Opinions on best AK

[robertba12]

I am in the market for a good AK.....any one stand above the rest?

 

[Hondo]

I am in the market for a good AK.....any one stand above the rest?

A little hard to find but the SA-M7 or VEPR-K would be two great choices, VEPR's have a deserved reputation for having the best accuracy of AK's. OK the word accuracy and AK are usually not found in the same sentence but a VEPR is surprisingly accurate.

Yugo Underfolders (if you like underfolders) M70-AB2 can be more easily found at gunshows and places online like Centerfire and Classic Arms. These are pretty good Century imports. A more authentic one can be found at Atlantic Arms but it goes for around $800

Bulgarian SSR's can be found online at Classic Arms and have a good reputation.

Romanian MK (AKA WASR) can be had for $400 if you want a no frills "pull the trigger and it goes bang" AK.

The only one I would recommend you avoid one is Vulcan Arms or whatever Hesse is calling themselves these days.

 

[Burt Gummer]

Yeah I hear good things about the VEPR and Yugo underfolders. If you can qualify to purchase the underfolders are about $650 at GT's in Austin.

Some guys are big on the thickness of the AK's receivers. I am not down with all the AK lingo but I know where to find folks who are...

http://www.ak47.net/http://www.ak47.net/

 

[Hondo]

Some guys are big on the thickness of the AK's receivers. I am not down with all the AK lingo but I know where to find folks who are...

http://www.ak47.net/http://www.ak47.net/

Oh yeah, the perennial "stamped vs milled" debate

The Guns Network LLC ~ Discussion Forums - Powered by vBulletin is another good AK site

 

[Man With A Gun...]

I would have to say a Milled Norinco type 56S, or Polytech legend, or a milled Bulgarian Arsenal. Maybe a Russian type 3 if one could be found, Vepr, and, Valmet's..

Mid grade would be, Yugo, Maadi, or debanned Mak-90's,

Low grade would be Any century gun, Romanian, etc..

 

[TxEMTP69]

I have a Norinco AK and love it, no clue if its milled or stamped? guess I need to pull it apart and look

 

[Man With A Gun...]

I have a Norinco AK and love it, no clue if its milled or stamped? guess I need to pull it apart and look

No need to pull it apart. The stamped has many rivets holding it together, the milled does not.



The upper is stamped, the lower milled.

Post a pic and I'll identify the Norinco you have..

 

[sharky47]

I have a Norinco type 56S-1, a stamped underfolder that I bought DURING the ban.

I was 16, working a part time job for minimum wage - I worked MY ASS OFF for that gun, but it was one that I had wanted for as long as I knew what AK's were.

Still have it and will pass it on to my offspring when the time comes......


Picked up a light barrel Romanian RPK that used to be single stack, I can see where they dremeled out the mag well. Kinda cheesy, but shoots decently - got in trade for some labor, so it didn't cost me any money.....good fun.

 

[cuate]

Finland was licensed by Russia to make their AK version, Valmet I think its called, Israel got into that with the Galil which is .223 or .308 but a little hard to find and expensive.

 

[sharky47]

The Finnish Valmet and the Polish Tantal are probably my two favorite AK variants.

Don't forget the CZ VZ58, I know it's not an AK - but appearance is very similar, same cartridge, and well made. Czech Point USA has them for sale new for less than $1k.

 

[espnazi]

Wondering if the VZ2008 is any good, it's a century VZ58. It looks to be decent quality.

 

[sharky47]

I'm a little gunshy on century products. I have handled the Czechpoint VZ58 and it seemed to be of good quality. I did build a VZ61 Skorpion on a Czechpoint receiver and I was VERY impressed with the quality and price of that receiver. I would not hesitate to do business with them again.

 

[Burt Gummer]

Some folks are paying 1000 plus for an AK. I find that ridiculous unless you are a serious AK collector.
I got my WASR for about $350 and it shoots just fine. To each his own I guess.

 

[TxEMTP69]

No need to pull it apart. The stamped has many rivets holding it together, the milled does not.



The upper is stamped, the lower milled.

Post a pic and I'll identify the Norinco you have..

OK thanks, I'll look at it when I get home and try to post pics later

 

[robertba12]

Thanks for the responses, as with anything else there are many options. I think I am going to stay within the middle of the road, I don't want top of the line, but, I don't want junk either. I am looking for one that upholds the reputation of "bury it, drag it through mud, fire it till it's hot, etc." and it still goes bang...and is somewhat accurate.

 

[M. Sage]

People bag on the Romanian AKs, but I've built one, helped build a couple others and sighted in several with no problems. The ones I've sighted in were capable of touching bullet holes at 50 yards using Wolf ammo.

IMO the AK might not be a extremely accurate platform, but it's as accurate as most ARs out there; more accurate than the person at the controls. AKs have developed a reputation for bad accuracy for several reasons: the rear sight sucks (but can work just fine), the trigger sucks, the ammo is often not terribly good (I do have to admit that most AKs I'm familiar with will drastically change POI between different ammo types) and most important the shooters who are more likely to use an AK in "real life" are meatball third-world idiots.

