I am a total newb to an AK and don't know where to start!

I am buying the WASR-10 at (name withheld but you know who has them on sale and back in stock now I am sure ) and don't know where to start.  I am assuming I need to sand and stain the furniture unless it is already weathered.  Red mahogany and then like a satin coat?  Not good at wood staining so what is process?  Am I on with the color choice?

As far as what I have, I have the one they sell at you know where (I don't want to get in trouble here) which I assume I will have to clean up good and then lube.  Is there a special process or is this a clean and lube (unlike the Mosin where there is a lot of cosmo on it.)?

Ammo, the barrel is chrome lined.  What in general do people buy?  Spam cans that are corrosive?  Cleaning regimen after shooting that I guess is similar to Mosin?  Just trying to get a feel.  

Sling?  Good place for mags?

I am a newbie to this so please don't flame me too hard.  ;-)

Youtube has every answer you need, in video format too

I'm an noob too but I bought a BFG VCAS V2 AK sling, magpul, psa euro surplus, and bakelite mags, and a magpul grip.

Yep, you need to field strip it and clean it. There will be cosmo in there. My WASR really likes cheap, steel cased ammo. Occasionally find it at Cabela's for around $4-5 a box, then stock up. Lots of threads on here about staining the wood, do a search. An most importantly, get it out to the range and shoot the snot out of it.

Any special cleaning requirements for steel case, lacquer or polymer coated and should I avoid a specific type?

What size brush/bore snake?

My two WASRs, bought through two vendors in last 8 months or less, both came pretty much clean as a whistle. I just gave everything a douche with brake cleaner and put CLP on everything, used BoreSnake on barrel a couple swipes with Hoppes, though they looked clean too. Don't believe they had even been test fired.

Boresnake or whatever is simply thirty caliber (.30).

- OS

There is no difference is the method of cleaning.
Buy a few boxes of everything that is available. Shoot the ammunition. Buy more of whichever brand shoots best in your rifle.

Thanks for all of the help.  I was not sure about steel or lacquer or polymer coats and what they may do the the bolt or barrel and that is why I ask.  I have plenty of 30cal brushes so I should be good to go.

Ya, don't over think this. As mentioned above, plenty of youtube videos on how to take it apart, clean it and get it together again. Getting the bolt carrier back in is a bit tricky, I used a youtube video to see how it's done. Honestly, these things will shoot just about anything you put in it. I only clean it about every 4-5 times I take it out, and that might be over doing it.

Thanks so much.  I do over think things.

I see some conflicting info about using a lube/grease on things that slide and oil and things that rotate.  Is anyone using grease instead of oil or a combination?

Some swear by grease, particular on slides of firearms. Whatever. US Military has specified CLP for all lubrication since at least 1980, and that's all I've used on all types of  guns since I first could get civilian version, replacing the ole RemOil I had used since I was a kid. No complaints. Never really had any complaints with RemOil either, although lots of folks say it sucks.

Whatever. Personally, I think synthetic motor oil will do about as well as anything on any firearm.

Of course, this is a loosie goosie AK, probably run about as well and as long with no lube at all; probably biggest benefit is to keep everything from rusting, so that's another plus for something thinner than grease where you can lightly coat everything.

- OS

Hoping to answer some of your questions.

First off, you may want to be leery of some of the mechanical issues with Romanians like canted sights, mag wobble, trigger slap. All of the issues are fixable and as others suggested there are videos that demonstrate how to do so. Besides cosmetics, mine did have a mag wobble. I cured that by building the internal dimples with computer parts and some JB weld. Not that the mags fall out but it is a distraction.

For cleaning: I used steam. I have a wall paper steamer (small 110 volt) that I use as a steam boiler for a wood bending tube I made. It (the 6" pvc tube) works great to steam clean cosmo off of vintage rifles metal parts. Then a soak down in WD40 to remove water, dry wipe down. No oiling yet and I'll explain later:

For slings, mine came with the kit (couple mags, oiler, sling bayonet) but I didn't care for the cloth green sling so I got one of these:
https://www.libertytreecollectors.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=3870

As for color choice, I went with a china red stain (though I was very tempted to make it an oddity with forest green) from Home Depot. You just need to sand it down (lousy wood by the way so do it the best you can) and stain, let it sit a bit. Wipe down, repeat the stain and wipe down again. To get the final color, I gave it multiple coats of orange shellac, lightly sanding with 1500 wet sandpaper between coats.

