rat.bastard.reviews: @W.A.S.WOODTWORKS (WAS)
Disclosure: What's up fuckers? Today my obligatory disclosure is a little different, I actually traded work with this sponsor @w.a.s.woodtworks (WAS) no cash was exchanged, no freebies in exchange for an honest review. I designed a few stickers in exchange for his services and I was so impressed with his work I volunteered to review it here in the thunder-dome. Since then I have come to call this man my friend, however I do want to insist that my review will not be effected by this. WAS is already aware of this, and understands if I altered my opinion based on my personal feelings well I wouldn't have much sway to keep doing what I do, and I DO LOVE WHAT I DO. With that out of the way Id like to thank @w.a.s.woodtworks from the bottom of my heart for providing me with the ability to review your products, I wish you good health moving forward in life as well as your wife and kids. The rest of you get fucked, you have a review to read.
Initial Impression: Mr.WAS has been putting out quality goods for quite some time now, he was one of the first pages I remember following after starting my IG account @rat.bastard.reviews. He himself has qualified his work as "combloc Aesthetic, Modern Styling" and with that statement I would agree; the options ranging from classic wood stylings to modern woodworking solutions available with recent updates like M-LOK and unconventional cuts to accommodate accessories or fitment issues. The work he provided to me was no exception, beautiful finish, solid build, excellent quality no issues at all. I even changed my mind about an option mid way through and he took it on the chin and kept rolling, just being a sweetheart the entire time. I also got to see the process in a few different stages as WAS would occasionally post pictures of his progress and I'd see my set being crafted. There are a ton of woodworkers on Instagram and a few of them do specialize in AK furniture, I have worked with some of them in the past that have just been world class assholes and have attempted to get ahold of some who just straight up refused to answer my questions about pricing and options. That is my favorite thing about WAS is he has never dodged my annoying questions, he has never refused me service or been an asshole He is legitimately a genuine and nice guy, AND his penis is 13".....FLACID! Can you fucking imagine? And he never even complains about his disability even though I know its causes back issues for him, and he has occasionally has dizzy spells dude. It's not all its cracked up to be.
Breakdown: So I turned to my wife about 2 years ago and said "You know what Mrs.Bastard? I buy a lot of stupid guns, What I should be doing is ensuring that both of our little bastards have A super high quality battle ready rifle and a full sized service pistol put away just for them in case of....X". So the rifle I approached Mr.WAS about outfitting with furniture is for my 6yo daughter, a Polish franken build of FB/WBP parts from an Arms of America Kit, built by M13 industries on a Childers receiver and outfitted by @w.a.s.woodtworks. I'm very happy with it and only have a few small upgrades to do before it's put away until she is old enough to start training with it.
The furniture provided to me from WAS is A Romanian style Dong grip lower handguard, a Sambo style grip, and a matching upper handguard to cover the gas tube. All of these were finished in the Golden Tiger Style I've admired in shame and secrecy for years. After talking to my daughter and showing her different color stains and finishes, she pointed to the Golden Tiger and said "When I get my gun, I want it to be like that!". "Perfect" I told her, "Then that is exactly what daddy will get you". It came out looking exactly like the picture, The high gloss was a perfect finish to compliment the wood and hand torched tiger stripes. My daughters eyes lit up when she saw it, every time I would put it away while waiting for her build to come back she would ask so see it again. I would hand her the wood and watch as she smiled and felt it, she would smell it and laugh before saying "thank you daddy, I can't wait until we can put this on my gun".
The build took quite a bit of time to come back as M13 stays busy to the max with various builds, when it came back everything looked really good, I put the wood on the rifle while my daughter was at school and layed it out on the bed to surprise her with it after we picked her up. I will say I didn't use the gas tube cover upper handguard, not because there was any issues with it but because I wanted to add the cheese grater upper and matching Chauffeur Custom Khyber Pass Trumpet brake. I also never requested a buttstock from WAS because I knew eventually I was going to add a Polish side folding wire Stock. She came into the room and saw her newly completed rifle and lit up like a Christmas tree. After homework she learned the battery of arms for a Kalashnikov, and talked about how beautiful her gun was and how when she gets older she's going to fire it everyday. She now uses the opportunity to concern the shit out of any adult who will listen to this little beauty tell them all about her Polish Golden Tiger Kalash.
Now that you know the real story of how working with WAS has personally effected me, what you should know about his work is that it really is enviable in quality, I've talked a lot about aesthetics and how beautiful his work is but what about performance? Well the ergonomics are on point the grip has the perfect angle for myself but slightly more girth than your standard Combloc pistol grip and the texturing in the grip gives it a better feel instead being just completely smooth and slick. The Dong lower shares the same well executed ergonomics and the size is spot on(about 6x larger then my own and about 1/5 the size of WAS'). I'm not sure if he tests each set out beforehand or has a strict standard he adheres to but it is as close to what I need for myself comfort wise as you can get. Now I do have one minor complaint, and I knew I was going to have to bring it up here and that is the lower handguard is just ever so slightly loose. Its not loose enough to rattle or shake or even effect the performance Its just enough that I can barely wiggle it a bit on there. I like em' tight! especially when by design you are supposed to crank down some pressure on it like a Dong is meant to be handled, LIKE A FUCKIN' MAN. Now that being said this is an AKM and its not all plug and play like an AR, each one is slightly different and when hand fitting it's really almost impossible to get it 100% dead on without having the firearm in front of you which he did not. Its actually astounding that he was able to get it as well executed and tight as he did for being a one man show in a small operation, So for now I'll give him and his massive trouser snake a break and let that shit slide. The only other thing I can really think of bringing up is that sometime after receiving my furniture set I saw him post a story updating us that he had since perfected his construction of his upper handguards and stated that there was a chance in the old ones breaking and that he would offer 1 free replacement for them if broken. This hasn't effected me because as I mentioned earlier I never used his, it was automatically swapped to a steel cheese grater upper. I still see this as a win-win, because you are getting an honest update from a manufacturer who is actively trying to perfect his craft and has already addressed the issue openly and honestly with his consumers.
Final Thoughts: Would I recommend @w.a.s.woodtworks? fuck yes, even if he wasn't my friend; his work is impeccable, his work ethic is inspiring, and his customer service set's the standard for what all online businesses should be. Both my daughter and myself love the furniture so much I'm going back to him for the Furniture on my sons rifle (who has a soft spot for Russian Red) and getting that custom made as well, I'll probably even have him do matching grips for the kids service pistols in time as well. Currently if you are interested in going through WAS for commissioned furniture you will have to get ahold of him through his Instagram or by email as he doesn't have an active website at the time of writing this. I can see that changing in the near future, and will try to update this review if that happens as I know he wants to start doing this full time.
-Rat Bastard
#RAISEMONEYFORWASPENILEREDUCTIONSURGERY
@w.a.s.woodtworks
@wasanchez138@gmail.com
