Transcription:
Hey, guys. This is Paul with Meridian Defense, and today we're going to do an overview of one of our AK models, the Trench Art Classic. The cool thing about this rifle is we're actually going to be giving it away. This rifle is based off the remaining MD-63 service rifle. It came into use in 1963. And while it is just like any other AKM, there were some changes made in the mid-sixties. They moved away from utilizing the Palm swell lower handguards that you would see on the Russian and Polish models, and the Romanians went to a donged lower handguard. The benefit of this is it actually aided in controlling full auto use.
It's pretty popular nowadays. These rifles were used in many different conflicts over the years. However, during the Balkan wars in the early to mid-nineties, you started seeing a lot more of these rifles in use, especially being customized by individual soldiers in the trenches. This is when you started to see personalization or customization of these specific rifles, and what we now know as Trench Art. Trench Art is when an individual personalizes their rifle, making carvings, whether it's names of family members, girlfriends, wives, children, Bible verses, or carving symbols into their buttstock, handguards, or gas tube. When we get those parts kits over here, we notice them.
What made this rifle very special is this is the only model we guaranteed that would have Trench Art on the rifle. These aren't fake carvings or anything like that. These are legitimate, original Trench Art. Someone actually took the time to do that.
Now, when we receive those parts kits, we inspect everything. We've found some pretty interesting stuff. We've found letters, locks of hair, and the letters could be to individuals. There are casualty lists and lists of cities.
So it's a very interesting part of history, to be honest. What we do is we take an MD-63 parts kit, inspect it, and start building it with our one-millimeter fully heat-treated receiver. It utilizes our 16-inch 4150 black nitride barrel. Instead of the standard slam brake that you'll find on the muzzle, we're utilizing our four-prong FH4 flash hider.
Coming back to the rifle, it has one unique feature: our brand new MDC performance trigger. Now, these triggers are not on the market yet, but we are installing and sending these to customers with current orders. When we decided to offer the Trench Art Classic as one of our models, we wanted to build a rifle that has the same look and feel as a battlefield pickup rifle that you would find in the Balkans. But with the performance and quality you expect from Meridian Defense. We're giving this exact rifle away, outfitted exactly how you see it: FH4 flash hider, our new performance trigger, battlefield pickup, lots of Trench Art. It's going to come with three magazines and some MDC gear. You have to go to the website, mdc-mfg.com, to sign up for the giveaway. The giveaway ends on the 17th of September.
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In the comment section, let us know what you would carve into your buttstock if you were stuck in a trench in the Balkans. Have a good one!