What are the "best" or higher end, AK 47 availablle TODAY?

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Your best new mass-produced (ie. not semi-customs like Krebs or Rifle Dynamics) AKs or AK variants that are widely available these days are going to be Arsenals, IWI Galil Aces, or Molot VEPRs.

somebody's gotta go out on a limb and suggest kalashnikov usa
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Why? So far they have been vaporware, and it's been established that they have no relationship whatsoever with Kalashnikov Concern in Russia. They are just stealing their name.
 
Fishbed77 said:
Your best new mass-produced (ie. not semi-customs like Krebs or Rifle Dynamics) AKs or AK variants that are widely available these days are going to be Arsenals, IWI Galil Aces, or Molot VEPRs.



Why? So far they have been vaporware, and it's been established that they have no relationship whatsoever with Kalashnikov Concern in Russia. They are just stealing their name.
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We (Florida) have not figured out what Colt is doing here either? Another, we are gonna make jobs kinda thing.:scrutiny:
 
I prefer the thinner (1mm, AKM-style) stamped receivers to milled receivers or the thicker RPK-style stamped receivers, for weight reasons. Milled receivers have nicer fit and finish, but don't make the rifle any more reliable or accurate than a stamped receiver of equivalent quality.
 
benEzra said:
I prefer the thinner (1mm, AKM-style) stamped receivers to milled receivers or the thicker RPK-style stamped receivers, for weight reasons. Milled receivers have nicer fit and finish, but don't make the rifle any more reliable or accurate than a stamped receiver of equivalent quality.
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The original Russian, Chinese, who ever, were all made with stamped metal not milled.

As with anything it is how well they were assembled. The stamped method seems to to have worked well and for a LOT of rifles!
 
Wait, so MAK90s are supposed to be high quality, now? I thought they were only popular due to rarity & so many being oopsie machineguns.

TCB
 
I'll throw another option out there... A custom built parts kit.

Put together by a shade tree gunsmith, you may run into problems. But properly built by a reputable shop, you can get quite a value.

I have had several AKs over the years, from a cheap WASR to a Steyr import Maadi. Now I have a Polish parts kit gun built by a local shop that is as good, or better than any other I have had.

Arma Industries is the shop, they have a facebook page with their work on it.
 
Wait, so MAK90s are supposed to be high quality, now? I thought they were only popular due to rarity & so many being oopsie machineguns.
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Actually, they are a high quality gun. They have the best stock triggers of any AK (that I have shot at least), the barrels are hammer forged and chrome lined and the receivers on the stamped guns are thicker than the standard European AK.

Battlefield Las Vegas has experience with them and after many, many thousands of rounds, they say that the most reliable of all their AK's are Chinese and Russian milled guns.

I bought one back in the early nineties along with six cases of ammo (@$79 a case), and shot all the ammo up in about six months. When I sold it to a friend of mine, it still looked new and shot just fine. I currently have a Poly spiker and a milled MAK90 and they are at least as nice as any current commercial offering that I have seen.

I think that the perception back when they were being imported was that all Chinese products were low quality and their AK's were no exception. The reality is that they were made to a higher standard of fit and finish than their military guns because they were made for commercial sales.
 
Another option would be a Tavor.

It's pretty much a well disguised AK in bullpup format with good ergonomics that's available in 556 NATO and 9mmP.

BSW
 
I bought an Arsenal M-7 in 2002 for almost $800. I also bought 5,000 rounds of wolf ammo for $400something.

My grandson and I have shot up 4,000 rounds of the ammo, but have not cleaned the rifle's action or barrel since it was new. It is still as accurate now as when new. Mounting a Bushnell TRS 25 red dot on it, I have successfully used it for deer and hogs.

Fit and finish and trigger are as good as a Colt AR.

Is it the BEST ak? you won't get me drawn into that argument, but it is a very good one that outshines the many imports that I have seen from Bulgaria and Romania.
 
It is so well disguised it is not a AK 47
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Quite true. A Tavor is a long-stroke piston gun like the AK, heavily influenced by the AK, and supremely reliable, but it is an original design and uses no AK parts.
 
