I just bought a WASR AK. Any tips I should know so I don't blow myself up with it?

[:( I live in Cali :( :(]

Hey guys.

Like most guys of my generation (I'm 24) who grew up playing 1st person shooter video games, ever since I was a kid, I always dreamt of owning my very own AK-47 (lol, corny/retarded, I know, I know).

So, when I saw that Turner's had WASR ak's on sale this week, and my friends asked me if I wanted to go there with them, and I had been itching to buy an AK for the past month or so (I've been reading a bunch of war books the past month or so, so it's ignited a bit of a battle rifle craving in me as of right now), I decided to just go there and buy one.

I had done a little (like a few hours worth only) of brief internet research a few days ago, and saw that the WASR's are generally considered the bottom of the AK food chain, the cheapest, least well made, etc.

However, I didn't really care much, since I already have some extremely accurate target shooting rifles, so, I figured even if it has the accuracy of a toy bb gun, who cares, if I need to shoot the wings off a fly, I have my super accurate single shot scope rifle for that, if I just want to have fun blowing off a few rounds with an AK, rather than having to settle for just doing it on a computer screen in counter strike or what have you, now I'd have one in real life to go shoot at the range when I'm in the mood for it.

Not to mention, it's just fun to have one, since the vast majority of non-"gun people" tend to think any form of AK-47, whether it be semi-auto or not (often they have no clue what this term even means) MUST be illegal, I mean, JUST LOOK AT THE THING!!!!!!! (lol).

So, I've always wanted to have one, just so when some of my liberal buddies from high school/college come over it would make for a hilarious experience when their eyes go wide with surprise when I ask if they want to see the new gun I bought, and I pull out an (albeit semi auto) AK that looks totally identical to the ones in the action movies and whatnot, and looks all "totally illegal" and whatnot, lolol.

Anyway, so, now that my impulse buy has been "justified" in some idiotic capacity or another (lol), I have some questions:

Okay, basically, AFTER I bought my WASR (I don't get to pick it up for 10 days though cuz of the waiting period though), I went online today and, like a total moron, began doing all my WASR research now, after the fact, instead of beforehand (lol, I know... I know... I suck...).

Before I bought the gun, the only, albeit very numerous, complaints I had seen about the gun were about accuracy, fit and finish, reliability, etc, none of which I really cared about, as long as it was cheap, and maybe, sort of worked, like, half the time or something, lol.

However, I suddenly got very spooked out when, now, only AFTER having bought the gun, I started noticing some stories of people having their WASR's explode in their faces, sending shrapnel into them and all the horror that goes with something like that.

This is the one thing that would, obviously, not be acceptable for me. I don't care if it's accurate, or loads every time, or looks all polished, etc, but the one thing I do care about, is that it doesn't explode and blow my face off, or hand off or something insane.

What's the deal with this?

Do these things really have an actual large sample size tendency to explode for no reason, due to being so damned cheap and crappy, or is it just 1 or 2 guys who did something really weird to their gun, or did something totally wrong, or had a squib load or something messed up, and made a lot of noise on the internet about it?

I was all pumped up to go try my WASR out at the range in a couple weeks, but now I'm a little freaked out.

Is there anything, specifically, that I can look for to figure out, ahead to time, whether I have one of the unlucky ones that is going to explode? What would be the most likely cause(s) for something like this to happen?

What should I examine/do before I shoot it for the first time to check for a warning sign that it might explode in my face?

Or just general tips/advice in general for this gun

thanks

 

[gun addict]

I Can tell you this, those stories are crap, plain and simple. Although WASR are bottom of the food chain as far as AKs are concerned so to speak usually they run well and are accurate enough for 300 yard man sized targets. Just buy some quality Eastern European magazines, stick with surplus and do not buy any american made promag, that'll be a certain waste of money and time

after that, load it up with Wolf, locate yourself a $5 sight adjustment tool and you'll be suprised how accurate and fun AKs can be

 

[Davek1977]

Not to state the obvious, but having actually READ the descriptions of people blowing up their WASR's, YOu are in a better position to tell ME how/why/etc it happened, rahter theen me offering my opinions on articles or situations I know nmothing about. I own a WASR, and did lots of research online and examined a few guns before I purchased. Basically, canted sights were the biggest complaint I found online (aside from less than stellar fit and finish), and mine doens't have that issue. However, i do recommend a THROUGH cleaning before heading to the range. The gunk found on the rifle as it is now preservative, and not really a coating of lube. Tear it down, clean it WELL (I actually had to use some carb cleaner on mine to flush out the metal bits left from when Century milled out the magwell to accept standard AK mags) and lube it. THEN head to the range.... I haven't shot my rifle a ton (few hundred rounds) but mine certainly hasn't blown up in my face, nor has it given me a single failure regardless of ammo type used. It was worth the $400 I paid, IMO....

