Praise Saint Mikhail and his rifle industry disciples! A new player has entered the AK import picture, and it ain’t just any player. FB Radom has produced high-quality firearms for the Polish military for a long time. After the fall of the USSR and the Warsaw Pact in the 1990s, the Beryl
was developed to replace the old AKM 7.62×39 and Tantal 5.45×39 rifles for the army.
Now FB Radom is sending semiautomatic versions of their Beryl platform to the US of A in calibers 7.62×39 and 5.56 NATO.
Russian threat’ (southfront.org)
Quality AK imports have been declining in availability since 2013, while the price of what there is has correspondingly risen. Couple that with the political and social events of the last year and a half and…well, you get it. The US market is finally producing some solid AKs that average
dudes can afford with Palmetto State Armory taking the lead there, but, we all benefit (at least in my humble opinion) from good quality imports to keep the competition strong.
And who better to give us an initial impression of the Beryl 7.62×39 version than everyone’s favorite Pole, Rob Ski from AK Operator’s Union?
What’s the Setup?
Well, it’s pretty basic. US polymer stock and Beryl handguard. Rob says he plans to replace the stock and pistol grip, which is functional but nothing special. It also features the Beryl rear-mounted lug for a rail on top of the dust cover. Rob’s not a fan because he says it makes the optic sit too high. He explains all of that in the video.
Yeah, I know you “Nyet, rifle is fine” guys are out there, and I get it, but options are nice.
A standard Beryl muzzle device is mounted on a 14-1 left-hand threaded barrel. Rob waffles a little on the recoil and won’t say much past allowing that the muzzle device “works kinda OK.” But, to be fair, he doesn’t even put a full mag through it in the video. He promises a more in-depth follow-up.
Rob gives the Polish AK a thumbs-up on the enhanced safety lever; enhanced mag release tab; and the rivets and pins, which really are a big deal. He didn’t say anything about the barrel or trunnions, but coming from Radom, I expect they are good quality forged parts. Rob says the factory trigger is typical for an AK, “Not bad, nothing special.” The Beryl also takes standard AK mags, so that’s another big positive.
How Did it Shoot and What’s the Bottom Line?
Accuracy was good at 100 yards and decent at 300 with not quite zeroed factory iron sights. In a sort of cool twist, he used rusty ammo that had been in a flooded basement. No problems. Again, this is a first impression, but Rob says the “Initial quality looking really, really good.”
The Beryl is going for $1499. I would have balked at that a couple of years ago, but now…that’s kinda where we are. This Polish AK is probably worth a look. As Rob said, “First contact, this is really, really cool.” Watch the video for the full story and check out the FB Radom website for yourself.
