Source
r/ak47•
JonnyBox

Tantal questions.

Hello again, Kalashnibros. I followed the great meme of slav gat, as a deal that could not be refused surfaced when one of my buddies decided the WASR he's fired a massive total of 90 rounds through was taking up valuable room in his safe. It even has a sling and a capitalist stabber/salo slicer.

Now that I've got a WASR for peanuts, I want some model of AK-74. I noticed that Atlantic has Tantals. So my questions:

  1. Does the Tantal suck? Does it not suck? Between what does it compare to in the 47 world quality wise?

  2. If the Tantal does not suck, I know for fact that stupid wire stock will. How hard will it be t swap it with another stock? Preferably a Beryl or other wire folding stock? (so I can keep the AIRBORNE! Side-folding coolness.)

  3. If the Tantal is a tan-turd, what are some other decently priced alternatives in the 5.45 world?

Thanks again.

Posted Dec 17, 2016, 10:00 PM UTC

1512
skidude9678•

I have owned two Tantals: a Century built one that I sold and one I built myself.

  1. Tantals are fine rifles. The stock is not my favorite in the world as the length of pull is short even by Warsaw Pact standards, but the rifle as a whole goes bang and is accurate. They are generally good guns if built well, and Atlantic does very nice builds so it should serve you well. Stay away from the Century built ones.

  2. See my previous reply. I would personally keep the stock on there for autenticity's sake, as there were only about 25,000 Tantals produced. If you want to make a rifle your own special snowflake, do it to an SLR-104 or something. A Tantal should be kept just as it would have been from the factory imo. If you do have to change the stock out, most standard AK stocks (including the Beryl folder) should work fine, as the Tantal uses a normal rear trunnion.

  3. A logical alternative would be a basic SLR-104.

8
JonnyBoxOP•

A Tantal should be kept just as it would have been from the factory imo.

I'm typically of this opinion, and if I can use the stock... stock, I will. It's also why I'd want to swap it for Beryl stock over some cool guy thing, at least it's a plausible change, if the world didn't change in 1990.

I'm not going to AR it up. No optics that won't mount on the side rail, not going to mess with the furniture, the stock 74 flashhider is fine, ect.

A logical alternative would be a basic SLR-104.

That is the other option at this point. I can get a used SLR 104FR for a bit more than I can grab an Atlantic Tantal for, so the Arsenal is in play.

Thank you very much for the info.

4
skidude9678•

I'm typically of this opinion, and if I can use the stock... stock, I will. It's also why I'd want to swap it for Beryl stock over some cool guy thing, at least it's a plausible change, if the world didn't change in 1990. I'm not going to AR it up. No optics that won't mount on the side rail, not going to mess with the furniture, the stock 74 flashhider is fine, ect.

Hahaha alright, I just get a bit jumpy when people talk about swapping out parts on AKs, so my apologies. Any particular reason why you are looking at Tantals, then? Most people who want one want it for collector reasons.

2
JonnyBoxOP•

Any particular reason why you are looking at Tantals, then?

  1. POLAN STRONK!
  2. Cool alternative to to more common AKs
  3. A few hundred cheaper than Arsenal and Vepr options, which leaves more Polanbux for bullets.
7
skidude9678•

i cannot argue with such logic

4
ERECTILE_CONJUNCTIONAllahu Snackbar•

An SLR104 is 1033 on K-var, comes with a chrome lined barrel, has a much better stock, and was built in a real factory in Bulgaria unlike the Atlantic Firearms Tantal, which is a parts kit gun. The Arsenal is a much, much better choice. Buy once cry once

2
ksbsnowowl•

VEPR FM-AK74-11

I got one last week. This thing will last forever. Can't wait for the new year when I'll get a chance to shoot it (it is technically a "Christmas present").

I plan to do a write up on it for the AK Files later this month. The only oddity I've noticed about it thus far is that it doesn't like to seat/lock ((21)) mags. A comparison between them and ((10)) mags shows they are a bit taller, and they get the barest interference from the ejector. They will lock in, but you have to make sure it's in, and the mag latch won't lock forward all the way.

6
howling_mad•

Overpriced.

At $900 you're getting close to SLR104FR territory. Do this. Or look at the FM Vepr as suggested prior.

5
Alpine_Sweat•

Do the SLR104 if you can. It's light weight and has a side folding stock that isn't essential, but is nice given the choice. Second pick would be the FM-AK74-11. A true Russian AK that will be heavier than the SLR, but is also a very high quality rifle.

The Tantal is cool if you specifically want to collect a Tantal, but it doesn't really pack as much value as the other options in its price range. Hope this helps!

4
cigarmanpa•

Found one on armslist with a "make an offer" price. glad I found this thread

1
wysoft•

Tantals are good rigs.

The wire stocks are really not that uncomfortable. Para wrap it, it improves the cheek weld comfort.

(Not a Tantal but same style stock /w wrap) http://i.imgur.com/7JPdQhe.jpg

1
LocknLoadem•

I can't comment on the quality of a pre built tantal since I built my own, but I will say that they are a neat variant of the AK-74.

The cool thing about these rifles is that they use a standard fixed stock trunnion, so you can swap out the wire folder for any standard fixed akm stock easily.

1