Riley Defense AK Review [Is It The Right AK For You?]

I love them just as much as I love my AR-15s, and in the past, it was really easy to get a high-quality eastern block AK import that was still really affordable…

These days it’s not as easy to get many of those imported AKs due to a number of factors, and the prices have certainly gone up…

Because of that, there have been many attempts to make a high-quality American-made AK 47 that is still affordably priced…

And to be honest with you, many of those attempts have failed because the guns were built poorly and corners were cut in basically all the wrong places to keep prices low…

But is this true with the Riley Defense RAK-47…?

Well, in this Riley Defense AK review, we’re going to analyze if the Riley Defense is a high-quality, American-made AK…

…or if it’s just another American AK that lacks the durability and build quality of its Eastern European cousins.

In the end, you’ll have a really solid understanding of what the Riley Defense AK has to offer, and you should be able to determine if it’s going to be the right AK for you…

Let’s get started!

Riley Defense AK Review – Is It The Right AK For You…?

The Riley Defense AK-47 is a high-quality, American-built AK. It features a very durable forged trunnion and a forged carrier and bolt. The stamped receiver is also fully heat-treated for added strength, and it’s a reliable and accurate AK…

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Is The Riley Defense AK-47 Good?

The Riley Defense AK is a good, American-made AK. It’s built using quality materials, and it’s also a reliable and accurate rifle…

The following will give you more detail describing the quality that you get with the Riley Defense RAK-47…

Trunnion…

One of the most important features that you get with the Riley Defense AK is a forged trunnion…

This is an extremely important part of the AK design because it’s the part that secures the barrel and chamber to the rest of the gun…

And because the chamber is where rounds are fired, the trunnion has to be very strong…

And here’s the deal, a forged trunnion is going to be much stronger than a cast trunnion, and unfortunately, many American-made AK’s (such as the Century Arms RAS 47) are using cast trunnions…

So getting that forged trunnion with the Riley Defense AK is a big deal because it’s simply a stronger part…

And it’s also an indicator of the higher level of quality that you’re getting with this rifle.

Carrier And Bolt…

In addition to the forged trunnion, the carrier and bolt are also forged on the Riley Defense AK…

Again, these are parts that are cast in many other budget AKs, and the forged parts that come with the Riley Defense are going to be stronger and make your rifle work for a much longer time…

In fact, I’ve seen torture tests on these Riley Defense rifles where they’ve gone through thousands and thousands of rounds, and these parts held up with minimal or no deformation.

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Stamped Receiver…

The stamped receiver that you get with the Riley Defense AK is very durable….

It’s fully heat-treated which adds strength to the metal, and all of the rivets are well-pressed in without any of them being cockeyed or slanted (which, again, is something that can happen with other budget AKs)…

In addition to that, the Riley Defense does come with an optics rail mounted to the side of the receiver, and this will make mounting a red dot or a scope onto your AK much easier.

Barrel…

The barrel that comes on the Riley Defense is made from 4150 Chrome moly steel which is a robust and quality material…

It’s also nitride coated which is nice to see because nitride a strong coating that will offer the barrel good protection…

Last, because the barrel is made from a high quality material, it’s also fairly accurate…

It is an AK, and the platform is not as inherently accurate as AR pattern rifles, but it’s accurate enough to hit targets out to 300 yards which is probably as far as the 7.62×39 round is capable of…

Sights…

The sights that come on the Riley Defense RAK-47 are classic AK sights…

The rear sight is adjustable for elevation, and the front sight can be adjusted for elevation or windage so you can really dial in the rifle when zeroing it…

In addition to the iron sights, the Riley Defense does come with an optic rail on the side of the receiver…

I really like this feature because it allows you to easily mount a red dot or a scope onto your rifle, and that’s something that can sometimes be tricky when it comes to AKs.

Safety…

The safety that comes on the Riley Defense is smooth and works just as it should…

That said, it is upgraded a little bit over a standard AK safety because it includes a notch that you can use to hold the bolt open…

This comes in handy when you need to lock the bolt to the rear at the range or in other situations where you need to ensure that the rifle is clear…

So even though this is a small upgrade, it’s a feature that I find to be very useful, and I like that it comes included on this rifle.

In addition to that, the RAK-47’s safety also includes a ledge that is designed to allow you to sweep the safety off quickly with your index finger before shooting…

This is another small upgrade, but again, it adds a lot to the ergonomics of the gun because it allows you to manipulate the safety and then fire faster than you could without it.

Trigger…

The trigger that comes with this gun is made by Riley Defense and it’s a good AK trigger…

It offers you a smooth pull and is reliable. Other than that, there’s not much to say.

Muzzle Device…

The muzzle device that comes on this AK is the classic AK slant muzzle brake…

It works well at directing the gasses upward and it’s great if you want that classic AK look…

That being said, it’s also easily removable. So if you want to replace it with a compensator or break that offers you better performance or gives the rifle a different look, you can easily do that by simply screwing it off…

Stock, Pistol Grip, And Handguard…

The Riley Defense AK will come with different furniture depending on the version that you choose to get…

The RAK-47-C-L includes a laminate handguard and stock and a plastic Bakelite grip…

The RAK-47-P comes with a polymer handguard, stock, and grip, and the RAK-47-C comes with a stained Teak wood handguard and stock and a Bakelite plastic grip…

All of these parts work well, but they can all be easily upgraded too…

The first upgrade that I typically like to do when it comes to an AK is to change out the handguard…

The reason why is because there isn’t an easy way to mount a weapon light onto the gun with the standard AK handguard…

And I’ll usually just swap it out for a handguard that has M-LOK or Keymod slots which will allow me to easily get a light on the gun (I always mount white lights to my rifles in case they need to be used defensively at night)…

Aside from that, I have no complaints about the furniture that comes with the Riley Defense AK, but again, you can easily change out the grip and the stock with a number of aftermarket options if you would like to…

Riley Defense AK Accessories…

Aside from the handguard, stock, and grip that come on the RAK-47, you also get a cleaning rod that is mounted right under the barrel…

I like that Riley Defense includes the cleaning rod because it just adds to the charm of an AK, and when manufacturers leave that part off, it just feels like part of the gun is missing to me…

On top of that, you also get 1 Xtech 30-round magazine which is a good reliable magazine (I recommend getting at least 5 magazines per gun because you do need to have more than 1)…

Now when it comes to aftermarket accessories there are so many options that you get to choose from…

I like Magpul grips, handguards, stocks, and other parts, but there are a lot of fantastic aftermarket AK parts being made by other companies as well…

I also think it’s a good idea to mount an optic on the Riley Defense as well. Like I mentioned earlier, it does come with that optic rail…

So just pick out a solid red dot or scope and mount it, and it will take your shooting capabilities with this rifle to the next level.

Riley Defense RAK 47 Review – Final Thoughts…

In the end, I think the Riley Defense RAK-47 is a fantastic budget AK for several reasons…

With it, you get a forged trunnion and forged bolt and carrier which is going to add a ton of extra strength to the rifle…

And you also get a few other nice upgrades such as the optic rail (which will make mounting an optic easy) and the safety lever (which will make the rifle more ergonomic)…