I would buy the cheapest kit you can find for your first one. http://whatacountry.com/romanian-ak-47-parts-kit-2.aspx , they also have a polish underfolder for like 70 more. These are just two that I found quickly on google and they may not be the cheapest, however if you do find cheaper let us know.
Most of the current kits don't include the original barrel. You have to buy a US made barrel which is not chrome lined in most cases and you have to drill the front sight, gas tube and rear sight pin holes and sometimes the gas port hole . It also has to be head-spaced and the trunnion is sometimes too large or small for the non-matching barrel to fit (yes, trunnions do vary in size). As you can see a non-matching pieced together kit can be a much more difficult build. The easiest build is to get a matching kit that still has the original chrome lined barrel. And remember it does take some special tools to put a kit together as rivets are used unless you do a screw build which is not a popular way to do it. You also have to buy or bend your own receiver.
Converting a Saiga or buying an AK already built is the easy way to go and really not that much more than buying a kit and the tools unless you build more than one. I have built several AK's from kits (Yugo, Egyptian and Romanian) over the last 6 years and plan to do 2 more from non-matching kits. I enjoy doing it being retired but it can be a challenge at times.
Blurplers I sold that kit I had for sale. If you end up buying that Egyptian kit (I did one of those too) PM me for where you can get the other parts.
Places to check for kits/parts are Apex, Copes and there is a guy selling mismatched demilled Romanian kits with new US barrels on the AK Files forum for $240 shipped http://www.akfiles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=120604 which is a great deal. He seems to have an endless supply of them.
Converting a Saiga or buying an AK already built is the easy way to go and really not that much more than buying a kit and the tools unless you build more than one. I have built several AK's from kits (Yugo, Egyptian and Romanian) over the last 6 years and plan to do 2 more from non-matching kits. I enjoy doing it being retired but it can be a challenge at times.
Blurplers I sold that kit I had for sale. If you end up buying that Egyptian kit (I did one of those too) PM me for where you can get the other parts.
Places to check for kits/parts are Apex, Copes and there is a guy selling mismatched demilled Romanian kits with new US barrels on the AK Files forum for $240 shipped http://www.akfiles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=120604 which is a great deal. He seems to have an endless supply of them.
First, I'd say unless you have some patience and free time a kit probably isn't the way to go. With as cheap as you can get an assembled kit it's hard to justify a parts kit build. However, if that's what floats your boat then check out Apex Gun Parts. https://www.apexgunparts.com/ (Full disclosure though, I know one of the owners and usually volunteer in their booth at Wannamakers.) They have a lot of different kits to choose from. Plus if you ever need a random part they have one of the better selections out there. Now if you buy a parts kit, remember that you will have to get a receiver in a separate order. You can get a milled one right here from Oklahoma from the firing line http://www.firinglineoklahoma.com/akreceivers.html.
If you decide you want one that's pre built you can get some of the best deals from either http://www.classicfirearms.com/ or from http://www.aimsurplus.com/ although it looks like these days their AK selection is pretty small.
EDIT: Looks like Classic has a good deal on stamped receivers http://www.classicfirearms.com/long-guns/ak-74-receiver
If you decide you want one that's pre built you can get some of the best deals from either http://www.classicfirearms.com/ or from http://www.aimsurplus.com/ although it looks like these days their AK selection is pretty small.
EDIT: Looks like Classic has a good deal on stamped receivers http://www.classicfirearms.com/long-guns/ak-74-receiver
Cktad - kind of off topic and yet still kind of on topic: if one has a complete rifle from the early '90s, but they want to "deban" it, is it a risky thing to remove and replace the gas block and FSB? I know those require a press, and with that is there a chance of damage to the barrel doing that? I've thought it would be cool to have someone replace the neutered stuff with the good stuff, but since I'm OK with a neutered gun I wouldn't want to risk ruining a perfectly good rifle for what amounts to cosmetics.
convert a saiga its easy and they are bad ass legit ak
Not too hard to do if you have a press and lot of people have done it without any damage to the gun. Here a video tutorial on pressing the parts on the barrel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9v8QUdmUZs. If you like the gun as is I wouldn't mess with it.
I would just buy one instead of a kit. I bought a Romy SAR-1 for 500 that shoots really great. I love that gun. Easy to take apart and clean. The gun shoots the cheapie Tula stuff all day long with no hiccups. I had a WASR-10, I didn't have any issues with it, they have risen in price to about 550 new.
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