AK-47 clones banned?!

[K40]

Today I visited a Utah surp store, I noticed the Romanian sar-1's prices had gone up drastically(+200!) from last time I was there. The gentleman behind the counter told me importation thereof has been completely banned and they can no longer get them, please tell me this is not true! Did I miss something?(I haven't visited this forum in awhile) I was actually going to purchase one but with a sticker of $550 I'll wait or totally miss out

 

[Engineer]

It's true that Century has stopped importing Romanian SAR rifles - and there are quite a few theories out there on why that has happened, but $550 is an insane price to pay and there are plenty out there. What your dealer fails to realize is that he has pushed the price of an SAR-1 up to the point of a U.S. made AK-47 such as an Arsenal, Inc. SAM-7 or SLR101S. Hunt around at local gun shows - there are still SAR-1's to be had and the price should be closer to $310-330.

 

[K40]

61508624

Is Century the only importer?, the prices you mentioned are the ones I was expecting..

 

[Engineer]

At the current time, I believe Century is the only importer. This seems quite old but it is from Century's website:

http://www.centuryarms.com/press_release.htm

 

[MAKOwner]

No, that's old and outdated, brought plenty in since then. Apparently this is all some disagreement with the manufacturer... However they are still bringing in both low cap WASRs and WASRs converted to highcaps, which are just as good as true SARs. Unfortunately for a reason unknown to us (some say ATF rules change, others say monetary reasons) they are only coming in with thumbhole style stocks. I see no reason you can't add US parts (if they have none, haven't heard) and convert to a pistol grip stock setup. Under $300 from the usual sources for the highcap WASRs. No way in hell should an SAR sell for $550, no matter how rare as someone pointed out you can get better US made AKs for that. You dealer is smoking crack.

 

[Lightsped]

I bought a SAR-1 this past weekend for 349.99. I could have probally found a cheaper one, but was too lazy to shop around.

The WASR Hicaps are still being imported. If you get one with the thumbhole stock, just swap it out for a pistol grip. Should be compariable to the SAR-1.

 

[mrapathy2000]

it happened a while back anymore they bring in parts and assemble them with us made receivers and few other us made parts. you should be able to find them for around $300-$350.

 

[c_yeager]

Century also has a habit of making up "stories" to explain shortages and to drive up prices. As is evidenced by the old link that was posted here. That press release was a complete fabrication several years ago. I believe that the current story is that the romanians wanted too much money for the SARs and an agreement couldnt be reached. Personally im going to wait and see when they start coming in again. That is, assuming that they ever actually stop.

 

[vanfunk]

mrapathy2000,
Just a small correction:
While the SAR's do contain a number of US-made parts (to be 922r compliant), the receivers are still made in Romania.

HTH,
vanfunk

 

[Master Blaster]

Be carefull, if you swap out the thumbhole stock for a pistol grip, you have to make sure that you replace at least 5 parts with us made ones to avoid having an illegal assault weapon. (Bush the 1sts import ban )

Century is using the thumbhole stock to avoid the extra expense of replacing the 5 parts. This makes the rifle more profitable for them.

 

[greenmountaingear]

Plenty of converted/legal WASR's in the pipeline. CAI's website should have updated pricing and the holiday catalog is out.

WASR-10 hi-caps w/ "Dragunov" style stocks...$289.87
WASR-10 hi-caps w/ Cut "dragunov" stock...pistol grip...$299.87
WASR-10 hi-caps w/ regular AK stocks and complete US parts
WASR-10 single stack w/ "dragunov" stocks...$189.87

Decent looking little guns for the money...the finish/wood is faarrrr better than the first SAR's that came into the country.

Hopefully my FFL gets here soon so that I can start offering up some of these goodies

 

[son of a gun]

Master Blaster

Be carefull, if you swap out the thumbhole stock for a pistol grip, you have to make sure that you replace at least 5 parts with us made ones to avoid having an illegal assault weapon. (Bush the 1sts import ban )

Does anyone know of prosecutions for that ? I know it's better to be safe than sorry but how often are ordinary gun owners prosecuted or is it mostly retail dealers?

 

[greenmountaingear]

You would be prosecuted under the AWB of 1994 if anyone decided to push the issue of the wrong parts count. Swapping out the parts is a piece of cake and inexpensive...better than 10yrs/$250k if the ATF decided to make an example out of you.

 

[JohnKSa]

The current scarcity of Romanian AK-47 style rifles is due to a price dispute between the importer and the factory, not due to any legislation or ban.

 

[Chipperman]

"Does anyone know of prosecutions for that ? I know it's better to be safe than sorry but how often are ordinary gun owners prosecuted or is it mostly retail dealers?"

I could prolly put a Pre ban upper and a collapsible stock on my Post ban AR and never get caught. Am I going to? Heck no. It ain't worth it.

Have I heard of any indiviuals being prosecuted for violations like this? No. The Feds are going to try to nail you for AW violations if you are already in trouble for something else. But if you do something stupid to break AW rules and they find out, they won't shed a tear why they haul you off.

 

[AJ Dual]

A hi-cap WSAR already has enough US parts to make it a legal high-cap. Adding a pistol-grip stockset is fine as long as it's US, because that's adding to the parts count too.

 

[son of a gun]

Do those fire control parts have made in USA stamped on them ?

 

[greenmountaingear]

Most of the parts (hammer, trigger, sear) should have a small "C" stamped on them and surrounded by a circle to aid in ID'ing them.

 

[c_yeager]

You would be prosecuted under the AWB of 1994 if anyone decided to push the issue of the wrong parts count.

Actually you would be in violation of 18 USC section 922, also known as the "sporting use clause". It applies only to "foreign made" weapons. Replacing foreign made parts with domestically produced parts untill there are fewer than 10 foreign "parts" will change the status of an arm from "foreign" to "domestic" and it will no longer be effected by this. The important thing to remember is that this doesnt go away if the 94 AWB ban goes away. You will still need to swap out parts. The only difference will be that you can keep the flashhiders and bayonet lugs.

 

[greenmountaingear]

True...my bad.
Most people think of "AWB" when you speak of parts counting...that's why I mentioned the ban

 

[Jedi_7.62]

Went to a gunshow last month and saw several SAR 1's for $320.00

Bought mine 4 or 5 yrs. back $350.00 at gunshop.

The one's for $320.00 had nicer stocks.

Oh well I'm gonna get the K var's anyway.