Elmerfudd, So wanna tell me how many years ya been visiting the arsenals in Russia, Romania (actually have family still living in Cugir), Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Bosnia? Up till I retired from it last year thats what I did for 14 years.... if ya really want some info on whats done regarding civilian versus milspec ya might wanna start by at least learning the basics of an AKM (I'm the one who reverse engineered the first receiver that was used to make all of the USA made receivers back in 1985 while working with Bud and his son's at B-west guns here in Tucson) ya really wanna start an AK related "discussion" then feel free to do it via PM and.......... start doin your homework partner...
If ya wanna attack my posts ya actually need to have some actual facts and information to substantiate your lame lil rant, as far as Romanian milspec versus WASR partner thats not even a lil bit of a secret, ya might start by actually learning a few things bout AKs here is a great place to start.........
akfiles.com
Chock full of information for the beginner, which very clearly ya are as ya've demonstrated in your post a total and complete lack of actual hands on experience with AKM type weapons, , people who actually have experience with BUILDING AKM type rifles (15K of em at the site mentioned) can easily outline the differences between civilian production and military production AKM rifles....... ITS VERY COMMON KNOWLEDGE
Massmark,
sorry bout that partner, ya run into these ain't got a clue types all over this place, As far as the absolute best..... that woulda been one of my custom Yugo's but....... after 23 years I just completed my very last commercial build, those rifles are what really got me my reputation for building AKs, but alas...... no more next Would actually be a commercial Arsenal SAM 7-A1 these are ALL USA made milled receiver rifles, extremally reliable and will set ya back about $900-$1000 well worth it. What do ya want it for? ie; just plinking, SHTF scenario? There are other options but the SAM 7 A1 is the best for a general use AK they are heavier than an AKM by almost a pound but this only adds to the more accurate fire when shot offhand as the rifle is more stable, if ya want to save a few $$ however the Century built Yugo's really are a great buy IF you can inspect to make sure the sights are not canted and that the mag latch was fitted properly that will set ya back half as much as the Arsenal, the arsenal will by far be the better finished of the two and all USA made so it skates right past any current legislation regarding imported rifles. I'm assuming you are into a traditional caliber ie; 7.62x39 but if your primary and only real use is going to be punching paper, well this is where the 5.56x45 really shines and that caliber in an arsenal AK is a great paper punch machine look at the SAM-5 it will really take advantage of the 5.56 for varmints or those charging paper plates out there at 500 yards (hate them paper plate attacks .... the paper cuts are h#ll to get healed) price range is a lil lower than the SAM-7-A1 around $800 Now if ya want an underfolder then look at the SAS-M7 its same milled receiver in 7.62x39 but they jump up to around $1200-$1400 depending on where ya buy. There are other models, those 3 are the ones I own, I really wish I woulda got the side optics rail on my SAM7 but they didn't offer a preban config with rail so I ended up adding rails to all 3 the UF however requires removing the optic to fold the stock, if I get time I'm going to make a Yugo M70AB2 style side rail and switch it out, they also make stamped versions but ya asked for the best
their AKM pattern rifles are all top of the line as well and have side folder stocks available, do a search for a dealer near you and try handling each. then again if ya put the same $$ into custom wood and have it refinished by Mac's shootin irons ya very likally will not notice much difference from the aforementione Century built Yugo's,
I was the only pro builder who specialized in Virgin kit built Yugo M70s but they weren't cheap as I started with a $450 virgin parts kit (never assembled into a gun, require all finish milling etc.. as trunions, trigger guards, barrel, gas block, sight blocks are all un-finished) I would then carefully true up every component, square the barrels to the trunion, the bolt to the chamber etc.. bolt rail slots were tig welded then re-milled to tight tolerances then lap fitted to the lower rails, same for bolt carrier and top rails, the standard recoil assembly got file 13ed and replaced with a fitted Milled style guide assembly, the barrels were setup with lasers to center everything, all was assembled on a fully heat treated receiver with customer supplied serial number engraved on each component including receiver (everyone always wants their B-Day for some reason!) The receivers are the same ones being used by Century for their Yugo's but theirs are etched on the side instead of the bottom like the "civilian" non-contract version, the entire gun was then rust blued with all the virgin wood finished in hand rubbed oil (average 15 coats of either tung or BLO) ontop of an 800 grit finish the lady who did my wood was so anal she would not stop working it until she had a particular "glow" from the Yugo wood.... My blueing guy was a machinist at the Polish factory 11 for his entire adult life, he is now 80 years old and restores military arms as a "hobby" even though folks pay him very well for his work he still calls it a hobby.....
