What do I need to know about AKs?

[Lebowski]

Christmas is in a couple of months, and in true Christmas fashion I buy myself a new toy. What better way to celebrate the birth of little baby Jesus than to buy a rifle? Anyway... my safe doesn't have an AK in it. How boring.



What's a good source of surplus AKs? I'm not necessarily just looking at new rifles but am open and interested in learning where to buy used surplus rifles that may be decades old as well. What do I need to know about AKs in general? I was told to stay away from the IO and Century rifles. Can I get a good AK for $500 - $700? I prefer something with a wood stock, not looking for anything tacticool.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

What's a good source of surplus AKs?

 

[Kirk Freeman]

For you, surplus AKs are a no go.

But, to be fair, what do you mean by "surplus AKs"? Do you mean, where to buy a Title I AK clone?

 

[ACC]

I have a Century RAS-47 that has been great for me. New out of the box for $530

 

[TheDude]

I have a Century RAS-47 that has been great for me. New out of the box for $530

Yes this one has impressed me as well. Looks like CAI finally listened.

 

[halfmileharry]

Yes this one has impressed me as well. Looks like CAI finally listened.

I HATED CAI for years. NOW....within the last year the sight posts are straight, magwells properly done, and from what I've seen they're a good rifle now. I have no hesitation buying one at this point.

 

[wagyu52]

Wait a minute, Lebowski is buying a AK from The Dude?!?!
Worlds colliding. Worlds colliding.
Jefferson county could implode if they meet.

 

[Bfish]

Going to be checking out two new RAS 47's tonight a buddy just bought so we will see but I've been hearing good things. I was asking so of our ak guys on here like Clay and Wabbit in another thread a few weeks ago for the same reason. i'm looking at getting at RAS47 I think, I wanted a DDI but you can't find them in stock anywhere!

 

[Bfish]

I have a Century RAS-47 that has been great for me. New out of the box for $530

That's a great deal! Where'd you get that? I saw KYgunco had them for $520 but they were sold out by the time i got there.

 

[sig1473]

Fantastic movie.

 

[Lebowski]

Wait a minute, Lebowski is buying a AK from The Dude?!?!
Worlds colliding. Worlds colliding.
Jefferson county could implode if they meet.

Haha. Yeah, I put in an offer on his. Well, trade + cash sort of thing but he politely declined my offer. If I didn't have to fuss with my car I'd probably have paid him the cash amount.

Fun fact: I tried to register with "The Dude" when I joined INGO but the name was taken...

 

[TheDude]

Haha. Yeah, I put in an offer on his. Well, trade + cash sort of thing but he politely declined my offer. If I didn't have to fuss with my car I'd probably have paid him the cash amount.

Fun fact: I tried to register with "The Dude" when I joined INGO but the name was taken...

Looks like two people were watching "The Big Lebowski" when we were registering. LOL

 

[tradertator]

I have heard good things about some of the new Century stuff, but I'm cautious because I have had pretty poor luck with there stuff in the past. If it says IO on it, don't touch it with a 10 foot pole. Honestly, IMO the new Palmetto State Armory AK's are the best deal going. I've got 1, and my uncle picked one up too. Both run flawlessly, and are insanely accurate.

 

[indykid]

I wish we had some law that allowed us to own real new and surplus AKs without infringement, but alas...

Seriously, if you want a good factory AKM that was based on the real deal, except in ATF approved sporting purpose condition, look into the good old Chinese Norinco MAK-90. They can still be found for under $700 and have the best trigger group of any factory produce AK variant. Great rifle in the tradition of the great AK/AKM.

 

[Sling10mm]

Be careful….. I was never a big AK fan. I had a WASR-10 for a few years, and it wasn't a bad rifle, but just never got into it. After selling it I got the bug again and have four now. On top of that, I have been thinking of adding a DDI milled to the stable, just don't know if I want the fixed stock or under-folder (don't have one of those yet).

 

[jhelm]

What's your thoughts on the arsenal ak's. I have been reading up on ak's and all I hear about is arsenal...arsenal...arsenal. I know they are on the pricy end but if the quality is there I don't mind the cost.

 

[A 7.62 Exodus]

Not quite sure who told you to stay away from Century AK's, but they're dead wrong. If you know what to look for, you'll get exactly the same thing you would in an expensive AK, and save hundreds of dollars doing it. I threw an old Bulgarian surplus kit on my WASR 10/63, and it looks like an entirely different gun. One thing with the Century guns though, most of them are zombie guns. So I don't know how important matching parts are to you. Also remember though, it is an AK. These things were designed to take parts from other guns and keep going.

 

[GChambers]

I bought a Century Arms WASR-10 from ZR Tactical in Noblesville a few weeks ago. Shot it for the first time last weekend. Was dead on accurate and ran 120 rounds of cheap ass Wolf ammo through it and it was flawless. It's an absolutely craptastic rifle. I wouldn't sweat dropping it in the mud, picking it back up and running another magazine through it.

Mine was under $600 but since then, Century announced they won't be importing them going forward. If you can find one for less than $600 I'd say do it. JMHO.

 

[warriorbob]

I think wasrs are good if you can inspect them before hand and from what I've heard century has really picked up the QC game on them but for the 650 ice seen new ones for sale here locally, I think I'd save an extra 100 and get a ddi.

 

[Joseph]

I own a arsenal sam7 myself, I paid a premium but I had a bad experience with a wasr10 and wanted quality. That said the new ras and centurion are supposed to be pretty damn nice. The pap rifles from century are nice to. If you can find a fully converted saiga they are nice to.