Brushing up on the Khyber Pass side-folding AK concept (VIDEO)

While Soviet troops in Afghanistan in the 1980s had the neat-o and then-new AK74, a cottage industry erupted to mate its folding stock with older AKMs for local consumption.

To explain the process that saw Tula’s most advanced rifle design reworked by local gunsmiths in the longstanding Khyber Pass model is Gary Hughes of Dead Air Silencers in the above video. He goes over the backstory of the concept that married the side-folding ability of the newer 5.45mm AK74 with the high-milage Cold War workhorse that was the 7.62x39mm AKM, which had traditionally only been available in an underfolder (AKMS) variant. Interestingly, the demo that Hughes brought to show off is a reworked commercially-available Romanian WASR-10 that is set up as a Post-86 dealer sample complete with a tunable KNS AK adjustable gas piston.

Then comes a detailed breakdown of the distinctive can. Unlike the old Soviet PBS-1 Afghan War-era suppressor, the Deadair Wolverine version is wipeless and full-auto rated, and Hughes goes on to speak to the unique challenges that trying hush up a Kalash brings to the table.

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