I've built AR's, FAL's, a M1, a 1903A3 and a PSL and numerous AK's from kits and the AK was not bad. Takes a little more time than the AR or FAL but with the right tools it's pretty easy. Doing good rivets is the hardest part but easy once you get the hang of it. I also like the MAK-90's.
Saiga 308.
Ak blab on
1 That depends on you and what you want. They come in many sizes, milled , stamped, long short with wood or plastic furiture, and a pistol vrs a rifle. Though many will say diferently, an AK is an AK. Price and preforance is the only option. Saigas and Rommys are cheep with Arsenal being one of the most expensive. Chicom are not worth the price many ask. Unless you realy want one and can get it for about the same as a regular base AK dont bother. All hype. The non inportation of them is the only driving price in thier value. I will get flamed for saying that but an AK is an AK.
2 The ones to avoid would be some of the shade tree home made ones with no markings. Rommys are cheep. Romania is the largest manufacturer and exporter of AKs now a days. Wasr 10s are made a little different for inportation reasons and then moded once state side. Mag woble IS normal in an AK, side to side. Nature of the creature. Aks are sloppy and loose, thats one the main reasons of thier reliability. Some the canted sights are more of an urban legend. Ive yet to see one but there may be a few. All companys have mondays and fridays. Oh, some of the early made Polish Tantils had the wrong size barrel in them, they wouldnt shoot for shiz. Key hole bad.
3 They not hard to build, Just get with someone that has the tools. Depending on your kit and reciever it could be as short as an hour to slap one together or the better part of a day. Depending on tools and hands on experiance
4 I havent kept up on prices. Havent bought one in years and its been a while since I built one. With the exception of a S12. Id check out AIMs and Classic Arm on line to start with
They come in many cals, 7.62x39 5.45x39 5.56x45(223) 7.62x51(308) 7.62x 54 pluss 410 and 12 gage. Price of ammo and availability may direct you to choosing one over the other. That and the ease and price of mags for the particular AK.
Dont buy American mags for an AK. They are all crap. 7.62 Dont buy bulgy mags that are slab side or have the bulits on them, they are crap. Real bulgy waffel mags or steel mags are good to go. Be leary of the Korean, They are grey and have funny tiny spot welds and cheep springs. Same goes for thier drums. Rommy drums are good to go. Top or back load. 5.45x39 mags for the most part are a poly type nature with some exceptions. Long as they are of comblock nature they are good to go. Stay away from American made mags, CRAP! 5.56x45 is a rare creature. Mags are expensive but you get to shoot an American round
There are compliance issues to deal with some. This link will take you to it and further explain that part.
http://www.thegunwiki.com/Gunwiki/BuildAkVerifyCompliance
Ak rant off
Not flaming but the Chicom AK's are a better finished rifle than say the Romanian. The stamped receiver is thicker and the trigger is better, actually considered one of the best for an out of the box AK.
I own several Romanians and they do the job but they are considered the economy AK by most as they are cruder in finish. The canted sight problem is not a myth. Check any AK forum and you will see numerous posts about it. It's an easy fix but does occur quite often.
Some slight mag wobble is OK but the reason the WASR10 is so bad is the receiver doesn't have the dimples at the mag well like other AK's and the mag well is modified as you said by Century beavers. Too much enlarging and you get the excessive wobble. Not a deal beaker but that is why they are cheaper.
I own several Romanians and they do the job but they are considered the economy AK by most as they are cruder in finish. The canted sight problem is not a myth. Check any AK forum and you will see numerous posts about it. It's an easy fix but does occur quite often.
Some slight mag wobble is OK but the reason the WASR10 is so bad is the receiver doesn't have the dimples at the mag well like other AK's and the mag well is modified as you said by Century beavers. Too much enlarging and you get the excessive wobble. Not a deal beaker but that is why they are cheaper.
Not completely true. The components may be the same, but where they differ is the fit and finish. AK's are loose enough weapons where even the most sloppy builds have a good chance of running fine for a long time. However, comparing a chicom, arsenal, or even a carefully converted saiga with a century wasr build and you'll notice big differences in the fit and finish. There were some tantal builds by Century that had problems with keyholing with out of spec barrels. Arsenal's Bulgarian based builds could be had for $600-$800, with the median being around $640-$750, which is the price of what Century charges for their Yugo builds. At that price, why wouldn't you get an Arsenal if you're looking for a new AK?
I do agree with you that Chicoms are not worth some of the price people are asking for, especially used. But if you can find one for a hundred more or less than a typical Century build, then I'd say it's worth it. Arsenals are out of the Bulgarian builds and only have their Saiga based rifles, which go for about $1000 now. Not really worth it unless you have to have a Saiga converted rifle without all the extra receiver holes and welds.
Slight mag wobble is normal if using surplus metal mags. However, large amount of wobble is not. Unfortunately, we are so used to sloppily built AK's that we think huge amount of wobble is normal. I've held WASR 10's that had more than an inch of total play in wobble from side to side. That's far too much and not correct. Fortunately, this can often be fixed for as little as $5.
I know a guy in OKC who's Russian and served in the Russian military and even he can't help but do a facepalm anytime he sees the crappy guns we call AK's here. He goes on a Russian hissy fit/seizure when on the topic of WASR 10's, rofl. It's kind of funny actually. He also chuckles a bit when the big .5.56 vs 7.62 discussions happens. He says that in the Russian military, it's highly regarded that Americans had it almost right with the 5.56 concept and why they switched to the 5.45.
