AK's?

[motoman]

I definitely do not have the knowledge on AK's as I do on other firearms, so with that being said what are the better brands out there? What do I want to check for? What do I want to stay away from?

[Denny]

Just from my personal experience, I've had Chinese, Yugo and Romanian AKs. The Chinese and Yugos were absolute crap. The one Romanian I had was a .223 and it is one of the best shooting semi-autos I've ever shot. It has a real tight feel and it groups great. I had magazine fitting issues and a lot of jams on the Chinese and Yugos.

[CJ]

I definitely do not have the knowledge on AK's as I do on other firearms, so with that being said what are the better brands out there? What do I want to check for? What do I want to stay away from?

Out of all the AK47's in my opinion the Norinco's are pretty good quality, no matter the year or model. People always bash the china men, and they deserve it for sure, however I wouldn't say so in AK's. Most of their copies are pretty decent - not the best machining finish, but their function and dependability is pretty good. Chinese stamped receiver MAK-90's have a double-hook trigger & hammer Group and 50% thicker 1.5mm receivers than the thinner 1mm receivers used on Romanian AK-47's that only have single-hook trigger groups. Norinco triggers feel better when shooting - due to the double-hook hammers also used in Milled Bulgarian AK-47's - like the SA-93, SLR-95, SLR-96, SLR-100H, SA-M7 & SAS-7 Rifles.

Saiga's are excellent quality and are truly Russian, however they do not have pistol grips and must be converted, they also have some oddities between them and true variants such as magazines, etc. I wouldn't recommend a conversion unless you had patience.

Century weapons are hit and miss. Sometimes they are great, sometimes they are just terrible. Unfortunately the only people that should buy a Century are people that really know what they are doing. I would not recommend them.

The best AK47's ever imported are Bulgarian SA-93, SLR-95, and SLR-96's, Chinese Norinco MAK-90/NHM-90/NHM-91/MAK-91's, and the Hungarian SA-85M.

[motoman]

Thanks fellas, great info so far.

[Denny]

Out of all the AK47's in my opinion the Norinco's are pretty good quality, no matter the year or model. People always bash the china men, and they deserve it for sure, however I wouldn't say so in AK's. Most of their copies are pretty decent - not the best machining finish, but their function and dependability is pretty good. Chinese stamped receiver MAK-90's have a double-hook trigger & hammer Group and 50% thicker 1.5mm receivers than the thinner 1mm receivers used on Romanian AK-47's that only have single-hook trigger groups. Norinco triggers feel better when shooting - due to the double-hook hammers also used in Milled Bulgarian AK-47's - like the SA-93, SLR-95, SLR-96, SLR-100H, SA-M7 & SAS-7 Rifles.

Saiga's are excellent quality and are truly Russian, however they do not have pistol grips and must be converted, they also have some oddities between them and true variants such as magazines, etc. I wouldn't recommend a conversion unless you had patience.

Century weapons are hit and miss. Sometimes they are great, sometimes they are just terrible. Unfortunately the only people that should buy a Century are people that really know what they are doing. I would not recommend them.

The best AK47's ever imported are Bulgarian SA-93, SLR-95, and SLR-96's, Chinese Norinco MAK-90/NHM-90/NHM-91/MAK-91's, and the Hungarian SA-85M.

I had two MAK-90s that wouldn't hold any mags worth a shit. What causes that?

[CJ]

Just from my personal experience, I've had Chinese, Yugo and Romanian AKs. The Chinese and Yugos were absolute crap. The one Romanian I had was a .223 and it is one of the best shooting semi-autos I've ever shot. It has a real tight feel and it groups great. I had magazine fitting issues and a lot of jams on the Chinese and Yugos.

I think you got a bum rifle Denny. Out of all firearm manufacturers, I would consider Norinco to have the overall most reliable reputation. I've never had any issues with any of their variants, from AK's, uzis, 1911's, etc.

[CJ]

I had two MAK-90s that wouldn't hold any mags worth a shit. What causes that?

