AK-47

[gotmine]

http://www.sksboards.com/smf/index.php?topic=51576.0

There is a little more info scattered though mostly it's on a few other folks that have them. This should also lead you to more info on that subject of which I still have some reservations on until I actually see one.
My apologies for going off the actual topic here.

 

[justin22885]

i would never use "it scares the sheeple" as an excuse not to buy a particular firearm, when you do, then you start letting the anti-gun agenda dictate your habits and interests based on their fear mongering tactics over certain weapons and id rather not play their game by walking on the egg-shells theyd like to place me on

aks make decent "truck guns" but why not get a krink size AK with side folding stock, or even an underfolder, it would be VERY compact with an SBR, also, bullpup kits are available if youd like something just as short with no SBR

 

[justin22885]

something no ones mentioned that would make a nice truck gun is a keltec sub-2000, you can fold these up REALLY compact and out of a carbine length barrel you have significantly more muzzle energy than out of a pistol.. plus theyre cheap

 

[sappyg]

I do like AKs but I could are less about whether it's US made for the most part. The best AK is a cheap AK and those are few and far between now regardless of origin.
I particularly like the unrestored Saigas. Has a better stock than an SKS IMO plus a detectable magazine. For that ultimate AK feel I think the WASR is just about right but quickly becoming overpriced over the past 2 years. The days of the $300 AK are behind us. Yet another option in 7.62x39 might be the CZ 2008 that PSA had a while back. They were at 4 bills about a year ago but haven't seen them in stock lately. These have US receivers assembled with surplus parts. Not a bad deal.
For the stated purpose of the OP I'm going to 2nd the AR suggestion. It's cheaper overall to buy/ build. Ammo is as cheap as 7.62x39 and they really don't need to be pampered any more or less than an AK. It will likely be more accurate, lighter weight, more familiar and ergonomic and just as reliable.

 

[justin22885]

yeah, US made generally means squat with AKs.. i prefer bulgarian made AKs myself but the hungarian stuff is pretty good too, and of course the polish and ruskie AKs are top notch...

to be honest id never consider a US made AK as components have to be made to fit a price point to compete with the already low cost rifles on the market so the product has to be cost effective to build to compete with a consumer market... the same isnt true about foreign made AKs.. these were made for military and i wouldnt be surprised to find out if "US made" AKs werent buying their parts from some asian factory only to finish them and assemble them here to call it US made

 

[Sam1911]

It will be a truck gun not left in the open for all to see, By truck gun I mean not kept in a warm safe cleaned and lubed as my ARs are

Your ARs don't need a bunch of babying. An AK should be cleaned and lubed from time to time. They're very, very equivalent.

So what is the name of these other quality Aks

WASRs are very reliable guns that will be the closest thing to what you're looking for, probably. Lowest price and solidly reliable guns capable of decent hits out to 200 or more yards.

and was told to get milled over stamped

Nope. Milled just is heavier and costs more. The vast majority of Aks are stamped and that's JUST FINE.

Was told to stay away from sks etc, So you are saying SKS is a well made AK style rifle,

The SKS is a completely different rifle from an AK. It is a very good, very capable carbine, and I'd probably prefer it as a "truck gun" to an AK, but whatever floats your boat. It will be just as accurate as an AK (most of the accuracy or lack of it with AKs or SKSs comes from what ammo you buy).

You can probably still find an SKS cheaper than even the cheapest AR-15. You may not be able to find an AK variant quite so cheap. Expect around $400 - $450 for an SKS these days.

Figured if they were making a US AK I would look into it that's all

Don't bother. It's a curiosity, but you aren't getting anything BETTER because it's "USA-made" than you'd be getting from a foreign-made AK.

In the end, if you like AR-15s, you're probably just as well off building or buying one of those for your "truck gun" as getting an AK these days. No great savings to be had and ARs are CHEAP now.

 

[justin22885]

real AKs were and have always intended to be stamped, milled ones were just a quick fix to the inabilities of the russians to properly work sheet metal in the late 1940s and early 50s

 

[entropy]

"...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.

I disagree. Marc Krebs has come up with some improvements to the AK that all those 'design bureaus' over there have not......

Your ARs don't need a bunch of babying. An AK should be cleaned and lubed from time to time. They're very, very equivalent.

The first two parts of your statement, Sam 1911, are mostly true. The last one is not. The difference is; an AR must be cleaned and lubed from time to time, whereas an AK should be cleaned and lubed from time to time. The AR will most likely cease to function if it isn't, whereas the AK will not. (By AR I do mean DI AR, not piston.)

 

[Sam1911]

The first two parts of your statement, Sam 1911, are mostly true. The last one is not. The difference is; an AR must be cleaned and lubed from time to time, whereas an AK should be cleaned and lubed from time to time. The AR will most likely cease to function if it isn't, whereas the AK will not. (By AR I do mean DI AR, not piston.)

while I'm sure we all will have and hold onto our opinions, I look to the story of "Filthy 14" and don't worry too much about cleaning ARs.

If you let your AK run over 40K rounds without cleaning it, will it still function? Who knows? Who cares? Some will some won't. We now lnow that the same is true for AR15s. But pretty much none of us will ever come anywhere close to finding out.

So does it really matter which you buy to keep in your truck? Can't really say it does.

