AK-47

"...well made, reliable and accurate weapon only..." And AK is well made and reliable. Accurate is ain't. Just like an SKS.
"...a new American made Kalashnikov..." If it came to a choice between a Russian made and American it'd be the Russian. ~100 million AK-47 type rifles vs ~8 million M16 type rifles. Nothing beats experience.

Grey Ghost, I prefer my recently acquired Russian made Saiga AK-47 that I paid $750 with an additional magazine a 3 boxes of ammo out the door, brand new in the box. Found two additional 30 round mags for like right around $14.00 each. Granted the ammo is super cheap, but as far as being accurate, I definitely prefer my AR-15. Further I don't leave any firearm unattended in the truck regardless of cost.

''I want a GOOD well made reliable and accurate weapon only, No SKS or other such rifles.''

The SKS is well made, reliable, and more accurate than the AK. It has a longer barrel, machined receiver, and has a track record of being reliable.

''I want a GOOD well made reliable and accurate weapon only, No SKS or other such rifles.''

The SKS is well made, reliable, and more accurate than the AK. It has a longer barrel, machined receiver, and has a track record of being reliable.

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My thought also. Plus with the SKS there is no lost magazine to worry about.

AKs are more reliable than SKSs and them being inaccurate or somehow inferior due to a sheet metal receiver has also been debunked many, many times over, your accuracy will depend on the quality of your barrel and the quality of your ammo, use a 50 year old shot out barrel with ammo thats just as old and youre going to have bad results, i have an aK in 5.56 with a new (when i put it on) barrel and it shoots the same ammo as an equally configured AR-15s does with about the same accuracy

youre not going to save much money on the cost of the rifle though, and youre not going to save all that much on ammo either.. 7.62x39 and 5.56 from wolf are pretty close in price

First AK, grab yourself a new Wasr, a case of ammo and have fun. My Wasr was great, until I fell a tree on it... The difference between a $600 AK and a $1100 AK is slim. Compared to most any other rifle type, the higher cost of "premium" AK's does not buy you much performance gain. I personally like Norinco AK's.

Some sks are stamped receivers. Out of about ten ak's I've three which are very accurate when scoped. All of the others do well enough.
The newer wasr10's do very well at what is now a reasonable price. The cai c39 is I believe US made entirely and does it's job well enough from the feedback I've seen.

greyghost01

If I were in the market for another AK I would check out Atlantic Firearms website. Lots of decent AKs, all the way from low priced Yugo Zastava N-PAPs, to Polish AK Wood Classics, to Russian made RAK (Izmash Arsenal, Saiga), to high end Krebs Custom AK47s.

Well greyghost, You've got a pretty easy list to fulfill.

First, I'm kinda chuckling about the "AR's are too expensive" comment, as entry level AR's are cheaper than AK's these days.

If you want an inexpensive rifle in 7.62x39 (You had mentioned ammo costs, then AK so I assume that's what you are looking for) An SKS is actually a very good choice. They have a well earned reputation for reliability, durability and decent accuracy. You won't win a High Power match with one, but you should be able to hit your target at 200yds. As a plus for a truck gun, with the original magazine they don't look like an AK. To non gun folks it's just a ubiquitous wood stocked rifle. I've seen Yugo SKS's on the web for ~$400 recently.

That said, if you want an AK, there's nothing really wrong with that either. You CAN spend quite a bit on an AK (Greater than $1000) but you can also get one for $550-$600. If you go cruise Atlantic Firearms AK page you'll get a feel for whats out there. The Zavasta N-PAP's from Yugoslavia or the WASR's from Romania are generally considered decent entry level AK type rifles. I don't think you can get a Russian AK these days for less than about $1200, and even then it might be hard to get. There are a couple of American made AK's out there. Some made with imported parts and assembled here, some made with US parts. 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, I've just seen the ads for them. Maybe someone will chip in. Last time I was surfing Classic Arms I saw some AK type rifle made in the US by DDI. You might check on those.

What's your price range, and what features are important to you? i.e. folding stock, wood vs. synthetic furniture, rail for optics, railed forend for gadgetry or not, stuff like that.

gotmine said:

Some sks are stamped receivers. Out of about ten ak's I've three which are very accurate when scoped. All of the others do well enough.
The newer wasr10's do very well at what is now a reasonable price. The cai c39 is I believe US made entirely and does it's job well enough from the feedback I've seen.

