Tapco Retaining Plate - Maybe The Idiot AK-47 Owner's Solution To The Retaining Spring? (Yes I would be the idiot.)

While fiddling with my AK-47 and trying to get the retainer spring back into its proper position to reassemble the rifle, I took a break to check the Tapco website to see if they had instructions there to reinstall the spring. They did not, at least for the style of spring in my AK.

What I did find that seems promising is that they manufacture a plate to take the place of the spring. Even a sometimes idiot like myself (my wife would debate that saying I am an always idiot) would find it difficult to screw up installation of the retaining plate, which is supposedly a one size fits all AK models kind of a thing. At a MSRP of only $5.99, I figured why not and I did a web search for a dealer that had them in stock. I found it at Brownells, I think for $4.70, or there about, plus shipping of $5.95. Yes, the shipping was more expensive than the item!. I ordered it for a grand total of $ 10.95. If it saves me from even 10 minutes worth of the hassle I had with that spring, it will have been more than worth it.

Check out the list of dealers, and their pricing, that Tapco shows on their site. Remember the MSRP is $5.99. Most dealers, on the list that Tapco shows, have it shown close to that price, in fact all are under Tapco's MSRP except two of them and one that is over the MSRP is charging only about a dollar more. The other dealer that has a higher price than that suggested by Tapco is way over the top.  Their price was shown as $17.95! Going to their website shows is actually on sale at only $16.56 plus $10.95 shipping for a total of $27.51. That is a $16.56 difference from what I just paid at Brownell's. That is two visits to my local indoor range plus some targets for each visit and .56 cents left over for the change jar at home (gun show fund). We really need to shop around just a little nowadays, there are just too many people looking to screw the rest of us.

All the best,
Glenn B