I've narrowed down my choice of AK to two and I am having a hard time deciding. It is currently a toss up between the East German and Polish AK that Atlantic Firearms is offering.

I've found plenty of reviews for the polish version and everything looks good. However, the East German model caught my eye as well.

Anyone have any first hand experience with this one? Is either one going to hold value better than the other?

DDR (E German) Kalashnikovs are by far the most rare here in the US.  Poland however built my personal favorite AK, the WZ88 Tantal.  You cannot go wrong with either, and you can't go wrong with Atlantic Firearms!  Flip a coin.

I'd say the EG will hold value better. Even EG parts kits are worth more than Polish kits. As far as which is a better rifle, I don't think there's much of a difference.

What parts on these guns are actually EG, or Polish? The safety lever, sites, etc. It's not like these were the 100% kits of 10 years ago. Whose receiver, barrel, & who built the gun. These are the important questions to ask. Years ago, Vector built some really nice Polish AK's with all but 5 922 parts actually Polish on an Arsenal USA receiver, but what is a Polish gun today?  GARY

And not for nothing but : Polish mags are definitely nice, but EG mags are the gold standard in steel.

The EGs that Atlantic are selling are pretty cool. The EG furniture is unique to that rifle and not something you see often. The Polish rifles, while nice, aren't uncommon. Presumably Atlantic is contracting these to the same builder (or truly in house?) so they should be of equivalent build quality.

even rarer than north korean?

Atlantic, what's the finish used on the bolt carrier?

DDR AK is best AK

their site says nickel plating.

I just received my Atlantic DDR and it looks good.  The handguards and pistol grip are scuffed and scratched, stock is perfect.  Bolt and carrier are nickel plated (I wish they were not), although the plating looks to be nicely applied.  

    I am now looking for replacement handguards, pistol grip, and a bolt carrier to make the rifle look more correct and unissued.  The trunnion, gas tube, carrier, bolt, and recoil spring guide have matching numbers.  I did not notice any other stamped numbers.  

    Assembly looks good for a US made AK.  The rivets are nice, but could be a little more compressed.  The gas tube and front sight alignment looks almost perfect.  The recoil spring guide was not refinished and was rusty.  It needs to be disassembled and the rust removed.  I prefer the Nodak receivers to the ones used in the Atlantic DDR.  The DDR's receiver does not have any markings on the sides, which is a plus, but the cutouts for the selector stops are not there either.  Does anyone know of someone who will put custom markings on a built receiver or where one can get an unnumbered DDR carrier with piston installed?

    I will not be able to shoot the AK anytime soon, but it does cycle smoothly.  Hopefully, I will be able to do a more complete disassembly and cleaning in the next week.  After finding the recoil spring guide rusty, I want to ensure there is no more hidden rust.

Wow, sounds like the quality and or the parts used went down hill from the last ones they had done back in 2013. This one is built on a matching parts kit and is damn near perfect.







HDH.

Someone on AKFiles (I think) sells kits for electro etching selector markings.