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MAGPUL AK furniture – is “plastic” really that fantastic?

15/05/03 at 11.53am   /   by Rob Ski   /   36 Comments

Magpul Zhukov Stock and MOE Hand-guards – things you have to know about these before purchasing!
Next stop for these: FARM!
So what you think guys, is “plastic” really that fantastic? Is Magpul design appealing to you?

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36 thoughts on “MAGPUL AK furniture – is “plastic” really that fantastic?”

  1. WinAndLegend says:
    May 4, 2015 at 8:58 am

    According to Magpul, the Zhukov-S extended hand guard weighs 14.9 oz. The cleaning rod weighs 1.85oz according to my scale and I’m guessing the hand guard retainer weighs about 2oz as well (have not yet cut mine off). The stock hand guards are roughly 6oz, so the net gain is about 5oz give or take. The Krebs fore end is 12.6oz and to my knowledge is the lightest full length hand guard on the market, but 2.3oz mid length isn’t a huge difference in weight and I doubt it would be discernible to any of us (maybe at the muzzle it would). The kebs unit runs $250 and also requires removal of the original hand guard retaining collar. Most other metal rails that weigh in the 12oz range are not as long so grip positions are more limited and they don’t manage heat as well. This looks like a very good solution, especially given the cost. What do you think about areas it could be lightened up? Looks to me like the “heat shield” could be reduced in weight by drilling holes throughout without dramatically affecting its strength. It will be interesting to see how well these hold up.

    Reply
    • Rob Ski says:
      May 4, 2015 at 11:16 am

      Yes, you are correct, most of the weight gain comes from the heat shield, it is very beefy…i think they they did this to better protect polymer from heat…drilling holes would be an interesting solution…i think you can even get away with slots if you have small machine to do this…

      Reply
      • WinAndLegend says:
        May 4, 2015 at 9:55 pm

        I have access to a hand mill at work, I may do some milling before installation to see how much I can take off. Usually the biggest issue with heat is not so much radiated, but conducted heat. The metal rails become unusably hot because the rails conduct heat to the operators hand, aluminum is an excellent thermal conductor and the rails have a fair amount of thermal mass, so once they heat up they stay hot for a while. Polymers are very poor thermal conductors, so the “heat shield” I have my doubts about how well it actually shields, I would suggest that magpul’s thermal performance claims of 5 magazines straight with 1 round per second are achieved largely because the polymer does not conduct heat to operators hand much like the stock hand guards. The same milled slots we see in the Krebs rails should be doable with the Magpul without compromising its integrity. I’ll be the weight of the rail could be reduced a good 30% to 40% and the entire system could be brought down to even with the Krebs possibly even less!

        Reply
      • WinAndLegend says:
        May 5, 2015 at 8:07 pm

        Rob, can you weigh the “heat shield” by itself and tell me how much it weighs compared to the rest of the fore end? Magpul claims the entire fore end is 14.9oz. Krebs has the lightest full length hand guard at 12.6oz, but it’s pricey and polymer will take about as much abuse as a 6061 if not more which is much softer than 7075. The Krebs and all the other hand guards are 6061 so for the cost being half (can then buy the butt stock), if I can get the weight comparable that would be and excellent solution.

        Reply
        • Rob Ski says:
          May 5, 2015 at 8:15 pm

          Heat shield is 7.1 oz

          Reply
          • winandlegend says:
            May 6, 2015 at 9:13 am

            Wow, thats almost 50% of the hand guards weight. A 40% weight reduction of the mount / heat shield would bring the entire thing down to about 12.1 oz total, which is even less than the krebs at 12.6. As soon as my zhukov handguard arrives, its drill time!

      • Gus G says:
        June 28, 2015 at 9:13 am

        After putting some rounds down rage with my Zhukov handguard installed, I believe the aluminum heat sheild actually makes this handguard hotter! The aluminum mounting block/heat sheild acts as a full length heat sink that gets very hot, then transfers that heat right to the plastic, the full length of the handguard. Because of the thickness of the aluminum used in the mounting block/heat sheild, it also takes a loooong time to cool down. I wonder if the front 6″ of the mounting block are really necessary to be there. Heat would dissipate better with a lighter, or more ventilated mounting block I believe.

        Reply
        • Rob Ski says:
          June 28, 2015 at 2:08 pm

          Interesting. I didn’t play much with Zhukov yet…

          Reply
      • Jesse S says:
        February 22, 2017 at 10:33 am

        Will the longer magpul hand guard fit a milled sam7R ?

        Reply
        • Rob Ski says:
          February 26, 2017 at 3:56 pm

          Please check with magpul if they try to do this…

          Reply
  2. stark82AB says:
    May 5, 2015 at 4:30 pm

    Hey Rob, any chance of close ups on the attachment method, both on and off the gun? I’m wanting to try the short hand guard on my AMD65 and was wondering if it will fit without too much, or no modifying.
    Thanks,

    Reply
    • Rob Ski says:
      May 5, 2015 at 4:45 pm

      Sure. I will email you pics.

      Reply
  3. jpcmt says:
    May 6, 2015 at 11:41 am

    I’ve got no issues with plastic. It’s more than proven itself in all forms of firearms accessories and furniture from the first Glock to the latest Magpul AK furniture item. There’s no question of it’s toughness. I’d even wager that this zhukov handguard protects against heat better than native wood furniture or even your typical zastava polymer handguard. The only non-fantastic part of plastic furniture is its appearance, and I for one appreciate most magpul plastics in appearance. I’d wager that the CTR stock is probably the most prolific stock used in the last decade. For my AK, I will stick with the MOE stock and handguard, for weight of course. I’ve never needed or desired a folding AK stock.

