Like it says, I want an AK and don't know jack about them. I have seen PSA advertising a blem model for $600...

Local shops are all hunting rifles and the occasional AR.
I'd like to be less than $800 for the rifle as I'm intending to add a better handguard, ultimak and m4 stock to whatever I buy. Will be 7.62.

Threads I found in searching were from 21 or older, so I thought I'd see if the recommendations have changed.

My knee jerk reaction is an SLR 107R, but they're apparently unobtainium now. I am unwilling to pay $1500 for an $800 gun.

My SLR-107 cost about $900 in 2018. Prices are way up. Aresenal milled AK's are $2K now.

From what I've seen the Zastava's are good for the price. Kalishnikov USA seems good too. Century I wouldn't touch.

For that price I'd say get a PSA. Lifetime warranty and all. They even have some with FN CHF barrels if they are still out there. They give a lot of value for the price. There are a few select models I'd choose first, but it comes down to preference. And far as I know you are supporting one of the good guys.

Arsenal prices are insane right now and not worth it. Zastava is making a DAM nice AK, probably the best. But if you want to rail it up and stuff the Yugo pattern might not be what you want. It's a tank.

KUSA seems like a good option too. My jury is still out on them. The 104 pistol they had really had my attention but with this brace crap I'm back on the fence. They had some blem 103s in the past around the 800 mark.

I bought a PSA G3 blem and love it. I was new to the world of AK's, and it fit the bill for me. Only about $600, so I'm not out a lot if I don't like it.

I’ve got a PSA AK and am very happy with it. I’ve not used it hard or anything but it’s got a little over a thousand rounds of cheap wolf ammo through it without failure.

I bought a Zastava OPAP for my first and only AK and its been a great gun once i fixed the trigger pins after my first outing. Has ate all ammo.......

Buy a used WASR. Closest thing to a proper AK for that budget and yes, expect the front sight post to be canted. It's part of the charm.

quote:

Originally posted by Lefty Sig:
Century I wouldn't touch.

That's a blanket statement; a complete Century build is to be avoided. But they bring actions in that are made overseas and add stuff here on some rifles and those are GTG.

The other option to look at are the WBP Series...Arms of America or Atlantic Firearms sell. Polish made and a touch more than $800 but they're terrific....I was pleasantly surprised.

This a 5.56 WBP Fox I got in trade for $900 value. It was really nice.

quote:

Originally posted by PGT:
Buy a used WASR. Closest thing to a proper AK for that budget and yes, expect the front sight post to be canted. It's part of the charm.

He already said he wants to TAPCO the thing, so why get something that absolutely cannot shoot straight to do that with? I think if someone were an AK collector, then sure. Otherwise, get the PSA.

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:

He already said he wants to TAPCO the thing, so why get something that absolutely cannot shoot straight to do that with? I think if someone were an AK collector, then sure. Otherwise, get the PSA.

are you implying a canted WASR can't be zeroed? And there's not much collectible about a WASR...it's the entry-level legit non-US made AK. US-made AK's are mostly trash...this is not in dispute. KUSA can't get their act together. PSA entry-level AK's are not much better. Need to spend $1k on their premium model to get what comes on an $800 WASR.

Made-in-Romania WASRs are on sale right now. They're both within the budget and solid basic AKs. Standard furniture should work just fine but I'm not sure whether there are WASR-specific mounts for optics on the side rail.

I am an admitted Zastava fanboy, so you may want to take what I say about them with a grain of salt. They seem to be just past your budget, but that may change in the coming months. Inspect before you buy if you can (this is just as true for WASRs), but canted sights and whatnot seem to be rare on the current ZPAP models. Older OPAP models are still available and a used one may be within budget. NPAP models (lighter, different rivet pattern on the receiver) still pop up and aren't bad, but its not unknown for pin holes in the receiver to egg out and render the receiver useless.

In all three cases I would automatically change the recoil spring to a Woolf +10% even though the consensus out there in ComBlocFanLand seems to be that only the NPAPs absolutely need it. OPAPs and ZPAPs are a bit heavier (due, I think, to having a thicker receiver) but, from what I've seen, consistently shoot more accurately than the WASRs without giving up anything in durability or reliability and will happily chow down on any factory ammo. I would certainly prefer one to a WASR myself, but see above reference to being a fanboy.

One option to keep an eye out for if you're planning on changing the furniture out is "stripped" ZPAPs. I've seen them at Atlantic, they've been reported at AIM Surplus and DK Firearms, and they do tend to be available for (slightly?) less than a fully dressed ZPAP. All you'll need to add is furniture, although they do have Yugo-specific optics mounts that will be specifically listed as being for M70s (OPAP, NPAP and ZPAP, as well as M90s). I haven't looked, but there may be WASRs offered the same way.

Incidentally, the Yugos are one of the better "reasonably" priced AKs out there, so furniture, optic mounts and everything else are most certainly widely available in the market.

