Often I am asked; what sets a Jemak rifle apart from another manufacturer's rifle?
When I look at another rifle, I see what they offer and think about what I would need to do to make that rifle one that I would use. The furniture, internal parts, finish, and overall quality are usually very basic. Many rifles are featureless.
A featureless rifle is good as an entry level rifle. You get the opportunity to work on the rifle, putting in time and money to make the rifle something you would be proud of. In the end your $700-800 rifle could end up costing you a dozen hours of work and $300-400 in upgrades. You should not expect much from a featureless rifle except a project if you want your rifle to shine.
You will either have basic plastic or unfinished wood, and many times with wood you will get a very poor quality or a beat up set. Removing the old finish, cleaning, lightly sanding and refinishing is what you should expect to do to restore the wood. If you have an AKM and you got the cheap plastic furniture, you can upgrade to Magpul, or find a good quality wood set. Replacement costs will be high.
On a basic rifle to save money you normally do not get any internal upgrades. These are normally very simple fixes, like removing the paperclip and replacing it with a retaining bracket. One item that is technically not internal, but I will include it in this section, is the side rail. To save money, manufacturers are leaving this off the rifle. There are ways to get around losing this feature, but adding a rail, or upgrading parts will cost you time and money.
Finish is another area that I find is lacking on a basic rifle. Parkerizing is a basic finish and probably a decent one that will last a very long time. There is nothing wrong with it, and it is a very inexpensive finish, which is where a manufacturer can save money to maximize profit. You can buy a basic rifle and have it refinished with Cerakote, Duracoat, Moly Resin, or another quality finish, but you need to find a good finisher and it will cost you $175-250.
You get what you pay for and overall quality cannot be improved. Basic rifles are cheap, because the manufacturer saves money by buying inexpensive parts, using unskilled labor, and cutting down on quality control costs. Sometimes you cannot see where money was saved, and poor quality control can lead to you wasting your money.
Here is where a Jemak rifle differs from a basic rifle:
- Wood furniture is fully restored, sealed and has a high quality finish applied. This was a process developed over time and really stands out. This process is done in-house and tightly controlled.
- Magpul makes very high quality composite upgrades, and these upgrades are included with some rifles.
- An AK74 can either have restored wood furniture, or in some situations the plum composite furniture.
- You get a rail and you get a retaining bracket as a standard feature.
- Cerakote is currently a standard offering on all rifles.
- Each rifle is hand built, and quality control is tight. Mass production is not an option and each rifle is tested. Cheaper parts are not an option, we look to use the highest quality parts to build a high quality rifle.