Romanian AK47

[BPSballistics]

here out in glen burnie I found a shop selling a Romanian AK47 built or assembled or imported i dont know by Century arms. To my knowledge These were wasr10's that the Century arms took the receivers and milled them out to take double stack mags. The gun looks great its in the wood dress up. I really want an AK47 for my collection and cant really seem to afford the ones that are built by Arsenal that range from the 1,500 mark and up. I just want a good ak reliable ak and one that fires for fun. Any one have experience with these?

 

[yellowsled]

save up another $2-300 and get a MAK90. 100x better than a Wasr.

 

[BPSballistics]

Why you say this yellow. Just better manufactured? Where can I find a MAK90 because an ak47 is on my to do list.

 

[erwos]

I think a decent middle ground is the M+M M10. You can find 'em on GB for ~$600, and they're a cut above the usual WASRs.

 

[BPSballistics]

Yeah ima check gunbroker out. never bought off there before but Ill take a look. The guy selling the wasr's around the corner wants $499 a piece which isnt to bad.

 

[yellowsled]

You are gonna have to look a little bit to find a MAK90, but they can be found. Baltimore best just sold one for 600-650. Century Wasr are parts kits put together by minimum wage workers here. The Chinese is a true and tested war weapon. Too many horror stories with WASR's. I personally have 2 Chinese and one Russian AK. I will not touch a Wasr.

That is my .02

 

[Scott7891]

here out in glen burnie I found a shop selling a Romanian AK47 built or assembled or imported i dont know by Century arms. To my knowledge These were wasr10's that the Century arms took the receivers and milled them out to take double stack mags. The gun looks great its in the wood dress up. I really want an AK47 for my collection and cant really seem to afford the ones that are built by Arsenal that range from the 1,500 mark and up. I just want a good ak reliable ak and one that fires for fun. Any one have experience with these?

Only the Arsenal milled classic AK's go for $1500 plus. Arsenal imports Russian Saiga and Bulgarian SLR rifles for less than $1000. Plus with Arsenal rifles all the parts will be 100% brand new. The WASR's will either be from used military or parts reject rifles.

I have a Romanian WASR underfolder. WASR's have dimpleless receivers. If the receiver has dimples and it says Century they built it stay away. WASR's are good if you are able to inspect them in person. Make sure the sights are straight, check the internals, the magwell, plus what mag comes with it. The factory hammer-forged barrels are a huge plus meaning they can take a lot of more abuse compared to U.S. made barrels.

 

[rob-cubed]

Like Scott said, WASRs can be fine guns but they tend to have more fit issues. A MAK is a better AK, only because it's a bit sturdier and the fit is better even if the finish (bluing) tends to wear faster.

Bulgarian and Russian sold via Arsenal are both nice, but the MAK is still nicer IMO. Sort of like a milled and stamped had a baby. Some early Egyptian Maadis are great AKs as well.

I have had very few of my AKs fail to work near-flawlessly. The design is tolerant of poor assembly to a certain extent but I'd still only buy imported rifles unless you are considering a talented domestic builder.

 

[BPSballistics]

Thanks for all the advice fellas. The guy selling it lets me hold it so maybe ill give it a really good look. So I heard good and bad about century arms ak 47's however id rather buy something thsat im not rolling dice on. Plus I hear the wasr ak tend to have canted sights can someone explain to me what that means. And whats the deal with the dimples on the receivers whats thst mean as well. All advice is truley greatly taken

 

[BPSballistics]

My best friend bought a norinco ak47 about 3 years ago fot about 1,100 bucks which I think he got ripped.however its never seen the range let alone the sunlight it stays in his gunbag maybe I can haggle him

 

[yellowsled]

Milled MAK90's go for a grand. Polytechs (preban) go easily for 1500+

 

[aquaman]

just keep an eye out on ar15.com and akfiles and even gun broker. You can find a used in great condition Arsenal SGL 21 for 700 easily these days. I would avoid the pre-ban's and mak 90's, the SGL 21 will best fit your purpose

Avoid Romanian guns unless you have the knowledge and tools to get it sorted. Every Romanian gun I've had needed something fixed except for one. Solid rifles but need some finesse.

 

[yellowsled]

why avoid MAK90's?

 

[Scott7891]

Plus I hear the wasr ak tend to have canted sights can someone explain to me what that means. And whats the deal with the dimples on the receivers whats thst mean as well. All advice is truley greatly taken

Canted sight means the front sight base is not properly aligned on the barrel. To compensate the front sight post is moved either left or right of center. It works but is not as aesthetically pleasing and a tad harder to quickly align the iron sites.

