Best AK??

VEPR%20KTR%20.223%20RS.jpg
I always thought I might like one of these.
http://www.robarm.com/M96_Home.htm
Sorry about the size.
 
New? Bulgarian Arsenal, hands down.

The VEPR is good too, but a VEPR is based off an RPK reciever, and is a lot
heavier. These are getting hard to find, I don't even know if Robam is
importing them anymore.

Old School prebans- Norinco, Polytech, Steyr Maadi (rare).

For the above be prepared to pay northward of $1000, maybe less if you find a REALLY good deal... but don't hold your breath. All of these are excellent rifles.

The newer Yugo and Hungarian AKs I've seen that have been popping up here and there have been decent, as well.... but I doubt anyone is mucking up these rifles with an "MA ban" config.

Right now if you want a good AK, you will have to be prepared to pay stupid amounts of money for them, any way you slice it.

On the low end, even the WASR-10s with the "feels like a wheel-less dumpster being dragged over a bed of rocks" action is going for like $500+ now, when you can find them.

-Mike
 
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CRSIII said:
I just can't get my head around the sights on an AK; they're mounted on a dust cover that rattles all over the place.[thinking]
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Not on mine. I have a Bulgarian Arsenal SLR-95.
The sight is mounted forward of the dust cover on the milled receiver.

SLR95.jpg


Yeah, I know, the Butthole-Thumbstock is U-G-L-Y, but it's actually quite comfortable to shoot and accurate too.
I've had it since 96' and remember paying $289 for it. I also got a 75 round drum or another $40. Ah, the good old days.
 
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Blitz1 said:
So I want an AK, in doing some research I came across this.

http://forums.officer.com/showthread.php?t=107080

Agree/Disagree?

I'm curious as to your opinions.

BTW, I posted this in the General Section to get the most feedback.
Click to expand...

Well, "JWise" appears to be a first year law student, so you know he has an opinion and an inflated sense of self. He also appears to be unaware that Blackjack stopped making notched safety levers a while ago. And, where is his review of the Valmet, undoubtedly the "bee's knees" of the AK world? (Just joshin'; the Valmet is so tough to get it might as well not exist, and so expensive you could buy the preban of your choice for the cost.)

Aside from his almost unnatural affection for the VEPR, he has done a pretty good job. I could quibble. He has little respect for the Norincos, but fails to mention their fairly consistently applied and robust hard chromed barrels.

I have seen these lists and reviews all over the place, and this is all I can comment: the best AK to have is the one you have. Unless you have picked up a complete junker, they are all 3-6 MOA rifles that go bang with remarkable consistency. I have only seen one steel mag that was truly an unredeemable piece of crap fit only for the recycling pile. (It was made in the US.)

Mounting options are a function of the rifle you buy. Some rifles will not accept side plates without modification, and some of these jobs have not worked out so well. The Ultimak is a pretty good piece of kit, and will mount on almost anything, but will place the optic over the barrel and some people have claimed to have optic overheating or balance problems.

The LaRue Iron Dot has to command some consideration, but you are limited to a Burris FastFire -- another self-adjusting dot (for brightness) that requires you to remove the sight to replace the battery -- which is not known for battery life.
 
I have the SLR-95 with the butthole stock too, great rifle. I haven't handled a VEPR, but based on my ownership experience it's a toss-up which would be the best overall AK, a milled Arsenal or a Polytech Legend. I've definitely got an addiction to these guns, only reason why I'm seeling one of the kids is so I can adopt another one [rofl]. As far as variants of the AK go, I'd have to say an original IMI Galil hands down.
 
CRSIII said:
I just can't get my head around the sights on an AK; they're mounted on a dust cover that rattles all over the place.[thinking]
Click to expand...

No they're not. There are some aftermarket parts that incorporate sights or mounts on the dust cover but standard AK sights are mounted forward of the dust cover on the reciever and do not rattle all over the place.
 
I think that you could go with buying a really nice AK like an arsenal out the door but you could always buy a cheaper variant like a WASR and build upon it to improve it to your liking. So far I have installed a Tapco G2 trigger, new grip, and recoil buffer on my WASR 10 and it functions well and is comfortable. Then again I also paid a lot less than what people are charging for them right now so you might just be better off going for something like an Arsenal or Vepr.
 
A $700 WASR10!

Its got the best trigger, perfect machining, sighted in right out of the box, and worked on by some of the best gunsmiths in the country... Century Arms!




