The EU Firearms Directive has been approved, and despite the fears, European shooters can once again plan future new purchases. Last, but not least, going the "American way" and purchasing guns in this time of uncertainty is likely to send a powerful messages to gun control fanatics in Brussels and within the national governments of the Member States.

If you were considering to purchase an entry-level AKM derivative for range shooting or to use as a basis for custom works, the SDM - Sino Defense Manufacturing line of AK clones may very well be the good-priced baseline AKs you're looking for.

Manufactured in the People's Republic of China, the SDM AK-type rifles are quite ruggedly built for the canons of modern AK clones, but they're also mechanically reliable, solid in construction, and low-priced enough.

Given the low popularity of the 5,45x39mm caliber in western Europe – particularly if compared to the increasing popularity of the same caliber in north America – the AK-74 line rifles offered under the Sino Defense Manufacturing brand are chambered for the 5,56x45mm caliber, and can handle both .223 Remington low-pressure civilian loads and NATO-standard loads.

The AKS-74 is a fairly standard AK build, basically a 5,56mm/.223 version of the classic AKMS rifle – complete with a stamped sheet underfolding stock.

The S.D.M. AKS-74 semi-automatic rifle is built around a 100% stamped receiver, as typical with most export-grade Chinese-made AKs, although the S.D.M. receivers are somewhat thicker than many others.

The S.D.M. AKs are purely civilian-oriented and built from the ground up as semi-automatic, civilian firearms. As such, their receivers are of the "Two-Pin" type; the selector switch has two positions and works only as a manual safety; and they are incompatible with components that would enable selective fire or full-automatic operation.

The S.D.M. AKS-74 is classic from top to bottom: the handguard and pistol grip are laminated wood; the adjustable front sight is hooded, a typical feature of Chinese AKs, and the rear leaf sight can be adjusted to engage targets up to the very optimistic range of 800 metres.

The S.D.M. AKS-103 is not less classic than the previously discussed AKS-74. Despite its namesake, the Chinese-made AKS-103 does without many of the technical and manufacturing innovations that tell the Russian-built AK100 series apart from all other AK clones – and that's exactly the reason why this Chinese rifle is technically simple and cheap enough to be a viable entry level modern sporting rifle.

If there's one feature that associates the Chinese S.D.M. AKS-103 with the Izhmash/Concern Kalashnikov AK100 series of rifles, that's the 90-degree gas block.

Otherwise, and for the vast majority of technical and manufacturing features, the AKS-103 is a fairly standard AKM variant that differs very little from the AKS-74 we discussed above.

The S.D.M. AKS-103 semi-automatic rifle is chambered for the classic 7,62x39mm M43 Russian cartridge, and will accept any AKM-compatible magazine of any make, material, and capacity.

The barrel is 420 mm / 16.5" long, it's cold-hammer forged and chrome lined, comes with a matte black outer finish, and with an AK74-style flash hider.

The barrel rifling is the same as found on a standard AKMS: four right-handed grooves, one twist in 9.45".

The S.D.M. AKS-103 rifle features a grey polymer pistol grip, a lacquered laminated wood handguard, a side-folding stamped sheet stock, and an AKM standard side-mounted optics bracket.

The typical S.D.M. factory markings are painted in white on both sides of the receivers and very prominent. Basically nothing else but the features discussed here tells the AKS-103 and the AKS-74 apart.

A technically identical counterpart, dubbed the S.D.M. AK-103 rifle, also exists; featuring a black polymer handguard, pistol grip and folding stock, this version is much more similar in aesthetics to the Russian AK100 rifles.

Our range tests and the feedback from many shooters who purchased the S.D.M. AKS-74 and AKS-103 rifles in Italy show that the inherent accuracy of both rifles if more than acceptable for this kind of gun.

Let us be clear: they will not provide Bench-Rest grade accuracy, nor will they provide IPSC/3-Gun grade out-of-the-box accuracy – you'll need extensive tuning and custom works for that – but neither the manufacturer nor the distributor want to trick shooters in thinking so.

The S.D.M. AKS-74 and AKS-103 are straightforward baseline, entry-level AKM clones for range shooting, tactical shooting training, leisure shooting or collection. In these roles they will perform just as they are intended to do, and if this is what you are looking for, all you need to do is to choose which of the two suits you better.