The SSR-99 is a milled U.S. made AK produced by Global Trades.  The rifle has a milled receiver similar to that of the SLR-95.  The rifles are made from Bulgarian parts shipped to the U.S. and are installed on Bulgarian receivers, which are finished in the U.S.  The rifle features the official Bulgarian furniture (except pistol grip), they do not employ the cheap American made furniture.   A slant muzzle break is tack welded on to the muzzle of the gun to comply with BATF regulations.  The SSR-99 also has two recoil buffers which prolong the life of your rifle.  The rifle is technically American made by using American made parts which allow the rifle to have a detachable magazine and pistol grip.  The U.S. parts include: Hammer, Trigger, Disconector, Pistol Grip and Muzzle Brake. These rifles will accept all AK-47 magazines including drums.  The rifle is shipped with a gun lock, two 5 round magazines, cleaning kit, sling, and documentation.  Please note these rifles are in pre-ban configuration, they are not true pre-ban rifles.  If you have any questions please check, state and federal laws.  Global Trades is out of SSR-99's and don't plan on making anymore.

How to construct a clone?

"The SSR-99 is a very nice looking AK variant.  It comes in a nice box with a
very good manual, gun lock, cleaning kit, sling, and two five round waffle
magazines.  A nice extra is a signed statement saying the gun is legal with
all current ATF laws in its current configuration.  This should ease some
worries for people that aren't up with the complicated laws on these rifles.


Of most interest to people are the US parts on the gun that lets it come
with a pistol grip.  The US parts list is:

Hammer
Trigger
Disconnector
Pistol Grip
Slant Muzzle Brake

The US made pistol grip matches the rest of the stock set perfectly, unlike
many other US parts guns currently on the market.  The pistol grip also has
an Arsenal logo on it for a little splash of color.  The muzzle brake is the
standard slant variety found on many AKs.  It is threaded on the barrel, but
spot welded on for legal reasons.  A gunsmith should be able to remove this
brake and put on another as long as it is also welded on, and preferably US
made so that you do not need US magazine parts.

At the range the gun performed very well.  Like most AK stocks, the pull was
a little short.  Since the stock is Bulgarian and not US made, you can
change it out for any other that meets your needs.  I've seen +2 Bulgarian
stocks for sale in some publications.  The gun shot left 6 inches, and high
6 inches by the iron sights at 50 yards.  This can easily be fixed with some
adjustment by a sight tool.  In talking with Arsenal, they went over how
they bore sight the guns in at the factory.  Since they do not shoot them at
a range for accuracy they can not get much closer than 6 inches.  They did
say however they are working on some changes to try and get the accuracy
closer in the future.  Recoil was excellent.  Included with the rifle are
two different recoil buffers.  One is the very popular and effective Buffer
Technologies buffer.  I have these in my Valmet and HK91 and they work very
well.  The second buffer is a Sprinco buffer.  It fits in the back of the
spring rod.  Be careful not to lose it!  The combination of these two
buffers really helps. 

My only complaint about the gun is the finish, and that is just opinion.  I
like the painted finish of my SLR-95 better than the parkarization of the
SSR-99.  It is my understanding that the SLR-95s were parkarized later on.
There was one spot on the rifle where the parkarization did not seem to
take.  Arsenal has said they have finalized their refinishing process and it
is better than ever now.  They offered to refinish my early rifle for free
and I plan to take them up on it.  I'll report back what I find.

The last paragraph leads me to my final comment.  We usually don't think
about customer service when buying a new rifle.  But, should something go
wrong you will wish you had.  Arsenal has excellent customer support.  I've
talked to them on the phone and got someone quickly, they offer support
through the AK-47.net forums, and they offered to refinish my rifle for free
without me asking.  You can't beat that."

By NetJunkie