First AK 47...couple of questions.

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As the title says, I just bought my first AK. (Thanks Whitey, great transaction!)

It is a one year old WASR. Great shape. Came with three 30 round mags.

I know they are a different animal than the typical AR quality-wise, but I am surprised at how much play there is with a seated magazine. There is a healthy amount of wobble/side to side play. Unlike an AR where the mags move almost not at all when seated. Same with my M1A: When the mag is in, its IN.

I have only shot one AK before, briefly. (Cross-X's that was used as part of an IDPA stage. Great stage!). So my experience with them is effectively zero. any general advice on care and feeding or what to expect would also be appreciated, but the wobbly mag thing has my attention.

As always, thanks in advance.

Steve
 
Just shoot the thing and make sure it shoots straight. Some WASRs have canted sight blocks that need to be repaired. Other than that, not much to do to the thing. I clean my AK about once a year. Maybe. If I remember. [laugh]

-Mike
 
Congrats on your new purchase,that is a real "Fun" rifle.
CAI dremells the mag reciever to accept the double stacks, recent models are an improvement over earlier WASR versions.
I have some mags are quite snug and others pretty loose.If it bugs you try a couple from different Co.'s
The Maintenace is real low, they love dirt!
I use windex or an amonia based cleaning product in the barrel after shooting corrosive ammo & alittle oil thats about it.
Enjoy![smile]
 
Like everyone said, wobble is normal. The chinese mags may be tighter in yours than the comblock as they are slightly wider in some cases. Loaded and on a closed bolt you usually see less wobble.

Shoot it and dont worry. There is a way of either tack welding in braces inside the magwell or people also epoxy/jb weld small bits of soft metal on either side. To me, useless unless yours had feeding issues.

Fun plinkers when ammo was cheaper.
 
yup, mine has a lot of wobble too since it was a single stack to double conversion. If your mag well is like mine it's crudely cut and uneven. There's nothing you can do about it short of welding on metal and machining it down, which isn't worth the effort in my opinion.

My best advice is to practice seating the mags to get used to the AK rock-in motion. If you're used to AR mags you never want to forget you have an AK and jam the mag straight in--it'll damage the mag and the mag well.

Have fun!
 
Not sure about the mag rocking as mine is a Romanian SAR-1. You will notice all sorts of things being loose where you think they should be tight. This is why they don't jam even when dirty.

All you need to care for your AK is ammo and some WD-40. The WD-40 is optional.
 
If you find that the trigger has some slap to it I would say replace the trigger group with the Tapco G2 setup. It sounds like the one you picked up is somewhat newer so it may or may not have that problem. Putting in that trigger group makes a world of difference.

Also another optional add on would be a buffer from http://www.blackjackbuffers.com/ . I found it also helps some.
 
Guys, great stuff all around. I appreciate the responses.

I found more info on the mag well milling. Even found some suggested fixes using JB Weld as a filler, but I'm gonna stick with the advice here and just shoot the thing. The wobble does abate a lot when there are rounds in the magazine. I was mostly worried about the wobble leading to misalginment of the top round with the bolt and/or barrel but it doesnt seem to be an issue.

Good call on the Tapco trigger. Imagine my surprise when I saw there was already one installed! Must've come from CAI that way because the first and only prior owner to me didnt do it.

I am going to resist the urge to tinker with the thing and tart it up. Even the cheapo canvas sling has this weird appeal to it.

I feel like a got a great deal on it. One prior owner. Barely shot, looks like its brand new. I got three 30 round mags and something like 200+ rounds of non-corrosive Wolf, for $650.00 . Putting aside that you could get a WASR for $350.00 a year ago, those days are long gone and I'm happy with what I got.

The comments about it being a fun gun to shoot and one that loves to ridden hard and put away wet is exactly why I wanted one of these. If I lived in a state where it was even remotely possible, this would be my "truck gun".

Thanks again guys.

Steve
 
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