What do people think of this rifle these days?  I can't find much mention of it any more.  Most people have never heard of them it seems.  I have one that I bought probably around 1989 or 1990 that is pretty much still in mint condition.

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Mine's been around the block a time or two, but I like it a lot.

Nice!  It looks just like mine except I have very little finish wear.  Mine has been shot, but fairly gently on the range and not much in the last 20 years.  Too many other toys to play with.  Ah for the days when I could buy a 1200 round case of Norinco brass cased ammo for $75.

My buddy has had one for years that he occasionally spoke of. It was his truck gun when I met up with him Monday. Neat looking rifle.

I can see that.  It is completely reliable and a convenient size.  Back in the day I used an SKS for that purpose because it was a $79 rifle instead of a $320 rifle.

Uber nice.

The original owner let the rifle get rusty from corrosive ammo, then took off the bluing on the barrel & gas tube with some home-brewed cleaning solution to deal with the corrosion. This was in the late 80s when this was a $400 rifle, so he had it parkerized & threw it into the back of his safe for the next 30 years or so. I bought it last October & scrubbed the fuzzy parkerizing with 0000 steel wool, and this is how the finish came out.

I think I bought mine in either 1989 or 1990 when they were $320 new at my local gun store.  I shot a lot of Norinco and other commercial ammo, but never anything truly corrosive.  I also cleaned promptly with proper bore cleaner, etc.

I went looking over on EE.  I found a few for sale there...  wheeeee...  I sure wouldn't be buying one these days.  I had no idea they were selling for 10x what I paid for mine.

Your gun and OP's can get huge $$ in today's market. Most AKs now are priced in the stratosphere compared to what we paid for them back in the day. Even the once lowly MAK-90s are commanding huge prices; I paid $200 for mine many years ago in a private sale, but I also gave the guy another $100 for more than 1000 rounds of ammo, extra Chinese mags, a case, and a Gerber knife. Lowest LGS price I paid was $289 for a Romanian AK74. I wonder how much that goes for today. Most I ever paid was $850 for a Russian Saiga Legion SGL31-68 (5.45), but that also included a case of 7N ammo, Russian mags and a case. At the time, I thought I didn't do well in the deal.

The thing that is really crazy these days is how expensive even new built AKs are compared to ARs.  Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s AKs were dirt cheap, with the exception of a few like Galil and Valmet.  And ARs were super expensive.  Poor people like me had AKs and stuff like Mini-14s which were also cheap.  Now ARs are dirt cheap and plentiful and Mini-14s are shockingly expensive for what they are.  Minis I guess can be partially attributed to no competition since Ruger is the only major builder of that platform.  But AKs should have the same low barriers of entry as ARs so I don't understand why they are so much more expensive than they used to be.  For a while it could be attributed to the import bans from China and Russia, but if AR parts can be made domestically it seems like AK parts should be even easier since they were designed to be made by Ivan on low tech 2nd world equipment.

Jim Fuller formerly of Rifle Dynamics explained in a video about how ‘cheap AKs’ really are only when the country producing them has a large infrastructure to build & distribute them. They are not cheap to build correctly compared to putting together an AR at your kitchen table, but an AK can be built incorrectly & badly but still work fine. He called AK building more like black-smithing than gunsmithing.

The amount of forged steel needed for the trunnions, bolt & carrier isn’t cheap, but Palmetto State looks to be getting it done.

I see a couple of factors driving prices up and it's not just AKs. ARs have gone up in price and really any evil looking weapon is going up in price. Handguns don't seem to be too affected though.

First up for cause is Biden and the new administration. No one knows what anti-gun legislation he's going to get or what it will look like, but it's a given that he will aim directly at AKs and ARs (using his bitch Beto for guidance) and this has created a buying frenzy for all guns. I think the pathetic hope is our current stuff will be grandfathered as a concession - we'll let you keep what you have, but they have to be registered and no new ones available to the public. That, incidentally, is just another slow step toward confiscation, IMO. So, people are going to want to get whatever they can in the way of ARs and AKs and the ones that have them already are reluctant to sell or demand a high price...high demand, low supply = high prices.

The second thing I believe is driving prices up is availability. Other than PSA and possibly Century, US manufacturers have stayed away from the AK market, and even then they've struggled with making quality and reliable AKs that match those made by peasants in 3rd world countries. That leaves AKs made by former commie countries. And who's left? Bulgaria, Poland, Yugoslavia, and Romania. These trickle in and are relatively expensive compared to what they used to go for. But, we are willing to pay those prices too, so why should they offer them for less or make more?

I don't think the price explosion you see with the AKs hit the AR market because of supply - it seems like every swinging dick makes ARs or parts for ARs. As they compete against each other, prices are low. They've only increased lately because of the fear there will be no more to defend ourselves against the likes of BLM or ANTIFA and that has really stripped manufacturers of their supply.

This interesting to me.  The Legend is a full factory made / russian spec. Type 3 AK-47 (milled receiver) with a full auto bolt carrier serial numbered to the gun.  No 922e bullshit.  A real mil. spec rifle.  Simple as that.

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My boat-anchor with an equally heavy & clunky original First Pattern Colt Dragoon belonging to a friend of mine. The trashed finish on the big revolver is because it was submerged for a period of time during the 2010 Nashville Flood.

Seriously great guns.  I bought my fixed directly from Kengs a long time ago.  I need a folder!

Sold my fixed stock Legend in 08’. I can’t believe what they sell for now.

I think I wish I still had the 3 I sold right before the first AWB.

I would rather have had the full-stock version instead of the folder, but I was made the proverbial ‘offer I can’t refuse’ on mine, a sum less than the cost of a MAK-90 these days. It sucks to shoot compared to a wood stock, but the 550 cord wrap lessens the discomfort a little.

The folder is really too short for me.  I'm a big guy and most Russians and Chinese are smaller.  That said, the wood stock models didn't fit me any better and the folder is a lot more convenient sometimes.  I don't regret getting the folder.

I bet.  Given prices today I wish I had bought several more.

Never sell mil spec guns.  This is a rule.

I’ve been having some twisted thoughts about mine since it’s not a collectors piece due to the non-original finish. Maybe getting a set of Rhodesian camo paint from AZ Response Systems and making it a Bush War Capture-ish clone. Another idea is making it an ‘Alternate History’ rifle; adding brass nails and tacks to the handguards, wrapping the stock struts in leather, hanging my eagle feather from the gas block, and making it a ‘Little Bighorn Battle’ rifle.

Polytech Legend.

Polish or Russian handguards? I like them a lot.

Russian

Twisted indeed. It's a beautiful rifle, already sort of leaning towards that battlefield pick-up with the worn finish.

Although not as extreme a thought, since I've got two Mak 90s, and I was thinking modernizing one with a combo sight/gas block, pinned and welded comp, etc. and converting the other into a Spiker.

If they were mine they would get new furniture but otherwise be left alone. Maybe swap out the FSB for one with the little plunger and spring, then thread the barrel to 14x1LH, too.

They run unbelievably well the way they are, neutered bayonet lugs notwithstanding. AKs, especially Chinese AKs, become money-pits very quickly when you start de-banning them.

I hear ya. I'm hung up on the missing cleaning rod. In my mind, an AK with a separate GB and FSB oughta have the cleaning rod (silly, I know). So I think I have to add a cleaning rod to least one of these rifles.