I plan on using it as a truck gun and my ARs re to expensive to leave in my truck, Looks like the AKs are getting that way also, But supposedly they do not need the care my ARs do
You can put together a respectable AR for less than a good AK these day. Buy a blem PSA premium upper (I have Noveske BCM and PSA and at least in my experience my PSA guns have been fine), a blem PSA lower, a good BCG, a fixed rear sight and you can come in under the price of a lot of AK options.
I love AKs but ARs are a better value right now.
was told to get milled over stamped,
I would advise the exact opposite. All that a milled receiver gives you in practical terms is more weight and in many instances a higher price tag. You will hear about the theoretical advantages of a milled receiver but from what I have seen/experienced they do not offer any real world advantage and the added weight is a disadvantage.
For a truck gun I'd give a hard look at a draco pistol with arm brace. The Draco is about a close as you can get to real military AKs these days. Its barrel length is ideal IMHO. Not too blasty and you loose very little velocity and not enough to matter much at the ranges I would be using an AK. It also is priced pretty attractively and is a much better value than a lot of other AK rifle options.
If you want a 16" gun you will likely be as happy, performance wise, with a WASR you can inspect prior to purchase as a $1200 Arsenal. I have some higher end AKs and will say that using iron sights, shooting from field positions at distances AKs are meant to be used at, shooting cheap ammo, you don't see a lot of difference. I have also seen a number of arsenal's with issues that a gun in that price range simply shouldn't have.
May want to check out some of the info from these guys. They have reviews on a number of different guns.
https://www.youtube.com/user/AkOperatorsUnion
WASR 10 reviews:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfUOfDcLX0I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2-7wvIQHFY
Off the top of my head Century Arms' C39 is US made, as well as some of the InterOrdinance rifles. The C39's got decent reviews when they came out despite Century's past issue. I don't know about IO inc
Run away from IO, fast. Their guns get poor reviews and they are the worst firearms related company I have ever dealt with. Ordered items, got the wrong items, then after contacting them got an incomplete order. Then after months they finally admitted they never had one of them in stock. Then it was still a pain to get a refund on that item. Had I not kept pushing and pushing they happily would have kept my money and never shipped me the out of stock item. Crappy company and the guns aren't particularly good anyways.
I think most people buying a first AK, particularly if it is just to have one, should look for a stamped gun that takes standard furniture and is chambered in 7.62x39.