I bought two of these about 4 or 5 years ago from Southern Ohio Gun. They have the Knoxville, Tennessee stamp and "MADE IN ROMANIA" stamped into them.
I was lead to believe that these earlier guns are not built up guns, but rather actual guns built in romania.
The quality was pretty awful as the varnish was all drippy, the wood rough and I initially had some feed problems with mine. i noticed that the trunnion had some extra metal that needed to be carefully filed and cleaned up, the sight base had to be adjusted and I completely redid the wood and crappy paint job.
We got these guns at a terrific price with all the extras and the extra bag of four magazines. Scopes, slings, cleaning kit etc.
This is one of those guns that I am awfully glad I got. I totally enjoyed redoing it and to be honest, it shoots liked a raped ape. Not as accurate as some of my others, but a darn nice rifle.
I cannot argue with the price i paid as i believe at the time both guns were less than 600 each.
The ammo is cheap, the rifle shoots a great military spec grouping, and is good enough for our adversaries in the middle east who use them a LOT.
The stock is made for someone with a hand the size of a basketball, and only 5 feet tall. So I added the Grenade shoulder pad which fits perfectly and adds about two inches. I also spent a long time with my dremel and sandpaper to fit the handgrip better.
It is a comfortable, and fun gun to shoot. The scope is actually pretty good. I like the Russian Choke site and chevrons for siting. They work really well.
If you are looking for minute of angle shooting, this is not the rifle. But for big game or long distance fun shooting, this is a good inexpensive alternative.
