AK Variant Reviews (Pros Cons of various AK platforms)

[vladtepes 1,060]

Since there is always "this AK is better than that AK" type discussion here.. why not have a thread just listing the various types that you have ACTUAL RANGE TIME with.. how the accuracy was? reliability? magazine fit? and all that.. it might be helpful to others trying to decide what variant to consider..

 

I would like to keep this to NJ legal variants...

I would also like to keep it free of "pissing match" just post your experience and review and leave it at that.. even if others have already reviewed the gun we should still list a range review because it may help point out variants that have consistent performance and those that are hit or miss..

 

the intention is really just a no BS review thread.. that is completely impartial.. with honest feedback..

 

so if you have a NJ legal AK.. PAP.. WASR.. Saiga.. etc..

post about it..

[vladtepes 1,060]

review

[intercooler 41]

mak 90: shoots anything i put in it, you have to file the tabs on tapco mags to fit (original chi com 10rds fit perfect) but otherwise they are perfect.

up to 100 yards, pretty accurate, but not a precision unit. SHTF go to gun. It feels sturdiy and rugged compared to an AR

NO FTF, FTE ever...after a year of shooting Yugo and wolf, cleaned only when using corrosive This is the model that I would reccomend to ANYONE wanting an AK variant

 

SAR 2: shoots 5.45. once i got tapco mags (low cap mags are HARD to get in 5.45) it shoots all ammo flawless. more accurate than the mak 90 and almost as accurate as my AR, NO recoil. Tapco mags worked staright from package fitting tight and true. surplus tantal metal ones do not feed well and jam(they might be .223 mags i got), Aresnal mags do not fit, they hit the cross rivet

Bad mags = problems. Tapco mags= over 1000 with no ftf, fte on surplus

 

Arsenal SGL 31: The cadillac of 5.45 rifles, Jersey legal by Henderson defense. Shoots anythging, All mags fit well and no problems. Pretty much as good as my ar up to 100 yards. Have not shot this alot, only like 50 rds of hornady no corrosive. Fit and finish is FAR and away best of the bunch

[Ray Ray 3,566]

Really? Okay

 

GP1975

I had one, didn't run. Failure to feed and eject every few rounds. Front sight was canted so bad that it was 6 inches left at 20 yards.

 

WASR-10

My current AK-varient. Runs like a champ. Shoots straight and has never let me down.

 

40 rounds, easy runnin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfv8htrb7iY

[intercooler 41]

here is a link on the chinese made styles

http://www.ak-47.us/Article_Detail.php?g=content1146683655

 

other countries versions

http://www.ak-47.us/AK-47Receivers-003.php#China

 

buyers guide

http://www.ak47world.com/rifles.html

[Ray Ray 3,566]

My dad had a Mac90 (Chinese AK, I think it was a Mac90). It didn't run.

I can't, for the life of me, buy a gun made in China. I mean, everything else in the US is made there but guns is where I draw the line.

[intercooler 41]

Generally Ray, I would agree on chinese crap ...but on these I think they are better than most of the other options.

[vjf915 456]

My personal experience is with my converted Saiga 7.62x39. I have personally put the gun through hell, and never had any issues with it. I've literally poured two handfuls of dirt into the receiver, racked the bolt, chambered a round, and continued to fire the rifle. I ran it at the Old Bridge zombie 3 gun match, where I dropped the rifle was dropped into a barrel, and onto the ground for a transition to sidearm, gun ran fine after. My friend has on two occasions had a failure to feed. He's not even a weekend shooter, so I think he simply didn't seat the mag properly as I've never had any issues with it whatsoever. 15 round Surefire mags fit nice and tight. As far as accuracy goes, the rifle is much more accurate than I'll ever be, so I can't complain.

[Pew Pew Plates 358]

OK, I have a few to contribute. All rifles and magazines are NJ legal.

 

 

My new AES-10B RPK. Its basically a WASR on roids, made at the cugir arsenal with the same quality wood as found on WASRs. I havent got to fire it yet so my review on this is purely on fit & finish, although it would be very strange if it didnt go bang...

 

The first thing you will notice about this is the pimpin' bipod. Its very solid when folded out and is quite tall so that you have enough room for the magazine prone. Also it has a unique club-foot stock which is so you can take your supporting hand and hold the stock tight into your shoulder. Should make for some nice bump-firing off the bipod

 

 

Another few things that set the RPK apart from your typical AKM is the 1.5mm receiver, the heavy barrel, the bulged trunnion to accomodate the heavy barrel, the carry handle, and the windage adjustable rear sight.

 

 

And when I say its a heavy barrel, I mean it! Pictures do it no justice, this thing is long and FAT!

