Need help from my AK brethren

[TheHossUSMC]

I picked up a Century Yugo underfolder and put some quad rails on it and replaced a few crappy parts that were making it malfunction. Having to replace a few parts from an AK out of the box was a little disconcerning considering it is supposed to be so reliable. I have decided that I want to get a pair of AKs (fixed stock) that will be lighter, more reliable, and cheap. I was thinking about getting some romanian kits and building my own. I partially am thinking this because I want to throw some quad rails, hogue grips, etc.. on both. I wanted to see what people own and recommend out there for cheap reliable AKs.

I am also looking to buy extra parts for my AK so that I can replace any parts that may malfunction in a SHTF scenario.

 

[cbrgator]

WASR's should be considered if you can inspect them in person, otherwise they are a crap shoot. They are basically the cheapest AK's, but provide the AK reliability the guns are famous for. I'd just be a little bit weary of grabbing them online.

 

[Roccobro]

If you can find the Romy's and build them with quality receivers (like NDS), then I say do it. Ditto what CBR says about buying re-manufactured ones online.

Justin

 

[FMJMIKE]

Used Romanian Sar-1s are good rifles at a reasonable price.

 

[blackwalnut]

Attention: HossUSMC
It took my awhile to take the plunge but I settlled on a Romanian WASR from Century. I had read David Fortiers articles regarding entry level Kalashnikovs and his points to look for. He did recommend the WASR but check the fit of the magazine in the opening (either real close or real loose was not recommended and check the vertical alignment of the front sight. After that give it a good inspection using your best firearms judgment.

Using this info I picked one of the 3 my favorite gunshop had. I have not been sorry it has proven to be reliable and pretty accurate too. I shoot it like a bolt action varmint or deer rifle most of the time ( slow and dont heat the barrel-this is my habit) The shop actually had 3 of them and they all showed good fit. Later models that came in were a little sloppy so quality can change. I should have bought the other one tool. The rifle came with 2 Tapco magazines, a cleaning kit, and had a Tapco trigger installed. You can see the name on the side of the trigger and its a nice one too. All in all I am very pleased. I understand that building an AK requires the correct rivets and actually a good press in order to install them tightly. After reading articles about building them by Pat Sweeney I opted for just buying an assembled rifle. All AKs are not necessarily made the same by all the different countries that used them and consequently sold them on the surplus market. Nodak Spud is supposed make excellent receivers. Arsenal makes quality finished rifles. I have elected to keep my AK stock since they seen to work fine that way. Oh I will say mine has a TAPCO pistol grip. These rifles have to be 922r compliant. I have a chrome-line barrel and chamber and a sidemounted scope rail. I had thought to change by rear sight with an aftermarket windage adj. site but I am going to leave it on and just re-zero to Russian specs for l00 meters. Also get yourself a site adjustment tool. This is a good accessory everyone with an AK or an SKS should have.

These are my thoughts on the subject. Good luck and enjoy. PS: By stock I mean the way Century assembled them. Century has come out with their Model 39 which has lots of accessories that may fit your needs/desires. I understand that it is a domestic AK if I am correct. IO also has domestick AKs too and I believe they are of good quality also with accessories. The WASR gets good marks from my experience too. I would buy another.

 

[Quentin]

Well for cheap but reliable I also wouldn't be afraid of a WASR if I could examine it first. In fact that's what I did four years ago and did get a good one (like blackwalnut, all of the ones I inspected at the time looked ok). Sorry the underfolder didn't turn out at first but I think most WASRs today are decent and well worth the money.

 

[jon_in_wv]

If you want good quality get Saigas and convert them. I have one and I love it. It is also capable of some pretty decent accuracy.

 

[Sebastian the Ibis]

Since you are going to be modifying the gun anyway, Saiga all the way. They are about $100 cheaper than a WASR and the parts you will be keeping are better quality. Get a tapco trigger group + your choice of stock, pistol grip and fore-end and you are ready to go. I have one and it is the most accurate AK I have ever seen. The only real downside to a Siaga is that you have to file off the mag interdiction tab, file down the mags, or buy Saiga mags.

 

[AK103K]

The SAR's are the predecessor to the WASR's and the ones that had most, if not all of the crooked sight issues. I havent seen a WASR (or even one of the later SAR's for that matter) that had them, but that doesnt mean they arent around.

The WASR is actually just a "get around" of the one ban, and is really just a SAR with a proprietary, reduced capacity mag, that they restore to standard capacity mags and replace some of the original parts to meet the restrictions.

I have both a SAR and an early WASR, and both shoot as well as any of the AK's I have that cost a good deal more, and in one case, actually better.

I did have to replace the trigger on my SAR with a Red Star Arms trigger due to "slap". They are a little pricey compared to others, but they are also a very nice trigger. While my WASR had no slap whatsoever, and actually a pretty nice trigger, I did replace it with a Tapco G2 after hearing how "nice" they were supposed to be, and as things usually go with me, I got a bad one, and mine was terrible, and I have since replaced the original. If I ever feel the need to do another AK trigger, I'll go the RSA route again.

