D
Deleted member 67409
I'm still here and following along.
I'm familiar with both the AK and SKS as platforms.
My questions are geared more to how they're made. What is better stamped or milled and why?
I've also heard that some countries produce better guns over some other countries.
If I'm going to spend stupid money on something I want to make the best choice I can.
My take away so far is that stamped is better for add ons. But milled might be more rigid and maybe last longer?
And that no one can agree with what countries are better over others except that those made or assembled in the U.S. are not built as well.
Am I right so far?
The AK-47 as originally intended was a stamped gun. QC issues forced the introduction of the milled receiver. The AKM, which came out around 1962, 1963, ended the milled versus stamped debate for every military except Bulgaria. Bulgaria's state arsenal, now known as Arsenal JSD, stuck with milled receivers and still makes them. Besides Arsenal, WBP in Poland also makes milled guns.
If you stick to the major former Cold War manufacturers, you really can't go wrong. Today, for new guns, these would be Arsenal (Bulgaria), Zastava (Serbia), Cugir as imported through Century Arms as the WASR (Romania), and FB Radom (Poland).
Previously available were FEG (Hungary), Izhevsk and MOLOT (Russia), Valmet (Finland), Norinco/Polytech (China), and Egypt - you can find all these used or you can build a gun.
There's also WBP as I mentioned above. WBP started off refurbishing AKs for movie companies and militaries that had AKs in need of maintenance. WBP maintains Egyptian AKs, for instance. They actually just posted some pictures of their marketing team down in Egypt a couple weeks ago.
If you stick with those manufacturers, you're fine. Out of the US manufacturers, only Kalashnikov USA really gets any love. KUSA is somehow involved with Mossberg.
Because a milled receiver is a milled block of steel, the receivers cost around $500 to $600 retail. Stamped receivers cost around $100 to $200. Now, I'm betting you're not buying a new receiver, but that should give you some context.
And again, because a milled receiver is a big block of milled steel, milled guns weigh between a pound and two pounds more than stamped guns.
Does a milled receiver have more longevity than a stamped one? Yes, but it really only shows its value when you're talking tens of thousands of rounds of full auto fire. The added weight and lack of versatility are significant enough drawbacks for militaries to stop using milled receivers, except Arsenal.