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Looking to purchase an AK clone

Author	Comment
Zangskamander	Looking to purchase an AK clone	Lead	[-]
Posts: 10 Feb 26 12 4:00 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tags : None Howdy all, I'm interested in picking up an AK but I certainly cannot afford the real deal. I was hoping someone could give some direction as to what to check out for decent reliability at a low price point. It seems like the Romanian WASR 10 may be my best bet. I'll be heading to a fairly large gun show next weekend and I'd love to be an informed shopper by then. Thanks, Zane
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bill3542		#1	[-]
Posts: 114 Feb 26 12 6:26 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	if you can find one a Saiga in 7.62x39 thats had the conversion back the AK look, they are built in the same plant as the Russian AK rifles. another good bet would be a used Chinese Norinco AK or a Hungarian FEG AK. i just seen way to many Romanian AK rifles with issues to buy one.
dfariswheel		#2	[-]
Posts: 1187 Feb 26 12 9:31 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	For a decent AK at a lower price, the Romanian WASR is a good buy. You need to decide if you want a 7.62x39 or a 5.45x39 AK first. The WASR is made in both calibers. The 7.62 is better for hunting, the 5.45 is great because you can buy 1080 round cans of corrosive surplus ammo for around $140.00 a can. THAT'S CHEAP. All you have to do is use hot water to flush out the corrosive residue immediately after firing, and before normal cleaning procedures. The 5.45 is a hot, flat shooting round that's more accurate then the 7.62 and as proven in combat with the Soviets from Afghanistan to Chechnya, a real man killer. What to look out for in a WASR are canted sights, and extremely wobbly magazines. The WASR is built in Romania as a single stack magazine rifle, and the importer converts it to a double stack magazine rifle once it's in the US. Depending on the skill of the person doing the conversion the magazine may have excessive wobble side to side, but this usually doesn't affect reliability. Some WASR's have had issues with canted front sights, and rarely canted gas blocks or rear sights. The "usual" is the front. To detect, just sight down the barrel and compare the front sight support to the receiver and the gas block and rear sight. Canted sights are not a big deal to correct, but given the option pass on one of these. The appearance of the WASR can be greatly enhanced by finishing the wood and if desired, applying a better coat of a paint-type gun finish to the metal. The preference on a WASR would be one new in the box. That way if there are any issues, the importer will correct them. A used gun show WASR should be rather suspect, since it's common for defective guns to get traded off and show up at gun shows where it can be dumped.
Zangskamander		#3	[-]
Posts: 10 May 10 12 1:45 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Thanks for the input. So if I were looking to find a reputable dealer for a WASR that balanced affordability with reliability/warranty, what might be good options? I'm easily swayed by gun shows because of the ability to handle the merchandise and the ability to shop around in-house but I don't like the liability prognosis I'm hearing. I'm also fine going Chinese or Hungarian (or any of the multitude of nations that have been licensed to produce the weapon), I'm just concerned with affordability, dependability and to a lesser degree, authenticity. P.S. I apologize for reviving a 'dead' topic, I'm just still waiting until I can afford the purchase and trying to collect good leads. Thanks again, Zane
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dfariswheel		#4	[-]
Posts: 1187 May 10 12 7:32 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	WASR rifles are imported and sold by Century Arms International, and Aim. Many distributors sell them, and most any gun dealer can order you one. Atlantic Firearms sell a range of AK's from the cheaper versions to the middle of the range rifles, to the top-of-the-line Arsenal Inc SGL series rifles that are built as sporting rifles in the Russian factory that makes the original AK rifles and is converted to military form here by Arsenal Inc. These cost $800 or so, but are the finest available and as close as we'll ever get to a full-auto AK rifle. These are made in 7.62 and 5.45 and can be ordered from big distributors by FFL Dealers. http://www.atlanticfirearms.com/ A middle of the range option might be one of the AK-74 types in 5.45x39 being made in Bulgaria. These are decent rifles a good step above the Romanian WASR's. Last, a possibility is to buy a Russian Saiga. These are Russian sporting version AK rifles made in the same plant as the military Russian AK's. They come in 7.62 and 5.45 and other calibers. These are in full sporting form with sporting stock but some people convert them to military form by moving the trigger group forward and installing a standard AK stock and pistol grip. These sell for very good prices and are top quality rifles with military spec chrome lined barrels and mil-spec receivers. You can buy a brand new Russian sporting type Saiga for about what a WASR costs. If you can live without the military look, these are a best buy. Last Edited By: dfariswheel May 10 12 7:37 PM. Edited 2 times.
bigbill.theswissriflesd...		#5	[-]
Posts: 94 May 22 12 3:39 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Inspect the century arms ak clones very closely. Like anything else some of there butchers got to them on the fit. As said above i would suggest a brand new russian izmash saiga. Were buying a brand new russian manufactured ak/akm. Since i can live without the military look i'm really enjoying the saiga's in 223 & in 308win.
Dalkowski110		#6	[-]
Posts: 1489 Aug 1 12 8:47 PM Forum Co-host Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	If you can find one for a good price, a Norinco MAK-90 is a great and generally underrated gun. Even if the stock bothers the heck out of you (never bugged me, and I must be the only person I've encountered who has said that, lol), you can buy an aftermarket thumbhole stock (well, legally considered a thumbhole stock) that's way more ergonomic.
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