I saw one on display in the late 90’s, they were a special batch ordered by the Royal Guard of the Arab Emirates or Quatar, if memory serves correctly. The image does not give away how mindblowingly cool it was in real world.
EDIT:
I was mistaken. It is not RK-95 but some other AK variant, as OP clearly points out in the comments.
I was in the 🇫🇮 military for a few years so my service weapon was the RK 62 and I’ve seen some 95s, and the drip rifle doesn’t look like either - especially not the 95 which looks much more “modern”, iirc doesn’t have a stockless variant (edit: nvm the drip has a folding stock but way different compared to the 95), has a different kind of muzzle device etc. 62 doesn’t really match either, controls look different, the gas tube on the drip is way more AK-ish when on the 62 it’s kinda blockier, etc. In general the drip one looks more like a classic stereotypical AK than Sako’s stuff.
Dunno what this drip one is actually. It’s a more classic AK pattern but I’m not that deep into pew pews to be able to guess the manufacturer
edit: I know gold plated Sakos exist though, so I don’t doubt you saw one, just saying this one isn’t it 😁
I did my service in the late 90’s and a gun just like on the picture above was on display at the gun exhibit at the RUK main hall. It was of course heavily modified according to the wishes of the buyer, but built upon the basic RK-95 frame.
It is completely possible I am wrong. There are bound to be a large number of gilded AK-variants in the arab courts, everyone probably wanted their own after the first one got them. The picture does match my memory, but it was a long time ago…
Oh yeah like I said they’ve made a bunch of gold plated ones and I’ve likely seen the same gold plated RK you have, but they still look very much like Sako, like the one on that page:
Looks like the drip I posted is a Chinese Type 56-1 at least according to reddit and I’d tend to agree, because you’d need to modify a Sako really heavily to make it look that much like an AK, and I doubt Sako would bother since they’d have to custom make everything including the receiver. They do customize stuff but that wouldn’t be customization, but a whole 'nother gun with practically no common parts except maybe some of the guts (even the charging handle is “wrong” for RK95 so the bolt carrier would have to be custom)
Yep, after comparing both images more closely I am now certain that I was wrong. The structural dissimilarities are simply too great, even for a heavily modified model.
This is a good reminder for me to keep my facts straight before I start claiming truths online, based on just memories from quarter a century ago ;)
I think I’ve reached the age where finding out I’ve been wrong about something isn’t all that bad. Accept and examine the presented facts and you just learn something new. And there’s no shame in that.
That is a gilded SAKO RK-95.
I saw one on display in the late 90’s, they were a special batch ordered by the Royal Guard of the Arab Emirates or Quatar, if memory serves correctly. The image does not give away how mindblowingly cool it was in real world.
EDIT:
I was mistaken. It is not RK-95 but some other AK variant, as OP clearly points out in the comments.
I was in the 🇫🇮 military for a few years so my service weapon was the RK 62 and I’ve seen some 95s, and the drip rifle doesn’t look like either - especially not the 95 which looks much more “modern”, iirc doesn’t have a stockless variant (edit: nvm the drip has a folding stock but way different compared to the 95), has a different kind of muzzle device etc. 62 doesn’t really match either, controls look different, the gas tube on the drip is way more AK-ish when on the 62 it’s kinda blockier, etc. In general the drip one looks more like a classic stereotypical AK than Sako’s stuff.
Dunno what this drip one is actually. It’s a more classic AK pattern but I’m not that deep into pew pews to be able to guess the manufacturer
edit: I know gold plated Sakos exist though, so I don’t doubt you saw one, just saying this one isn’t it 😁
I did my service in the late 90’s and a gun just like on the picture above was on display at the gun exhibit at the RUK main hall. It was of course heavily modified according to the wishes of the buyer, but built upon the basic RK-95 frame.
Here’s a link that somewhat matches my memories:
https://metsastysjakalastus.fi/sakon-aseaarteet-sako-rk-95-762x39-kultainen-ase/
EDIT:
It is completely possible I am wrong. There are bound to be a large number of gilded AK-variants in the arab courts, everyone probably wanted their own after the first one got them. The picture does match my memory, but it was a long time ago…
Oh yeah like I said they’ve made a bunch of gold plated ones and I’ve likely seen the same gold plated RK you have, but they still look very much like Sako, like the one on that page:
Looks like the drip I posted is a Chinese Type 56-1 at least according to reddit and I’d tend to agree, because you’d need to modify a Sako really heavily to make it look that much like an AK, and I doubt Sako would bother since they’d have to custom make everything including the receiver. They do customize stuff but that wouldn’t be customization, but a whole 'nother gun with practically no common parts except maybe some of the guts (even the charging handle is “wrong” for RK95 so the bolt carrier would have to be custom)
Yep, after comparing both images more closely I am now certain that I was wrong. The structural dissimilarities are simply too great, even for a heavily modified model.
This is a good reminder for me to keep my facts straight before I start claiming truths online, based on just memories from quarter a century ago ;)
Thank you for kindly showing me my mistake!
That’s the shit part about human memory: you never really know if you brain is lying to you or not.
You went with your best knowledge and then changed your view when it turned out you weren’t right, and that’s pretty much the best anybody can do.
True.
I think I’ve reached the age where finding out I’ve been wrong about something isn’t all that bad. Accept and examine the presented facts and you just learn something new. And there’s no shame in that.