Educate me on ak47's

[Scott7891]

All of the above speculation and conflicting information is exactly why I say...buy preban Chicom. You know exactly what you are getting so long as it hasn't been dickered with.

As long as you can inspect it first. Mine was used and abused.

Had to replace:
Extractor
Extractor spring
Recoil spring
Firing pin
Front sight base plunger spring
Smooth out hammer
Mess with the dust cover to smooth it out causing the bolt carrier to bind on it
Rust on the threads merged with the muzzle device making that a pain to remove and fix

Runs like a top now considering there were times I wanted to sell it and cut my losses. The fact that it was a spiker plus learning about troubleshooting AK's definitely helped in me keeping it.

 

[gmhowell]

Thanks for those who clarified some things.

 

[Darkemp]

You're forgetting the axis pin holes used for that original trigger. After you do the conversion, you've got a couple empty holes in your gun from that. Welding works alright, but requires a refinish. I am personally a little skeptical that Arsenal welds the holes on these guns, and isn't just receiving a different variant with the FCG already moved forward. There's nothing in the ATF importation rules that would seem to demand the FCG be where the Saiga puts it.

Seems overpriced. J&G sells 'em for $470. If you were willing to spend $650, just buy the M+M M10.

Assuming you find one for a less-absurd price, the AMD-65s are pretty nice, but require some work to make them into comfortable shooters. If you want a light AK and/or one that's easy to SBR, they're a unique option.

Actually I didn't think about those holes because they're a non-issue. You can buy black nylon rivets that fill the holes which are heat resistant and look indistinguishable from rivets. Costs about $3 if I remember right when I did it and took less than a minute to install. You can get these from either any Ace Hardware or Mississippi Auto Arms who I ordered other conversion pieces from at the same time.

And other than price I don't see any comparison to a Romanian AK M10. If price isn't an issue, Saiga's are just plain nicer.

 

[oldman12]

I dont know if anyone posted this yet. pretty cool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPF5IyN3BJs

 

[hdatontodo]

I dont know if anyone posted this yet. pretty cool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPF5IyN3BJs

Thanks for the Kalashnikov video.

There had be some discussion about my new Yugo M70 earlier in this thread. The first time I had it out, the large synthetic stock bruised my cheek. Subsequently, I bought some Hogue, Magpul, and UTG furniture, and added my Vortex Strikefire, so the config is more like my AR, except cheaper to shoot.

Before

After

 

[armed ferret]

hopefully that strikefire can take some serious heat, cause it's gonna get it on there.

 

[Dave T]

Century Arms WASR 10/63 Cugir AK rifle.

Is the above for under $600 an OK rifle?

 

[rob-cubed]

WASRs are the low end of imports in terms of quality, but still imports and will generally run well. If possible, inspect in person before buying for cant, magwell fit, and rivet quality.

 

[Dave T]

WASRs are the low end of imports in terms of quality, but still imports and will generally run well. If possible, inspect in person before buying for cant, magwell fit, and rivet quality.

I'll most likely be buying online (unless anyone knows a dealer local to Ho Co who has some at a reasonable price) so I probably won't have the opportunity to inspect. Honestly though... even if I could inspect it... even though I have a nice collection, when it comes to knowing what minute details to look for for wear, tear and quality, you all put me to shame.

Saw this today in another thread here:

http://www.jgsales.com/-p-60085.html

A bit more, but perhaps a better deal in the long run?

 

[Scott7891]

I'll most likely be buying online (unless anyone knows a dealer local to Ho Co who has some at a reasonable price) so I probably won't have the opportunity to inspect. Honestly though... even if I could inspect it... even though I have a nice collection, when it comes to knowing what minute details to look for for wear, tear and quality, you all put me to shame.

Saw this today in another thread here:

http://www.jgsales.com/-p-60085.html

A bit more, but perhaps a better deal in the long run?

I have one for sale in the classifieds

 

[AssMan]

I'll most likely be buying online (unless anyone knows a dealer local to Ho Co who has some at a reasonable price) so I probably won't have the opportunity to inspect. Honestly though... even if I could inspect it... even though I have a nice collection, when it comes to knowing what minute details to look for for wear, tear and quality, you all put me to shame.

