Which AK47?

[RONNIE77]

Originally Posted by Garpman

It's a Romanian "G" kit rifle modified with TAPCO or some other brand of tacticool. Quality will depend on who the builder was, which I do not know. Another important aspect is who made the receiver. NoDakSpud makes the best AKM receivers, and Globaltrades/Armory USA are second to them. The rest, avoid, especially if it had anything to do with Hesse/Vulcan. I do know, that no AK was ever referred to as the "Black Widow" historically or traditionally.

The "auction" site GunsAmerica has a lot of them listed, but at exaggerated prices (just like every other gun listed there).

Nothing else to add except read the links PA Rifleman posted, there should be lots of good info there.

Thank you for your info. I do not know much of anything about AK manufacturers, but sure do like the guns. So thanks again.

[Garpman]

Originally Posted by King 5.45

To be fair, DCI is decent, too.

DCI and Nodakspud are one and the same.

http://www.nodakspud.com/page2.htm

[senorlinc]

http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=934

this thread will answer all questions....templar is one of the foremost authorities on the AK in the usa,and a nice guy

also try
http://www.theakforum.net/phpBB2/index.php
excellent source of ACCURATE info and friendly

personally i bucked up and bought a lancaster akm clone as my 1st rifle from atlantic. a little pricier than a wasr but beyond compare for the price.. it was to be my one and only ak..or so i thought...

now own a bulgarian aks74, saiga custom ak103 clone, bulgarian ak105 clone sbr, ak104 clone saiga sbr, arsenal sam7-bst milled rifle, period, hungarian sa85m-best stamped rifle, arsenal slr105 . next on the list is a russian vepr. my pattern is pretty much sticking to russian and bulgarian as they are simp,ly the best with the only exception being the preban sa85m from hungary

good luck

[senorlinc]

Originally Posted by dc dalton

Think you need to switch Romanian and Yugo, from every thing I've seen and the comparisons I've made the Yugos are much better

also...my personal feeling for quality on a decending order are

bulgarian
russian
polish
hungarian (except sa85m which is one of the best)
chinese (preban norinco and polytec)
yugo (except preban mitchell import is really nice)
romy
egyptian MISR maadi (again except pre ban)

pretty much anything preban will have an import receiver and is of higher quality
however, i do not mean to knock any particular country or rifle. there are pleanty of great romy rifles around-cur, sar and even some wasr. and some crap bulgis (some arsenals) as well as a vareity of great builders usin romy kits like lancaster and vector

[Ophidian]

My personal opinion based on experience:

Russian
Bulgarian
Yugo/Chinese
Romanian G kit rifles

Now just because the Romanian kits are at the bottom of the list by NO MEANS refers to an inferior product. In fact, I sold my yugo underfolder (which I loved) so I could get a Yugo with a fixed stock (cheekweld). I eventually decided to build my own AK since I have a good friend who has built a bunch and has the equipment and experience to help me. Also, this is going to save me 350 dollars which is going RIGHT to another kit or a bunch of ammo.

Romanian kits (I heard there is some quality lacking from kits built in the early 70's but that is mostly hearsay) are very good for the money. They are built well and since they were issued to the Civil Guard (essentially the Romanian police) they show pretty much no wear on the barrel. Speaking of the barrels, they are chrome lined, which you will not find in a Yugoslavian barrel. This really isn't an issue since you will most likely never fire corrosive ammo out of it, but it is a nice touch.

While on the subject of Yugos, they are incredibly well built if you can get them from a reputable kit builder or an original config. They are nice and heavy due to the heavy duty stamped receiver, however, I have noticed a lot of them have canted front sights, which can be pretty annoying. An AK47 has horrible sight design anyway but thats why I have my AR, for accuracy, AK is for fun :P

Bulgarian and Chinese guns are both really well put together but if you are just buying for a fun gun, you dont REALLY need a milled receiver. You will most likely not notice the difference in a milled receiver and a stamped one and your accuracy isn't really going to suffer that much. Also, if you are getting an AK47 (in 7.62x39mm) for accuracy, you should be buying an ar15 IMO. AK47s are decently accurate, but nowhere near as accurate as other assault rifles. Buy it for fun, not for long distance shooting.

And that brings me to the Russian guns. Here is a clue, SAIGA's are made in the Iz factory in Russia, and is the absolute best way to get an official honest to god Russian AK47 clone. Buy the gun for ~300 dollars online, then get it converted to accept high-cap magazines and a pistol grip, you will not regret it. They are pretty damn sturdy and had I not just bought an AR15, I would have scooped up a saiga in x39mm for a conversion project.

I really hope this helps in your decision. If you want the most bang for your buck and you dont mind not having a chrome lined barrel, go yugo while you can. If you want a chrome barrel with a funky foregrip, go with the Romanian G kit rifles (if you want to save a bunch of money for ammo). If you have the cash, get an Arsenal or a Norinco. If you want a cool project get a SAIGA and convert it with some sexy Russian Red furniture from Ironwood designs. Then sell it to me for 50 dollars :P

[spikey614]

Stop playing around with and get a Krebs AK. US made here in Illinois.

[spikey614]

Stop playing around and get a Krebs AK. US made here in Illinois.