Pump-Action AK: Romanian PAR-3 (How Not to be an “Assault Weapon”)

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Between 1994 and 2004, there was a national "assault weapon" ban in place int he United States, along with some related importation restrictions on military-looking rifles. Most semiauto rifle importation continued by adjusting various cosmetic features to not fall under the provisions of the various rules, but at one point someone realized that hey, the law only covered semiautomatic rifles. So if the gas system were replaced by a manual pump action, a rifle would no longer be prohibited regardless of its other features! As so, in 2002, the Cugir factory complex in Romania produced the PAR-1 (in 7.62x39mm) and PAR-3 (in 5.56x45mm). About 2000 were imported by Century, where they were not particularly popular (because they are really pretty kludgy rifles) and no further importation was done (and the PAR-2 in 5.45x39mm was never brought in at all).

Note that this is not the only example of a semiauto rifle rebuilt as a pump action to avoid legal restrictions. A couple other examples I have previously covered include: