New AKs good, bad and the ugly.

[WestKentucky]

For 750 skip everything new and look around for a used Arsenal. I had one and in a fit of idiocy I traded it off.

 

[3GunEric]

WestKentucky gave great advice. Better yet hold off a month or two, save up a little more and buy a new Arsenal. They are great. Have had one for 18+ years and it is an outstanding shooter. Had a Norinco MAC 90 before that that but could no longer bear owning a Chinese gun and traded up.

 

[theotherwaldo]

Bought a WASR about ten years ago. Not great, not awful. It does what I expect an AK clone to do and it looks Soviet-industrial. A cheap gun to arm the ignorant peasant or inductee.

Perfect.

 

[Sushigaijin]

I will agree that Century has sourced very accurate barrels. I personally shot a RAS47 which would regularly group generic Tula fmj into an inch-and-half at 100 yards, often with two or three bullet holes overlapping in a 5 shot group. HOWEVER it is not a durable gun in the sense of a combloc bullet hose. The gun went back to Century for repairs by 800 round count due to peening and mushrooming parts. Yes the parts were replaced and the gun was reliable. If the owner is a typical occasional shooter who might use a box or less a couple times per year it will be a fantastic AK. Accurate and dependable and last for a decade before anything looks askance.

If you purchase ammo in cases a few times per year, self destruction is highly likely. I would note I haven't seen one actually blow up despite internet rumors. I have seen them with horrible wear and sloppy peened parts after a couple thousand rounds. I would note the internet torture test guys literally shoot just for noise and round count. So if you like to do mag dumps every weekend they are a poor choice.

This is the hardening issue that Century has dealt with - from what I have experienced and read, properly hardened parts WILL NOT peen and wear just as hard as any other AK will. Certainly my personal rifle is at about 1200 trouble free rounds - there are markings on the BCG that indicate how and when the part was made, which requires some research on the part of the buyer, but with that knowledge in hand I would be comfortable recommending Century AKs all day. I also agree that accuracy is good - mine is more accurate than I am.