm?

 

[Henry Brown]

Hi. The magazines are proprietary to the Vityaz/PP-19/KR-9, etc family. They are cut to use with regular AK-74 stripperclips and guides. In fact, I think the clips work better with 9X19MM than the 5.45x39MM rd. Regards

 

[10mmlover]

Wow that's really cool. Looks like rtgparts has them available.

 

[IUHoosier429]

Nice rifle, @Henry Brown.

I opted for the cheaper and less-faithfully cloned AK-V (initial review over in the PCC thread), though I've been following as much news and reviews on PSA's and KUSA's Vityaz variants as I can find. Do you plan to SBR this? What size groups are you averaging with run of the mill range ammo?

 

[10mmlover]

The AK-V is an awesome choice. To be honest, I would have gotten that if the store didn't happen to have a KP9 right there. The benefit of the AK-V is that it shares a big after market for scorpion magazines.

 

[Henry Brown]

Right now I've been pleased with the minute of tin can angle at 40+ meters I've tried so far. The 1st 200 rounds were mostly testing various brands of ammunition. I can say that the KR-9 I have likes the 124gr projectiles better. No plans to sbr this. I like it like it is. The $2.50 No. 9 "O" ring fix seems to have worked perfectly and I still have 9 others in the box. I ought to point out that the receiver of the KR-9/Vityaz and kin is actually about 2 inches shorter than a an AKM/AK-74. I have read, but not tried, that the hand guards are the same size. They seem to be but I have only compared them, not switched them out. Regards

 

[Henry Brown]

I just checked. A regular Ak hand guard for a stamped receiver will...mostly fit. The tenon at the rear needs to be relieved a bit.

 

[Henry Brown]

I finally got around to comparison photos of the regular AK-74 IZMASH made hand guard and folding stock vs. the Vityaz/Kalashnikov USA versions. I hope this is a useful reference for any KR-9 and KP-9 owners out there.

The Vityaz/KR-9 hand guard is the one on your right. The Vityaz/KR-9 butt stock is the one on the bottom. (Notice the different latching system for the closed position.)