Hi All, new here and new to AK style weapons. I'm looking for your opinions on a good first AK 47. I have looked at and shot the Wasr, but would like something with a little more quality, without breaking the bank. I noticed Atlantic has sold out of all the ones I've been interested in.

Find yourself an SAR 1.

Plenty of firearm manufacturers were already at 100% of manufacturing capacity at this time last year. They're cranking them out as fast as they can, and have been for awhile. So even if dealers wanted to stock up, it's not a given that they could.

And as for retailers stocking up, that can be a hard call to make. Most retailers don't like to sit on inventory, as doing so costs them money. Stocking up on inventory months ahead of a panic that you think might happen, but for which you can't be 100% certain will happen, can be a dangerous move for a dealer. There are a lot of land mines to navigate when trying to guess what market demand will be like months down the road.

With firearms, any of a number of events could happen that could change market demand in a heartbeat. When you run a business like Atlantic, you have to think long-term...not short-term. Even if this means you lose some sales in the short-term.

After the last panic a few years ago, K-var wound up selling SGL's for $500 because they bought too many in anticipation of a ban. When it became clear that a ban was unlikely, market conditions changed rapidly. Within the span of only months, WASR's that had been selling for close to $1,000 went back to a price of around $500. I'd wager that plenty of dealers who stocked up on WASR's at higher costs, got hosed.

The buyers guide is very informative, just the kind of info i was looking for.

Greetings,

Just got bittten by the AK bug and after looking around, decided on a Arsenal SLG21-71. This is the same as the SLG21-61 but with the longer NATO stock. Atlantic didn't carry this model but found the best price at Bud's for $802.00 shipped.

cbreeze