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I picked this puppy up from the NWFA classifieds a little over a week ago because...

1. It was a new build with decent tolerances (for an AK).
2. Decent finish on the metal.
3. The bore is SUPER shiny and sweet throughout.
4. No front sight/gas tube canting.
5. No mag wobble.
6. Had very nice wood on the foregrip... not the crappy "plywood looking" stuff you usually see.
7. My preferred folding stock configuration
8. Decent price.
9. Dealer was a nice guy. :s0155:

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The only things I had to buy after the fact was the cleaning rod (I hear its hit or miss getting one with WASRs ) because I like it better than without one, 6 more 30-round mags, a sling, and 1500 rounds of ammo for this piglet!





Yesterday I refinished the foregrip... WIN!







Here it is compared (prior to the foregrip refinish) to my formerly owned Poly-Tech that resides @ my brother-in-law's house... he won't sell it back to me... the bastage!! (BTW- Reason #10 on why I bought the WASR)

The receiver is EVER SO SLIGHTLY thicker metal on Poly-Tech, but IMHO my WASR is right on par with it... plus mine has the lug for a pig sticker... next planned purchase.

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It was $475.00 for the rifle and 2 magazines, and if you figure the Tapco side-folder (fairly decent rig, btw) being around $40.00 (plus shipping) and it already being nicely installed, its right on par with what a fixed wooden stocked WASR goes for these days.

Plus, @ $475.00, its $25.00 less than what I sold the Poly-Tech for to my Brother-in-law over 12-yrs ago (WAS STILL A FAIR PRICE, HOWEVER)... I loved seeing his jaw going slightly slack when I showed it to him and told him what I paid!! At least he's keeping his promise to keep that Poly-Tech in the family, and I'd rather see my nephew get the thing (someday) rather than some wanker off the street. :s0155:
 
Wow.....the Poly with the "Galil" folder is a rare bird.....keep track of it!

I've had a few 10/63s, definitely under rated guns. Sure, they aren't "show winners" by any means, but they get the job done.
 
Oh you KNOW I'm keeping one eye on that Poly!! Yeah, that Galil style folder is pretty rare, but believe it or not the locking mechanism has a little push button on it instead of the "push down and engage the slot to open/close" method that the Galil actually uses. The Tapco works the same as the Galil, and since I've had a .308 Galil dating back to around '93(ish) I'm more used to that method.

If the Tapco doesn't work out in the long run, I'll probably go with an Ace side-folder done up in metal, those look the shizo! Too bad an actual Galil stock is different from the AK receiver, or I would grab one from Apex Gun Parts for $100.00.



(Off Topic)

Ahhhh... I loves me my .308 Galil!!
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I agree with you about the Tapco's durability for heavy use, and I DO like them ACE stocks, but I've sunk a TON into ammo, ammo cans, and additional magazines for 5 different weapons... so my wallet has to cool down a bit since the wife wants to go to Vegas for 5 days in June, and I STILL have to buy food for the kids and pay the mortgage between now and then... LOL!

Do you know the specific model ACE stock you are referring too? There seems to be a dizzying array of options... I'm also contemplating adding the Galil charging handle mod as its NICE for racking the bolt with the left hand and not reaching all the way over, or twisting the rifle to meet the left hand.
 
Yeah stomper, this wanker off the street could end up with that poly-tech so you better keep an eye on it.

+1 for the internal block (stamped AK model), side folder mechanism (I love the push button model), and the 8.5 para FAL style stock (the buttpad is another 1" so total length is 9.5").

Glad you're loving our new purchase.

SF-
 
Thanks for all the input on upgrading the stock, guys. After much google-fu trying to find a vendor that had one in stock, I was able to acquire an ACE side folder with a 8.5" FAL/Galil style stock and the internal/compact receiver block... now to go hack off that rear tang!
 
Alllllrighty then... we just got back from Vegas last night (105*F of dry heat back to 67*F and light showers... WTH?!), and had today off from work as well... soooo I installed the ACE folding stock system that was waiting for me when I got home! I cut the rear tang off the rear trunnion and installed the internal ACE block after putting a coat of flat black Rustoleum over the "machined" area left from the "de-tanging" of the rear trunnion.

I installed the skeleton stock to the side folding mechanism (SFM), then installed the SFM all nice and square to the to the internal block, it was beautiful looking and folded up and unfolded just fine... then I noticed it. The flippin' charging handle on the bolt would smack directly back into the butt making it impossible to charge a round into the chamber, or fire more than one shot (if already chambered) while in the folded position. At least working the safety lever and trigger access is no problem... What to do, what to do?!

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OK, then I go about sliding the SFM down on the rear block lowering the whole stock assembly... yeah that clears the charging handle just fine, but now the SFM sits below the bottom of the receiver and cuts into your hand when gripping the pistol grip... that sucks and isn't going to fly. I don't want to (and won't) grind the skeleton stock or heat and bend the upper and lower tubes of the sock... what to do, what do do?!

Then it hits me to make a "wedge/shim" of some sort. It turns out that some 1/8" thick black sheet styrene I have out in my shop would work perfectly. I traced out the profile of the mounting surface of the skeleton stock on it and cut it out, then ground and sanded it into a "wedge/shim"... see it right there in front of the hinge assembly?

