Ok I know absoluetly nothing about AK's.

My father has had a Norinco for 6+ years now that he paid $299 for. Thats the only AK I have ever fired and its pretty nice.

I am looking for the best AK that I can get for around $300-400. I am looking for one with the stanard wooden stock.

Check out the Equipment Exchange for deals.  For the price range you are looking at I would consider Henderson Defense's AKM's.

Link

Find a used SAR or MAK-90.  

I would advise against trying your luck with the stupid WASR's.  Do enough reading and you'll understand why.

The only choice you'll have at that budget range is a WASR or Mac90, most likely used.

I've seen your user name on the AR site.  I see you're going over to the dark side, as did I.  The only new ones you can get for around 4 bills is a WASR 10/63.  I bought one and hated it at first.  After dicking around with it for about a month, I finally like it.  If you decide to go that route, buy one at a gun show so you can check it out before buying.

save up some more and buy a top shelf AK.

So basically the cheap $300 WASR's at AIM are worthless?

I forget which website I saw them on, but they had Polish AK's for $499. Now I have a Polish M44 and it is a sight of beauty and works 100x better then any other Mosin I have seen. Can the same be said about Polish AK's?

I dont want to overspend on an AK, but I also do not want to be dissappointed. Again the only AK I have to compare it to is the Mak90 my father has had for years which is a nice rifle, but is a ban complaint version.




Not really switching to the dark side as I can think of a million different AR variants I want still! I have been putting an AK on the backburner for far too long. I would like to buy one now before prices go up again.

Here's the deal on that. #1. Century guns have a 1 year warranty which starts the day the gun leaves the factory. So if you buy one that's been in the store for 10 months, you have a 8 week warranty. If you buy the gun in person, you can look at the white tag that is attached to the trigger guard of every Century gun to see when the warranty started on that particular gun. #2. Many Century Wasr's come with canted or crooked sites. If you can inspect the gun in person before laying out the $, you can avoid this problem. Most vendors will not open the box to inspect the gun before shipment. Henderson offers a "certified" Wasr which means they will inspect the gun to make sure any obvious screw ups don't get sold to the public. There are lots of other fine vendors here who will take back a messed up gun, but they won't really do a pre shipment inspection like Henderson will. This will save on return shipping. In my case I just purchased a Draco at a local gun show. This dealer had 3 to choose from. I got one from a factory sealed box. I inspected it, took it apart, & decided it was in perfect condition. By looking at the tag I was able to discover the gun left Century only 6 weeks before, so I still had a 10 1/2 month warranty. I sometimes see new Century guns for sale where the warranty has already expired. In my case with my Draco, I spent about $20 more than the cheapest internet vendor but got to pick the best gun from 3, took my gun home immediately, & supported a local vendor. A great deal all around.  GARY  N4KVE

If warranty is an issue, buy a gun from Impact Guns and have it shipped to your FFL. This route may cost a couple bucks more, but they offer lifetime warranty on every firearm they sell regardless of what the manufacturer warranty is.

I've got 3 Century WASR's and hand selected them from the store I bought them from and they are mint. They're usually ugly, but they work fine.


If you get a Century AK....     make sure you check it out in person, at a store. It really is the only way to be sure you aren't getting one of the lesser quality ones.




Edit: Henderson Defense sells certified WASR's. They go over each one and make sure they work right, and look decent.

OP I am in the same boat as you and am very leary of Century. I checked Henderson and they are out of stock. I do know that the guy(Blaine I believe) that runs Atlantic is well thought of here so I wonder if they would do an inspection on their Century rifles. They have a package deal with rifle,bayonet,case and extra mag for 449.00 and I hear they have a discount for us AR15 guys. I think I'll call this week both Henderson and Atlantic to inquire on inspections and new shipments. I'll post my results.  

Another option I am considering is an Interarms rifle from Atlantic that is running 549.00 in both 5.45x39 and 7.62 that has a limited lifetime guarantee and I hear they will take it back on their dime if you are not satisfied. I'd rather cry about the extra 100-150 bucks now than be pissed off over a 400 dollar dog with some shaddy outfit that won't take it back or return e-mails/phone calls etc.. We've all read those horror stroies.

Used SAR-1 or MAK-90!!! Great guns for the money.

Someone that gets it!

Finally the posts, warnings, stories and so on have reached one person.  Thank you!!

You have Dunham's stores in PA.  See if one is local to you.  Every few weeks they have WASRs on sale for around $369.00.  Go and hand select one.  There is nothing wrong with a imported WASR if you inspect it for any of the common problems like canted FSB and gas block.  At you price range there isn't that many choices.

