I'm thinking about adding an AK47 to my safe before the gun grabbing democrats risk getting into office.

I'm clueless on AK's so please educate me on which ones would be desireable. These rifles appear to be made virtually everywhere. Chinese, russian, yugoslavia? Different configurations like pre-ban etc.

I'm not looking for anything spectacular nor as an investment. I'm just looking for a good value that will be fun to shoot and has good quality and features.

I own only one, a milled Arsenal which I believe has strong Bulgarian roots. I can find no fault with it whatsoever. I've put about 500 rounds through it and it functions perfectly with a variety of ammo. It's a bit pricey but it is most certainly a formidible weapon.

Real ones ?. Or newer plastic crap ?'

Real ones Russian and Czech are the way to go .

Tula factory made the best ones in my opinion .

I've collected the dam things for years . Don't ask why , it started in Nam .

I have them from 1950's 60's 70's .

Honestly the only ones that shoot any where near accurate are the above two . Only with reloads that surplus ammo crap is just that CRAP !.
Personally I would much rather have 7.62 X 54 Sniper Rifles Snayperskaya Vintovka Dragunova, SVD 91 . Those are the ticket .

I have one it shoots .75" - .5" 100 Yd. most of the time.. Kalif banned us from most real weapons !. Here all this time I thought I was a U S Citizen residing in Kalif. , I was wrong Kalif. residents are not U S Citizens at all . They are only Dummycrat wipping posts for every sleazy weapons ban to come along .

" Remember Those with the ability to pay are always punished for those with out the ability to pay !!"..

It's in the Dummycratic gun code !. ...

You really have your choice these days. Before the 1994 Clinton/Brady gun ban the AK's were just semiauto versions of the family, no major differences. The Ban of '94 created a rift between "Preban" and "Postban" semiautos (which some like to call -assault- weapons). The postbans had features like no bayonets or bayonet lugs, and thumbhole stocks instead of the dreaded, man-eating pistol grip. Now that the ban has expired, things are a little confusing. You still have the preban AK's, which are more collectible and cost more. The postban AK's cost less but may be of lesser quality (my Norinco is one).

There is a new industry that has grown up to fill in the void: the "new" AK's. Part of the law, I forget which one, makes it legal to make a semiauto AK-type weapon as long as it has a mininum of 10(?) US-made parts; the rest can be of the foreign or surplus make. Companies have jumped up with Rumanian, Hungarian and other parts kits to offer a wide variety of AK-type rifles. They are confusing to me too. You should research the web and find out which type of AK you want: 1. Collectible, shootable original Russian or similar. 2. Plain, simple shooters like the Rumanian or Chinese AK's. 3. The new "10 US parts" guns.

In the end, I really don't know that much, but you can go to places like http://www.ak-47.net/ and find out a lot more, and figure out which AK you want. Good luck

As sputser mentioned, AK-47.net is a good place to start. If price is an issue you should also look into the Saiga's. I have one at home that I have yet to shoot. I'm stuck here in Brazil for the time being. I have heard much good feedback on the Saiga's and had intended to find out for myself.

Eric

Well, the Russians probably made the best AK-47s, however, in my experience the Chinese made MAK-90 of the early-mid 1990s seems to be a serious contender. The MAK-90 could actually keep all the bullets on the paper at 100 yards which was something we never could do with the earlier Norinco and other Chinese made AKs. Then, the Russian made SKS rifles from the 1950s can be awesome (for a Russian anyway), and better than any other SKS.
LLS

I shot AKs from Soviet Union, Eastern Germany, North Korea, PRC, all military models, they were very accurate, best being the MPiK 72 and
the original AK 47.

quote:

MPiK 72

Ed, sorry to say.... never been a commercially available East German variant of the AK in the USA.

But they are the best military variant!

same here, there is only one piece registered (and select fire), guess who..
in front of two witnesses, I shot 30 rounds groups in a A4 paper sheet @ 300 meters 3 weeks ago. prone, no sling, no rest and using czech military surplus ammo.

Well it's unusual for everyone to be wrong... but you are.

The Valmet is far and away the best clone ever made of the AK. it's available in 5.56mm 7.62x39 and 7.62 Nato. There's normally one or two on gunbroker. And they are all a solid piece of "shoot til you're done" I have owned several and I'm going to be adding another shortly.

I agree. but it was all about commie AKs.

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:
I agree. but it was all about commie AKs.

