Glockmeister
New Member
I'm thinking of getting an AK and I'm wondering what makes a good one, good. What are my options and which route would you go, and why?
What makes a good AK?
- Thread starter Glockmeister
- Start date
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Spend the money and get a Saiga. It's worth it. Add on to it as you feel the need. I bought one and added a Houge grip, bolt buffer, night sight front sight post, and am waiting on my Texas Weapons Systems gen 2 dog leg. I also bought a Primary Arms red dot for it as well as some bulgarian waffle mags. With all of that plus the gun your looking at around 1100 bucks give or take. I just polished the bolt last night. It looks awesome.
tenfeathers
Member
As jake75 said get a Saiga you can convert it to a AK very easy, just order the parts from carolinashooterssupply.com Home Page A Saiga is a AK sporterized to be able to import them. I have 2 and love -em cheap ammo and fires every time.
Any AK built in an actual commie factory is going to be G2G.
These include:
Saiga (factory, not Arsenal) - you'll have to de-klintonize this one, but it's easy as pie.
ISD SSR-85c (originally imported by Global Trades / Armory USA, now imported by TGI)
WASR
Zastava PAP - you'll have to de-klintonize this one, too, but it's a harder job than doing the Saiga
and the Saiga where you pay dearly for the name on them from Ar$¢nal
The Saiga and the PAP are factory new guns, made with milspec parts. The WASR and ISD SSR-85c are recycled army guns of the respective manufacturer's country.
*cough*Lancaster*cough*
*cough*Hesse*cough*
These include:
Saiga (factory, not Arsenal) - you'll have to de-klintonize this one, but it's easy as pie.
ISD SSR-85c (originally imported by Global Trades / Armory USA, now imported by TGI)
WASR
Zastava PAP - you'll have to de-klintonize this one, too, but it's a harder job than doing the Saiga
and the Saiga where you pay dearly for the name on them from Ar$¢nal
The Saiga and the PAP are factory new guns, made with milspec parts. The WASR and ISD SSR-85c are recycled army guns of the respective manufacturer's country.
*cough*Lancaster*cough*
*cough*Hesse*cough*
What makes an AK good is that it fires every time you pull the trigger.
What makes an AK bad are things that keep it from firing every time you pull the trigger, and you can usually screen these out when you examine them.
-Check that magazines go in and out smoothly, and that there is almost no "front-to-back" play when the mag locks up, lateral play is OK.
-Look down on the barrel from the top rear of the rifle and insure that the gas block and front sight block are not obviously canted to the left or right.
-Do a function check:
selector to fire, run the bolt, selector to safe, pull the trigger - hammer should not fall
selector to fire, pull trigger and hold to rear - hammer should fall
release trigger - loud click should be heard as disconnector releases hammer
Using the above you can usually select a good WASR from a table at a gunshow. Of the current WASR options, I recommend the GP 1975 models.
What makes some AKs better, and more expensive, than others is features. Super short barrel, mid-length, extended barrel, side folder, underfolder, side rail, railed handguards, railed topcover, flash hider, muzzle break, G2 triger, Arsenal trigger, Red Star trigger....there are too many viable options to make an appropriate recommendation without knowing a lot more about the planned use. Also would need to know budget and how comfortable you are doing home gunsmith stuff.
The nice thing about AKs is that you can buy a "cadillac" for what a "good" AR will cost. But if you are new to AKs I'd recommend buying a WASR first using the above criteria, shooting the heck out of it, and figuring out what features are important for you. Then sell it and buy the right "cadillac" for you.
Welcome to the Dark Side.
What makes an AK bad are things that keep it from firing every time you pull the trigger, and you can usually screen these out when you examine them.
-Check that magazines go in and out smoothly, and that there is almost no "front-to-back" play when the mag locks up, lateral play is OK.
-Look down on the barrel from the top rear of the rifle and insure that the gas block and front sight block are not obviously canted to the left or right.
-Do a function check:
selector to fire, run the bolt, selector to safe, pull the trigger - hammer should not fall
selector to fire, pull trigger and hold to rear - hammer should fall
release trigger - loud click should be heard as disconnector releases hammer
Using the above you can usually select a good WASR from a table at a gunshow. Of the current WASR options, I recommend the GP 1975 models.
What makes some AKs better, and more expensive, than others is features. Super short barrel, mid-length, extended barrel, side folder, underfolder, side rail, railed handguards, railed topcover, flash hider, muzzle break, G2 triger, Arsenal trigger, Red Star trigger....there are too many viable options to make an appropriate recommendation without knowing a lot more about the planned use. Also would need to know budget and how comfortable you are doing home gunsmith stuff.
The nice thing about AKs is that you can buy a "cadillac" for what a "good" AR will cost. But if you are new to AKs I'd recommend buying a WASR first using the above criteria, shooting the heck out of it, and figuring out what features are important for you. Then sell it and buy the right "cadillac" for you.
Welcome to the Dark Side.
Reliability is the main selling point of the AK-47. It isn't pretty and it's (IMO) not combat accurate past 200 meters. If you get anything from Century inspect it very well and ask about warranties/returns. They have a reputation for making lemons (though not always).
The AK-74, however, is just as reliable and much more accurate. The ammo is very inexpensive, as well. The 5.45 cartridge also employs an interesting design which guarantees the bullet will tumble through it's target, sort of circular sawing it's way through.
An AK in 5.56 would be really cool if the magazines weren't so scarce and expensive (avoid the SAR-3 because of this and reliability issues).
Just some things to consider.
The AK-74, however, is just as reliable and much more accurate. The ammo is very inexpensive, as well. The 5.45 cartridge also employs an interesting design which guarantees the bullet will tumble through it's target, sort of circular sawing it's way through.
An AK in 5.56 would be really cool if the magazines weren't so scarce and expensive (avoid the SAR-3 because of this and reliability issues).
Just some things to consider.
I was just commenting on this on another forum.
The "reliability issues" surround the WASR-3 and SAR-3 rifles is due to Century shipping East German AK74 magazines with a lot of them. These magazines may have had a floorplate marked ".223" and/or had a special paint job to differentiate them from standard EG mags, but changing the floorplate and throwing on some paint doesn't actually change functionality (or geometry).
.223 does not run well in a 5.45x39 magazine due to geometry, and I believe that Century caused a lot of the "reliability issue" by doing this.
I've owned both Sar-3 and WASR-3 rifles and have had no issues whatsoever with Weiger mags.
Yes, but I haven't seen any of those at all lately, let alone for a good price. $50 per mag is a bit cost prohibitive for someone like me who likes to stock up on at least ten to feel safe. Why ten? Because there may come a day when you can't fix the old ones or replace them anymore. Looks like that day is soon approaching for the SAR-3 not due to legislation but just plain rarity of the only mags that work well.
If you want the best AK possible, go with Rifle Dynamics or Red Jacket. The Arsenals cost Cadillac prices for Caprice Classic quality. The Interarms IAC 47 is good quality for the price. The Arsenal SLR 107 UR is the only one I would pay the money for because of the SBR capability.
Yeah, I may have given them too much credit. Oh well, just my opinion. I see and have run a bunch of AK's. Again, in my opinion they are over-priced.
