Are the Romanian WASR AK's any good?

I just got one, and after the initial glee of having an AK wore off, I wanted something nicer.

It feels like someone picked it up out of some battlefield ditch and threw it onto a boat to the US and straight into my closet. If mine works well enough, it would be a good trunk gun.

However, the advice I've been hearing lately says you should spend about $300 more and get a VEPR or Tromix Saiga instead.

They vary a LOT in quality. My friend has one with the classic crooked gas tube and sight, so you have to aim it like the bb guns at the carnival. It goes bang every time though, and really is fun to shoot. His has some trigger slap too, which can get irritating. Still, I've seen them selling super cheap at some sites, and if they are decent like his gun, then I'd be inclined to pick one up. Personally I want a "nice" AK 5.45 x 39, so I'm passing up the WASR-10.

I do enjoy blowing through rounds in his though... I'm actually getting decent fist-sized (call it 4"-5") groups at 25yds despite the sights, shooting offhand, rapidly. They'd be tighter from a rest, if I were shooting slower, and if my eyesight wasn't so lousy. If you really want one and see one for a reasonable price that's new, point out the crooked sight and the mag wobble that they all exhibit and try to get an even better deal. Just don't expect it to be nice. Clean the rust off of it once in awhile and keep shooting it, you'll enjoy it.

Or just do what I'm doing and wait to get a fancy AK and shoot a buddy's WASR.


gp911

Mine is a clean, flawless example. None of the other reported problems others have had. Guess I'm just really lucky.

I've had good luck with mine. The newer WASRs seem to be of better quality than earlier examples.

i have one and it's a good shooter for the most part. like mentioned above, the quality can vary significantly.

if you buy one, buy one in person and check it over. i was lucky, and the store let me hand-pick mine out of a lot of 10 that they had for sale, so i was able to get the best of the lot. straight sights, reliable, only a slight amount of mag wobble. the furniture left something to be desired, it was stripped and unfinished, and very dry. felt like it was fresh from the lumberyard. a few coats of tung oil and some steel wool fixed that easily enough.

it's minute-of-pie-plate at 50 yards, and that's good enough for it's intended purpose. it's not a target gun. there's some trigger slap, but not too bad. it goes bang when i pull the trigger, every time. i put it in the "good enuff" category.

i recommend the AK sight tool from Tapco. the front sight on mine was nowhere close to center when i got it.

Just try to make sure you buy a gun that you can inspect first. Look for a canted front sight and look for excessive mag wobble. A tight mag well can be fixed. A very very loose mag well cannot be easily fixed. The trigger slap can be corrected with a little work or new trigger group or so I hear.
I bought a WASR 2 in the 5.45X39 by phone order that ended up having very excessive mag wobble such that it wasn't reliable. I have seen a fix online, but have not had a chance to try it. It is actually a fairly accurate gun though. One other downside is that the safety lever won't stay in safe if you pull the bolt into it a few times.

You can get one that works well, just be careful. Functionally, I am not sure that better AK's are a great deal better. They look better, may be more reliable, and are usually more consistently accurate.

That is my opinion at least.

There are kit builds out there that are not a great deal of money. ArmoryUSA sells some. I just about a 5.45 rifle on one of their receivers that High Standard is distributing. It seems to be a good rifle.

They're an AK.

A friend of mine got one a couple weeks ago and it is actually pretty nice. He put some oil on the stock, and it did a lot to improve the looks.

His also came with a tapco G2 trigger kit even though he didn't order the GP-WASR, either AIM puts the tapco's in all of their AK's or they sent him the wrong one, but anyway it has a nice trigger with no slap.

To be honest, they aren't the best AK's, but I wouldn't pay much more for a gun that my 150 dollar SKS will be able to outshoot anyway.

Bought a Romanian 74 recently. Weapon looks like it was dragged behind a pick up truck along a gravel road to the next county and back, but it is deadnuts on for me and never hiccuped in the 500 rounds I have put through it.

His also came with a tapco G2 trigger kit even though he didn't order the GP-WASR, either AIM puts the tapco's in all of their AK's or they sent him the wrong one, but anyway it has a nice trigger with no slap

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Mine also came with the single-hook G2 kit from the "factory" (i.e. the shed behind Century Arms headquarters where they keep the Miracle-Gro, the Toro, and the WASR10 assembly line). I definately didn't mind getting thirty-odd dollars in aftermarket parts thrown in for free. The result is a surprisingly smooth, light, and slap-free trigger pull. It really does seem like the newer guns are nicer (mine shipped last May).

I have two of them. Never had an issue.

They are "rough" but they are what they are.

Just out of curiousity, how long ago were these things imported?

I bought a new Romanian import in August. Mine was in great condition and came with alot of goodies for $360. Little tripper slap but its a hell of a lota fun to shoot. Not the most acurate thing out there but it was not designed to drop a man 200 yards out. Get one to add to your collection

tdubya,

Where did you get yours? The Powderhorn, on Loop 410?

Good enough. You want nice blued steel and pretty wood, don't bother.

nah SAXET gun show a table towards the center left when you go in. I cannot remember the name of the Company but they have boxes and boxes of new ones. Also i believe they have some underfolders too.

how is the powder horn?

Received my WASR-10 just days after the election. Pretty much what I expected for the price range. FSB is slightly canted, but still within limits. Gas tube is okay. Receiver cover was non-matching, though. The world-reknown Century Arms monkeys obviously didn't bother with such drivel after installing US parts.

I had to dremel the magazine well longer for the Bulgarian waffle magazine to go in. Haven't tried other types of mags yet because I don't have any. It does work great as shown below. No wobble, and no malfunction whatsoever during her first trip to the range. No trigger slap either as it has Tapco G2. Shot minute-of-chicken-pot-pie at 100 yds on sandbags using Wolf HP. I'm happy with it.

nah SAXET gun show a table towards the center left when you go in. I cannot remember the name of the Company but they have boxes and boxes of new ones. Also i believe they have some underfolders too.

how is the powder horn?

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Ah, yeah I always forget about the Saxet shows.

The Powderhorn is a pretty cool place. They have a huge variety, and usually the prices are good. You should check it out.

Try www.classicarms.us