Ak variants?

OldTengu · Mar 15, 2019

Looking at grabbing a new one. Other than wasr, what are some good variants that aren't going to kill me costwise?

Boboclown · Mar 16, 2019

Pretty much wasr. Romanian dracos if you want a cheap AK pistol.

nwslopoke · Mar 16, 2019

I had a Saiga which was supposed to be one of the better models, which was used. I got a new Zastava Npap and it was much more accurate than the Saiga.

I don't know the history of the Saiga so it possibly could have been shot up before I bought it. Zastavas get a bad rep but mine is 5-6 yrs and no issues.

308 · Mar 16, 2019

Norinco is high quality. If you can find an original (not bubba'd out with TapcoCrapco add-ons) MAK90 for a reasonable price, you can de-neuter it easily and have a great rifle.

cigars · Mar 16, 2019

What's wrong with a WASR? Mine shoots and shoots and shoots and shoots. It's just as ugly as all the others as well.

Martini_Up · Mar 16, 2019

If you watch you can find a yugo M70 for around 800 or less. No chrome though - some like others don't

Rebuild the sights with new trillium vials and feel like you helped brighten the world just a bit.

A few years ago I shot mine in a night match and got 3rd place with irons ! (Ok, so what if there were only 3 competing in irons that's match,,,,). Oops, I digress

OldTengu · Mar 16, 2019

cigars said:
What's wrong with a WASR? Mine shoots and shoots and shoots and shoots. It's just as ugly as all the others as well.

Nothing at all. It's what I currently have. Just wanted to know all of the good options available.

CountryGent · Mar 16, 2019

Seems like WASRs have worked out for a lot of folks. The one I had briefly was an absolute dumpster-fire of a rifle (quite possibly the worst I ever owned) and I got rid of it. I'm sure it was just that particular rifle, but once bitten, twice shy.

cigars · Mar 16, 2019

CountryGent said:
Seems like WASRs have worked out for a lot of folks. The one I had briefly was an absolute dumpster-fire of a rifle (quite possibly the worst I ever owned) and I got rid of it. I'm sure it was just that particular rifle, but once bitten, twice shy.

I didn't like mine at first. But I got a lot of ammo with the deal so not so bad. Once I went thru a few hundred rounds and vibrated off the non essential Tapco parts it turned out to be quite the keeper.

Boboclown · Mar 16, 2019

CountryGent said:
Seems like WASRs have worked out for a lot of folks. The one I had briefly was an absolute dumpster-fire of a rifle (quite possibly the worst I ever owned) and I got rid of it. I'm sure it was just that particular rifle, but once bitten, twice shy.

Early 10/63s had issues due to CAI not knowing how to properly widen the receiver to accept double stack magazines. Eventually it got fixed and the only issue became Cugir not knowing how to make a sight straight enough (though just because its canted doesn't mean its bad as long as it can zero). Lately Cugir stepped up the QC game, and CAI generally works out the receiver cut pretty well.

Ironically, my 10/63 has straight sights while my Arsenal 106 has a slightly canted front sight.

Boboclown · Mar 16, 2019

OldTengu said:
Nothing at all. It's what I currently have. Just wanted to know all of the good options available.

Arsenal if you don't mind paying the price tbh. I wouldn't mind paying a grand for a 106 all over again if I had to.

Howard1955 · Mar 16, 2019

Izhmash/Saiga has a .410 shotgun. Fully semi-automatic! I'm getting one for my grandson to use.

View attachment 559652

SOLID_arity · Mar 17, 2019

First off, stay away from US built if you're staying budget. Sure there are good parts kits and builders out there, but those cost $$. With cheaper US AKs, there are too many corners cut to offset labor costs and lack of the machinery/tooling that combloc factories still have at their disposal.

As for suggestions:
WASR is the gold standard for cheaper AKs. Forged trunnions, CHF/CL barrels, accepts all standard AKM furniture. Just no magwell dimples and some people aren't fans of the simple park finish:

If you intend to get tacticool or just be different, there's also the RH-10. Same as above, but the combo FP+Gas Block makes it less front heavy. Also if you want to put a light on there, you won't blind yourself with splash on the front sight:

Don't mind throwing fireballs and want dimples? DRACO! Actually still pretty affordable IMO and I think they come in unmolested by Century since they're pistols and 922r doesn't apply:

Don't think they're being imported anymore, but you can probably find an NPAP second-hand at a reasonable price. OPAPs are also out there, but I doubt anyone would want to part with theirs. It is Yugo pattern so harder to find aftermarket parts, but not a bad choice if you want to keep it stock. Barrel isn't chrome-lined, but it is cold hammer forged and thicker than Romy/AKM pattern.

