The Sar- 1 Ak-47 Rifles

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Louie

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Jun 1, 2003
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Location
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This weekend I bought a SAR-1 AK for my wife to shoot at the range with me. She wanted a 30.cal rifle with no real recoil so I said what the heck.

I ordered the gun from AIMS IMPORTS and took it to our local rifle range over the weekend.

The target board we shot at was 4 ft tall and three ft wide.
with a bullseye in the center of the board.
the first three round volley was fired at the target, I then noticed dirt kicking up 21/2 ft left of my board.
THIS IS NOT GOOD

I then used my AK front sight tool and buried the sight post against the u-post wall.
STILL NOT GOOD

I then fired another three rounds and still was 2 ft from the board
in the dirt.

Now, the ak has no rear sight adjustment so, I have now buried the front sight post and will never get it on paper.

Great now back to the dealer.........

Beware of this gun they are not put together right and as you now hear they don`t shoot well either.
I will be asking for a full refund the quaility put in this rifle was not impressive at all.
Take care:
 
Really? My SAR1 is dead-on accurate right out of the box. It has thousands of rounds through it and all hit where I aimed. The SAR1 is a VERY close copy of the AKM and there are millions of believers in that weapon all over the globe, myself included. You could have gotten a lemon, and it happens with all weapons. Believe me, I know. I'm going through that with a Beretta Neos .22 pistol that won't hit the inside of a paper bag if it was draped over the muzzle. Go check out the Romanian AK forum on AK-47.net and you'll find that yours is the exception, not the rule. Fact is, Beretta puts out duds the same as the assembly process your SAR went through did. If you do a search of this forum, you'll find lots of guys who are very happy with their SAR1s. But I know how it is with a weapon that is so frustrating. My SAR1 is one of the best buys I've ever made as far as firearms go. And the Beretta Neos the worst.
 
Just from reading posts, I get the impression that somewhere between 1 out of 50 and 1 out of 100 of the SARs is a lemon, and it's often because of canted front sights. You got one, and I don't blame you for bringing it back to the dealer. I'll skip the "you should have checked the sights lecture," and if it's not the sights I apologize and that's obviously even worse. But my point, finally, is that the large majority of the SARs are really fun and reasonably accurate guns at a bargain price. Don't let one bad one keep you from trying another.
 
Check and make sure the front sight assembly isn't canted. If it is that would be a big part of the problem. And this is a fairly common problem with some of the SARs assembled by Century and (possibly) others.

Mike
 
I've heard of canted front sight bases, but never to the point that they can't be zeroed. Some cant is acceptable and within tolerance, and it pops up on AKs of different origins. But if is so out of adjustment that you can't zero that obviously that is hosed bigtime. So you got a lemon (or moved the post the wrong direction......), I'd give another one another try.

Both of mine are actually literally 100% straight zeroed. Great shooters.
 
Hey Guy`s
Thanks for the sight post lecture...lol
I did have that checked at the local gun store they believe the barrel is 10 degrees off
BENT.
Either while placing it in receiver or elsewhere....
Thanks

:D
 
I went to buy an SAR-1 a couple of weeks ago but when I examined it closely the front sight was VERY canted and it SEEMED like the gas block was slightly canted also. I passed on that one.

A couple of questions just came to mind.

1. Is there any "trick" to confirm that the front sight and gas block are NOT canted other than just looking down the barrel? (I am not too good at eyeballing it and being sure!)

2. Is there ANYTHING else I should do (short of shooting it) to check it out before I buy it?

Most SAR-1s (Century Arms) are running around $350-$360 here.)

Thanks,

Logistar
 
Logistar,

I am not sure on that one, I to looked at the gun when I picked it up. My dealer warned me about the problems he has heard of with these guns. There was a big list.

He will not even stock them, I special ordered this gun.
But, I went for it anyway now, I have to deal with non sense till it is resolved.
 
I did have that checked at the local gun store they believe the barrel is 10 degrees off
BENT.
Either while placing it in receiver or elsewhere....
Thanks
Click to expand...

Woah, that certainly isn't normal, lol. That's gotta take the cake as most screwed up SAR lol.
 
I've heard of lots of HKs and AKs with front sights so canted they can't be sighted. (like that?)

Send it back and make them make it right.
 
Three problems I have seen on SARs:'

1) Front site cant - throws off POI

2) Gas block cant - can cause gas piston to bind

3) Rear site base cant - my not be able to compensate for with front site.

I picked through a dozen or more SAR-1s before I got one that I thought was acceptable. It has a slight cant to the rear site base. You can see it if you look at the clearance between the block and the receiver on one side vs. another.

The 2003s seem better, but the 2 or 3 I looked at had the same cant as mine.

BTW, I just sight down the top from the buttstock end. You can see the three objects mounted to the barrel and receiver all in a row. I also note how well it lines up with the spine of the receiver cover.
 
Quality can be spotty on them.
I had one and it was just fine.
The older ones seem to be the ones that had most of the problems.
I would suggest that you really look over any AK that you buy.
I bought an Arsenal SA-M7 that has a defect. They are supposed to be the best, and even they can have flaws.
I fixed mine with an adjustable rear sight and I am now satisfied with it.
The good thing is that Century will fix them.
I don't know how experienced you are with this type of sight, but you have to move the front sight the opposite of the direction of where you want your shots to go.
But they should fix it.
 
1. Is there any "trick" to confirm that the front sight and gas block are NOT canted other than just looking down the barrel? (I am not too good at eyeballing it and being sure!)
Click to expand...
Not really a trick, but it is a bit of a giveaway: If the windage drum on the front sight tower is all the way to one side, then the barrel is very likely canted slightly. If the drum is centered, then the barrel is either so off that you should be able to see the problem, or it is straight. In observing several SAR-1's at gunshows, I noticed that this seems to hold true. My SAR-1 had this "tell" when I bought it sight unseen. Luckily the FFL was a friend and a gunsmith.
 
Hey, THANKS Poodleshooter, that does make sense.

- Hope you get that thing straighened out Louie. Let us know how it goes.

Logistar
 
Heres a link that deals with canted sights and gas tubes, easily fixed. The only problem Ive heard about them is the cant.........
http://linx310.nothingbutguns.com/ ....always check them out real good at the gun store or if ordered tell them you want to return it for one with no cant. My WASR 10, a brother to the SAR 1 is reliable and shoots better than i can aim. They are good guns for the money.
 
Hello All,
Well here is the update, the gun shop I bought it from tried telling me at first, I was not entitled to a refund which it clearly shows on AIMS catalog that they will.

Then, after some screaming he changed his mind, I told him I was not looking for a refund of cash just an exchange for a operational rifle.

After him looking like an ???:cuss:

The gun is supposed to be going back to AIMS and will hear more tomorrow I will keep all of you informed.
Later:banghead:
 
Most SAR-1s are solid but I have heard about plenty of problems with them also. For the money they are decent as long as you can check them out in person before you buy. If you buy sight unseen, you are really taking a gamble on getting a dog. It is a real AK rifle for about $300! They are still a good deal if you don't get a lemon.
 
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