For the metal parts. I removed the bluing from the bolt/carrier/charging handle thing-a-ma-bob and buffed it to a high gloss. Looks chromed now. As I said above, no oiling as I wanted to hit the metal with Brownells Aluma-Hyde II in flat Black, its a perfect match on a Romainian. I also wanted to hide my internal dimples. Besides all that, the gun shoppe had it suspended from the ceiling with bare metal wires which didn't help any:
http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/metal-prep-coloring/paint-finishes/air-cure-aerosol-paints/aluma-hyde-ii-prod1117.aspx

Last things were to add a 1" rubber butt plate to extend the stocks. Just a bit to short for me and a matching (color) pistol grip.


Besides a lost rainy day, about $20.00 in parts (as most things I already had) sans the sling of course, it came out okay.

For ammunition, I like wolf black box. I can get a 3-4" grouping with it at the hundred on a bench rest, which is fantastic for an AK but falls in line with it's 30-30 counterpart. If I use federals, It'll tighten up some but it's 4X the cost. If I use wolf combat, I need to adjust the sights down as they shoot 12" higher at the 100 then the black. Thats another thing if you don't have one. A well made sight tool. Don't bother with the cheapos.

As for high-cap mags, as I'm in MA, I get them when they are available locally so I can't help you there. I can tell you that on the range, I prefer 10 rounders in both my AK and AR's (or 20's in the AR's) as the length is more adaptable for different positions or bench rest.

Hope it helps.

T.

Sorry, just EDTA: I saw the lube question. For all my firearms sans the black-powders, the little 642 J frame (as I use synthetic cleaners on it due to the clear coat) or my 22's (I prefer remi dry lube on those), I use Hoppes #9 or elite after a boresnaking. I buy only the rifle snakes as I can use them in both rifle and pistol. For lube on the moving parts or metal to metal, I like Brownells friction defense. Just a drop goes a long ways. For rusting, I give all of them a light coating of Rem-oil on the outside and in the barrels then wipe down. Black powders get some bore butter in the barrel.

If your using corrosives, I bring a jug of vinegar windex along with me and give things a heavy wet down and wipe at the range when I'm done. Do not use anything with ammonia. This is what I do with black powder. I don't use corrosives in my center-fires. Hoppes elite is ammonia free by the way so hence my dual solvents.

Toddles.

That was an incredible help, thanks!  Still working on my approach.  ;-)

My .02

There are a million different ways to stain an AK stock, some are super easy and others are ridiculously complex. I tried the iodine shellac method, the iodine is essentially the wood stain and amber shellac as the sealer and to add a bit of color.

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Clean and lube it just like anything else. I'm lazy and don't clean them very often, it woks just fine. I think more rifles are worn out from excessive cleaning than actual use. I do prefer to use grease, I now use it on almost every gun I own. I have been using an old tub of marine white lithium grease using this method. I've seen tubes of marine white lithium grease at walmart for around $3-4. I have been looking into Super Tech Multi-Duty grease as well. It has a higher drop point than other lithium grease and I have seen others recommend it.

I have used SG for ammo and mags with great results. They are good people. I buy what ever is cheapest usually, I've shot wolf, tula, herters, golden tiger, etc. All of them have worked fine for me but I'm not bench resting the thing.

If your just looking for a basic sling just grab a surplus sling, some WASRs will come with a sling and other goodies. If your looking to use a single point sling I have had good luck with the V1 from Echo93

Welcome to the Dark Side

Great lube video and help. Thanks!

Yep. I mainly just wanted something to seal from moisture, wasn't overly concerned with the ultimate perfect finish on an affordable firearm with low grade wood on it to begin with, and didn't want to spend much time on them either.

I simply used 5 coats or so of Formby's Low Gloss Tung Oil finish on one, to keep same color as it came. (note this is not the same as using real tung oil, which takes forever):



On another, used 5 coats or so of the mighty Kiwi Cordovan Paste Shoe Shine Wax, buffed after each coat with an old cotton sock.

Applied both inside and out, even through cleaning rod hole.



- OS