The dimpling of the receiver helps to strengthen the receiver. The WASR's use welded bars to help strengthen the inside of the receiver plus its cheaper to do and WASR's come in this country as single stack mags.

My best friend bought a norinco ak47 about 3 years ago fot about 1,100 bucks which I think he got ripped.however its never seen the range let alone the sunlight it stays in his gunbag maybe I can haggle him

If it is a MAK-90 then yes. If it is not and has the bayonet lug, threaded muzzle, and/or a folding stock of any kind that is a decent price plus it is a pre-'89 AK. Those AK's use 100% factory parts and are well-built. The premium in price is because no more of these AK's can be imported freezing supply making them highly collectible.

why avoid MAK90's?

It depends on who owned it before and what they did with it. All are at least 18 years old. That means all are used to some degree. Also many owners of them probably did not properly care for them or bubba'ed them yet are charging outrageous prices for them. Plus all lack threaded barrels and bayonet lugs unless professionally converted; don't know if the OP desires those features or not but the vast majority do not have them. Plus depending on the receiver one can use any buttstock or only Ironwood angled stocks.

 

[aquaman]

why avoid MAK90's?

The OP wants to have one AK for his collection. Maks are all older guns, expensive now and they are neutered. A SGl 21 will be newer, all the evil features and have a side rail for optics.

 

[BPSballistics]

Very true in all aspects fellas. I know there are many many many variants and makers ok aks thats hard for me to keep up. Basically what im looking for is an ak thats in the price range of 800 or less and be a well known manufacturer and a good ak. I dont want a cheap crap finicky ak in my collection. To my understandings I was always told an ak is an ak but the more I learn about guns the more I learn that the person whom told me that is an idiot due to the many manufacturing companies and the way they are built ad far as stamped milled threaded all kinds of things I never knew about. I always thought all aks were the same but boy was I wrong. I just want an ak that I actually get what im paying for has some good value to it other then ohh thats just some slapped together junk. I want something I know I can be proud to own. All of your advice is great and teaching me well.

 

[fivepointstar]

$800 will get you a great AK.
Arsenal
Maadi
Norinco Mak 90
are the three that come to mind at that price. Honestly you can't go wrong with any of these.

 

[Scott7891]

Very true in all aspects fellas. I know there are many many many variants and makers ok aks thats hard for me to keep up. Basically what im looking for is an ak thats in the price range of 800 or less and be a well known manufacturer and a good ak. I dont want a cheap crap finicky ak in my collection. To my understandings I was always told an ak is an ak but the more I learn about guns the more I learn that the person whom told me that is an idiot due to the many manufacturing companies and the way they are built ad far as stamped milled threaded all kinds of things I never knew about. I always thought all aks were the same but boy was I wrong. I just want an ak that I actually get what im paying for has some good value to it other then ohh thats just some slapped together junk. I want something I know I can be proud to own. All of your advice is great and teaching me well.

The Arsenal SGL series will be the best bet in that price range. The Saiga is built at the military arsenal Izhmash, Russia the home arsenal of the AK on the Legion line considered a bit nicer than the standard Saigas. Then Arsenal of Las Vegas, the U.S. subsidiary of Arsenal of Bulgaria another military AK arsenal on par with Izhmash, converts the rifle properly into a military-style configuration with 100% new parts, bayonet lug, a threaded barrel, and a rifle that will holds its value/investment.

 

[BPSballistics]

$800 will get you a great AK.
Arsenal
Maadi
Norinco Mak 90
are the three that come to mind at that price. Honestly you can't go wrong with any of these.

Thank you five point. Imgonna hit my buddy up he had a norinco thats all black metal not thewood type with a red dot sight. He paid i think 1,100 maybe 1,200 for it and im affraid he got ripped. But likei said in the 3 years hes had it hes never put one round through it crap I think its only been taken out of the gunbag but 5 times.

 

[BPSballistics]

The Arsenal SGL series will be the best bet in that price range. The Saiga is built at the military arsenal Izhmash, Russia the home arsenal of the AK on the Legion line considered a bit nicer than the standard Saigas. Then Arsenal of Las Vegas, the U.S. subsidiary of Arsenal of Bulgaria another military AK arsenal on par with Izhmash, converts the rifle properly into a military-style configuration with 100% new parts, bayonet lug, a threaded barrel, and a rifle that will holds its value/investment.

Thats dead on what im looking for scott a well built ak that will hold its value. You hit the nail on the head. Izhmash hmm is that an old russian armory because if im not mistaken my mosin nagant m38 was built by them