Oddball 74 style brake IDs
Have a few 74 style brakes laying around that I started to take a closer look at and have been coming up dry in IDing them definitely. Hoping someone here might be able to help.
First is what seems like an early (ostensibly 1975 as you'll see) half moon brake. Machined from one piece, taper seems correctly ratio'd to the collar, half moon cuts look great, bridges both look correct...blah blah. The weird part is that it has a 20x1.5 thread and uses an adapter to reduce it back to 14x1 for fitting on an AKM. Bore is plenty big for a 7.62 round (.375"). When I first looked at it, I assumed it was 22mm like I've been told they made early brakes, but that's simply not the case. The reason I speculate a 1975 date of manufacture is because there is a tiny half moon and "75" stamped on the flat portion of the rear collar. OAL is ~76mm. Anyone have an idea?
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Second brake is a super heavy one-piece steel design with walls far thicker than I've seen on any other brake of this style. It's ~88.75mm long, 1.25mm longer than a Romanian 22mm brake. It is threaded 14x1 and it does not have the groove cut for a bayonet despite the front profile looking like it can accommodate one. Both the upper and lower bridge are the same width. The rear collar on this brake is very unusually long, going forward nearly 39mm. It has a single detent notch that has been plunge cut while the brake was held vertically.
I would best describe this brake as 3 chamber as opposed to the standard 74 style being two chamber. Just beyond the threads is chamber one, with bleed holes at the 12o'clock, 3o'clock, and 9o'clock positions. The brake then chokes down in the second chamber, and has two holes vertically aligned at the 12o'clock position. The front face of the second chamber also has 4 forward-facing bleed holes that are slightly angled up and down. These bleed holes are recessed on the outside of the brake in a tiny pocket. The third chamber is then the open baffle design found on all 74 style brakes. The dual-hole style reminds me of early Chinese 74 brakes but I haven't been able to find anything that even comes close to having a rear collar as long as this one. There are no markings on it anywhere.
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First is what seems like an early (ostensibly 1975 as you'll see) half moon brake. Machined from one piece, taper seems correctly ratio'd to the collar, half moon cuts look great, bridges both look correct...blah blah. The weird part is that it has a 20x1.5 thread and uses an adapter to reduce it back to 14x1 for fitting on an AKM. Bore is plenty big for a 7.62 round (.375"). When I first looked at it, I assumed it was 22mm like I've been told they made early brakes, but that's simply not the case. The reason I speculate a 1975 date of manufacture is because there is a tiny half moon and "75" stamped on the flat portion of the rear collar. OAL is ~76mm. Anyone have an idea?
Second brake is a super heavy one-piece steel design with walls far thicker than I've seen on any other brake of this style. It's ~88.75mm long, 1.25mm longer than a Romanian 22mm brake. It is threaded 14x1 and it does not have the groove cut for a bayonet despite the front profile looking like it can accommodate one. Both the upper and lower bridge are the same width. The rear collar on this brake is very unusually long, going forward nearly 39mm. It has a single detent notch that has been plunge cut while the brake was held vertically.
I would best describe this brake as 3 chamber as opposed to the standard 74 style being two chamber. Just beyond the threads is chamber one, with bleed holes at the 12o'clock, 3o'clock, and 9o'clock positions. The brake then chokes down in the second chamber, and has two holes vertically aligned at the 12o'clock position. The front face of the second chamber also has 4 forward-facing bleed holes that are slightly angled up and down. These bleed holes are recessed on the outside of the brake in a tiny pocket. The third chamber is then the open baffle design found on all 74 style brakes. The dual-hole style reminds me of early Chinese 74 brakes but I haven't been able to find anything that even comes close to having a rear collar as long as this one. There are no markings on it anywhere.
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