Enter your zip code and you can check the weekly flyer for your local store.  WASR-10 hicap rifle is $379.00 locally near me this week.

http://dunhamssports.inserts2online.com/customer_Frame.jsp


I'd say get a Saiga and do the conversion to pistol grip but even the prices of Saigas have gone up.  Try Classicarms.us

Good post.

And I agree...for a WASR, it's best to buy in-person. But if that's not possible, either go with a company like Henderson, or call another vendor and ask them to look at it before shipping, with the clear understanding that the rifle is going right back to them on their dime if it has any issues.  Conveyed correctly (i.e. polite and cordial, but firm enough that they know you're not bluffing), a vendor will either agree to look it over or they won't.  If they won't, then shop elsewhere.  And if they do agree but send a rifle with canted sites or another problem...back it goes on their dime.

Or, better yet, just get the Interarms and increase your odds from the get go.

BTW, I'm surprised more companies haven't taken a cue from Henderson and started offering their own "certified" option.  I'll bet that Henderson, on an adjusted basis for it's size, sells more WASRs and gets fewer overall returns than most companies simply because they take a couple minutes to look at each rifle before shipping.  They always seem to be out of WASRs when other vendors have them, and I'd imagine its because the extra level of confidence one gets buying from them makes buying from them an easy decision.  Yeah, other companies may have generous return policies, but the point here is that you don't want to get a rifle that needs to be returned in the first place.

WASRs have other problems besides canted sights. I purchased one about a year or so ago. It had fairly straight sights but the gas piston was not riveted to the bolt carrier. It was just screwed on. I had the gun less than a month and I called them and told them about it. The woman on the phone told me I had about a month left on the warranty. I thought WTF? I just bought the damn thing. Century wanted me to send the whole gun and I asked why all it needs is the piston riveted to the carrier. I finally convinced them to just take the parts. Well a few weeks later, I get the carrier back and they welded the piston on to the fucking carrier Stupid Century monkeys. I don't know how often this happens but I will never buy another Century product again and I recently sold the WASR. All I can say is good riddance to bad rubbish.

Century doesn't rivet the US pistons in, they use a spot weld. They always have, I have owned 6-7 SAR rifles and they were all that way. They all worked fine.

If yours didn't have a spot weld it should have been a 5 minute fix.  I know some people are incapable of doing simple gunsmithing and are lost in anything more complicated than driving a screw with a screwdriver.

I own a drill press.  I would have locked the bolt carrier into my drill press vice, drilled the hole through the piston and used a piece of mild steel rod to pin the gas piston into the carrier.Back it against some bar stock and set the rod by hitting it with my ball peen hammer and a punch.   5 minutes and it is done without sending it off to anyone.  I've installed a few US gas pistons into stripped bolt carriers before.  Not a big deal for anyone with simple high school shop skills.

Guess you have never converted a Saiga or unbanned a 1989-2004 period rifle?

Well unfortunately back then I lived in a small 1 bedroom apt with no garage or workshop. It's kinda hard to have the equipment to do it. If I had the tools I would've fixed it myself. AK Pistons are supposed to be "loose" and wobble a little but Century cranked the piston all the way on and welded it, there was weld all the around the carrier and piston. I had to use a grinding wheel on my Dremel to smooth it up and it didn't have the typical wobble. Which I thought was bullshit.

Should'nt have to do that with a new rifle.

And tens of thousands of owners of Weatherby Vanguard, S&W Model 1500, Mossberg Model 1500 and Howa Model 1500 rifles shouldn't have had to send their bolts in to be modified but some times things happen.

Those millions of Toyota vehicles that were recalled last week is one example of things that shouldn't have to be done to new cars (insert the same for rifles).  

just bought my 1st ak myself. ended up getting a centerfire systems ssr85c for $350. hasn't showed up at my ffl yet. but its not century. you do have to dremel the mag well apparently, but that doesn't look to complicated. and it has a 1.6mm receiver, a chrome lined barrel that's reinforced. and its Bulgarian. I'll post picks and review when it gets here.

but anyway that's always an option as well.

I understand that but the way Century handled the repair was ridiculious. The woman on the phone was kinda snooty "you know there is only a month left on the warranty" I said "it's long enough to fix it". Of course when I got it back it was all jacked up with the worst weld job I have ever seen and the warranty was expired.

Too bad they're pretty much out of stock on all their AK47s.