 

[mf-dif]

Here you go. Norinco made some stamped ones. I had a milled Norinco SKS though, but the stamped one are out there.

http://chinesesks.weebly.com/sheet-metal-receiver.html

 

[carbine85]

There are several well built US AK's on the market. Check out Atlantic Firearms. DDI and Century have good rifles. As far as accuracy goes I haven't found one that is AR accurate but they can get pretty close. I have built 5 in the last 2 years. The last 2 have 4150 nitride barrels from Atlantic and they shoot pretty good. Golden Tiger and Yugo ammo seems to the best with Siver Bear and Wolf coming in behind that.
I still prefer the AR but I have a renewed interest in the AK.

 

[greyghost01]

Thanks guys I have a better idea of at least what to look for, I have 3 ars and love them just looking for a 200 yd or so semi auto with open sights to carry in the truck and on the 4 wheeler the 7.62x39 is still dirt cheap compared to 223 and 308, I don't plan on reloading just using tulamo or wolf not wanting a match rifle have 2 of those
Should have bought a few years back, But will find one eventually max I want to spend is about 800.00

 

[Sam1911]

7.62x39 is still dirt cheap compared to 223

Where?

I've seen 7.62x39 as low as 22.5 cents a round, and .223 as low as 24.5 cents a round, but that's only two cents a shot cheaper.

Sort of makes it hard to justify needing a new $800 rifle so you can save 2 cents a shot.

 

[DeepSouth]

I've seen 7.62x39 as low as 22.5 cents a round, and .223 as low as 24.5 cents a round, but that's only two cents a shot cheaper.

Sort of makes it hard to justify needing a new $800 rifle so you can save 2 cents a shot.

In my admittedly limited experience, AR's don't run cheap, dirty ammo very well, especially if it's laqured. One of the reason's I sold my AR's was I could buy cheap Russian garbage ammo and run it in my AK, but had to have the (expensive by comparison) American brass for my AR's.

 

[justin22885]

seriously, a sub-2000 is a cheap, compact, easy to feed, reliably 200 yard weapon

as far as AKs go if there arent some design changes to keep them modern and updated to keep costs low or at least make them worth the elevated prices theyre beginning to appear at, the AK may fade into obscurity.. its pretty much on life support right now

 

[Sam1911]

its pretty much on life support right now

Man, you never cease to make me smile and sometimes laugh right out loud. How do you come up with some of these lines?




Yup, the AK-47. Right up there with the cheeseburger, beer, and taxes. Fading into obscurity. On life support, right now. Probably about seen the last of 'em.

 

[justin22885]

its a simple fact, these old military surplus kits floating around wont last forever, prices on them are already going up, the cheapest AKs are now more expensive than the cheapest ARs and the prices are only climbing, US made AKs are average at best.. most of the kits that are being sold now were made decades ago and the influx of those parts kits are a major target for the anti-gun groups and the 7N6 ban was a HUGE blow to almost the entire AK-74 market

and lets not forget the ban on weapons out of russia, saigas at $500 new was a huge boost to the AK market but for the time being and for the foreseeable future, thats over with as well

 

[Panzerschwein]

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.

Looks great! I've owned four SKS's in my time. Two Chinese, one Yugo, and one Russian.

Every single one of them had issues EXCEPT the mint condition Chinese Factory 26 "french tickler" I had. And of course, I sold it.

 

[sappyg]

You know. I really can't remember the last time I fired brass cased ammo in an AR. Really... I can't. Must have been several thousand rounds ago. Those ARs range from parts guns to Daniel Defense and not one single ammo related problem.
OP just wants and AK. Nothing wrong with that. Wouldn't be my 1st choice given the intended use but so what.
Get a WASR... Cheap or as cheap as you can before they fall into the trash heap of obscurity.
I remember when I bought my m1 carbine back in the day. Wish I'd have bought 10 of them.

 

[xxjumbojimboxx]

DONT

Dont get a used wasr. If you do get a wasr, get a new one and make sure the sights aren't canted. (this is not as common with the newer century imports, but still look out for it.)... That said. Century builds AK's with american milled receivers and barrels with the rest of the parts being foreign. Its called the Centurian c39 and there's a version 2 right now as well. I've had many a different kind of AK, including two arsenal imports. The C39 is the only one I haven't shoved on down the river.

 

[Clark]

I paid $260 through Shotgun News in 1996 for a new Bulgarian SLR95 [AK] with machined receiver.

I also have:
Russian SKS $180 1997
Albanian SKSs $90 2005
Yugo SKSs $90 2003
Chinese SKS $90 2003.

Before 1994 the ammo was 8 cents from China.
Then it got cut off and ammo was 12 cents from Russia.

Now the ammo is 25 cents.

None of them are as good as the Bushmaster AR15 I got for $480 in 1999.

But I have got too old for blasting. I am back to where I was in 1965, sporterizing Mausers.

 

[adcoch1]

http://www.sksboards.com/smf/index.php?topic=51576.0

There is a little more info scattered though mostly it's on a few other folks that have them. This should also lead you to more info on that subject of which I still have some reservations on until I actually see one.
My apologies for going off the actual topic here.

I stand corrected. Stamped sks. Wow. Guess I get to eat some crow as well. You learn something new every day.

 

[BP Hunter]

I have the run of the mill WASR that can shoot 8" gongs up to 200 yards...5/10 times maybe better if I bench rested it.

 

[justin22885]

which state are you in?.. if you live close to or travel to certain states the AK may be illegal where the SKS is generally 50 state legal due to it having a fixed magazine

 

[MechAg94]

AIM Surplus had new Polish 30 round steel AK mags for $10 or $11 each last weekend.