Time for a AK (which one/kind ??)

[fultonCoShooter]

hi all

I am looking for a AK

i dont know much about them. Nobody likes to get ripped off. I would like one with import parts since there will be no more imported. There are so many different types of AKs and its making my head spin

Id like to pick on up at the Harrisburg gun show next month i have between $300 and up to 5 or 6 hundred. What should i be looking for

[Jay5oh]

Well, there are a whole lot of variables.

Folder, under or side?
Fixed stock?
Wood or synthtic furniture?
7.62 or 5.45?

I would like one with import parts since there will be no more imported.

Most of them that are currently being built are made from imported parts kits on American receivers along with enough USA parts to make them legal. To get a pre-ban (all import) you'd most likely be looking at alot more than your posted price range.

Have a look at www.atlanticfirearms.com they have good selection. Pick one and see if one like it is at the show. For ~$300 you can get a romanian WASR but I'd spend a bit more and get a "better" gun. Some folks love the WASR's though, all depends on what YOU want.

[PA Rifleman]

Originally Posted by Jay5oh

...
7.62 or 5.45? ...

If you opt for 5.45x39, buy about 4-5 cases beyond what you can afford. Right now 5.45 is available, don't count on any imports after 2008. AK-74s were very late in the import game, AKs and particularly SKSs have a substantial headstart. The demand for 7.62x39 is proof of this.

Cheap 7.62x39 is a pain to find right now, but there are so many ex-combloc guns inthe US that it will always be around. Maybe not cheap, but always around. This might make a better first choice.

Choose your poison.

[JustinM]

Whatever you do, get a Lancaster AK. They are the best ones on the market, atleast in my (and many many others) opinion. Great build, lifetime warranty, what more could you ask for?

[DrakinClaw]

Cant go wrong with a WASR.
Drakin

[aubie515]

Fulton,

If you can find a Mak90 (chinese) for under $450...snatch it up quickly. I saw one for $260, but I passed on it because I sold all of the ammo I had for the AKs. Most of your cheaper AK's are stamped versus being milled. In the $300 range you are looking at new WASR10. The Saigas are made in the original Russian AK plants and they have a very nice finish on them. You will have to do the conversion if you want them to use hi cap AK mags.

[DPB]

I have a Vector. As the "true" AKs go, I think it's pretty decent. The fixed stock models go around $500.

I would not lay down more than $600 on an AK, unless I could document that it was hand built by Mikhail Kalashnikov. Even then, I would try to talk them down. I believe that anyone charging more than this is trying to make the AK something it isn't.

Don't get hung up on the "stamped vs. milled" thing. A huge majority of the AKs in the world are stamped. For all realistic purposes, all a milled or RPK (thicker stamped) reciever is a heavier gun.

Like someone said, get a 7.62 not a 5.45.

Also, I personally don't like any of the folding stock versions. Instead of allowing you to get a cheek weld, you get more of a cheek bone weld, on a piece of wire. Not remotely comfortable by any standard. I prefer synthetic, but any full stock is better than the folding options.

I would look hard at the standard Vector or Lancasters offered by Atlantic Firearms, at around $500 each. I didn't like any of the package deals that I saw, they seem to either have stuff that is pretty much useless, or give you stuff you're already getting, for more money.

[fultonCoShooter]

thanks for the info guys but i decided to just buy two new model 70 winchester rifles

a .25 WSSM Stealth 2

and ultimate shadow stainless in .223 WSSM


paid 1026.00 total how do you think i did?

[aubie515]

Dude, there is a reason why the WSSM's are selling below cost...Winchester never sold many of those rifles. I've owned two Stealths and can say without a doubt that I'd never buy a WSSM Stealth. The regular Stealths are damn accurate rifles, but the WSSM not so much. I heard many who owned the WSSM rifles that said they could never get them to group properly. These are hard core reloaders and shooters and they couldn't get the WSSMs to work properly. I'm concerned that you purchased two lemons my friend. Please let us know how the rifles work out for you. Who knows, maybe you bought outstanding WSSM's, but I doubt it.

[TonyF]

Originally Posted by fultonCoShooter

thanks for the info guys but i decided to just buy two new model 70 winchester rifles

a .25 WSSM Stealth 2

and ultimate shadow stainless in .223 WSSM


paid 1026.00 total how do you think i did?

Those are good prices but I think aubie may be on to something.

I just bought http://www.gunbroker.com/auction/Vie...?Item=64774499. It's a used M70 in .223. There were a bunch of WSSM calibers up for auction.

M70's are such nice rifles. I hope FN starts building them again some day.