    Reply
    • jpcmt says:
      May 6, 2015 at 11:53 am

      Actually, I’m not going with the magpul stock but the minimalist stock. Though between the zhukov and moe, I’d prefer the moe. Question for Robski, does that zhukov or the MOE stock come with a basic cheek piece or do you have to order a separate one?

      Reply
      • Rob Ski says:
        May 6, 2015 at 8:08 pm

        You have to order cheek piece…it is extra piece…

        Reply
  4. super-dave says:
    May 6, 2015 at 1:47 pm

    Is there any way to make the extra long extended zhukov handguard fit a dad gave npap rifle?

    Reply
    • Rob Ski says:
      May 6, 2015 at 4:51 pm

      Dremel tool and some time to kill and i think someone is going to make it…

      Reply
  5. Matt Smith says:
    May 8, 2015 at 12:21 am

    Hey guys still really liking this c39v2 which handguard works the moe or the one with the cutout gonna pick one up soon

    Reply
    • Rob Ski says:
      May 8, 2015 at 9:19 am

      You don’t need cutout version on short rail for C39V2. It will work.

      Reply
  6. Matt Smith says:
    May 8, 2015 at 2:26 pm

    Thanks Rob your advice on the AK is the best by the way I got a mission first tactical stock it works really well check one out if you haven’t already

    Reply
    • Rob Ski says:
      May 8, 2015 at 2:46 pm

      Lol, i agree, that’s why we have it in the store: http://shop.akoperatorsunionlocal4774.com/BMS-Minimalist-Stock-Mission-First-Tactical-Stock.htm

      Reply
  7. Matt Smith says:
    May 8, 2015 at 5:12 pm

    Lol yeah I like the minimal stock but I got the mbus the one with storage and a real good thick recoil pad I was wondering when yall are gonna have the zenit muzzle for 14mm left hand all I see is 24mm right hand and thanks again for the help on that phantom muzzle brake Rob

    Reply
  8. Randy-ski says:
    June 2, 2015 at 5:13 pm

    Rob-Ski
    Zhukov stock folding mechanism… How long term durable do you think it is? Also how good is lockup of stock to the rifle? For me I am deciding between Zhukov and Canis adapter. My main concern is durability. Thanks

    Reply
    • Rob Ski says:
      June 2, 2015 at 5:46 pm

      Canis is more solid than Magpul. Metal > polymer…

      Reply
  9. Shaw says:
    November 29, 2015 at 3:28 am

    I need some help. I bought a DDI stamped Ak 47 with the MOE handguard which I am supposed to be able to mount hardware on using the MOE system right? Well, when I took the gun apart it became clear that I cant mount anything because the handguard’s heat shield is in the way! What am I doing wrong here? Or is this a design flaw. Help me out Rob Ski! Thanks a lot. Your videos are the best.

    Reply
    • Rob Ski says:
      March 21, 2016 at 10:01 am

      MOE is using Mlok system. Rails and accessories with Mlok will install on it.

      Reply
  10. Joseph Saeger says:
    March 12, 2016 at 8:40 pm

    Will the zhukov forend fit a vepr in 5.56? Thanks

    Reply
    • Rob Ski says:
      March 13, 2016 at 8:01 am

      It will but with mods. You have to make clamps bigger because of the barrel diameter.

      Reply
  11. Joe says:
    March 31, 2016 at 12:10 pm

    Hey Rob Ski, first of i want to thank you for all your videos. Extremely helpful for alll those first time ak owners like myself. Im currently looking for a hand guard heat shield but cannot decide which one to buy.. what do you recommend. I Own a wasr 10
    Thanks Rob,

    Reply
    • Rob Ski says:
      April 1, 2016 at 6:18 pm

      Just get one from Kvar with built in heat shield. There isnt much what you can do about heat…other than use magazine grip…:-)

      Reply
  12. DIB says:
    June 25, 2016 at 11:45 am

    Just an FYI I discovered today:. Arsenal folding stock will not lock in place with MOE handguard without a little dremel action.

    Reply
    • Rob Ski says:
      July 3, 2016 at 9:18 am

      That is correct, we talked about last year. But little dremel action is all it takes…lol

      Reply
  13. Pink says:
    July 30, 2016 at 7:01 pm

    I have a polish parts kit ak, I was thinking about getting the Zhukov hand guard for it. Is it worth cutting the metal piece out to install or keep the small moe?

    Reply
    • Rob Ski says:
      July 31, 2016 at 8:09 am

      Keep the small MOE. That’s my honest opinion.

      Reply
  14. Dee says:
    September 12, 2016 at 7:51 pm

    Shaw
    You need to remove the heat shield from the moe hand guard to install the mlok rails.

    Reply
  15. Wesley says:
    August 26, 2019 at 1:20 pm

    Hi Rob,
    Have you heard of or tried out the Bonesteel Galil folding stock? Wasn’t too impressed with the Zhukov stock as it stopped locking up tight. Switched over to the Bonesteel, which is overall much better built and considerably more rugged.
    Thanks, Wes.

    Reply

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