Been looking at one of these as kind of a range plinker/ fun gun-type weapon. I've been told everything from "Stay away, they're cheap junk" to "Great value, always goes bang". To anyone who has one, I'd be interested in your opinion/experiences.
Romanian "WASR 10" AK clone
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boneboy96
Member
mine goes BANG every time. Not of the same quality as say an Arsenal SLR 95...or a Norinco Polytech Legend...but for 300-350...nice gun. Worth having IMO.
Mumbles_45
Member
There good solid guns for the most part. Dont buy one without inspecting it first. Check for canted front sight/gas tube. You might have to dremmel out the mag well a little to get the magazine to go in and out smoothly but that takes all of a couple minutes
KINGMAX
Member
I own one
I own two AK's,
one is a 10 shot WSAR AK that uses the single stack magazine. I paid $102.00 for it at the tail end of the Brady Bill. I have had no problem w/ mine. When we do a fish camp, range run trip I always take it along. It is a great shooter. It has 5 and 10 round mags. When someone wants to try out an AK, 
I give them a five rounds of 7.62 x 39, and a five round mag. They are happy that they got to shoot an AK.
I will state this: The trigger slap is a something to get used to. Other than that I have no complaints.
I own two AK's,
one is a 10 shot WSAR AK that uses the single stack magazine. I paid $102.00 for it at the tail end of the Brady Bill. I have had no problem w/ mine. When we do a fish camp, range run trip I always take it along. It is a great shooter. It has 5 and 10 round mags. When someone wants to try out an AK, I give them a five rounds of 7.62 x 39, and a five round mag. They are happy that they got to shoot an AK. I will state this: The trigger slap is a something to get used to. Other than that I have no complaints.
Bruce333
Member
Trigger slap won't be a problem if you buy a new one. I bought one about a month ago and it is one of my favorite guns to shoot. It won't win any prizes for accuracy, but I didn't buy it for that reason anyway. Maybe I was lucky. The rifle shot dead on straight from the box, no triggerslap and I didn't need to grind down the magazine well. My only complaint is that the stock is small for my 6'2'' frame, but I'll probably end up replacing it with a longer one.
The_Shootist
Member
Thumbs Up!
Got my WASR10 about 3 mos ago for $ 279 and have never regretted it. Its as accurate as I need it to be, fun to shoot, goes bang EVERY time. Haven't noticed any issues with trigger slap or mag wobble.
For the price, an excellent starter AK. I regard mine as a keeper. If I have to pull out of Galveston in about a week due to Ernesto, mine is coming with me
Got my WASR10 about 3 mos ago for $ 279 and have never regretted it. Its as accurate as I need it to be, fun to shoot, goes bang EVERY time. Haven't noticed any issues with trigger slap or mag wobble.
For the price, an excellent starter AK. I regard mine as a keeper. If I have to pull out of Galveston in about a week due to Ernesto, mine is coming with me
Prince Yamato
Member
I'm probably going to take flak for this, but the main difference in AKs, is Stamped vs. Milled receiver or in the case of a Vepr, it uses the RPK receiver. In short, the thicker the metal, the more accurate the shot. For most people however, this doesn't really matter. If it's steel and the thickness is the same, it doesn't matter where the gun comes from. Steel is Steel. If the gun is solidly put together, it's a good gun, if it's not, it's a bad gun. As far as canted sights go. Unless you have like the AK-47 equivalent of Peryone's disease, you can pretty much compensate by adjusting your front sight. The one thing negative I'd say about the Romaks is that some come with unfinished furniture. But that doesn't affect the metal parts, which are the ones that go bang. You'll notice many people complaining about AK accuracy. They think they'll have better accuracy if they pay more for the gun. If you actually take time to adjust the sights, the gun is good to ~200 yards.
American By Blood
Member
Like men, not all steel is created equal. It comes in different grades and the quality of heat treating varies widely. A difference is also made by whether the piece the receiver was milled or stamped from was cast or forged. A host of other factors are at play as well. Steel is one of man's more complex technologies.
That said, there's a world of difference in AKs beyond the milled vs. stamped issue. Quality of build, quality of parts, adherence to spec, QC, etc. will all effect the performance of your rifle. Although not as sensitive as ARs or FALs, poorly built AKs with bad parts will give you trouble.
I used to be very down on Rumanian AKs and I still recommend Global Trades/Armory USA's Bulgarian builds for those willing to pay the premium. However, I'm no longer as flamingly anti-Rumanian as I used to be. This mainly has to do with the fact that the weapons being imported as of late are superior to the rifles brought in years ago. They seem to have solved most of their QC issues and the build quality has improved. The parts still aren't top of the line, but they're passable. Were I to buy another AK as a project gun I'd use a Rumanian as my starting point. The price is right for something you're going to be experimenting on.
That said, there's a world of difference in AKs beyond the milled vs. stamped issue. Quality of build, quality of parts, adherence to spec, QC, etc. will all effect the performance of your rifle. Although not as sensitive as ARs or FALs, poorly built AKs with bad parts will give you trouble.
I used to be very down on Rumanian AKs and I still recommend Global Trades/Armory USA's Bulgarian builds for those willing to pay the premium. However, I'm no longer as flamingly anti-Rumanian as I used to be. This mainly has to do with the fact that the weapons being imported as of late are superior to the rifles brought in years ago. They seem to have solved most of their QC issues and the build quality has improved. The parts still aren't top of the line, but they're passable. Were I to buy another AK as a project gun I'd use a Rumanian as my starting point. The price is right for something you're going to be experimenting on.