Just as a side note on triggers, and if your looking to put some parts up, the original factory triggers that were removed and replaced with compliance parts, are usually actually very nice triggers, and have no issues. Its the crappy compliance parts that were most always the problem. The original parts can usually be had for cheap at places like KVAR and AA-OK.


If your thinking of going one of the Saiga conversion routes, I'd suggest getting one done by one of the companies that does it professionally. You'll get a gun that is for the most part correct, and you'll also have a recourse in the odd case there would be a problem. I personally wont buy a US "kit" gun, or any of the home built guns, just from experiences with them. That goes for any of them too, not just AK's. The professionally done Saigas are not going to be cheap, and at the higher end of the price range. They are also about as close your going to get to a "real" Russian AK 100 series gun.

 

[marsofold]

I bought a pre-converted Saiga .223 on Gunbroker for $460 that I am very happy with. It came with a Tapco T6 collapsible stock and I use Surefire mags ($28) in it. The Surefire mags don't have to be altered in any way and work reliably in it as is. A ($30) UTG-973 side attached scope mount, ($10) rings, and a ($125) Swift-Premier 669M scope bought on sale half-off from Amazon finished the build. Total $653 and no regrets.

 

[MIL-DOT]

I can also attest that the recent WASR's are pretty decent, Century seems to have taken note of complaints, and tightened their act up a good bit.
Classicarms has them for about $349, last I checked.
And as stated above, the Saigas have long been the deal in AK's. They're new rather than bult from used parts,have high quality chrome bores,and are as accurate as you can expect from something chambered in x39.
The filing of the mag latch isn't an issue at all. A $10 Dremel diamond bit from Lowes, and freind to stabilize the rifle, and about 10 minutes of grinding.

 

[tescrex]

Im actually surprised you're having so much trouble with the Yugo. Just out of curiosity, what parts were making the gun malfunction? What kind of mags were you using?

I have a Century Underfolder and the only problems I had with it were directly the fault of Promags.

 

[Hizzie]

Be careful about buying from AA-OK.com. They have been busted for selling airsoft parts as parts for firearms in the past.

 

[Roccobro]

WOW! I wonder if it is the same parts cassandrasdaddy is all up in arms about in THIS thread.

J/K, he's worried about airsoft AR parts, not AK...yet.

Justin

 

[AK103K]

The problem with buying a Saiga that has been converted back to its original configuration is, who did it, and to what point was it done. As with any home done job, youre at the mercy of the the "restorer" and their capabilities. Some Saigas are well done and fairly complete, others in different stages. Problem here is, you may or may not be able to use standard AK accessories with one that has not been done completely or correctly.

Once converted, the Saiga's still have to comply with the "parts count", so youre still dealing with the possibility of not so good US compliance parts.

I have this Saiga done by Mark Krebs. Its one of his earlier guns, and he's continued to improve over the years. His work is top notch. Mines one of the chopped down AK103K's with a 14" barrel and welded brake.

 

[TheHossUSMC]

I was having problems with the hammer spring on my century yugo under folder. I might be retarded or something but I'm having a hell of a time zeroing the irons as well. At 25 yards it wasn't even hitting paper out of the box. Another thing I'm realizing is thsat with the thicker receiver and all the mods I put on it its too heavy. I want to get a lighter fixed stock (nato length preferred) that I can throw quad rails and a angle forward grip and not have my arms tired from holding the damn thing.

 

[DirtyHarry31]

I currently have a Romainian Guard "G" Series AK47 parts kit for sale on this site with a NoDakSpud Receiver. Here's the listing:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=523298

Build yourself an AK 47 with new "matching" parts. Many have and these rifles hold up real well.

 

[ronbuick]

How about a Norinco!!

Ron

 

[dirtymike1]

I have to add a vote for the Saiga. I got mine last week and shot it over the weekend. 40 rounds all landed within a 4.5 in group with 2 flyers. I was looking around for about 2 months at different AK's and settled on this one. The quality is top notch, completely new (mine had 4 test rounds through it when i got it so the paperwork states) and no worries about ham fisted dolts cobbling it together. I highly recommend Saiga's to anyone looking for an AK. I picked mine up for $315 online, all said and done it was like $375 after shipping/FFL etc. I plan on getting it into 922 for around $150 or so, maybe more now that I'm looking at that Red Star Arms trigger group.

 

[TheHossUSMC]

Wow 375 for a saiga? I saw a guy on youtube do a home conversion and it looked pretty nice. His other vids he seems to know what he is talking about so I'm thinking a Saiga is the way to go. If not that then I'm thinking I'll go for a fixed stock Yugo. Any more thoughts?