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Wrong. The sks doesn't have a stamped receiver, never has in any configuration.
Correct, ak's are rather accurate but were designed for closer ranges than full power rifles like 308, 30-06, etc.
Correct again, wasr is awesome

Adoch1, where'd you get that info. "Wrong. the sks doesn't have a stamped receiver, never has in any configuration" only asking cause I used to own one.

ifit said:

Adoch1, where'd you get that info. "Wrong. the sks doesn't have a stamped receiver, never has in any configuration" only asking cause I used to own one.

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An sks action, like an fal, has the bolt carrier tilt down and latch into the bottom of the receiver. A stamped receiver would be VERY difficult to get hard enough and machined accurately enough to even work. They are not a rotating bolt like the ak. As to where I got my info, it is experience. I used to collect sks variants, have owned over 50, held literally thousands of them and never once even heard of one that was stamped in any of the study I've done on them. I guess I may have missed since I quit collecting in '05, but I kinda doubt it. And not trying to sound like a know it all so I apologize if it came out like that. A stamped sks would be like a debeers certified diamond made from Plexiglas. My opinion though. [emoji6]

Sunray said:

~100 million AK-47 type rifles vs ~8 million M16 type rifles. Nothing beats experience.

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Well. That's debatable. Of all (loosely) AK-based variants I'd pick Valmet M62 / Sako M92S as the overall quality champion and their production figures are very modest. They're made to standards few if any other AK:s are, even though that distances them from the original cheap bullet hose concept, without sacrificing any of the legendary reliability, durability and ruggedness.

AKs seem overpriced now, which is too bad because I wouldn't mind having one, just to be familiar with the platform.

the only remotely accurate AK type I have ever tested is a Saiga. the SKS's I owned were just as bad as the AK's

I have never heard of any SKS with a stamped receiver. Never seen one, never read about one. If one exists, please post a pic or quote a reference source.

Anyone?

"AK's seem over priced now"

Yep, no question about it. I bought a brand new Norinco back in the 80's for just under $200. Came with two 30 round mags, the bayonet, and had a folding stock, and the dealer threw in some Chinese ammo to sweeten the deal.

Those were the good ol days.

GS

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

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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,

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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

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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.

greyghost01: Are you familiar with Tech Sights?

Very specific versions are available for the SKS and AK series, plus several other rifle types.
If you don't mind the $50 or so for the TS200 (vert. and hor. adjustable), it increases the sight distance and makes these much more accurate. Very easy to put on the SKS. Just need muscle to remove the old rear leaf sight.

The one slight risk with some SKS is the chance of a popped primer.
Murray's Gunsmithing in Bowie TX can permanently 'cure' this for approx. $40: "SKSboards". The problem never happens again.

I wasn't going to mention IO. I figure OP will research things before buying.
Chinese did make some stamped sks. Not many and not for military use. They are quite rare though. Google is our friend and I found it difficult to accept also.
My saiga I sold because it didn't satisfy my accuracy expectations, although all else was near perfect and conversion was very easy.

I got this 1952r Tula SKS rearsenaled with laminate stock in cosmoline. Bore looks new, everything is pretty much brand new and it shoots well with 70s Romanian surplus. $425 with taxes in.

gotmine said:

I wasn't going to mention IO. I figure OP will research things before buying.
Chinese did make some stamped sks. Not many and not for military use. They are quite rare though. Google is our friend and I found it difficult to accept also.
My saiga I sold because it didn't satisfy my accuracy expectations, although all else was near perfect and conversion was very easy.

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Would you provide a link for this stamped sks info? Also a stamped ak is just fine and the milled ones,while nice, are heavier and way more expensive. Nowadays a saiga is probably the best bet for a no touch online purchase, they are quality rifles. Might not be really pretty but would be great for a truck gun. My .02

Truck gun? What ever happened to using a good ole' 30-30 for a truck gun? The round is a little more powerful. It will most likely shoot better 200 yard groups than the AK does at 100. Doesn't scare the pants off the sheeple and in general has better quality ammo. The ammo does cost more but like all things in life you get what you pay for. How many rounds do you need anyway?

I had one AK. A Mak 90. I never shot it but did give it a good inspection. I understand why folks think they are indestructible. I certainly thought so from how rugged it was built. But I would still prefer one of my SKS rifles over the AK. And who said an SKS is not accurate? Mine are. They shoot well enough to make 300 yard torso hits on a man. Thats all they were meant to do.