RTI AK built by Childers

[Stogies]

Childers Romanian AKM Semi Auto Rifle, 7.62x39mm, Underfolder

Are you a history aficionado? We are the world's largest historical antique firearms & accessories importer & distributor with many rare & hard to find items.

www.royaltigerimports.com

Would you consider buying one of these? Supposedly made by Childers.

RTI used to be the sales outlet for Inter Ordnance back in the day when they were still making their infamous AKs.

 

[Exspiravit]

Don't do it. Just don't. You'll regret it and I will laugh in your face for ignoring my warning.

RTI is garbage, their kits are garbage, their "customer service" is garbage. They are pretty much the same huckster behind IO inc. I would wager they are made from clapped out mismatched kits that are so bad they can't even sell them as kits.

 

[Stogies]

Don't do it. Just don't. You'll regret it and I will laugh in your face for ignoring my warning.

RTI is garbage, their kits are garbage, their "customer service" is garbage. They are pretty much the same huckster behind IO inc. I would wager they are made from clapped out mismatched kits that are so bad they can't even sell them as kits.

You have dealt with them before?

 

[Exspiravit]

You have dealt with them before?

Ordered something, never shipped and I ended up initiating a chargeback. Wouldn't even respond to emails.
It's been a while back but there's a litany of examples online. Last big one I remember was them selling AK kits and completely misrepresenting the quality and condition of them. What people finally got ranged from really bad to literal trash. If they got anything.

 

[USMC6094]

And they've recently removed the prices of their products in their print advertisements

 

[Solidsnack.]

As others have stated the guy who runs Royal Tiger Imports is the same person who ran I.O. that being Uli Wiegand. Though, the wording of the description makes it seem like the rifles were built by Childers and not RTI.

Even if Childers built them, and they generally do quite a good job building, it's still not a great value for what you're getting.

Kit builds are tricky and while I have kit builds, I won't have a kit built until I've had the chance to inspect the kit myself because it's such a toss up as to the condition of the kit and even if it's graded A++, the person who examined it may have missed something.

On top of that the rifle you linked to has a US made nitride barrel, and while those aren't necessarily bad, a cold hammer forged, chrome lined (CHF-CL) barrel is much preferable over a us made nitrided one.

A WASR underfolder is going for 949 right now on Atlantic Firearms and with a WASR-UF, you get a better barrel, as good if not better receiver, plus you'll be dealing with a much more reputable company in Atlantic Firearms vs RTI. I'd strongly prefer to buy from Atlantic because if there is an issue, they absolutely will take care of you. I have no idea what RTI's customer service is like, it may be good or bad, idk but I do know Atlantic's is great.

 

[BrettB]

I would not buy that

 

[BlueGecko]

You're going to have a bad time with anything RTI or IO inc. I had a similar CS issue where I ordered two mosin nagants that were shown in stock (they were the only ones to have stuff in stock at the time) but after a few weeks I had nothing to show for it so I canceled the order. Come to find out it would take them about 6 months to get the shipment in. But honestly that's a minor/petty poin considering their aks explode or just fall apart. They also have a terrible c&r reputation with the latest being Ethiopian mausers (or enfields) that were wall hangers at best that they sold as fair or better.
Without looking at the link, it must be $500/$600 bucks? They stay in business by selling the cheapest ak on the market, to guys who don't know better (or don't care). They hide a terrible product behind hype names (Childers, romanian parts kits, etc) but their build product is literally to die for. If you want a UF to sit on a wall for your zoom meetings, this is it. If you plan to actually shoot it (lawd forbid to count on it) look at the WASR UF or even the GF3 UFs.

 

[Solidsnack.]

You're going to have a bad time with anything RTI or IO inc. I had a similar CS issue where I ordered two mosin nagants that were shown in stock (they were the only ones to have stuff in stock at the time) but after a few weeks I had nothing to show for it so I canceled the order. Come to find out it would take them about 6 months to get the shipment in. But honestly that's a minor/petty poin considering their aks explode or just fall apart. They also have a terrible c&r reputation with the latest being Ethiopian mausers (or enfields) that were wall hangers at best that they sold as fair or better.
Without looking at the link, it must be $500/$600 bucks? They stay in business by selling the cheapest ak on the market, to guys who don't know better (or don't care). They hide a terrible product behind hype names (Childers, romanian parts kits, etc) but their build product is literally to die for. If you want a UF to sit on a wall for your zoom meetings, this is it. If you plan to actually shoot it (lawd forbid to count on it) look at the WASR UF or even the GF3 UFs.

RTI is asking 1k before tax, credit card fees, and shipping so with all that rolled in with a 50 FFL transfer it's probably around 1250.

I reread it and it does claim to be built by Childers which is good but still not a great deal. Not a horrible deal but not a good one either.

A friend of mine in the industry just got offered a bunch of Polish underfolder kits so I'd be on the look out for those to start popping up sometime soon

 

[IUHoosier429]

+1 on what @Exspiravit said. I bought some AK mags from RTI and the conditions were grossly overgraded, something else those hucksters are infamous for. Many of the mags were swollen with rust and totally unsalvageable.

RTI has a dreadful reputation within the AK and larger milsurp community, well-earned from years of dubious sales. There are diamonds in the rough for sure, but I wouldn't roll the dice on anything else from them. Childers makes a nice AK receiver but I don't know if they're good builders. Even if they are, if the base parts are all shot to hell the finished gun will still suck.