Well, I am talking about the Finns...
They fall somewhere between you guys and Ho Chi Minh on the scale.

I need to chime in here with a question: AIM Surplus has some Yugo SKS's listed for sale with the following caveat:
"Bore condition will vary, but all are military surplus, and used with corrosive ammunition for the majority of their service. Please do not expect the bore to be in new condition."
All of the SKS's and AK's that I recall seeing and examining, mainly ChiCom and Russian, had chromed bores. Anyone know which ones did not have chrome plated bores? And about how old would these Yugo variants be - states they are SKS M59/66 but also says they are C&R elegible.
Just curious.

top of the heap has always been the bulgarian breed.

quote:

Originally posted by KSTEPHENS:
top of the heap has always been the bulgarian breed.

Is that a stamped receiver???

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:
same here, there is only one piece registered (and select fire), guess who..
in front of two witnesses, I shot 30 rounds groups in a A4 paper sheet @ 300 meters 3 weeks ago. prone, no sling, no rest and using czech military surplus ammo.

And accuracy results, Ed?!!

I'm not a big fan of the AK. The only AK variant I currently own is a Norinco 84S-1.

About a 6 MOA weapon at 300m with M193 ammo. It will do SLIGHTLY (not much) better with hand loads.

I mean 30 rounds grouped in a A4 paper sheet @ 300 meters, nothing out. that is less than the 8 ring of the UIT target. Equal to a good FAL that was next to me on bipod.

quote:

Originally posted by Collins:

quote:

Originally posted by KSTEPHENS:
top of the heap has always been the bulgarian breed.

Is that a stamped receiver???

negative tower. afrim milled. copy "MILLED".

quote:

Originally posted by KSTEPHENS:

quote:

Originally posted by Collins:

quote:

Originally posted by KSTEPHENS:
top of the heap has always been the bulgarian breed.

Is that a stamped receiver???

negative tower. afrim milled. copy "MILLED".

Roger on the milled, copy that.

still its only an AK
TURD...
POLISHED TURD...

what they wish they were...

I was out shooting my 84S-1 today. It's a lot of fun.

The underfolder feature makes it quite compact and handy.

But there are some things that I don't like about the AK design.

1. Short sight radius 15"

2. No bolt hold back feature. After firing the last round, the AK tells you when it's empty with a click on an empty chamber (unless you are counting round). IMHO, this is also a safety issue.

3. The safety/selector...... noisy and clumsy!

4. Length of pull about 1 - 1.5" too short. (Yes, I know they were designed for people of shorter stature).

5. Accuracy is mediocre even in the best examples. (I'm talking AKs..... not any of the variants like the Valmet or Galil)

My favorite is the Norinco sidefolder with the red "plastic" furniture.

It is compact with the stock folded, and it locks rock solid when shooting.

quote:

Originally posted by KSTEPHENS:
top of the heap has always been the bulgarian breed.

I disagree



Top: Soviet made in Tula for egyptian Airborne.
Below: East German made MPiK72

like them FAL, too!

Two Belgian made FAL

I have 2 of the ChiCom Norinco MAK90's. They cost $169.00 when I bought'em. I've shot one a bit and never a hiccup. I had to use a c clamp and socket to zero the front sight. I thought it was accurate enough for what it was and the copper washed chinese ammo I fed it.

I see them at gunshows for $350.00 now.

quote:

Originally posted by Dr.K:
Real ones ?. Or newer plastic crap ?'

Real ones Russian and Czech are the way to go .

Tula factory made the best ones in my opinion .

I've collected the dam things for years . Don't ask why , it started in Nam .

I have them from 1950's 60's 70's .

Honestly the only ones that shoot any where near accurate are the above two . Only with reloads that surplus ammo crap is just that CRAP !.
Personally I would much rather have 7.62 X 54 Sniper Rifles Snayperskaya Vintovka Dragunova, SVD 91 . Those are the ticket .

I have one it shoots .75" - .5" 100 Yd. most of the time.. Kalif banned us from most real weapons !. Here all this time I thought I was a U S Citizen residing in Kalif. , I was wrong Kalif. residents are not U S Citizens at all . They are only Dummycrat wipping posts for every sleazy weapons ban to come along .

" Remember Those with the ability to pay are always punished for those with out the ability to pay !!"..

It's in the Dummycratic gun code !. ...

You mean you actually have russian FA AK-47's? Damn I would love to see some pics of them. Russian ak's are rare in the states. Are you allowed to own them in kali?