The VEPR is an amazingly consistent and fine rifle, but they are very rare these days and sell for twice what they used to compared to just 2 or 3 years ago.
I have two very nice 7.62x39 AKs but lately I have had a really had a strong itch to get a .223 AK for a few reasons, so I have been thinking similarly to yourself. But I am not an AR guy, I would rather my rifles be reliable and functional first, and have the best ergonomics second. I would never want a rifle that may jam on me.
After doing some research, the only problem that I found was that .223 AKs tended to have some reliability issues. I'm talking about those that are currently available, not your old Yugos and Galils that are very rare and cost a pretty penny. They would misfeed, and mainly the problem seemed to be caused by mags. After looking at several models, I discovered a few things. Saigas seemed to be the most reliable .223 AKs that were readily available. And Tromix and AKUSA Saigas seemed to be the best Saiga .223 conversions that were as realiable as AKs should be.
Chris at AKUSA has very fine rifles but they were more than I wanted to pay for an AK. So I decided on the Tromix, which cost about 65% of the AKUSA rifle. I just ordered my Tromix Saiga .223 w/folding stock from FBMG (owned by Correia on the HighRoad here). Correia is selling them for a price that is a bleeding steal in my opinion. I do not think that the current availability and price that Correia is selling these Tromix Saigas for will continue as is for much longer. I think that these Tromix Saigas will go up in price and the turnaround time from Tromix will increase, just because orders at Tromix seem to have increased very rapidly in the last few months.
Anyway, these rifles are supposed to take Bulgarian 5.56/.223 mags without any issue. You can buy these from K-VAR for about $30. They are pricey for AK mags, but then again it's K-VAR of course. They are a monopoly; they have cornered the market since Chief Thunder got set up and sent away several years ago. But they are good quality mags at least, which should last. Mine will come equipped with a Tromix side folder, which appears to be similar to an ACE folding stock, which are really high quality folders.
These .223 Saigas rifles are reported to be as accurate as any AK out there, as accurate as any VEPR. I read once that they do slightly better with the heavier 62 grain Russian ammo, versus the lighter stuff. Another pro regarding these rifles is that they do not seem to have any problem with the Russian steel-cased .223 ammo, as others have sometimes reported that AR's seem to have issues with it sometimes.
I hope this helps. I was in the same boat as you recently, and this is what I decided to do. I have no doubt that the rifle I ordered will be a keeper. In light of the current prices for a quality AK, I think I got a total steal. I'll post some pics when I receive it next week. Kudos to Correia for having the wherewithal to order and have such a fine custom rifle stocked in his store already. If you contact Tony at Tromix right now, at this point in time, he will tell you that he has his orders filled and cannot deliver a rifle to you until 2009!
