AK4D [Modernized G3] 650yds: Practical Accuracy (Feat. Karl | Swedish Army Weapons Instructor)

This video is brought to you by Slate Black Industries. For grips and accessories, visit slateblackindustries.com. I hope you enjoy this episode. It is a record breaker. So, enjoy. Place a little bit more difficulty due to the approximation, which is more realistic. Yeah. Target 1. Impact. Impact. That's neutralized. Alright. Target 2. Impact. Impact. That's neutralized. Target 3. Impact. Impact. Center chest hits? Those were yes. Okay. Just moved off to the left to target 4. Okay. Impact. Impact. Dead on. Okay. Target 5. Further to the left. Impact. Left side? Yes. Impact. Your alarm went off and interrupted the video. Are we still good here? Okay. Impact just at the base of the target. Good windage. Need to come up about 6 inches. Impact. Much better. 4, 5. That was target 6. Okay. We're on target 7, which is approximately 450. Impact. Impact. Right at the neckline. Good. The one with the big bush kind of hanging out right next to his right side. I see it. Observer's on. Impact. Just right of center. About 3 inches right of center. Impact. Nice. That was on the low left corner, but still solid hit. These are C zones, so they're reduced torso targets. So that would be basically a gut shot. So typically for the course, this is complete, right? That would be complete for the course. One miss. Yeah, at what would have amounted to like 400-ish, 350, 400. What's the power of the optic you've got on there? It's a 4X optic. Only a 4X optic. Again, more than sufficient for first-round impacts out to 500. So typically the Swedes max this out at 600 meters. Would you be interested in trying 600 meters with this? Yeah, we've got a circle gong. It's a UKD. Some of that foliage that you guys can see there on video is getting in the way of the laser a bit, as is some of the shadows. It's out there between the 600 and 700 yard targets. So that would put it at somewhere around 600 meters. Short. A good bit short there. Need to come up. Probably almost at least half a target length, if not more. That was a belly hold. I'm going to go ahead and bump it up to a chest hold. That's an impact. What? Impact. Nice. On the bottom portion. I actually can't see where it was hit because the foliage from my position is covering a portion of it. But that was definitely an impact. Okay, so that is typically the max distance for the Swedish Armed Forces when they use a Henselt scope to engage. This is how big this actually is. That's it. We'll go to the debrief. We'll check it out. But I do think there's more potential that we could squeeze out of the platform. Again, as far as the barrel, the trigger, the bolt group, everything, it is still a bone stock G3. So you're looking at the modernization process and the optimization process of the G3 platform itself. So I see a tremendous amount of potential on the platform itself. Perfect. Let's head over to the debrief. We'll see you at the debrief. We've made some pretty sweet merch. You'll see under slatesblackindustries.com that we have some pretty cool patches for sale. Currently, we've just released the Blackhawk down Goodies vs. Baddies with a Gordon carbine and the Sushka, or AKSU, patches for sale. These are limited stock on hand, so get them while they're available. Okay, so the modernized G3, which in this form is the Swedish AK-4 format. Now, the Swedish AK-4 is different from this, however, because they shave the front and the rear sights and they extend the Picatinny rail all the way to the end. I could not bear myself with shaving off the excellent sights to the G3, so Swedish Army soldiers out there, you'll have to bear with my uncouth nature of keeping the iron sights. However, the AK-4, basically the Swedish version of the G3, actually has a longer stock than the G3. So the already long stock of the G3 is even longer. And so the AK-4C went about in just switching the rear stock to the spur stock to where it realigns that recoil. The AK-4D then attaches the handguard to where it could receive, at that point, laser designators or any type of item to aid in the operational capacity of the soldier. The Swedes also run the ZF-24, the Henselt, the old Henselt scope, on a mount. People don't realize this, but these are 50-year-old pipe scope designs. So how does that function? What base is this in here? Is this like old Weaver bases or is that something different? This particular one is an ARMS QD base. But what is the Henselt actually mounting into on the ARMS? It's a Stenag base. So NATO has foregone the real Stenag-type systems because, as rightfully so, we've moved more towards a modularity concept. But the Swedes ended up with a lot of Stenag Henselt scopes and AK-4s. And when they came to modernize the weapon toward modern-day use, they came up with this. It's a 308 battle rifle, which we've shot a version of it on the course before, right? It was the iron-sighted PTR? Yes. In fact, this exact same rifle. Oh, was it? Okay. Was it. So, I mean, you're actually looking at the same rifle. Got it. It's just that our gunsmith, Mike, at 19 Charlie, had welded on a pick rail for us on top. And so the Swedes actually weld the pick rail on top to fit their aging Henselt scopes on and create a system that they are stock gapping between the old G3 type and the future whatever they end up procuring. So when it comes down to performance then, if I recall correctly, this rifle in its original configuration actually did quite well on the course. And so we had decent standards that we were expecting it was going to perform into, but, I mean, this thing aced it. It set the new record. I mean, it was a ridiculously good run. