Are PSA AK's worth having?

[Spaceballs]

Are AK-47's from PSA worth having?

I have always wanted one and PSA has affordable ones.

I am talking about a range rifle for fun. Not a competition rifle for precision at 700 yards or a battle rifle to fend off Commie/Zombie hordes while the rifle is filled with dirt and sand. Just as a plinker.

And is AK furniture as interchangable as AR furniture? All the PSA AK's have composite stocks. Could I easily swap that out with any wood in the future if I so desired?

I am not an AK expert at all.

[Ronin]

Short answer - Yes.

A buddy of mine really wanted an AK, so I pointed him to a PSA AK 103 earlier this year. I based my recommendation on Rob Ski from AKOU 4774's 5k round review. The guys puts AKs through their paces. My buddy misunderstood and bought a PSA AK47 GF3 and he couldn't be happier. He lucked into one for around $600, I think. High for an AK, but that's where prices are these days. So far it's been 100% reliable and decently accurate. He has no plans to change out the Zhukov furniture, but it should take any standard AK stock and forearm.

PSA actually has the AK-103 with laminate wood furniture on "sale" for $999 right now.

[Spaceballs]

Nice. Thank you for the field report!

PSA keeps sending me ads for AK's under $700. Of course that doesn't include shipping or local FFL transfer costs

[Noah_Zark]

Note that AKs with stamped receivers require stocks that are different from those for machined / milled receivers. Stamped stocks have a "stepped" tongue and milled stocks have a short stub of a tongue. They are not interchangeable, so when looking for wood stocks keep that in mind.

Noah

[jthrelf]

All reports I've seen have been positive. Seems like the best AK option for the price range, easily.

[Spaceballs]

Note that AKs with stamped receivers require stocks that are different from those for machined / milled receivers. Stamped stocks have a "stepped" tongue and milled stocks have a short stub of a tongue. They are not interchangeable, so when looking for wood stocks keep that in mind.

Noah

Are the machines receivers okay?

It's counterintuitive to ask but I know the Soviet stamped ones are the ones that were made 50 years ago and are still working today after being filled with sand for most of those decades

[bortle]

Had one. Seemed well made and went bang. Had a couple hundred round thru it with no problems. As accurate as an AK is. I'd buy another one.

[Spaceballs]

So after we started this discussion I just got another ad from PSA suggesting this AK

https://palmettostatearmory.com/blem...nt=51655115846

The part that nearly madee piss myself was the customer questions sections....

5zjopa.jpg

[Noah_Zark]

Are the machines receivers okay?

Both stamped and machined receivers are fine. Mind that machined receivers add between 1 and 2 pounds to the weight of the weapon.

It's counterintuitive to ask but I know the Soviet stamped ones are the ones that were made 50 years ago and are still working today after being filled with sand for most of those decades

It's an oft-repeated tale about AKs being filled with mud or sand and still being able to operate. You will
YT videos attesting to that fact, and you may still find YT videos showing AK failures to operate following a filling of sand or mud. In a former life at Camp Lejeune (early 1970s) I and some other armorers (2111) were able to cause Chinese AKs captured in VN to fail at will during aggressor/enemy weapons familiarization training for newly-minted 0311 Marines.

AKs are rugged and reliable, but can and will fail if properly abused. Don't do that at home with yours.

Noah

[DRB]

Ronin and everyone else, thank you for the information. I have been eyeballing these for a while myself.