 

[:( I live in Cali :( :(]

Ok cool, as long as it won't physically harm me under normal, safe, standard use, that's all I really care about pretty much. If it shoots accurate, that's just icing on the cake, but not really my main concern with this particular gun.

With my bolt action target gun, I care a great deal about how accurate it is.

With the AK, I really don't, as long as the bullets are at least hitting somewhere on a human-sized paper target from like 50 yards or less, that's good enough. I'll pretty much be the guy at the range rockin the life size santa clause paper target, getting weird looks as I blast its beard off while people's mom's just look at me shaking their head in disgust. This would be what I envision to be a fun day at the range on a Sunday, for me at least, weeeeeee!

As for Wolf ammo, I think most of the ranges around where I live don't allow it.

Turner's doesn't sell the surplus ammo for it I don't think, but, they have some ammo that they said should work great in it, but will hurt the wallet a little, oh well. If I start putting any sort of actual volume through it obv I'll go find me some surplus ammo for it. But for this first outing I'll just pick up some wallet hurters (the pricey non-surplus, non-Wolf ammo that Turner's carries for it) and then see where I can find some surplus ammo if the gun actually works/I actually enjoy shooting it etc after I actually try it out.

 

[Sebastian the Ibis]

Aimsurplus has yugo M76, its corrosive but it is cheap. I'd buy that if you range does not allow steel cased ammo.

I don't know the details of whatever stories you heard about AK's blowing up, but if you read some of the threads on this website you will find people who will only shoot Colt Ar's because any other brand has not had sufficient mil-spec magical particle testing and may explode in your face. They have never seen this happen of course, but they would rather not take the chance, especially when they require a serious operator's weapons system..... for when they take a break from their accounting practice and dump a whole box of ammo zeroing their NCstar scope.

 

[Ohio Gun Guy]

Welcome....and I'm glad there is one more of use out there, esp. in California. Enjoy, but learn the basic gun safety first. Clean it, check it out, and make sure there is nothing in the barrel before shooting. You have a rifle in a caliber capable of shooting through a lot of things.....while fun, you need to know what you are shooting at, and what is behind it. Not here to scare you, but please exercise your "Google-fu" and read up on basic gun safety. Sart with the some basic rules... then you can add to it with experience.

1. Always check the chamber when you pick it up....yes even if your 100% sure it's not loaded.
2. Never point it at anything you dont want to destroy.
3. Finger off trigger, until you are read to fire.
4. Know what your target is and what is behind it.

Then.....have fun

I have 2, and they are great. I just use the russian steel case ammo, no need for anything to great. Take paper plates, spray paint orange, hang at the 100yd range, and have at it. You should be able to keep them all on the plate at that range.

 

[Ohio Gun Guy]

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=6906402&highlight=Wasr#post6906402

Check out this tread if you want to dress it up a little.

 

[Quentin]

Had my WASR four years now and no problems with it. Even with cheap corrosive surplus ammo. No malfunctions using surplus steel mags either.

As already mentioned, just clean yours when you get it, learn how to operate it safely and you'll be fine. The WASR is not a bad rifle at all and not more likely to KABOOM than any other rifle out there.

 

[WinchesterAA]

I used to have a WASR... I'd shot it til the forend caught fire.

Then I replaced the forend with a composite one, and it didn't catch on fire anymore so I sold it.

Great gun, though. Shot several pigs with it.

 

[Messenger Guard]

I thought you couldn't own those in Cali? Disassemble and clean all cosmoline out if so equipped. Clean barrel with water/windex after shooting corrosive ammo.

 

[goon]

I can't imagine any reason one would blow up. They're cheap, but I've never heard of that on any AK. I just don't see it happening.