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, again, it's hard to say you're surprised one way or the other at the performance, but it's unexpected for a rifle to go all the way out with only a single miss, just based on the nature of what we're doing and the various platforms we use. I think the biggest thing is working the scope, because you're talking about a very limited picket tip German T-post. So flat tip German T-post that I was holding at a 6 o'clock hold throughout. And I only made one adjustment. So what did you do then? On your close targets you did a belly hold with a 300? I actually did a belt buckle hold. So if you look at the shooting, you'll see the first shot was actually very low because I was trying to gauge at belt buckle what am I looking as far as the rise, the elevation. And then the second one was much more square. So that is not because the rifle cannot shoot. It's more so me as a shooter, I'm trying to figure out, all right. You're changing your point of aim. Yes, specifically I need to figure out the point of aim as I push it. And that was the first time I pushed it on the distance course too. So what did you do then? You shot a 300-meter zero for your first handful of targets and then flipped over. And then I made one adjustment. So then you'd see the targets actually start coming in low. I reset it to a belt buckle for, I believe, either 400 or 450. And so at that point I was aiming very low. But in all reality, the weapon itself was actually able to maintain a fairly tight group with corroded ammo, I might add. Yes, but some that we do like quite a bit. I know you're very fond of that. Is it German ball? Yes, German MEN surplus ammo. It's actually very well loaded, precisely loaded for ball ammo. So it's not match-grade per se. It's also not boattail. It's a typical spitzer. So really looking back at the performance of the rifle, it had no issues clearing 500 yards. Even when we pushed it out to 650, which is close to 600 meters. But I think we're actually pretty lucky we have a Swedish Armed Forces weapons instructor who we can tap into and ask a few questions about the AK-4 itself. So let's hear what Carl has to say. One, main target. Two, main target. Road. Someone who hasn't found it. A lot of people will be like, why is it called an AK? It's not an Automat Kalashnikova. Yeah, it's Automat Karbin. So it's like, yeah, Automat Karbin. Automat Karbin 4. Okay, so it's a little bit different than trying to learn German. Yeah, it is. It's Swedish language. It's quite fun, but it's hard for foreigners, especially Americans. I feel like the G3 platform system is very modular to begin with. Yeah, it is. And I think one thing that the biggest issues that people complained about was the height, the comb height drop of the original G3s, which Spoor seems to have fixed a lot of that. I mean, how do you guys like it? Yeah, it's a night and day difference to shoot a regular G3. With red dot, I will add. With iron sights, it's fine to have a lower. But it's more controllable. It's easier to shoot at ranges, like distances. Yeah, it's way easier to shoot and control the rifle. Do your recruits have any problems running with the newer updated versions? No. You mean the conscripts? Yes. No. They don't have any options. They're forced to use it. No, as long as you are not too short or too weak, I would say. Sorry, you have to cut that out. No, that's good. I mean, it's a heavy rifle. I guess when you're saying too weak, is that with the charging? Yeah, the charging and the standing shooting. It's a heavy rifle to shoot. It's a super good, reliable, rugged rifle that could pack a punch. With the new stock and handguard, bipod, etc., it's a more than capable marksman rifle too. The handguard here uses the standard AK with a red dot. And just recently got the updated spur stock on it. The designated marksmen have both the handguard and bipod. Actually, let me put the rifle on the wall so we can see it while we're talking. Yeah. Much better. I like it. It looks neat. Indeed it does. It's a nice looking rifle. Except mine has the iron sights on it. Because while I really thought about going full Swede, I could not bear with myself cutting those iron sights off. Because I personally really like the H&K sights. They're good. I guess minus the vertical foregrip, this would be pretty close to what you would be training your recruits on, right? Or your conscripts plus recruits. Your marksmen. Yeah. So what does the Swedish Army expect for the typical marksman? We expect them to shoot at 600 meters, our requirement, for the sharpshooters or designated marksmen to hit a full-size target. For accuracy, we shoot ball ammo, NATO ammo. So we don't expect more of the recruits than the ammo is capable of. What do you typically see as far as the accuracy if you were shooting? At 100 yards or 100 meters, we see 1 MOA to 2 MOA. So