Saw this today in another thread here:

http://www.jgsales.com/-p-60085.html

A bit more, but perhaps a better deal in the long run?

I have the J&G O-PAP you linked to and shot it for the first time today.

Impressions:
1) solid shooter, and accuracy is better than my Maadi
2) weighs probably 2x what the Maadi weighs
3) Stainless bolt/piston is a nice touch AND beefy 1.6mm receiver
4) Went through 80 rounds - 0 problems
5) Sight block is slightly canted (didn't affect aim, but I might fix it anyway)
6) rivets are all nice
7) Absolutely zero mag wobble. Seriously, there is no play at all.
8) Nice trigger. GF even complained that it was too "smooth" (just a Tapco G2)
9) Furniture is nice (I'll probably refinish mine at some point)

IMO you can't go wrong for $600. If you want to put poly/tacticool furniture on it, your options are somewhat limited vs. a Romanian, but there's stuff out there for these if you look.

 

[Cai]

Wow... Wonderful info. I'm gonna be up the rest of the night watching those videos.

 

[kingfish]

Considering that there's a ban coming and you'll be stuck ith whatever you get for the rest of your life as a MD resident, I'd get the Bulgarian milled ak. I bought mine from engage armament. As durable as the ak is, the milled is even more so

 

[aquaman]

I have the J&G O-PAP you linked to and shot it for the first time today.

Impressions:
1) solid shooter, and accuracy is better than my Maadi
2) weighs probably 2x what the Maadi weighs
3) Stainless bolt/piston is a nice touch AND beefy 1.6mm receiver
4) Went through 80 rounds - 0 problems
5) Sight block is slightly canted (didn't affect aim, but I might fix it anyway)
6) rivets are all nice
7) Absolutely zero mag wobble. Seriously, there is no play at all.
8) Nice trigger. GF even complained that it was too "smooth" (just a Tapco G2)
9) Furniture is nice (I'll probably refinish mine at some point)

IMO you can't go wrong for $600. If you want to put poly/tacticool furniture on it, your options are somewhat limited vs. a Romanian, but there's stuff out there for these if you look.

just so you know the bolt carrier is left in the white, its not stainless.

 

[AssMan]

just so you know the bolt carrier is left in the white, its not stainless.

Thanks, good to know. Will pay more attention now WRT cleaning, etc.

 

[J Quest]

I purchased an Arsenal SAM7-R from engage awhile back and am still waiting to play with it. Arsenals I hear will be hard to find even if they weren't banned, supposedly not getting imported anymore... Haven't really looked into it though but I believe who I heard it from. I also hear there is a store in Kings George VA that supposedly stocks a lot of AK's and will transfer to MD FFL no problem. Haven't visited them as they are a little far for me. I can see if I still have the business card if anyone is interested in going down there.

 

[Glock30Eric]

Atlantic Firerarm has several of milled arsenal AKs. Check it out and I got my SAM7R and I love it!

 

[frogman68]

I'll most likely be buying online (unless anyone knows a dealer local to Ho Co who has some at a reasonable price) so I probably won't have the opportunity to inspect. Honestly though... even if I could inspect it... even though I have a nice collection, when it comes to knowing what minute details to look for for wear, tear and quality, you all put me to shame.

Saw this today in another thread here:

http://www.jgsales.com/-p-60085.html

A bit more, but perhaps a better deal in the long run?

I bought this one , felt real good (balanced) . I have 14 or 15 days till I can pick it up and shoot it

 

[ArchAngel78]

Thanks for the Kalashnikov video.

There had be some discussion about my new Yugo M70 earlier in this thread. The first time I had it out, the large synthetic stock bruised my cheek. Subsequently, I bought some Hogue, Magpul, and UTG furniture, and added my Vortex Strikefire, so the config is more like my AR, except cheaper to shoot.

Before

After

Nice rail! Who is the manufacturer? UTG? If so how is the quality?

 

[armed ferret]

Nice rail! Who is the manufacturer? UTG? If so how is the quality?

if it's UTG, the odds are its quality is right up there with other UTG products, just a ****-hair below "huge steaming pile of donkey shit" on the quality-level scale. it's a sliding scale, goes from "grabastic piece of amphibian shit" all the way to "whatever the arfcom fanbois like this week". very technical scale with all sorts of point systems. pretty tough to decipher, really.