 

[notamisfit]

Blowing up an AK? I'm guessing out-of-battery firing from one that got the "bread-tie" treatment.

 

[RONSERESURPLUS]

Lots of Horror stories Not a Lot of truth?

Hello all, RON L here

Yes, when it comes to WASR AK's all sorts of Horror stores, not a lot of truth to them! Yes, the WASR-10's and WASR guns might not be as well assembled as many other AK's but in truth an AK is an AK is an AK? Your being realistic in your idea of accuracy, I'm betting yours will do far better than ya think, if you do your job! Yes, by all means read up on this gun and learn to strip it and clean it as many are gunked up with grease and cosmoline and that needs out! Not hard to do, nor takes too long, a few cans of Carb or Brake cleaner, some newspapers and a well ventelated places and out side if possible? Strip it down, spray it good scrub it down and oil up the action parts and you'll be fine! That's more servce than many AK's ever get!

Blowing up Naw, but do look to see how well the sites sit? Is the Front site canter, Look down the top of the barrel from the frong site to the rear of the receiver use a Piece of string and se if it's in line with the center of the barrel or to the left or right of that? if so, I can recomend some ways to fix it but the AK Forum has folks that know it all a lot better than me? The advice to get god, Quality mags is Vital! Cheap or I should say Inexpensive 30 rnd 20 rnd and even 40 rnd mags are available! Steer clear of US made Polymer mags till you get to know your AK and see whats it likes? I have a few Bulgarian 30 and 40 rnd Composite mags that work fine, but why complicate the issue early on?

Clean it well, get ammo, the Yugo stuff is good as long as you clean your rifle well after to remove the corrovive elements of that ammo and find ammo your range will allow of course! Shoot it it 50, 100 and 150 yards and use a Human type target like the B-40 and you might be amazed at how well the rifle does? They are not as bad as folks claim, again, many say that never have fired an AK type rifle nor want to and lay all thier crap out in stories? Get a Good site tool, one that not only adjusts the front site up and down, but also the c-clamp looking tool that will allow you to adist Widage 9Side to side) as well? About 6-12$ depending on where ya get one! Invest in a good sling if it did not come with one and Have fun, ignore what the other haters say and enjoy your WASR man! If you have any questions, concerns or other issues feel free to PM me or lay it out here in public and I will do all I can to help you enjoy your WASR!


RON

RON

 

[happygeek]

Does it use one of those bullet buttons in place of the mag release that way you're allowed to have a evil pistol grip?

 

[prid93]

Have had a wasr for about a year now and have no complaints whatsoever. Run wolf steel cased through it and have yet to have a misfeed. Accuracy is within 5 inches at 100 yds...more than enough for me .

 

[migkillertwo]

There are only two things that will cause this to "kaboom" on you
1: Out of spec headspace, and
2: over-size gas port.

Though there are other things that will cause this to be unreliable, like a canted gas block or canted trunion.

I've never heard of any of the first two on a WASR-10, even the pre-2007 ones.

If you can know that your WASR-10 has been built in the past 3 years, then it's very likely that you have an extremely reliable gun.

 

[:( I live in Cali :( :(]

There are only two things that will cause this to "kaboom" on you
1: Out of spec headspace, and
2: over-size gas port.

Though there are other things that will cause this to be unreliable, like a canted gas block or canted trunion.

I've never heard of any of the first two on a WASR-10, even the pre-2007 ones.

If you can know that your WASR-10 has been built in the past 3 years, then it's very likely that you have an extremely reliable gun.

Thanks, this is the type of info I was looking for, just to be safe, so I know for sure I have nothing to worry about.

I have some experience with simple bolt action .22 rimfire rifles (I shot them semi-competitively at the range when I was a child), but I have no experience whatsoever with semi-auto rifles. Don't know anything about them. Never had one. None of my friends or family ever had one or know anything about them. So, this is my first foray into the semi-auto rifle world.

So, how would I go about checking those two things (that its headspace is not out of spec, and that its gas port isn't oversized)?

Would I be be able to check those things during a normal "field strip"/cleaning, or would it require a more thorough disassembly?

Also, do any of you guys know any good youtube vids that show how to strip, clean, and re-assemble a WASR AK?

Thanks for the help and advice everyone, I appreciate it.