I've heard of Ugandans who were shooting at people 100 yards away, every round going way over their targets' heads. When the "targets" figured out that they were indeed being shot back, they shot the Ugandans down, and got a chance to look at their rifles... The sights were adjusted for max range, and the only explanation I can think of is that someone told them "to shoot farther, move this forward." So they thought they were turning their AKs up to 11.

With operators like that, it's not hard to garner a bad reputation for accuracy.

BTW, in run-n-gun carbine matches, I've run with and/or beat guys using high-end ARs. I was shooting an NDS-3 and Romy AK kit that was built in a garage.

 

[sharky47]

I have done very well at IDPA carbine matches running my trusty old Norinco.

 

[Texas1911]

AKs do not shoot on par with ARs. I'm sorry, I've shot far too many of them to say that is not a normal occurrence. The higher end AKs will do about 2 - 3 MOA, which is plenty decent, and near a run of the mill AR. The WASR, is a pile of junk that is lucky to hit the broad side of a barn at anything beyond 200 yards.

Triggers in the AKs these days aren't exceptionally bad, they are at least light, but very vague. They certainly are no SKS trigger.

I shot a .308 Saiga AK with a 10x scope and it did approximately 2 MOA. For hunting, defense, etc. 2 MOA is plenty good. You are on the kill zone out to a very effective range.

I've also shot a number of WASR10s that would not hit a 24" x 36" target at 100 Yards. More than likely the sights, but that's what you are getting when you buy junk AKs.

We got in a Norinco a few months ago that looked nice. A few customers bought the CZ varients and they shoot really well.

 

[Man With A Gun...]

Any AK will shoot on target great IF properly sighted in. Most are not sighted in from the factory, Some have canted sights etc. Most people do not understand how to properly sight in or use the sights on the AK...


AK-47.net: How to Sight in an AK


[FONT=verdana,arial]Home | AK-47 Info Center | Sighting In an AK[/FONT]

[FONT=verdana,arial]AK-47.net: [/FONT][FONT=verdana,arial]Sighting In an AK[/FONT]​

[FONT=verdana,arial]The AK-47 rifle has two adjustable sights front and rear. Zeroing elevation adjustments are made using the front and rear sights. Windage adjustments are made with the rear sights. For models without an adjustable rear site you zero windage using the front sight[/FONT] [FONT=verdana,arial] The rear sight has an elevation knob with range indicators from 100 to 1000 meters. Elevation is controlled by moving the slide in the up or down position. Most AK sights do not have a windage adjustment on the rear sight, so you must adjust the front sight instead. This rear sight contains a windage knob on the right side of the sight. Each click of the windage knob will move the strike of the round from 1/8 inch at 25 meters to 4 inches at 800 meters. We suggest that you purchase a windage adjustable rear sight, you only have to turn a knob to adjust your windage instead of drifting your front sight.[/FONT]


[FONT=verdana,arial] The front sight consists of a rotating sight post. The front sight will allow you to adjust for elevation by rotating the front sight pin up or down. Note: if you wish to move your point of impact up then you must rotate the sight down. If you wish your point of impact to go down you must rotate the front sight pin up. If you wish to change your windage then you must drift the windage slide in the opposite direction desired. We strongly suggest that you purchase an AK sight drift, it makes drifting your front sight much easier and with less marks. In general any changes you make in your front sight must be made in the opposite direction.[/FONT]​

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[FONT=verdana,arial]Please note proper sight picture is displayed:[/FONT]

[FONT=verdana,arial]Establish Zero
The following procedure will establish a zero at 25 meters, and your AK-47 will be set with a 1000 meter battle sight zero. This means that all shots will be within a 16" circle at all ranges up to 1000 meters.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,arial]Establish Mechanical Zero -[/FONT]

• [FONT=verdana,arial]Slide the spring loaded catcher down until the range scale 1 (100-meter) mark is aligned with the spring loaded catcher.[/FONT]

[FONT=verdana,arial]Carefully aim and fire each shot of a 3-shot group at a paper target set up at 25 meters. If your shots are not striking the point-of-aim, then adjust your sights.[/FONT]

• [FONT=verdana,arial]To raise the next shot group, rotate the front sight post in the down direction (clockwise)[/FONT]
• [FONT=verdana,arial]To lower the next shot group, rotate the front sight post in the up direction (counter-clockwise)[/FONT]
• [FONT=verdana,arial]To move the next shot group left, turn the rear sight windage knob counterclockwise, or drift the front sight to the right.[/FONT]
• [FONT=verdana,arial]To move the next shot group right, turn the rear sight windage knob clockwise, or drift the front sight to the left.[/FONT]

[FONT=verdana,arial]Continue to fire 3-shot groups and adjust the sights until you have a tight group at the point of aim.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,arial]Once this is done, rifle is now combat-zeroed all other ranges on the elevation knob are also zeroed, so to engage target at say 500 meters, turn the spring loaded catcher to 5.[/FONT]

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[goodfellas]

I'm partial to the Maadis myself. I love mine and they wont brake the bank. They where made on tooling given tot he Egyptians by the Russians. if you want a welth of information check out The AK Forum be sure to let us know witch way you go when you decide.