AK-47: if you had to buy just 1 (or 2)

s4mt3k

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Alright - before you jump to your keyboard battle stations and start firing off: "search" "google" "wtf noob"

And really because this goddamn gun/shooting forum could use a break from: "emotional affairs" "AOC did this" "smoke show teacher had sex with teenager" "Bernie did that" "Trump dumpster fire threads" "is my town green" (bring back banana suits and shovel AKs for the love of God)

Obviously there's pages and pages and dedicated forums for AKs but I'm curious what the NES brain trust thinks;

So, put your pitchfork down and have fun with this:

If you had to buy 1 or 2, the wife isn't paying attention (read budget is not a strict concern), what would it/they be? What's the holy grail? Originals, clones, trans, gender pronoun non-specific :p

Year? Country? Factory? Manufacturer? Variant? Mods? Accessories? Configuration? Add a pic too if you got one.
 
I like norinco, but don’t own one yet. It’s first on my ‘free state’ purchase list. I personally own a stamped yugo npap and a post (federal AW) ban milled AK built off a Bulgarian parts kit and have ZERO issues/complaints with either, but I really want a norinco folder with a spiker bayonet for funzies.
 
saw you were selling a whole bunch of stuff due to moving - good luck with the move and enjoy all the free state goodness!
 
Ancient pre-ban Chinese does it for me. Norinco, Poly, whatever. Great fit and finish, shockingly. Great triggers. Have owned many over the years. Always impressed.


I was watching Gunnytime the other day and they had a 74. I was thinking, 20 years ago, every AK nut was looking to convert to 5.45 from 7.62. I never hear anything about people shooting 5.45 anymore. It's all 30cal AK's now. I wonder why.
 
It's all 30cal AK's now. I wonder why.
Because of the 7n6 ban. 5.45 was super cheap and super available.

That aside, Polytech is generally considered to be amongst the holy grails.

Arsenals also have a high regard.
There's boutique builders like Rifle Dynamics as well.

You may also want to read this thread if you haven't already:
 
saw that earlier (one for the ipad pro trade?) -

I've been seeing them pop up, that, the galil, some other poly recently and I'm just wondering - if I had to chase down 1 or 2... know what I mean?
 
Polytech Legend would be my first choice for a collector's item/range toy, no folding stock, just the traditional wood furniture.

Hungarian SA85's are great rifles.

Arsenal has always had a good rep.

If I was in a field of employment where I could carry an AK, and needed a working gun that I'm going to rely on with my life, I'd spend the money and get something from Jim Fuller.

If I was looking for something affordable to just plink with and put a few hundred rounds a year through, I'd buy a WASR, or a Century c39v2.
 
Arsenal because that's all I have for an AK [laugh]. I had a Norinco MAK 90 before that and never had any problems with it.
Only thing I don't like about the Arsenal is the cheap black (almost like a spray paint?) finish. At some point once it gets worn down, I'll have it cerakoted. But I don't shoot it very often.
 
i only own one, it's an arsenal. love the rifle and andrew is right about the black paint. i have had one unsatisfactory customer service contact soon after i bought it in 2015 but smooth sailing since. i choose arsenal cause i wanted a milled receiver.
 
Underfold stocks are cool but not the best to shoot with. Side-folders are a bit better. Depends if you want a mAss FU or not.
 
Underfold stocks are cool but not the best to shoot with. Side-folders are a bit better. Depends if you want a mAss FU or not.
Yeah. My Valmet M76 is a side-folding tube stock. I'd prefer a fixed stock. Folders are cool and reduce storage requirements, but in every other way a fixed stock is better.
 
Arsenal because that's all I have for an AK [laugh]. I had a Norinco MAK 90 before that and never had any problems with it.
Only thing I don't like about the Arsenal is the cheap black (almost like a spray paint?) finish. At some point once it gets worn down, I'll have it cerakoted. But I don't shoot it very often.
Rob Ski of AKOUL4774 got the paint on his Arsenal bubbling. I forget how things played out in the end.
That said, it was just the finish, reliability-wise it was fine and that's the core feature of the AK.

I will say the Arsenal finish far exceeds that of my WASR; hard to tell in comparison to my Saiga. The Saiga has a nice finish, and it feels like it might be more a "legit" finish than the Arsenal which I thought was a spraypaint over park.
 
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