As for the canted front sight being an urban legend, this is far from true. Almost every Century build has some cant in the front sight block. My Yugo build has a small minimal amount of cant. Fortunately, it's not enough that most people can notice and not correctable in by adjusting windage in the sights. Unless the AK was built by a specialized shop or reputable dealer, you almost have to accept canted front sights as a normal thing and you're just checking to make sure it's not too extreme and not correctable by adjusting the sights. I've seen AK's at the range where people have drifted the front sight all the way to one side to correct the amount of cant in the front sight block.
Chicoms may look nicer because of better machining and finish true, I will agree. They do not function any better though. Recievers are thicker, but unless you are in full auto you will never see a differance. 1 vrs 1.5 mill recievers do not realy matter. The Ak has been moded many times buy cutting a little more off here and there to save on wieght through the years. Thats why milled was replaced for stamped. Pluss it was easier and faster to make. If you could still pick those chicoms up new for 200 bucks, say 500-600 in todays money id say grab one. But not for the collector prices people want now a days. Those chicoms were considered cheep junk weapons along with the SKSs when they were first introduced in the states back in the late 80s. Man times change.
Me personaly Ive never met an AK that I didnt want.
Best made? That is a matter of oppinion. What makes it better? How about the early Yugos from the late 80s early 90s? They were inported in vastly less numbers and were built to military specs. There are others that elude me that are just as well made.
How many canted sights have you seen? Or is it an illusion that many perceve because of the machining of the front gass block? I am a member of several said AK forums and have been for many years. The canted sights seems to be something that has been repeted a million times but how many people even know a person that on that form that has one? Now compair that to the millions that have been inported. Im not saying it doesnt exist, it has just been blown vastly out of proportion.
The woble in wasr 10s has little if any to do with the dimples being deleted. If you look in the inside of the mag well there is a c channel that is spot welded to the inside in lue of the dimples. Now like you said the drunken monkes that century or hoom ever employ may on occasion Hawged to much off. Wobble is normal. Maybe not as much in a milled but it is there. Long as it isnt fron to back its ok.
Ive never thought of why Rommys were cheep. I just figured that they paid slave wadges in Romania and passed the savings on. Kinda like China does and did with there rifles. If they were made here in the US they would be qute a bit more, least Id figure
I have different variations of these said platforms. I lik em alot. They all preform the same. There are differances but the main differance, is price.
Im not the best at conveying when typing. I agree with what you posted. Im Just trying to let the OP not to be scared of getting a Wasr 10 for $400. Most people dont want to bother and convert a Saiga. And most the others are built in the US with non crome lined barrels. Big pluss.
By saying WASR10's are the economy AK I mean in the ranking of AK's WASR10's are considered on the lower tier. Why? Because the receiver is not made like the original AK hi-cap sheet metal receiver (no dimples) but made as a single stack, and the Century monkey has to grind and weld on it. I'm not saying they are junk, far from it as I had one and it did what it was supposed to do. BTW, WASR10's are now in the $500 range and other AK's are higher. Too much $ but that the way it's going. A Romanian G kit with original barrel is $350+ if you can find one as they now cut the barrel when imported.
No dimples is why they put the steel plates in the magwell, so yes the dimples were needed or they wouldn't have been in the original design or need the steel plates added by Century. Aestus agrees with me that too much wobble is not good. You seem to agree with him but not me for some reason.
The MAK 90's are pricier now, I'm just glad I got mine for $350 NIB a few years ago but you'll have a hard time finding one for that these days. Like you said $500-600 would be a fair price.
As far as canted sights I have seen quite a few in person. Again, aestus basically said the same thing I did and you agreed with him.
And yes, all the AK's will pretty much function the same but you could say that about 1911 pistols. My $375 RIA functions and shoots the same as my $1,000 Colt. Great, now I'll get flamed by the 1911 guys.
No dimples is why they put the steel plates in the magwell, so yes the dimples were needed or they wouldn't have been in the original design or need the steel plates added by Century. Aestus agrees with me that too much wobble is not good. You seem to agree with him but not me for some reason.
The MAK 90's are pricier now, I'm just glad I got mine for $350 NIB a few years ago but you'll have a hard time finding one for that these days. Like you said $500-600 would be a fair price.
As far as canted sights I have seen quite a few in person. Again, aestus basically said the same thing I did and you agreed with him.
And yes, all the AK's will pretty much function the same but you could say that about 1911 pistols. My $375 RIA functions and shoots the same as my $1,000 Colt. Great, now I'll get flamed by the 1911 guys.
To much typing man. I hate it, Im not fast and my speling is way baaaaaaaaad.
Lets put it this way, Yes some are prettier. I guess the price has gone up. Ive never payed more than 500 and the cheepest was 350 new. A 500 dollar Rommy will do exactly what a 1000 Arsenal will. So why dump so much money on something thats just a nutered bullet hose?? Thats all Im getting at
But for what its worth. Century dosent add the steel c plates in the mag well or weld on them unless you are refering to the mussel nut/break. They come that way from Romania. I know because I have convert these before. They were there with the single stacks. Thats the only reason the dimple isnt there. Just a cosmetic thing.
Romania still makes these WASR 10s with the same equipment that they do thier full auto AKMs. Bottom tier or not these are still made to military specs. They just lack the 3rd hole, hamer trip n dimple.
Its just the fact that mag wobble and canted sights is brought up so much that I chirp in. People make it sound as if the majority are out of spec. They might not be the prettiest girl at the dance but they will deliver. Ill agree, bottom tier.
Last I read Romania was the largest exporter of AKMs even above Russia. Just my oppinion, Id think that they knew what they were doing.
And RIA may still be using the same equipment that Colt gave them. Maybey. If sooooooo, you do have a Colt, a Phillipino Colt
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