Quite true. A Tavor is a long-stroke piston gun like the AK, heavily influenced by the AK, and supremely reliable, but it is an original design and uses no AK parts.
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Very heavy AK influence. The bolt resembles an AK bolt much more than the typical Stoner bolt design. The bolt carrier with the fixed piston flexibly pinned to the end is also more AK like.

The kicker is the recoil spring and its guide rod. Those could almost be stock AK parts.

BSW
 
As the thread drifts.........................

OK it's a polymer AK then, So my AUG is kinda like a Tavor so I don;t need a AK now.;)
There is a real nice hard to find Polish AK (Archer) in 223/556 at the LGS but I want it in 7.62.

Was trying to get info on traditional AK 47's
 
Actually, they [MAK90] are a high quality gun. They have the best stock triggers of any AK (that I have shot at least), the barrels are hammer forged and chrome lined and the receivers on the stamped guns are thicker than the standard European AK.
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If you say so. The one I got to check out (in close to new condition) had a slightly canted front sight, a blued but un-buffed exterior (lathe marks on barrel, rolling mill marks on receiver), and felt about as rough in the trigger & action as any other AK that hadn't been worn in. Stock fit was very ordinary (thumbhole stock, naturally). Nothing I'd call 'special,' though perhaps my opinion is biased since my primary AK experience apart from this is my M76 8mm (which I understand also has good-for-an-AK fit & finish of parts, though again, it's not that impressive compared to a VZ58, let alone a half-decent western gun like the AR70 or Valmet).

To the Norinco's credit, it did run, and wasn't an illegally imported unlicensed machinegun* or anything :neener:

TCB

*For those unaware, Norinco was banned from future imports specifically because of the MAK90, which was brought in in many cases as a full-on machinegun with third hole (often riveted up, but not always), autosear, and everything, but with only two detent notches on the receiver as the semi-auto "conversion." Somehow, the ATF didn't catch this until after hundreds of MGs had already been here for months, and set to tracking them all down, which is why the gun is somewhat rare these days. Despite being a very garden-variety Norinco product, this notoriety has morphed over the years into mythic status with many proclaiming the guns to be among the highest quality AKs ever furnished (not highpower of course, but there's a lot of misplaced fanboydom for the Norinco's out there). What's even funnier about the import machine gun issue, is that the exact same scenario played out again when the Yugo 8mm's were imported; they were full on guns with sears and everything, but only had two detent notches so the ATF basically assumed they were good to go. They were more quickly rounded up and destroyed before they got to distributors, and since there were no properly-configured models ever made (because no idiot would willingly make an AK without an autosear for out of battery safety reasons except in this country) that means that every last M76 in this country --including mine-- had to be rebuilt on a new receiver.
 
The one I got to check out (in close to new condition) had a slightly canted front sight, a blued but un-buffed exterior (lathe marks on barrel, rolling mill marks on receiver), and felt about as rough in the trigger & action as any other AK that hadn't been worn in. Stock fit was very ordinary (thumbhole stock, naturally). Nothing I'd call 'special,' though perhaps my opinion is biased since my primary AK experience apart from this is my M76 8mm (which I understand also has good-for-an-AK fit & finish of parts, though again, it's not that impressive compared to a VZ58, let alone a half-decent western gun like the AR70 or Valmet).
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Interesting. I currently have a couple of Chinese AK's as well as a couple of Valmets. I would rate the triggers on the Chinese guns to be equal to, or better than, those on the Finnish guns.

While all of them have smooth actions, both the Valmet and Chinese milled guns are smoother shooting than the stamped versions by the same manufacturer. Generally speaking, in my experience, milled guns tend to be smoother out of the box than stamped guns.

I have to admit that my personal experience is only with the milled AK type rifles that I currently own, (Valmet, milled Chinese MAK90 and Galil), so I don't have a ton of examples to compare them to. I have only had three different Chinese AK's, so my personal experience is limited to those and the few others I have seen. So far, all I have handled have had a nice level of fit and finish.