I've got 2 crates of Bolo mausers I intend to restore as my "hobby" between occasionally takin my own truck out on the road to feed that addiction of lookin through a windshield, cept these days...... I'm not in as big of a hurry as I was before, put a load on my drop deck and point me at a coast I wanna actually SEE the country this time around
As I mentioned ya can save ALOT of $$ with the Century built Yugo's, if ya don't like the basic maganese parkerizing then for a couple hundred bucks Mac can make it a work of art thats impervious to salt water etc..
see some of his work here
http://www.shootiniron.com/
he has a solid reputation as onea the best firearms finishers in the country, and used to do my standard builds for customer supplied kits, this is your next source for trully great wood, he as with all of us is an akfiles member
http://gripsnstocks.com/
And is acknowledged as onea the best in the country as well, in fact my very last build was for an AK Files member, it started as a standard Rommy G but Thanksgiving day I had a mild stroke which caused me to re-evaluate my life, result...... I retired from building guns, anyhow this Rommy G was in my shop when it happened, after I was on my feet again I decided it wasn't going to be just a basic build anymore..... it got the same treatment as my tricked out custom Yugo rifles, the owner had already had custom wood set done by Scott (beutiful quilted burl maple) and now MAC is doing the park/moly resin finish dark od green with light coyote brn side scope mount (low profile) 8x42 scope done to accent with combination of od and the CB for the rings, 5 Yugo BHO mags in CB selector lever (with BHO and finger activation lever) trigger in CB, the Phantom flash hider CB etc.. ya get the idea I was really glad the last build was a "basic Rommy G" insteada one of the fancy ones, this one I KNOW will be getting shot insteada bein a safe queen, The same jig I built in 1986 has been used for over 3,016 builds and.... it collapsed doing the TG rivets on this rifle and is now a paper weight on my desk so I guess it was Gods way of makin sure I understood I AM DONE LOL I don't need any more "hints" if ya need any help feel free to drop a line, use the pm and the system e-mails me
okiewita40,
the SAIGA would be the best deal IF ya didn't have to add $250-$300 to get it to an actual AK configuration, but since ya do its not imported as an AKM pattern rifle its imported as a Sporter, that would make the Yugo M70 series at $429 the best bang for the buck when it comes to quality/dollars in an AKM pattern rifle, the Yugo's severally over engineered the M70 series rifles, they are for all intents and purposes a short barreled RPK........ They use all milled components other than the receiver itself (1.5 mm full heat treated) The are the only AKM with factory tritium night sights, the greade sight can easily be modified to just an on/off gas valve allowing ya to go to manual operation for extreme accuracy from the hammer forged match grade barrel, no other AK period has the ability to be converted to a straight pull bolt action at the flip of a lever! go actually handle an M70AB1-AB2 and come back and tell me what ya've discovered bout the best bang for the buck....... ya will like it and.............. no conversion needed!! $429 and your done other than FFL transfer if it applies to you, ya can't convert that Saiga to a true AKM for the difference in price and still will only have a fraction of what ya get with the YUGO
ya'll have a good night, I gotta clean some guns some lousy gremlin came an got dirty
wish he'd leave my black powder stuff alone though!!
