Ak brands and calibers

[Farmboy20]

Ok since the rising cost of 5.56 is on going on and my desire to shoot is not going away I’ve decided to buy a AK rifle. What are some good brands to look for? Also 5.46 or 7.62x39 I’d personally don’t know much about either caliber but I’m open to get schooled to make a good buy. This gun i would like to have a rail for optics and flashlight. This gun usage will be mostly to have fun with while 5.56 is sky high and I’d like to be able to hunt with it also.

 

[Arioch]

What's your price range? Right now in the current market I'd recommend going with 7.62x39 over 5.45x39 as 5.45 is as expensive or possibly more expensive than 5.56. Now I know the culture here is generally not a fan of lists of "good to go" equipment, but I think this page is valuable for the rifles that you should not, under any circumstances, consider purchasing: https://thinlineweapons.com/wiki/index.php/Soviet_Firearms/Kalashnikov

Keep in mind if you go with a Yugoslavian pattern rifle you will have parts compatibility issues (stocks, handguards, and fire control pin retaining plates all come to mind).

Not all AKs come with side rails so you'll need to take that into consideration if you're going to be going the RS regulate route for optics.

If you have any other questions I'll try to help you to the best of my abilities.

 

[Farmboy20]

I’ll pay 1000-1400 dollars got that stimulus money to spend! I’ve found a few on armslist. Such as this one. I’ve been trying find a good one not some psa bull

 

[Arioch]

I'm working with a sample size of 1 so take what I say with a grain of salt, hopefully someone with more experience can chime into the thread; however, that being said I've had minimal issues with my NPAP. I already spoke about furniture compatibility, if you decide to change the trigger on one I highly recommend getting a Yugo specific retaining plate and avoid the headache of trying to get the original wire retainer reinstalled. You may start getting failures to feed around the 5k round count, I'm not sure if that's still an issue with current production, but swapping the recoil spring isn't very difficult.

Does that listing give any additional information as to what particular model of Zastava it is? PAP is generic, there's OPAPs, NPAPs, ZPAPs, etc.

 

[Farmboy20]

Naw man, I’m pretty sure the guy selling it is as ignorant on them as i am. I seen where Kalashnikov USA had serval rifles but they are back ordered like crazy.

 

[Matt Landfair]

@Gary GMFH Hughes

 

[Bawkbird]

If your looking at it for ammo availability, stick with 7.62x39. 5.45x39 is pretty scarce right now with even rumors of it dying due to potential importation issues with current administration.

As far as AK's go, for imports in that price range, look at the stamped Arsenals and WASR-10's. Check them over really good for canted sights and such. Stay away from anything Century Arms builds. VSKA especially! If you can find a Saiga or Maadi at a decent price, go for it, but everything I've seen lately has been way too overpriced for my blood.

You knocked the PSA's, but honestly, the GF3 and newer models seem to be rock solid. The GF5's have FN barrels, forged trunnions, ALG triggers. A lot of bang for your buck there.

 

[Farmboy20]

Bawkbird, Noted on the ammo! I haven’t even considered the import part of it. And I’ll definitely look into the brands you said. And the psa I’m only speaking from their ARs I’ve messed with, I was unimpressed with them, two of them had problems out of the box of the 4-5 of my friends that i have fooled with. But i look it to it.

 

[Bawkbird]

PSA AR’s I get staying away from. I’d never own one. AK’s are different imho. I have a GF5 and have been happy with it so far but only have 500 rounds through it. PSA acquired DDI which had lots of AK experience. Which amazed when PSA released their first two garbage AK’s with cast trunnions. Like I said though, GF3 and newer seems to be g2g on all the reports I’ve read. Rob Ski has a good review on the GF3.

if you can find an Arsenal at a good price I’d pick that up over a PSA, but I’d take a PSA over a WASR-10. Thing with AK’s is the imports we don’t know how long they will be able to come in to US while the uS made AK’s will be here for a while. If your stuck on getting a “genuine” combloc AK better pick one up while you can at a good price. If your wanting a rifle to beat the dog piss out of and save money during the ammo pandemic, PSA isn’t a bad option.

 

[nightchief]

I have a PSAK 103. 1400ish rds and counting since acquired in December with no issue. It has not been cleaned. I has been wiped down twice to inspect for issues. No issues that I can see. I'm not giving it the AKOU treatment, but I'm also not babying it.

My best grouping has been about an 1.5" at 50 yards with a reflex sight using some Silver Bear soft points. I think the gun may be capable of better, but most of the ammo I've been using, Wolf 123gr FMJ just doesn't have the accuracy compared to your average 556/223 cartridge. Combined with using a reflex sight and an average shooter (me), groups have not been better than 2 MOA.

That said, I've using to do various drills, primarily between 50 and 80 yards, and I have been consistently hitting 8" gongs.

The only issue encountered has been the inability to get G3 PMAG's and US Palm mags to seat without doing some surgery to both the mag catch and the back of the magazines. The Bulgarian steel mags work fine as does the supplied MOE PMAG.

 

[Bawkbird]

I should note that Congress just wrote Biden to ban importation of semi-auto rifles and magazines. If you want an import, better grab it now. I wouldn't be surprised if ammunition is throw into the ban too. Not into panic buying, but if you own a 5.45x39 you better stock up on a butt load of cases. At least 7.62x39 is manufactured by some US companies, 5.45x39 is manufactured by no one state side as far as I know.

https://neguse.house.gov/imo/media/doc/Final Letter - Assault Weapon Import Ban EO Letter.pdf