I view buying guns much like buying cars. I prefer to let others take the hit in value on common, readily available guns and I stick to buying used. I also try to keep an eye out for trends in which guns seem to be appreciating in value and right now the MAK series of rifles are appreciating at a steady rate. I will buy any pre '89 ban gun that is fairly priced and any unaltered MAK90 that is under $700.
 
csa77 said:
the accuracy of an AK has little to do with the receiver. barrel whip and distortion from heat is the biggest problem. arsenals, saigas, wasrs all have normal AK thin barrels.

the veprs have much heavier RPk barrels (and recivers and trunions).


also there is no proof that milled receivers last longer. maybe with poorly heat treated stamped recievers but not when everything is buillt to spec.....ether way you have shoot your barrel out several times over, long before you would see a receiver failure.
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I agree. I own a Super Vepr .308 and just ordered a 7x62x39 carbine yesterday. The Vepr is just awesome. The receiver is 50% thicker than any other stamped receiver and heat treated. They are very overbuilt. Beautiful walnut appeals to me far more than the tactical look though.
 
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In answer to Rule3's question, Vepr mags use a bullet guide. You can install one in the gun or pay extra for the Vepr mags.
 
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The original Russian, Chinese, who ever, were all made with stamped metal not milled.

As with anything it is how well they were assembled. The stamped method seems to to have worked well and for a LOT of rifles!
__________________
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I thought I had read that the stamping process came along later and the originals were milled.
Are you sure about that?


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AK-47
There were many difficulties during the initial phase of production. The first production models had stamped sheet metal receivers with a milled trunnion and butt stock insert, and a stamped body. Difficulties were encountered in welding the guide and ejector rails, causing high rejection rates.[33] Instead of halting production, a heavy[N 2] machined receiver was substituted for the sheet metal receiver. This was a more costly process, but the use of machined receivers accelerated production as tooling and labor for the earlier Mosin–Nagant rifle's machined receiver were easily adapted.[34] Partly because of these problems, the Soviets were not able to distribute large numbers of the new rifle to soldiers until 1956. During this time, production of the interim SKS rifle continued.[33]
 
Averageman said:
I thought I had read that the stamping process came along later and the originals were milled.
Are you sure about that?
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The first poster is wrong and you are correct. The first Soviet AK's were milled. They switched to the stamping method to save costs. My source for this is the excellent book "The Gun" by CJ Chivers. I highly recommend it to any gun person.
 
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The first poster is wrong and you are correct. The first Soviet AK's were milled. They switched to the stamping method to save costs. My source for this is the excellent book "The Gun" by CJ Chivers. I highly recommend it to any gun person.
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I was pretty sure I remembered that from reading the book.
 
Don't the Veprs use a different magazine. Not a regular AK mag??
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Yes. To get around the import regulations they use low cap mags. Same with Saigas. You can buy $20 -30 mags, or strategically file regular AK mags. My $7 Master Molder mags with 10 mins of filing work as well as the expensive ones.

If you hold a Russian (Saiga/VEPR) mag next to a regular mag you will see exactly where at the front and back you need to file. The biggest issue is filing the back latch thinner. Plastic is easier to file than metal. The Russkies knew what they were doing, it is not difficult to make a mag "compatible" with a Russian rifle.

After thousands of rounds, I have not needed a bullet guide. Even if I did, it is a $20 part.
 
What came first the chicken or the egg?

Regardless I do believe there are many more stamped versions of all countries out there.

Receiver type Description[34]
Type 1A/B Original stamped receiver for AK-47. -1B modified for underfolding stock. A large hole is present on each side to accommodate the hardware for the underfolding stock.

(this naming convention continues with all types)
Type 2A/B The first milled receiver made from steel forging. It went into production in 1949. The Type 2A has a distinctive socketed metal "boot" connecting the butt stock to the receiver and the milled lightening cut on the sides runs parallel to the barrel.
Type 3A/B "Final" version of the AK-47 milled receiver made from steel bar stock. It went into production between 1953 and 1954. The most ubiquitous example of the milled-receiver AK-47. The milled lightening cut on the sides is slanted to the barrel axis.
Type 4A/B AKM receiver stamped from a smooth 1.0 mm (0.04 in) sheet of steel supported extensively by pins and rivets. It went into production in 1959. Overall, the most-used design in the construction of the AK-series rifles.
 
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