The Shooters Log — FIME Group of Las Vegas, Nevada is keeping it legal and fun by importing parts for the AKM and other VEPR rifles and shotguns from the renowned Molot factory in Kirov, Russia, and adding FIME Group-made components to produce and sell complete firearms. I was excited to get my hands on one rendition of the VEPR platform, an AKM called the FM-AK47. Like other AKMs, it’s chambered in 7.62×39.
The FM is built with RPK machine gun-inspired components and styling. With a 1.5mm thick stamped receiver and FIME Group’s chrome-lined RPK-style barrel, it’s built to take the heat. The black, industrial-looking polymer handguards, also by FIME, are stainless-steel lined to keep things cool during sustained fire.
Like the RPK, the FM does not have a bayonet lug or externally mounted cleaning rod—though it does come with a cleaning kit and features a trapdoor in the butt plate for storage. This, and the polymer stock, saves weight on what might otherwise be a heavy gun. It weighs in at 7.8 pounds sans magazine.
FIME Group updated the rifle’s look with a handsome flash hider. A premium accessory is the windage-adjustable rear sight. The front sight post, safety, charging handle, and overall operation are in traditional AK styling.
A frequent complaint about AK-style rifles is a lack of quality control where riveting and the front sight post are concerned. There is no lack of plumb lines and fittings on the FM I tested. Although the owner’s manual admonishes not to fret if the front sight appears crooked, there’s nothing that I’ve found that’s off kilter. Every rivet is perfectly centered; every hole appears perfectly drilled. Hold it up to the light in any direction, and there’s no shine-through where light doesn’t belong.
The trigger is FIME Group’s double-stage trigger, with an approximate five-pound pull. The initial take-up is about a quarter-inch. Reset is clear after a short half- inch journey, but not crisp. Trigger snobs will find something to dislike here. To me, it feels like a normal, consistent milspec carbine trigger.
The five-round magazine that comes with the rifle is a bit of a disappointment capacity-wise, but it works well, and comes in quite handy for those low shots in prone. Having tried a passel of other AK magazines in the gun, I found that all fed without flaw. The only polymer one in the group was a Magpul 30-rounder, and it was the only one that proved a bit tricky to load. There’s a slightly larger flange on the fore panel that requires the operator to insert it just right for a smooth load. Firing this carbine on a timed test, I chose to leave that mag behind in favor of heavier, traditional ones.
Most of my firing on this rifle has been with cheap, steel-cased Tulammo FMJ. I did also put 70 rounds of Fiocchi steel-cased target ammo, as well as 100 rounds of BBM, a brass-cased 123-grain FMJ made in Bosnia-Herzegovina. After approximately 550 rounds, the FM has yet to misfeed or misfire—something I was expecting, and wouldn’t have blamed on the gun, with less expensive ammo.
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