Meridian Defense Little Dirty 7.62x39 Short Barreled Rifle

This episode was brought to you by Slate Black Industries. For M-LOK grips and accessories, visit slateblackindustries.com. Welcome to 9-Hole Reviews. A few years ago, we brought you our classic review on the Meridian Defense Corp. Little Dirty, a US-made AK pistol with no expenses spared. In its initial configuration, the LDP was a great performer, extremely smooth shooting, respectably accurate as far as what we expect from Kalashnikovs, and set up to easily be converted into a suppressed short-barrel platform. And that's just what we've done. Reintroducing the Meridian Defense Little Dirty SBR. Since Meridian builds these firearms with premium or upgraded internals, and we haven't found the need to make any modifications under the hood, the general feel and performance of the firearm while unsuppressed is much the same as what we previously presented, and we encourage you to head back over to the original video if you need any specific refreshers. But the addition of a stock and the Slate Black Industries vertical grip have significantly improved the ergonomics and comfort of the platform. The stock mount we opted to go with was a modular variant, utilizing a Picatinny attachment from K&S Precision. The pic rail allows for simple and easy swaps of the stock platform between two primary options, a Magpul CTR with a cheek riser for maximum performance and comfort, and a JMAX skeletonized stock for a more minimalist application. The stocks both utilize the SIG folding mechanism, and both stocks fold close enough against the side of the receiver to lock in the closed or folded position. The JMAX stock clearly sits much tighter and trimmer than the Magpul, but the Magpul does still stay locked, although that's not the case for every carbine stock out there. The B5 SOPMOD for example is too bulky and contacts the side of the receiver, preventing the folding mechanism from holding in the folded position. To add a touch of comfort to the skeletonized stock, we opted to add an aisle manufacturing cheek piece. While this is a small part that may seem insignificant, it adds just enough padding to take away the sting of a metal rod slapping against the shooter's jaw. So depending on intended application, we now have readily modifiable options on the back end of the firearm that can influence both weight and bulk, as well as a folding mechanism that allows us to fit the firearm more comfortably in packs or in the confined spaces of a vehicle and can still deploy rapidly to the extended position. Now as mentioned, the SVG has also added some significant comfort for the shooter's support hand. When shooting shorter rifles, space at the front of the gun is more limited due to the lessened rail length, and the shorter rail also may force the shooter to change the angle by which their support hand and elbow meets the rail, especially if the shooter is used to shooting full-length carbines with a modern grip. The SVG allows for the grip to be taken more comfortably and ergonomically. It also allows for the user to more comfortably rotate and pivot the hand to access pressure pads for firing of white lights and lasers. Those of you with good memories and astute perception may have noticed that with the addition of the SVG, we were able to then also add and fit a Purse 3 IR unit to the Little Dirty. While IR devices are only needed by shooters running night vision, a strong white light, such as this Surefire Dual Fuel Pro, is one of the most important additions a user can add to a may-be-utilized-outside-of-the-flat range, as far as we're concerned. A quick side note, we've had some questions as to whether the heat from the gas tube has caused issues with the laser. As of current, no, but we've also not torture-tested the setup to see when the heat will become too much of an issue. To allow us to mount the IR unit at the 12 o'clock position, we've moved our Trijicon MRO optic off the gas tube and onto the Atero Arms Picatinny mount. By choosing the Pic mount version of the rear sight optic mount, we were able to gain the perfect height to see over the top of the IR unit with the dot. Now onto the bolt knob. A simple slip and set screw on design, the Zeniko RP1 adds a bit of texture and length to allow for easier access to the bolt, especially when reaching under to rack the firearm following a reload. Notice how before the upgrade, we actually caught a reload on camera where I slipped off the bolt while charging the firearm. This is no longer a problem. And so let's talk about the suppressor. Here we have a Dead Air Sandman S. Because the barrel is turned by meridian in their shop, there are no issues with concentricity that some AKs, especially imports, can run into. The Sandman attaches with a quick ratchet of the Kimo QD system and we're off to the races. Another issue that users typically run into when suppressing the Kalash has to do with gassing. AKs are fairly notorious for being overgassed, and the increased back pressure generated when running the suppressor only exacerbates this issue. Thankfully, the LDP can be ordered with a K&S piston, which allows the user to tune the gas system. While this works well for decreasing felt recoil in general, it really shines when running the weapon suppressed. The user can quickly field strip the rifle and open up the piston, allowing more gases to vent, taking stress off the internals while running with a suppressor attached and maintaining a similar recoil impulse to when the firearm is unsuppressed. It is probably worth mentioning that with this setup already being quite front heavy, we do still opt to run the firearm with the Dead Air Pyro Blast Shield when set up with the skeletonized stock for those applications. But the beauty of the modular and QD setup of the firearm is that simple changes and swaps of configuration can happen in seconds. So these are our updates to the Little Dirty. Let us know if you prefer the original LDP or our altered variant in the comments below. Of course, for those looking for more info on how to get on the waitlist for your own LDP, be sure to connect with the team at Meridian, but be prepared to wait. The demand for firearms, especially in this category, has sharply increased with global events since the last time we looked at this setup. With all that said, we hope you enjoyed this look at modernized, spare no expense, US-built Kalash, and until next time, we'll see you on the range. 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