Also available on the used market are MAK90s. Stellar Chicom AKs, but I think they've gone up in price and might not be as affordable as they used to be? Plus they're ban era, so no threaded muzzle, FP detent, bayo lug, cleaning rod slot, etc. Furniture can be swapped out easily enough with a little bit of fitting so long as it's not a slant cut receiver. Gotta either be fine with the rest though or be willing to spend time/money debanning it.

SOLID_arity · Mar 17, 2019

Boboclown said:
CountryGent said:

Seems like WASRs have worked out for a lot of folks. The one I had briefly was an absolute dumpster-fire of a rifle (quite possibly the worst I ever owned) and I got rid of it. I'm sure it was just that particular rifle, but once bitten, twice shy.

Click to expand...

Early 10/63s had issues due to CAI not knowing how to properly widen the receiver to accept double stack magazines. Eventually it got fixed and the only issue became Cugir not knowing how to make a sight straight enough (though just because its canted doesn't mean its bad as long as it can zero). Lately Cugir stepped up the QC game, and CAI generally works out the receiver cut pretty well.

Ironically, my 10/63 has straight sights while my Arsenal 106 has a slightly canted front sight.

Was it a 10/63 or a GP-1975? My friend had a 1975 and good lord was that thing awful. Think it was Century's attempt at assembling Romy parts kits? All sorts of issues.

My WASR is a 10/63 and I really like it. Something cool about it being built from decommissioned parts (even if they're non-matching) vs new manufacture. Oddly enough it has a pretty tight magwell and the sights are on straight as well. Only issue I've noticed was that the sidemount was riveted a smidge high, so optics sit a tad higher than they normally would. I guess this is pretty lucky for 10/63s though. Def gotta inspect em and know what to look for.

Agreed on the Cugir QC game though: my RH-10 and Draco both have a nicer park finish and seem straight + well riveted.

Boboclown · Mar 17, 2019

SOLID_arity said:
some people aren't fans of the simple park finish:

Better than the bubbling finish arsenals had for a while.

SOLID_arity said:
Was it a 10/63 or a GP-1975? My friend had a 1975 and good lord was that thing awful. Think it was Century's attempt at assembling Romy parts kits? All sorts of issues.

My WASR is a 10/63 and I really like it. Something cool about it being built from decommissioned parts (even if they're non-matching) vs new manufacture. Oddly enough it has a pretty tight magwell and the sights are on straight as well. Only issue I've noticed was that the sidemount was riveted a smidge high, so optics sit a tad higher than they normally would. I guess this is pretty lucky for 10/63s though. Def gotta inspect em and know what to look for.

Agreed on the Cugir QC game though: my RH-10 and Draco both have a nicer park finish and seem straight + well riveted.

Mine is a 10/63, a bit loose but I'm used to ak mags rattlinf a bit. It functiona 100%, even with soft points. Only downside is its a bit longer towards the rear, and leaves a bit of vertical play on my zenitco b-33 while there's no play on my 106.

SOLID_arity · Mar 17, 2019

Boboclown said:
Better than the bubbling finish arsenals had for a while.

Ha truths. And it's not that hard to degrease and paint yourself if you really wanted that look. Park is just fine by me though.

Boboclown said:
Mine is a 10/63, a bit loose but I'm used to ak mags rattlinf a bit. It functiona 100%, even with soft points. Only downside is its a bit longer towards the rear, and leaves a bit of vertical play on my zenitco b-33 while there's no play on my 106.

Ah yeah - I messed up my quote. Was supposed to be a question directed at CountryGent. I've seen some canted WASRs with wobbly mags, but they've always ran just fine. Being functionally flawed is more something I'd expect from a GP-1975, which I've seen mislabelled as WASRs at gunshows.

That said, yeah the AK is actually pretty forgiving about side-to-side mag wobble. It's front-to-rear that'll cause feeding issues.