[hso]

What company makes the best made AK available in the US?

[Fed168]

I think Kreb's makes a good one, and there is a company in Texas. Ohio Ordinance Works (?) is making a repro of the Czech VZ 58 in 7.62x39. Two months ago Small Arms Review did an AK issue if that helps.

[Gewehr98]

The Czech VZ-58 is a totally different animal than the Soviet AK-47, both in design and operation.


Some good-looking and solid AK's these days are the AK-103's. I'm partial to the milled Bulgarian variants, but they're not being imported, so they're not as available as they were from 1995-onwards.

[JeFF D]

I have a VEPR II ordered should be here in a week or so. I've heard great things about them.

[amprecon]

I have a SLR-95, a milled receiver AK-47 made in Bulgaria by Arsenal. I have found it to be a very sturdy and solid weapon, and quite accurate for a carbine. www.sksman.com has the new Arsenal SA-M7's for sale, they are now made in Nevada, under license from Arsenal, which allows it to have the protruding pistol grip instead of the thumbhole stock which is installed on the SLR-95.

[Texas Gunman]

To me all AK's are good, that being said, I'd went with a Romanian AK.

Never regreated doing it.


TG

[762x51]

AK-USA and Mark Krebs are IMHO the finest AK's made. VERY nice stuff from both.

[Yuck Mouth]

How about Arsenal Inc. (http://www.arsenalinc.com/index1.html) ?

[762x51]

Arsenal is another very nice manufacturer. Their SA-M7 classic is a truly beautiful example of an AK.

[Gewehr98]

Just get the proper ATF-legal furniture. Same as what I did for my SLR-95:

http://mauser98.com/aksmall.jpg

[hso]

What about Galils and Valmets?

[Tamara]

Outstanding weapons. :cool:

Bring money. :eek:

[cheygriz]

Galils are the best of the lot, no question. Valmets run a close second. Prices on Valmets and Galils are out of this world. If you could afford a Galil, you'd just buy a pulsed plasma/particle beam phaser.

For the affordable jobs, I personally prefer the Norinco, but they're getting hard to find as well.

If I were buying an AK clone today, it would probably be the Robinson Arms VEPR.

Having said all that, *** I LOVE THEM ALL***

Hey, guys, think about this one for a minute!!! Wouldn't it be great if Browning or Weatherby made an all American AK up to their usual standards of quality?

[Shadowman]

I've read that the Bulgarian and Russian Aks have "Steyr barrels" which results in longer barrel-life.

Some ? s

What exactly is a Steyr barrel?
And does having one result in longer barrel-life?

[4v50 Gary]

Galils are also the heaviest.

BTW, two types of Valmets came into this country. One machined receiver, the other stamped. They were $350 back in '76.

[Gewehr98]

Are supposedly made on leftover (captured) Steyr tooling. The barrels are supposedly hammer-forged, as opposed to the standard broach, button, or cut rifling. I don't know if it makes any difference in a gun as "loose" as the AK, and don't forget there's also a layer of chrome plating in that Bulgarian AK's Steyr barrel. My own Bulgarian SLR-95 has fired a witnessed 2" group at 100 yards off the bench, but that's more a tribute to my handloads and the stiffer milled receiver, in my humble opinion.

[12 Volt Man]

Buy a Romanian and build it how you want it. That is half the fun of having an AK. The other half is shooting it :)

This started out as a standard SAR1, added the buttstock and the muzzle brake, refinished the wood and polished the bolt carrier. It was a lot of fun.
http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?s=&postid=65215