AK-63 - Export Users

Export Users

During the Cold War and afterwards, the AK-63 series was widely exported to a number of nations in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and South America.

Iraq under Saddam Hussein was the first major export customer to receive the AK-63, which it began importing in large numbers in 1979 to equip its armed forces. These rifles made their combat debut in the hands of Iraqi soldiers during the Iran–Iraq War in 1980-1988. During the war, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and many of the local militias which participated in the fighting were also armed with AK-63s; these were most likely acquired by capturing them from the Iraqis (since Iran mostly purchased AKs from China and North Korea, and received some Soviet weapons from Libya and Syria). The AK-63 was used by Iraqi forces again during the Gulf War in 1990-91, and later turned up in Kurdish and Shi'ite hands during the insurrections in Iraq throughout the 1990s.

The AK-63 was also exported to the Sandinista government in Nicaragua, which used them to fight the Contras in the 1980s. Significant numbers of AK-63s were also sent to the FMLN in nearby El Salvador starting in late 1984 or 1985. One estimate suggested that about 11,000 AK-63 rifles may have been sent to the region over a five-year period. Since the end of the Cold War, the AK-63 has also turned up regularly in the hands of militants in Somalia and Zambia, and was also purchased by Croatian forces for use during the Croatian War of Independence.

In 1985, a semi-automatic version of the AK-63 was exported to the United States for civilian consumption. Imported by Kassnar (of Harrisburg, PA), which sold it as the SA-85M, it was only available in its "pre-ban" form for a few years before the 1989 assault weapons importation ban. Since only about 7,000 pre-ban SA-85Ms were imported prior to 1989, it is now considered a collector's item amongst firearms enthusiasts and commands high prices (often $1,500 or higher). The post-ban version of the SA-85M, featuring a thumbhole stock, was discontinued after only a few years of importation. However, in recent years, several companies in the United States have built clones of these rifles from Hungarian parts kits on American-made receivers.