Message from @Somnio
Discord ID: 462132869850988552
I am a Polish and Russian collector currently so they are all soviet, yes
so as you can see, a Vepr is a civilian semi-auto version of an RPK machine gun. it has a shorter 16" barrel on it while the original RPK has a 23" barrel. it is a very very nice gun
Nice
How's the accuracy?
AKOU =/= Science but it is VERY accurate compared to standard AKs
I think it has a lot to do with the thick RPK barrel that Veprs have. they heat up slower than normal AKs so they retain the same POI for a longer amount of time
Yeah, I know the RPK has a beefed up barrel and some internal components are also strengthened for sustained fire
So the civilian version retains those features?
yes, Veprs are RPKs with shortened barrels and semi-auto only
but 7.62x39 reaches maximum velocity out of a 16" barrel, so a 23" barrel RPK will have the same accuracy as a Vepr
Huh, didn't know that.
the only reason the RPK barrel is so long is to transfer heat even slower than usual for automatic fire and to fit the long underfolding bipod under the barrel as seen in the picture I posted
Vepr's are semi-auto only so even though it has a shorter barrel, you'll never heat it up like you would an RPK
Yeah, bipod's gotta be a decent size to get clearance for the 45 round mags
"70rd drums"
I've heard bad things about the drums
hahaha
I could talk about RPKs and Veprs all night long since Veprs are my favorite guns and I know them inside and out, lol
It must be nice living somewhere that doesn't ban importation of Russian and Chinese guns
when RPKs were first developed, they only had the 70rd drums. they developed 40rd magazines for them much later to increase reliability
the 40rd mag is very long, so when a Russian troop is prone in the dirt, they have to dig a hole for the magazine to sit comfortability in as the weapon can be stable on the bipod
I knew it!
It's that or crouch
Also seen a few guys fire with the bipod resting on a kneeling comrade
the RPK-74 has straighter 45rd mags so they have that problem even more
Yeah, that's the one I was thinking of
You familiar with the PSL, the DMR the Romanians developed from the RPK since they didn't get the Dragunov?
yeah I'm not interested in that thing, not even a little bit, lol
I'm not a Romanian collector, and there is a lot of problems with the PSL system
Ah, it seems intersting to me
I have a long barreled vepr chambered in .308. it is basically a PSL except higher quality and cheaper. the only thing going for the PSL is that it is a military collectible
Oh well
I've heard good things about it, but we're pretty starved of any decent AK derivatives here in the states
so the PSL is just an RPK receiver with AKM parts slapped onto it, chambered in 7.62x54R. it has a longer gas tube too
I dream of someday building the most accurate AK I can
Just because
it has a thin pencil barrel, thinner than an RPK or SVD barrel. So a PSL barrel heats up fast and shifts POI fast whereas my vepr and an SVD will outshoot a PSL every day of the week
So even a few rounds will make it off?
it varies by how hot it gets
metal bends and expands when it gets hot, the hotter it gets, the more inaccurate it will be, the more the POI will have shifted