It is hard to overestimate the importance of European firearms manufacturers for the global industry. Austrian Glock needs no introduction; Belgian FN Herstal was the main manufacturer of US military weapons for years; the list goes on and on.
However, we barely hear about new European firearms manufacturers. Naturally, there are some new companies here and there, but it seems like this European industry doesn’t like newcomers. And that is easy to explain. In the US, getting an FFL is quite easy, but many European countries have so much bureaucracy and red tape that starting a business in this field seems impossible, even when demand for weapons is as high as ever.
So I am always curious to see new companies coming into this field in Europe, especially when they have something interesting to offer. And in my opinion, Slovenian Akila is a good example of that.
At the recent LORIST hunting exhibition in Serbia, I had a chance to take an in-depth look at their new rifles, talk to engineers, and drink some rakija while talking about peculiarities of firearms manufacturing in Europe.
To me, it is always interesting to trace the history of a manufacturer - firearms companies are rarely founded by people with no relevant experience. Akila was founded by Klemen Molek, Artem Kott, and Alex Chikin; the latter two previously worked for Ritter & Stark, an Austrian sniper rifle manufacturer that was founded in 2015.
Ritter & Stark entered the market with the ambitious project called the SX-1 Modular Tactical Rifle (MTR). Back then, this weapon system drew a lot of attention at international exhibitions; The Firearm Blog covered it extensively, and we even visited the production facility. According to a former Ritter & Stark engineer, the concept of the rifle was based on the requirement US SOCOM published in 2016, when US special forces were looking for a modular, multi-caliber sniper rifle.
However, in the fall of 2018, Ritter & Stark filed for insolvency due to management issues. The engineering team soon found a new job in Slovenia, at Akila, where they had the opportunity to use extensive experience they gained in Austria.
Akila started with the production of chassis for precision rifles: Blazer R8 and R93, Remington 700, Tikka T3, German Steel Action HS, and gained a favorable reputation among European precision shooters. Now, after eight years in the business, Akila became an actual firearms manufacturer and presented an entire product line of new rifles.
The main premiere Akila brought to LORIST was the straight-pull bolt-action rifle EVA-Tac. The rifle is modular and can use various calibers, offering both short-action (.308 Win, 223 REM, and other rounds) and long-action (338 Lapua Magnum, .300 PRC, and other rounds) options.
The barrel can be easily changed by the user - at the exhibition, it took us less than a minute to do that. Two screws on the right side of the receiver keep the barrel ‘pressed in’. The barrel attachment mechanism is essentially a clamp. A nice touch I appreciated as an armorer - by design, the screws that hold the barrel cannot be overtorqued.
The magwell is also modular - depending on the caliber, the rifle can use AR-10 PMAGs as well as Magpul single-stack AICS magazines and Accuracy International AX magazines. Overall, as someone who had to maintain and repair rifles for a living, I appreciated the backwards compatibility of EVA-Tac.
The rifle is compatible with standard Remington 700 barrels, so barrel replacement shouldn't be an issue. The stock is installed on the standard AR-15 buffer tube thread, so a user can install a stock he already has.
However, the original EVA-Tac stock also deserves some attention. There are two versions of it, with and without a built-in monopod. The cheek riser can be installed on both sides of the stock, and the stock itself is adjustable for the length of pull and foldable; the user can choose whether it will fold on the right or the left side.
The most interesting feature of EVA-Tac is the bolt. Straight-pull, with three lugs locking into the barrel extension, the engineers were happy to disassemble it and show all the details. The bolt consists of six parts and can be disassembled without any tools. Akila engineers also made sure that the bolt cannot be assembled incorrectly.
Overall, EVA-Tac seems to be a well-thought-out rifle from a manufacturer that knows what it is doing. The announced retail prices were between 4500 and 6000 euros depending on configuration. There is no US distributor yet, but throughout Europe the company is actively looking for dealers and partners.
The bolt action precision market is very competitive, but I think Akila has a chance - when I was at the expo, a local customer brought his Akila-made chassis to the booth and asked for advice about how to change the side his stock is folding to.
Instead of advice, the managing director retrieved some tools from his bag, changed the folding stock unit direction, and installed a newer version of the trigger shoe, all free of charge. If Akila keeps the same attitude towards clients, they might have a chance in the European market, where trusted relationships are way more important than a big marketing budget.
If this post has you ready to hit the range, head over to gunranges.com - a free directory to help you find shooting ranges near you, wherever you are in the United States.