By the way, don't be surprised if different magazines fit better or worse regardless of which AK you choose. The AK was manufactured in a surprising number of countries that rely/relied on basic manufacturing machinery and hand-fitting in a way we can't afford to in the US. Most will most certainly accept and function with most Ak-47 magazines, but factory steel mags from the same producer as the rifle (for what it's worth) seem to consistently be winners.

Either way, go for it. The fact that we can play with these things is proof positive that the Soviet Union as such failed to survive the Cold War.

I don’t know of any actual AK sites any longer, the one I used to frequent got hacked or something 8-10 years ago, it was down for months and when it finally came back it was mostly posts that were “cut & paste”
I think The Fal Files has an AK forum but the few times I was there it wasn’t very active.
The Facebook has a couple pages on them and anything US made is crap, this includes AK-USA & PSA which are all crap andl if you believe any of the seemingly youngsters there, any stamped Arsenal, Zastava’s are also crap … if it isn’t a Century wasar it’s crap … unless it’s an old Norinco, Polytechnic or other factory built preban, it’s crap.
Lastly, if you put MagPul furniture on an Arsenal 103 or SLG95 it’s blasphemy but the factory bush-hole furniture is hideous.
Personally I’ve got a couple Zastava and haven’t had a problem with either and I really like my SLG-95 with MagPul furniture.

The last place I’d take firearms advice is a Facebook group.

I don't have much chance of finding a used anything locally. Our shops are mostly for hunting guns and trap shotguns. Most either won't take black rifles or will be insulting with their trade offers (a scar 17 with an acog and rmr for $2500). And I'm not interested enough in the platform to drive to Columbus for a bigger shop. My local guy will order whatever I want (that he can find) they just don't stock much I like. The big shop in town that stocked this stuff ran afoul of the IRS and was closed and liquidated.
I will look into the zastava line.
PSA is a moot point as they are once again sold out of the blem and their normal prices are a little proud for the mixed reviews I'm seeing.
Local farm store has a riley defense model with polymer furniture but that's about it local.
I think a little pawn shop in town has the Israeli version with the turned up bolt handle, but it just doesn't look right to me.

quote:

Originally posted by Pale Horse:
The last place I’d take firearms advice is a Facebook group.

You'd be surprised. The general groups are hot trash but there are a few focused groups of industry professionals and people very much in the know. But one can count on one hand the number of those groups and they're well vetted to keep them cogent.

I was in a similar boat and went with Zastava based on the heritage, history, and amount of time they've been making AK's combined with them now having a US entity (Zastava USA) doing their own importing, customer service, etc. VERY happy so far with my M92 and M70 ZPAP's.

I acquired the M92 first and bought a bunch of mags directly from Zastava USA at the time. One of the mags had an issue and their customer support was outstanding in all regards getting it resolved.

quote:

Originally posted by PGT:

quote:

Originally posted by Pale Horse:
The last place I’d take firearms advice is a Facebook group.

You'd be surprised. The general groups are hot trash but there are a few focused groups of industry professionals and people very much in the know. But one can count on one hand the number of those groups and they're well vetted to keep them cogent.

You are correct, a few good groups exist. I’m not saying there aren’t a few diamonds in the rough, I’m just saying there’s a lot of hot garbage. The comment above mine certainly didn’t seem influenced from one of the focused groups of industry professionals.

Reddit in general is a better site for focused gun groups IMO.

Went through this in 19, ended up with a Riley Defense AK, basically it's what the LGS carried at the time ie only option.

It's been quite reliable, eaten all kinds of ammo, and had only one failure that wasn't the rifles fault, was shooting some brass cartridge AK ammo, and it started to fail to load rounds into the chamber.

We couldn't figure it out, find anything broken, spoke with Riley Defense that evening from the range, they called back while we were working on it, followed up, the service was excellent.

The culprit, a broken off piece of brass from a cartridge edge that got under the bolt edge, since it was dirty we couldn't see it, got it home, pulled the bolt and there it was, stuck under an edge. 100% ammo issue, and it was Winchester to boot.



I know they have had issues in the past, but seem to have worked it out, and mines been 100% and in your budget...

Link

quote:

Originally posted by wolfe 21:
I think a little pawn shop in town has the Israeli version with the turned up bolt handle, but it just doesn't look right to me.

That would be a 5.56 Galil, I would bet. Different animal, but many who have them love them. If you see one around its a build off of a kit rather than a product that came straight from the factory.

IWI also offers the ACE (in this case, IIRC, the 32). If you're willing to spend (good) Galil money, you could do worse than look at the ACE. Still not exactly the same thing and 'way more expensive than either the Zastava or the WASR, but should be very good and fully backed by the importer.

I think the PSAs are a pretty good value overall. The purists don't necessarily approve of them, but if nothing else the warranty is reliable.