My choice is generally overlooked and grossly underestimated.
Saiga .308, 16" barrel with a basic pistol grip conversion. Reliable as the sun rising, easy to clean and sub 2" groups with SA surplus and a Russian 6x scope. I have gotten @1" groups with good commercial ammo.
When I bought it they were selling for @$300, that plus about $100 for the parts necessary for the conversion made it a bargain. The only negative I can find is the magazines. Factory is 8rd and US made 20 and 25rd are available but expensive, I only have 2-8s and 4-20s.
It's still just an AK with it's well known ergonomic shortcomings, but I have been an AK shooter for 20+years and I've learned to work around them.