 

 

Next up is the polish milled T3 AK

 

 

This is a real gem in the current market. Apparently only ~3k kits were imported and now they are hit & miss as far as availability goes, get one while you can! First, a little history. WASR-10s, saigas, PAPs, RPKs etc are all "AKM" pattern rifles but are commonly confused as "AK47" type rifles. Calling a WASR-10 an AK47 style rifle is like calling your boot a sock... This is true to the original T3! The progression of the rifles is as follows (I just copied & pasted this from here, great read http://browningmgs.c...Kalashnikov.htm).

 

T(type) 1 AK-47-

The Type 1 went into production in 1947. The T1 receiver had most of the elements seen in modern variants. It had a milled trunnion and butt stock insert, and a stamped body. Unfortunately the technology of the day could not produce a consistent product and a new, more robust milled receiver was designed

 

T2 AK-47-

The T2 with its newly designed milled receiver went into production in 1949, parallel to the existing T1, still in production. Not wanting to waste parts, it is standard practice for Russian made AK47s to contain parts from both models as it transitioned to a new design. Note the distinctive socketed "boot" connecting the stock to the receiver.

 

T3 AK-47-

Further refinements led to the T3, which went into production sometime in 1953 or 1954 and remained in production until about 1959.

 

In the mid 1950s developement was underway to solve the warping problem encountered with the initial stamped receiver of the T1. The problem finally solved, in 1959 a stamped receiver AK47 was adopted by the Soviet military as the AKM (the Modernizirovanniy Avtomat Kalashnikova) which was a lighter weapon and easier to produce. (6.8 lbs vs the 9.3 lbs of the T3 milled receiver)

 

So anyways, the T1-T3 are not commonly encountered on the wholesale market. Infact, the T1 & T2 never are, but the T3 pops up every now & then. In recent times the only available ones are the polish for ~$600 and the arsenal for I believe ~$2k.

 

The difference?

 

Not much, but I'll go over it. I wanted a historical AK but I was not ready to dump 2 grand into one unless it was something crazy awesome... so I settled on the polish. So what makes it ~$600? Well, a few things. First off, the lightening cuts were cut with an end mill and not a horizontal key-cutter. This is purely cosmetic, but it is not true to the originals. The original cuts had a little bit more of a radius on the ends of the cuts. You can see the right hand cut here, along with my krebs rear sight (which I swear by!).

 

 

 

A little bit on a nice side benefit of the milled receiver is that since its made out of a solid block of 4340 steel, there are no nooks and crannies to clean in the rails etc. Its very "clean" on the inside & out.

 

 

 

And check out the nice bolt & carrier, in the white and polished! Good job century! The piston is properly pinned loose onto the carrier and has the appropiate slop in it.

 

 

Here you can see the other two historical inaccuracies with the rifle. There is a hole on the bottom of the trunnion for a rivet, which is of course not proper but this can be welded up. Also, the rifle was parkerized instead of gloss blued. Again, they made no functional difference but im picky like that

 

 

And last but not least, the receiver is cut for double hook triggers as per the originals!

 

 

A few notes on milled V stamped. They are heavier, although I honestly can NOT tell the difference! They are stronger (but in practice should make no difference) but the only noticable functional difference is it is noticably easier to clean. I got it for its historical nature, but its the BEST fitting AK style rifle I have EVER handled. It is so smooth, it beats every single other WASR, saiga, norinco, arsenal, waffen werks etc that have passed through my hands as far as mechanical fit goes. It shoots as good as it feels too!

[Pew Pew Plates 358]

Next up!

 

SAR-2

 

 

The SAR-2 is what predates the WASR-10. The WASR-10s are made as single stack, 10 round capacity rifles. This results in the double stack rifles simply being chopped out and shimmed for double stack magazines which is usually fine, but is not proper. The SAR series rifles are built with slightly better fit & finish, and most importantly, on double stack hi-cap receivers with dimples. The SAR-2 is 5.45x39, which is an awesome round. It is cheap, accurate, flat shooting and no recoil. The SAR-2 was made during the federal ban so it is also NJ compliant out of the box. What I like about this rifle, which goes against how I typically buy, is that it is NOT correct for an AK-74 or AIMS-74. While the romanian AIMS-74 was indeed built on these receivers and had the 45 degree gas block thats about where the similaritied ended. The AIMS-74 had a wire side folder, donkey dong fore-grip, and a unique AK-74 style brake (but wasnt the common 24mm one).