It worked prefectly to cant the skeleton stock downwards just enough to clear the charging handle on the bolt with a little extra room to spare so you could actually operate the charging handle easily while folded. I also had to run to the hardware store and get two #10-32 X 1" allen bolts to replace the factory #10-32 x 3/4" bolts as they didn't go into the threads far enough because of the added wedge/shim thickness and grind them (the 1" long bolts) down so they wouldn't protrude through the SFM and into the rear mounting block...

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Here it is all finished, ROCK SOLID, and ready for just about anything (folded or not) should the need arise!

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:s0155:NOW... THIS is a WASR-10/63 FULL OF WIN!! :s0155:
 
Let me be the first to say congrats on your mod and good looking WASR at that!!!

The ace stock is leaps and bounds over the Tapco and it makes your hair grow thicker and women will find you more appealing. ;)

Seriously, nice rifle and I think you could sell your shims with the 1" replacement alan bolts.

Are you replacing the handguard?

SF-
 
Thanks for the compliments, SF!

Currently this is my favorite rifle (sorry .308 Galil... its cheaper to shoot!), and it shoots like a dirty-dayum!! :s0155:


I'm liking the wooden hand guard, especially since I refinished it in a more "Russian Red" color as opposed to the blond color it was. If I was to change it out I think it would be with the black synthetic furniture that has the same profile as the wooden stuff since I'm a fan of the "traditional" AK profiles. I even prefer the "old school" gas block over the newer "AK-74 style" gas blocks you see on the Saiga's (for instance).

As for selling the shims as a kit...

First, I'd have to become a supporting vendor to "set up shop" on any of the forums out there.

Second, with the amount of time it takes to get the shims "just right" and "looking good" so people don't "freak" would make a reasonable price point difficult to set, without people saying, "$20.00 for THIS?!".

I guess I could make a "perfected" master and make silicon molds of it and cast it in this SUPER TOUGH black resin I use for other projects for consistency/quality/reasonable pricing... but I suspect it would just add up to be another outgoing expense with minimal returns in the end.

I make (and sell) replica Star Wars movie props/greeblies/weapons, and (literally) have customers all over the world (including Geo. Lucas associates). Although I've made an EXCELLENT supplemental income from it, I've taken the last two years off from it all. (I even own a couple complete sets of stormtrooper armor molded from the original stuff used in the movie... LOL)

Here's me and one of my kids doing a gig for a Lucas Films exhibit at OMSI a few years back:
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Here's some examples of the things I've made and sold over the years:

Resin casted Scout Trooper blaster
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Scratch built Stormtrooper blaster (based on a Sterling SMG... the folding stock actually works)
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I could look into and explore the shim/wedge idea a bit more (I'm sure I could manage it... LOL), but I'm happy to have the idea placed as a sticky somewhere so others can climb out of the "Ace-hole" for themselves that I briefly found myself in today... wudaya think?
 
Well first off I am in shock and awe.... I am in the presence of a super smart nerd and he has the star wars goodies to prove it.... know anybody who would like some original star wars baseball cards from the 70's? I never got around to throwing them away and I feel they should goto a better home than mine... one who truly appreciates them.

Back to the shim... as I was driving onto JBLM this morning it dawned on me and I had an idea too (yuk yuk yuk.....) instead of you selling them yourself why not contact ACE and see if they would sell them for you since it is a single product based item of theirs. I was wondering about the whole plastic molding thing but I guess that issue is now null and void.

Just my two cents.

As for the hand guards, I think the K-Var black plastic with metal heat shield would add to the appearance but after sitting down at the computer instead of the iphone, I see the 'russkie red' refinish. Your WASR reminds me of the G1 FALs; WOOD butt stocks, PLASTIC pistol grips and METAL hand guards. Yours is reversed but maintains the theme of the era as the world left behind the old and grasped the new.

If someone else were to own this rifle, I would recommend the Galil style charging handle to ease in operation with the stock folded.

SF-
 
Why not reverse the folding mechanism on the ace and fold the stock to the left side where there aren't any controls to block? That's how the my dad's milled norinco side folder is set up. It's so much better with it out of the way.
 
Why not reverse the folding mechanism on the ace and fold the stock to the left side where there aren't any controls to block? That's how the my dad's milled norinco side folder is set up. It's so much better with it out of the way.


Me no likey on the left... me only likey on the right because of its better "all around" ergonomics (for me) while shooting, carrying, and deploying/stowing the stock, plus it doesn't interfere with the controls since I made that wedge/shim and it would mess up potential use of the scope rails on the left side (it has them I just didn't photograph that side), and women dig it on the right side. :s0155:

As for the Star Wars stuff... I'm not a "nerd" (like the types that "live it" and go to conventions and speak "Klingonese") as much as I'm an "artisan" who appreciates things that are DONE WELL, and can make a few bucks now and then doing the same thing when he sees a market that pays for the hobby. ;)


Glad ya'll like the WASR... its about time these rifles get some respect! :s0112:
 
Glad ya'll like the WASR... its about time these rifles get some respect! :s0112:

The funny thing is, most layfolk claim that the lack of dimples is why the WASR isn't a good AK, not realizing that there are plenty of issue rifles like the RPK-74 that don't have them either. Here's a similarly dimpleless Chinese AK too.

WASRs rule :) .

Keith
 

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