ball ammo. That's actually pretty good for ball ammo. Yeah, it is. Not every single shooting series or whatever needs 1 MOA, but it's not uncommon. I guess if there was something on this thing that you would get rid of, let me hear it from you. What would you want to get rid of off of this rifle right here? I don't want to get rid of it, but I want to change the optics to a more modernized optic. Why? It's a classic. The Henselt is a classic. It's a 1950s classic. Yeah, that's true. It's a classic, so that's the reason maybe. I want to change it to an optic that's 1-2-8 or 1-2-4 or whatever, like a variable optic. That would be nice, because then you're more capable in the squad than with a fixed optic, I think. That's my view of it. So the Henselt itself, I believe that's like a 60s, 50s or 60s design, right? The scope itself? Yeah, I think it's drawn from the WWII optic. ZF39, like the 98Ks. But for a marksman rifle, I would like it to have the elevation notches pretty much the same as you have on the optic today. Because if you have 100, 200, 300 and not like mils, it's faster and it's easier. Because as a marksman, you're not supposed to be a sniper. You're supposed to hit the live target at the distance, like a machine gunner or platoon commander or whatever. In the firefight. And when you're in the thick of it, you want fast ability to click. And I think that's a good system on this optic compared to new optics that's only mils. You guys really focus more on the precise dial than a holdover type of training. No, we use both. You can use a holdover if you know the distances. But if you have a German post, you know by yourself, it's hard to have a holdover. If you have a 300 meter dial, you shoot at 600 meters. I mean, if you shoot like 100 meters and have it on 300, that's fine because you can hold down. Right. So, we use both. Obviously, the system itself can push it farther than 600. Right. But at the same time, if you're giving it to a group of grunts that have limited exposure or a short amount of instructions, capping them off at 600 is very well within the performance envelope for the .308 7.62 NATO cartridge to push. So, you think it's almost like it was done as a way to... To ensure the confidence of the marksmen or the soldiers. That's my theory. One of the issues that they're facing in the Swedish Armed Forces now is, yes, they did the fancy upgrades and all that. But they got the nice fancy Atlas bipods for these, which we do not have right here. But the scope they did not update yet. That's kind of ironic, isn't it? Yeah. So, you're still looking at these very old scopes. And as Carl was talking about, we're basically having issues with the scopes being able to maintain zero sometimes. And people forget about that. You know, you buy a decent rifle, you know, it's easy to kit a rifle out into a better format. But then if your sighting system does not match what the rifle's performance is... Yeah, you're artificially capping your capabilities, aren't you? Yeah. Which, this particular Henselt is a factory new Henselt. Like, it was factory wrapped as I took it out of the box. So, you would presume that this would not have any of the same issues as any of the 50-year-old issue scores that the Swedes were using. So, I would say that a good way of approaching this, if we're talking about a DMR type of scenario, right? Having the marksman being able to pull his own security if he needs to kick doors. If, not saying that's a primary role of a marksman. If he needs to kick doors and he also has a capability of kicking doors or pulling his own. Then a 1x to, let's say, 6x to 8x LPVO is a very good choice. Now, the issue with a lot of the LPVOs on the markets is that they are more catered towards the assaulter than they are the marksman. That's probably a fair assessment. More on the carbine category as opposed to DMR category. Right. You set up. So, I wonder, Josh, if we could find a scope that is more catering towards the marksman. Like an LPVO that goes 1x to 8x but has a decent reticle to reach out and caters towards the marksman instead of... Thank you very much. And perhaps we shall see you back for the next video. When we see how this thing actually performs with an LPVO. See you on the range. I ended up liking it so much that I bought all of my own spare upgrade parts for this. And so now I still have Brendan's stuff that I need to send back to him. But then also thanks to Brian for trading me for the PTR-91. He knew I was interested in doing a project like this and he traded me for this particular rifle. And I have immensely enjoyed it. So, thank you too. Special thanks to Mike out there at 19Charlie as well. Helping us with the top rail. Welding that together and making sure that everything is A-OK. Looks good. And finally, thanks to Carl for contributing and teaching us about the tradition in Swedish marksmanship. He is indeed going to come back and talk more about Swedish rifles and Swedish marksmanship. His personal philosophy. And a lot of very interesting things of how the Swedes contributed towards their tradition in marksmanship. So, we look forward to seeing him again. And until next time, you guys take care out there. We'll see you on the range. 10-7, 1-6 roger, over. 1-6, 15-9-2, 1-V, 2-FAX, recon 1, over.