 

While the rifle can be converted to an AIMS-74 clone (which nothing else can!) I kept it this way since the clone would have to be nuetered with a welded open stock, welded brake etc. Since I got this as a shooter for corrosive ammo, and since im anal about cleaning my firearms (yes, even the AKs), I can not stand a non removable brake since you cannot properly clean the expansion chamber. It would drive me nuts, so I prefer the nude muzzle. Maybe one day when I'm out of state...

 

 

What is strange however is the stock... its painted. Never seen that before... but whatever!

 

[Pew Pew Plates 358]

Annnnd last but not least, the PSL!

 

 

The PSL is not a "dragunov" but it is its own unique platform. While the SVD "dragunov" is its own platform, with a short stroke gas system not too dissimilar from the SKS, the PSL is just a juiced up AK. A REALLY BIG juiced up AK. It fires the 7.62x54R, so the receiver, bolt, carrier, etc is all that much longer plus the long barrel. Its quite an impressive piece, really.

 

Accuracy is better than "typical AK" but will leave alot to be desired if you are a benchrest shooter. First off, its an AK action. It has alot of reciprocating mass, overtravel of the bolt & carrier, loose fitting parts, etc. But on the plus side, it wont jam or break! Then the other detriment is the barrel. These rifles were made to be carried all day and fired intermittently. Therfore, the barrels are light and rightfully so. However, if you try to sit down at the bench and bang out 150 rounds, you are going to see a rapid degradation of accuracy (mostly vertical stringing). They are accurate for what they were inteded as though, a few rounds here and there... I have fired it at 600 yards and got about a 1 foot group which is "minute of man" in my book. These are not sniper rifles, they are designated marksman rifles.

 

They come with a 4x scope with dead tritium. 4x leaves a bit to be desired so I got an 8x POSP russian scope with red battery illumination.

 

 

They really are a hoot to shoot. Very loud, very low recoil due to the weight of the rifle, the brake, and the spring loaded butt plate. As you can see in the photo, I have also added a cheek rest (ITC rail rest http://www.itcmarksmanship.com/c-14-itc-railrest.aspx) and a butt pad extender. The rifle is made for short people wearing jackets/armor, not us weekend warriors of larger stature. Without these, mounting the rifle is quite awkward, it has a very short length of pull and the "cheek weld" is more like a chin weld, so the cheek pad and butt pad REALLY improve the feel of the rifle, and I would say it is absolutely required if you are going to seriously shoot the rifle. Another required item is the RSA 4 point adjustable trigger. Its exactly what it sounds like, a 4 point adjustable match grade trigger that just drops in (standard AK trigger group). It will shrink your groups without a doubt and make it even that much more fun.

[Ray Ray 3,566]

Thanks for the interesting read Glenn, guess I'm due for a second AK -varient. What's a boy to do!

[junkmanted 54]

there all good,,, its like buying a car , sometimes you get a good one sometimes you don't.

[tuktuk 16]

there all good,,, its like buying a car , sometimes you get a good one sometimes you don't.

 

+1

[RubberBullets 65]

the russian in me wants an SVD, but id settle for the PSL HUBBAHUBBA!!!

[M4BGRINGO 139]

I have two 7.62x39 Saigas. One is converted, one is not (but will be when I get to it!).

 

Never had a single issue with either. I buy the cheap surplus ammo (non-corrosive). I barely clean them. I too used the non-converted rifle at the OBRPC 3-gun Zombie Match last year (along with my Saiga-12), was flawless.

 

There were only a few of us with the AK's, most had AR's and most of the AR's had muzzle brakes on them which made them really, really loud!

 

Anyway, when I convert the 2nd one I will post-up how it performs post-surgery.

 

Never one FTF, never one FTF, never one FTE. Nodda! Have put about 1000 rounds through the pair so far, great, cheap guns to shoot!

[Allmann 0]

What would you recommend for a 1st ak variant? I would like to keep it cheap for my first one.

[Ray Ray 3,566]

What would you recommend for a 1st ak variant? I would like to keep it cheap for my first one.

 

WASR-10

 

Bullzeye Tactical in Woodbridge is getting a few in, IIRC.

[JLHockeyKnight 0]

What would you recommend for a 1st ak variant? I would like to keep it cheap for my first one.

 

I bought one of these while working with Jet Agent LLC on here. Once I get the paperwork squared away from my FPID change of address that will be the newest toy to my collection. You can also contact them for any help.

[Allmann 0]

Jl. What did you get?

[JLHockeyKnight 0]

Wasr-10. I shot my friends and it was a lot of fun and a relatively cheap rifle. I figure since I'm generally a newbie it would be a good cheap ak to learn about it and then a few years from now I could sell it for a better quality one.

 

There were some good videos on YouTube about the wasr-10 as well. I'll try to post some later.