Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

I'm looking for recommendations on a basic (read:cheap) AK in the $500 or less neighborhood. I don't mind the stamped receiver or the genuine simulated mystery wood furniture. But I do want something that will shoot straight (for an AK, of course)

I've been looking at Century Arms WASR's and such that are in the $415 - $450 range, but I'd like to see some other flavors as well.

Whacha got?

http://www.classicarms.us/ should be back up shortly. Lots of 7.62 x 39's. Supposedly the are doing an inventory blow-out once they are back up and they normally have numerous inexpensive ak's. Off one of the old pages I saved for instance they had

"ROMANIAN AK- MV SEMI AUTO RIFLE
OUR EVER POPULAR ROMANIAN MILITARY VARIATION AK RIFLES.
IN ADDITION TO HAVING A BAYONET LUG AND COMPENSATOR EACH ROMANIAN 7.62X39 CALIBER AK MV RIFLE COMES COMPLETE WITH 2 - 30 RD MAGS , A SLING, CLEANING KIT, OIL BOTTLE, BAYONET WITH SHEATH, MAG POUCH, MANUAL, AND OIL BOTTLE.
THAT IS THE MOST BANG FOR THE BUCK OF ANY AK RIFLE WE CARRY AND I BELIEVE THE BEST RIFLE VALUE IN THE COUNTRY
ASK FOR THE ROM-AK MV....... ONLY...... $389.95 - "

I've been waiting patiently for the site to come back up and decide if I need to sell some stuff to buy new stuff.

remember... tell the officer the BAYONET is for when the deer get "riled up"

I'll have to give them a call since their website is all jacked up. Thanks for the tip.

Intrigued by those cheapy AK's, they gonna explode in my hand? I have alot of 7.62 laying around for some reason (don't own a 7.62 gun lol).

I'd buy a Saiga for $400 and convert it. That way you have a brand new Russian AK.

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Saigas, no question. Current Russian milspec (except for the naughty parts), can be turned back to looking the part with relatively little expense with some effort on the part of the owner (or more expense with less effort).

For the price you listed, I'd say go the Saiga conversion route. I'm not a big fan the Saigas, but the Romanian WASRs are hit-and-miss. You have a chance of getting a perfectly fine AK, but also an equal chance of getting a piece of crud. Converting a Saiga is alot more reliable, but I can't promise that the cost won't rise past your $500 mark (depending on how much of the work you do yourself).

Even if it does go over $500, you can budget it easier. Buy the gun first, then buy the conversion parts when funding allows.

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A Russian SKS would be a good 7.62x39 slinger because they are milled steel not stamped. They are just as tough as the AK I Have shot 2000 round through it and only 2 misfires.

Saiga. Then you can pick and choose how to improve the rifle to best fit your needs, control cost, and enjoy working on it.

Thanks to everyone for their input. I went with the Interarms AK47 from Atlantic Firearms. And I did go a wee bit over budget, but it was worth it.



Real pictures to follow

Good for you! I'm sure you'll really enjoy it!

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Congrats.

You should work up a range report.

See my trials with adding a rail to an AK here -- http://vagunforum.net/rifles/rail-and-s ... t6361.html

I'm hoping this weekend to check if it holds zero after removing/replacing the mount from the screws this weekend. I have doubts but we shall see. At any rate, hindsight being 20/20 I would NOT get a rail mount over the receiver...

I've been checking out her sights for a while now



Oh, and the optics on the AK are pretty cool too

Yep, if I had it to do over I'd be looking at one of them guns...er uh...sight rails that is...

You still can...

http://scoutscopes.com/ak-saiga-scope-m ... ized-7295/

Yeah but Young bought it as a Christmas gift (after I told her I wanted it of course) and I have 2-3 hours invested in its installation. If it does what I want it to do I'll live with it until I upgrade the cheap optics I also asked for...the good part about the whole ordeal is that I am far more familiar now with the internals and operation of my rifle. Always a good thing.