Looking for an AK47.

92bluexj · Mar 11, 2011

Hi, first and foremost i'm sorry if this is in the wrong section if it is. Okay i live in Linn County, Oregon and i'm looking for a good shop that has AK47's that are well built and new. I've seen some at one shop where i live but they are all WASR's and i've been told numerous times to not buy those. I've heard underfolders are good. I'd appreciate any help by you guys and hopefully you can point me to a shop that sells some AK's.

trainsktg · Mar 11, 2011

Chances are, those who have told you not to buy a WASR have never owned one. WASRs are not bad rifles, but you need to know what to look for so you don't wind up with one that might have a slightly canted front sight block or gas tube (not that that matters...it'll still work). There are snobs in the AK world just as there are everywhere else, and if you don't buy the $1,000 rifle they bought, they look at you like you just crawled out from under a rock. Well, my most expensive AK cost me $1,500 not including extra mags or accessories, and my $350 WASR is just as reliable as the one that cost me 4x as much. "It doesn't have dimples." Neither does a military-issue RPK74, among others. "It has mag wobble." So can nearly every AK in the world, due to manufacturing tolerances in both receiver and magazine widths. And it'll still work.

Do your research, ask actual WASR owners what they think of theirs (you've got my opinion

) and buy with some strong knowledge under your belt.

Best of luck to you. Let us know what you decide.

Keith

Blitzkrieg · Mar 11, 2011

Underfolders will not clear a drum when inserted. I much prefer sidefolders. There's a guy right here on the forum selling a slightly used Polytech side folder, one of the best semi auto AKs ever produced. If I were in OR and had the dough I wouldn't be posting this, I would be buying it. BTW I already own one

toddt36 · Mar 11, 2011

Agree with Train here, and be careful buying used, buy a good bore light and check over the whole gun with scrutiny, bring someone who may know more about AK's with you or guns in general. I am a bit of an ak snob I guess you could say, but I have a Draco, which is a Romanian AK pistol, and love the **** out of it. What is your budget? If I were to own one AK and only one I would get a Yugo underfolder (550ish new), Mak-90 (700ish), or Mak-90 milled (1000 ish) or other milled. Or if my budget were just say 450 I would get the WASR, only up to how much you want to spend.

92bluexj · Mar 11, 2011

Very true. I should handle the Wasr and search a little more. I do however see that a near by gun shop looks like they have some Arsenal Inc ak's for around about $720 - 760. Little expensive for me but a good gun. Ill look around. I Appreciate the help.

trainsktg · Mar 11, 2011

You can't go wrong with an Arsenal. Their SGL21 btw is as close to a real Russian AK103 as you can buy here in the US.

Keith

toddt36 · Mar 11, 2011

As far as Caliber goes my 2 cents, I like the 7.62 round better for one reason only, cheaper and much more popular. The 5.45 round sometimes becomes hard to get for a good price, right now easy later maybe not so much. But if you don't shoot the **** out of it and can buy a couple thousand rounds now go with whatever.

toddt36 · Mar 11, 2011

is it cheaper now? Everytime I have bought ammo 5.45 was more expensive but must be different now huh?

pogi · Mar 11, 2011

I wouldn't waste my money on a WASR nor Century made anything. If you buy cheap, you get cheap.

toddt36 · Mar 11, 2011

I agree with some of the century stuff has been suspect at best. Mine was an early YugoM70AB2 import with Teak wood, and works flawlessly and very accurate for what it is. I got lucky. I looked at the WASR back in the day as a my starter AK, and after playing with one didn't like how sloppy everything was. It functioned perfectly though with about 400 plus rounds through it and plenty of dead tin cans to show for it.

trainsktg · Mar 11, 2011

Century builds more guns by orders of magnitudes greater than any other US manufacturer out there. It makes sense we'd proportionally hear from more folks about bad Century products than those built by any other firm.

Keith

toddt36 · Mar 11, 2011

Only takes one hack in the factory...haha!

Blitzkrieg · Mar 12, 2011

toddt36 said:
As far as Caliber goes my 2 cents, I like the 7.62 round better for one reason only, cheaper and much more popular. The 5.45 round sometimes becomes hard to get for a good price, right now easy later maybe not so much. But if you don't shoot the **** out of it and can buy a couple thousand rounds now go with whatever.

The 5.45 is the current Russian small rifle round and looks not to be going away. I would not worry about ammo supply

biggie24420 · Mar 12, 2011

If the price was right I would get a WASR. I don't know any local places where you live, around me I know a few lol. You can pick up a Yugo M70 for like $470 form Aim surplus. I would also recommend a Draco because with a Draco you can pay the tax tamp and put a stock on it, but you also have to fallow 922R. With the Draco IMHO you have more options and if your not looking for a long distance firearm, you can't really go wrong with the simple and reliable Draco.

For distance I have the AK74.... for closeup I have the Draco (AK47 pistol). And right now from JG sales you can get 1000 rounds of 7.62x39 steel case for like $180 or so.

iamme · Mar 12, 2011

I know a manufacturer that has a few Yugo M92 pistols and SBR's very nicely done! I believe they were built on virgin kits.

Biggie: SBR status trumps 922r I thought??

biggie24420 · Mar 12, 2011

Once it becomes a "rifle" it then falls into the 922R compliance issue....... think about it, it's just another way for them to make money.

MountainBear · Mar 14, 2011

KREBS CUSTOM ENHANCED SPEED LOAD© TACTICAL RIFLE CATALOG NUMBER 89

<broken link removed>

Tell you what. I don't really care for AK's. I've tried several and never really found one that was comfortable or fun to shoot. But I shot one of these rifles this morning, and damn if it wasn't nice. Blasting clays at 100+ yards with ease (I thought AK's were supposed to be inaccurate). The stock made it feel like a usable rifle, not something made for a midget. I shot it iron sights, but there were enough options for scope mounting to make that an easy option as well. The iron sights had a longer radius that made it quicker and easier. Overall very impressed. Now I just need $2200 for it...

boxer13 · Mar 16, 2011

Can't say I have ever personally experienced any problems with CAI rifles nor WASRs. I find myself in complete agreement trainsktg that WASRs perform quite well especially when you consider the price compared to Yugos, mak90s, or arsenals.

Are those above rifles awesome? Yeah. Do they justify the higher price? Maybe, beauty in the eye of the beer holder type-o-thing I guess. I do really like Arsenals but I don't know if I could personally justify spending that much on an AK much less a Krebs despite how awesome they are.

But hey different strokes for different folks. But never downplay personal experience, so see if you could try one out. Also I much prefer 74s because 1.) extremely cheat 2.)flatter shooting 3.)light weight 4.)did I mention how freaking cheap it is. Seriously 1080 rounds for $130-140 is simply unbeatable.

RRC Firearms · Mar 20, 2011

I just bought an Interarms AK74 and I'm very impressed with it, I have not had a chance to shoot it yet (going this week) but the workmanship and furniture looks great. I read to many bad things about the Century guns and also about their horrible warranty policy (1 yr warranty starts on date of manufacture not of sale). The Arsenal guns are supposed to be great but they were out of the budget, so the Interarms ones were a great fit.

I got my online from Atlantic firearms, they would good to deal with and have a large variety.

Rich