I picked up one for $300 used. No bayo lug or trigger slap and it does take AK mags. It will need the mag release dressed a bit with a dremel, it releases, but it takes some convincing.
Goes bang every time and it is as accurate as my eyesight, which is 30/30 accurate. No complaints, a good rifle in a cheap to shoot caliber.
Goes bang every time and it is as accurate as my eyesight, which is 30/30 accurate. No complaints, a good rifle in a cheap to shoot caliber.
Eightball
Member
Always goes bang. No trigger slap. The bolt kinda scared me the first few times I fired it, though--it didn't necissarily always return to the exact same position before it would fire , but it fires fine.
Buttstock's about 3 inches short for me, though. That, and keep this in mind---don't keep your hand over the vents in the vented handguard. It gets hot.
, but it fires fine. Buttstock's about 3 inches short for me, though. That, and keep this in mind---don't keep your hand over the vents in the vented handguard. It gets hot.
MachIVshooter
Member
I bought one used for $219 in January. While a true AK it is not, the WASR is a fun plinker. Mine accepts standard AK mags. When I bought the rifle, I also got a 75 rd. drum for $80. While I don't think I could cough up the $350-$400 they are asking for new Romak's, I don't regret buying mine at the price I paid.
On the Back side, there is no AK clone that is cheaper right now, so if you want an AK the WASR is the way to go. If I were you, I'd watch for a used one in the <$300 range.
On the Back side, there is no AK clone that is cheaper right now, so if you want an AK the WASR is the way to go. If I were you, I'd watch for a used one in the <$300 range.
ID_shooting
Member
While not a WASR, I did an AK home build from a Romanian kit. I can't think they are too different. great shooter, 100% non-stop, minute-o-milk jug @ 100 yards. After close to 1k rounds with 100% reliability, it just became my primary SHTF/TEOTWAWKI rifle.
lawson
Member
i bought a WASR-10 about a year ago for $250. the furniture was bare when i picked it up, but i fixed that with a few coats of tung oil.
minute of pie plate at 100 yards, good enough. the sights were terribly off when i first got a hold of it, but are much better now. get the AK sight drift tool from Tapco, it costs a few bucks and makes sighting the gun much easier.
works with every kind of 7.62x39 i've fed it.
works dripping wet
works caked in mud
it just plain works.
minute of pie plate at 100 yards, good enough. the sights were terribly off when i first got a hold of it, but are much better now. get the AK sight drift tool from Tapco, it costs a few bucks and makes sighting the gun much easier.
works with every kind of 7.62x39 i've fed it.
works dripping wet
works caked in mud
it just plain works.
MGKelly
Member
I bought a GP WASR 10/63 from Dunhams in April on sale for $235 OTD. It had a single stack 10rd mag which I converted to a doublestack with a dremel and a couple of cut-off wheels and a minor assortment of small grinding attachments (took all of 45 min.). Unfortunatly it has the dreaded "Dragunov" style stock and some pretty rough wood on the handguards. I had seen where a poster on one of these AK forums used Duplicolor Truck-bed Liner spray to finish his furniture (had the same problem I did with the original finish), Tried it, made a huge improvement in the "looks" dept. I also got lucky, straight gas block and front sight, with an actual threaded barrel and nut, (whom ever did the welding job on the nut must have known what we do with those). A very small bead weld that gave way to a cutting wheel in about 3 seconds. It now sports a "Bird-cage" FS, and other mods are planed in the future (yeah that compliance thing too). 
Any ways the WASR is a great "rebuild it your self" starter kit if you want to look at it that way.
As far as accuracy goes it'll shoot minute of milkjug easy at 50 yards with out too much effort using the iron sights; I'll add some kind of optics later as funds become available.
Take your time and look around at different AK's (including the expensive ones so you can see the what they should look like) watch for "crooked" or canted gas blocks and front sights, check fit and finish, etc... If it don't look right to you don't buy it.
Good luck, you'll enjoy a great shootin' rifle (now why do they call the AK a rifle when it has a carbine size barrel and the SKS a carbine when many of them have rifle size barrels? )
MG
Any ways the WASR is a great "rebuild it your self" starter kit if you want to look at it that way.
As far as accuracy goes it'll shoot minute of milkjug easy at 50 yards with out too much effort using the iron sights; I'll add some kind of optics later as funds become available.
Take your time and look around at different AK's (including the expensive ones so you can see the what they should look like) watch for "crooked" or canted gas blocks and front sights, check fit and finish, etc... If it don't look right to you don't buy it.
Good luck, you'll enjoy a great shootin' rifle (now why do they call the AK a rifle when it has a carbine size barrel and the SKS a carbine when many of them have rifle size barrels?
)MG
the naked prophet
Member
I bought a new WASR-10 about a year ago for $350 or so. The stock was rough, the inside was rough, and it wouldn't cycle about 5% of the time. I replaced the stock with a collapsible TAPCO stock (needed to be adjustable for my short wife and me to both shoot) and I used a little sandpaper on the rough burr-covered insides. Shoots perfect now, and is quite comfortable.
I get about 3 inch groups (at 100 yards) with Yugoslavian M67 ammunition.
There is no trigger slap - one of the US-made components was a TAPCO trigger group. Very nice trigger. Almost as nice as the trigger on my Savage.
I get about 3 inch groups (at 100 yards) with Yugoslavian M67 ammunition.
There is no trigger slap - one of the US-made components was a TAPCO trigger group. Very nice trigger. Almost as nice as the trigger on my Savage.
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