[rofl]
Hell yes I'm kidding. [smile]


All kidding aside though, if you want the best AK you can find, be prepared to shell out around $1500, maybe even more because availability of all AKs (especially quality ones) are drying up here and there.

If I had cash to burn and wanted a quality AK, I'd go for a Polytech Legend or something similar. It'd have to be in military config with bayonet lug, threaded barrel, etc.
Anything worth over $1000 should not be neutered from what its original design was.

Here is an auction for a milled Arsenal in original config with bayonet and all: http://gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=122160638

And here is another way you could go... buy a kit and have someone build it for you. You can make it look true Russian military like this one with the fake happy selector and markings. http://gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=122240979

Of course getting one of these in Mass is difficult.
 
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If you dont want to over pay i would suggest holding off until the obama craze settles down. I bought my AK 2 months ago for about $650. I saw the same one at the gun show for $850 and one at ZH for about $1000. Unless you have money to burn i would recommend waiting. Although waiting to buy a gun is like going to a strip club and not looking at the girls.... not an easy task.
 
btnh6668 said:
If you dont want to over pay i would suggest holding off until the obama craze settles down. I bought my AK 2 months ago for about $650. I saw the same one at the gun show for $850 and one at ZH for about $1000. Unless you have money to burn i would recommend waiting. Although waiting to buy a gun is like going to a strip club and not looking at the girls.... not an easy task.
Click to expand...

I'm hoping that the craze will settle down. I wonder, though, if this price spike isn't liable to be sticky upwards, at least for AKs and ARs, and their parts.

I bought a used Romanian SAR-1 in November for $550, just to have one on hand. I was lucky to find one at that price, the week before the election, especially considering that it came with a Kobra Red-Dot sight. One of these days I'll get serious and lose the Choate dragunov plastic stock that it came with and put wood on it. I don't wan't M. Kalashnikov to be angry with me.

I'd love to have an Arsenal AK, but the price is out of reach right now. I'm putting anything extra toward an AR. I'm kicking myself in the ass for having been complacent for so long. Should have been buying a few years ago.
 
btnh6668 said:
If you dont want to over pay i would suggest holding off until the obama craze settles down. I bought my AK 2 months ago for about $650. I saw the same one at the gun show for $850 and one at ZH for about $1000. Unless you have money to burn i would recommend waiting. Although waiting to buy a gun is like going to a strip club and not looking at the girls.... not an easy task.
Click to expand...

Yup

Milsurps 4 Me said:
Maybe I can get him to splurge after he reads this thread: http://northeastshooters.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=42857 [smile]
Click to expand...

I've seen that wonderful thread.
 
btnh6668 said:
...I cant wait until the prices drop again...
Click to expand...

Hate to burst your bubble, but I don't think you're going to see any real correction in prices of AK's anytime soon. WASR's may correct a little, I saw one at the Marlboro show going for $550, that was the best on those that I've seen in quite a while. I've seen them going for as much as $800+ recently, like you said, ZHA has them waaaaaaaaay over priced. Preban's I can kinda see within reason, but posty WASR's for that kind of dough is redonkulous.
 
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Big Joe said:
Hate to burst your bubble, but I don't think you're going to see any real correction in prices of AK's anytime soon. WASR's may correct a little, I saw one at the Marlboro show going for $550, that was the best on those that I've seen in quite a while. I've seen them going for as much as $800+ recently.
Click to expand...

No one thought gas would drop below $2.00 either. I think you are right though, it will be a long time before the prices go back to normal. What ever normal may be.
 
+1 for Krebs. Handled a krebs worked gun and the carrier felt like it was riding on ball bearings. Check out his web site and see how he has better sights, magwell alterations etc. Pricey but consifering this state has stupid preban pricing, they are, to me, worth the money.
 
the only problem i have with my wasr10 is the front sight post is mad crooked. i cant find anyone that seems to know how to fit that either.
i wish i noticed that before i bought it.
 
theGringo said:
Mr. Twigg posted this info back in November:

http://www.gunsnet.net/Linx310/fsbcantfix.htm

Fuller discussion of canted front sight here.
Click to expand...

yeah ive seen those links before.
but im missing a few things. those being; the tools to do it, the general know-how of how to take it apart more then a field strip, and the patience to do it. id damage the rifle either by accident or in frustration while trying to do it. im willing to pay someone to fix it, but no one either actualy knows how to do it, or wants to.
 

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