Weird, Norinco mags do not have a weld bead on the rear like the russian mags, so usually russian or eastern bloc magazines fit much tighter than Norinco mags. I've never had any issues holding the mags, but most AK mags are loose to an extent.

[Denny]

Funny. The Century WASR 10 I got from DOHCTR was absolutely awesome.

[CJ]

Funny. The Century WASR 10 I got from DOHCTR was absolutely awesome.

I use to think Century had a undeserved bad reputation. Mostly because of my experience with their G3 variants - which during the late 90's was pretty decent quality. However I keep getting guns to fix that are century's with stupid ass build problems. Like HK33's with crooked mag releases because they were not straight in the drill press, and trunion's with only 1 weld. I've seen a number of canted front sights on their AK's and HK33's. Mr. Fiux's Century AK74 was a train wreck when he first got it. My opinion of them has changed with what I've been seeing of them lately.

A MAK90 is a superior gun to a WASR however. The MAK90 is a new rifle assembled to spec - essentially it's a semi auto Chinese AKM. The chinamen usually use original Russian tooling in their factories. Sometimes you can even match russian receiver tooling marks to same machine now producing Norinco's. The WASR is a demilled used variant that's been reassembled. The MAK90 is 10 times the rifle without any question - I've fired MANY of the two, and if you have a choice go with the MAK90. WASR's are built for export. They are not Milspec, the parts are not built to tolerance, many are not of the quality used in military weapons.

[GAP]

My Inter Ordnance AK47 has served me really well. Everything is very tight on it. They're built on US made barrels and receivers. But I dont have any experience with other AK's to say where it may rank.

[scottsmach03]

I think you got a bum rifle Denny. Out of all firearm manufacturers, I would consider Norinco to have the overall most reliable reputation. I've never had any issues with any of their variants, from AK's, uzis, 1911's, etc.

+1, Ask anyone thats been in the ak community for a period of time will tell you Norinco makes the best stamped AK'S. Like mentioned before, they use 1.5mm sheet metal for their recievers. My mak90 hasnt failed me once in the past 10 years. My century had a ftf on the first mag. Century isnt a bad gun, just needs some breaking in. If you want something just for plinking and the occasional hog hunt then grab you a wasr-10 and be done with it. They can still be picked up for under 400.00

[cmltoe]

Your going to get what you paid for, like any other gun. I've had a few different ones from a couple different countries and they all worked well. I had a wasr-10 for many years that I never had an issue with. If you want to spend a few extra bucks look for pre-ban aks that have all original parts(non-us compliant). I bought a hungarian pre-ban sa-85m a few years ago that I really like. If your trying to go all out look for any pre-ban russian ak's they're nice. But you really can't go wrong with any ak that was imported before the ban. Once you figure out your budget it'll probably be easier to pick one out.

[motoman]

Your going to get what you paid for, like any other gun. I've had a few different ones from a couple different countries and they all worked well. I had a wasr-10 for many years that I never had an issue with. If you want to spend a few extra bucks look for pre-ban aks that have all original parts(non-us compliant). I bought a hungarian pre-ban sa-85m a few years ago that I really like. If your trying to go all out look for any pre-ban russian ak's they're nice. But you really can't go wrong with any ak that was imported before the ban. Once you figure out your budget it'll probably be easier to pick one out.

That's the toughest thing is finding the right price point because as it was said earlier, you can get them from under $400 all the way up to $800 +

[cmltoe]

That's the toughest thing is finding the right price point because as it was said earlier, you can get them from under $400 all the way up to $800 +

Any pre-ban ak will cost more than $800 unless its a total piece or you come across a great deal. You could buy a used russian post-ban saiga for about 800. Don't get caught up in the post ban/pre ban stuff if you just want an ak that'll work everytime just go out and get a romy wasr-10. Honestly I get the same satisfaction shoiting a .22lr, I just like to hear shit go boom.

[Machx2]

Saiga with conversion, hands down.