Starting out with an AK - noob question

[Porter]

As a first AK I would pick up a Wasr and spend the rest on mags and ammo. I am an Arsenal guy but those are out of your budget.

 

[Porter]

Interesting....my last Arsenal was '08ish...only complaint back then was meh paint they used for finish, build quality was great.

I have owned virtually every Arsenal they have produced and really the only black eye is the current build Sam-5 which had the wrong size gas port causing a way overgassed situation or the wrong selector stop plate on the early 106 AKs.. But Like any company there will be some QC issues here and there but they are a very small number of Arsenals produced. To this day I have never had a canted Arsenal that was badly canted it would not zero, or had a paint issue. People that used solvents to clean have had an issue. For the most part Arsenal AKs have been top shelf products.

 

[DunRanull]

List,

New (long ago member) here. I am wanting to try an AK (been a FAL/M1A guy for decades), and I do not know where to start. Would prefer to pay once for a higher quality piece with magazines, rather than buy/sell my way up the ladder.

So...I would like advice as to which rifle would be the 'best' first candidate. I have researched quite a bit and the options are overwhelming (Polytech, Norinco, Beryl, WBP, PSA, WASR, Hungarian, Arsenal, Yugo, Maadi, etc.). Stamped, milled, US made/foreign, etc. Not looking to pimp the piece, but keep it stock and as reliable as possible for the long run.

Spend amount - up to $1200 or so. Thanks very much for the help. (BTW I am in WY, and would prefer to purchase privately in state if possible).

Yugo (not a beater Century build), or a MAK-90. Not in the same ball park but same league- an SKS with chest pouch and strippered ammo.. Frankly, these days you might consider a quality AR15 and a stack0mags...

 

[Jcon268]

For what it's worth I enjoy my SAR-1 which is similar to WASR but came in during the AWB Era and therefore will be sans a bayonet lug and threads at the end of the barrel. I've heard of guys debanning them but honestly the extra money might get you to a higher level of AK. Just throw a side folder on it and shoot the piss out of it.

 

[wygito]

I have thought about going the AR route, but I have been shooting 7.62 for so long it is hard to "lower" myself to a poodle-shooter (just kidding).

I saw a PSA GF3, a Zpap M70, AMD-65, and several kit builds in the classifieds this morning. Saw a FEG, Arsenal, and a Poly too. Very expensive, although to me they look the same as the others.

Folks here seem to be favoring a norinco, and I think that is my first choice (even with the thumbhole stock).