I've been gathering parts for a polish PKMS project and stopped in at a local gun shop to inquire about handling a transfer when I spotted one of the new Sar1's.After checking it out about 3 times and leaving the shop,I decided to put my Polish project on hold and returned to the shop to adopt my new AK.The laminated furniture is fit nicely but has no finish.Un-like other laminated stocksets I've worked on in the past,the Sar1 laminate takes stain very well and finished out beautifully with tru oil and topped off with stock wax.

I just got one two days ago.  I put some MinWax 210B Golden Oak stain on the stocks and then Tru Oiled them.

Pics  ???

I used some stain I've had since the late 70s called Maple Magic,it comes out a medium to dark brown but enhances the grain and the laminate.How did the Golden Oak turn out?Derek,sorry I'm not set up for pics yet.

forgive me for saying so, but you were impressed with the laminated stock SAR? I see it doesn't take much to impress you.

I checked out the laminated SARs and to the tell the truth, the furniture does not impress me one bit, it roughly made with dips and valleys and is course......and the metal finish on them is no better then the previous versions, amateurous at best.  

The golden oak made the wood slightly darker than it was, no picts today, sorry.

Quoted: forgive me for saying so, but you were impressed with the laminated stock SAR? I see it doesn't take much to impress you. I checked out the laminated SARs and to the tell the truth, the furniture does not impress me one bit, it roughly made with dips and valleys and is course......and the metal finish on them is no better then the previous versions, amateurous at best.

Kinda like the Maadi ARM series,you have to be able to recognize a diamond in the rough.When I look at an AK,I try to determine how it can be improved with minimum effort.The Laminated Sar1 has great potential.

why flame this guy because he liked his sar?
sfcret, as a former e-7 i thought you would have more tact then that.

not flaming him.....just pointing out the fact that if he is impress with the furniture and the finish on those, then it doesn't take much to impress him. and I stated at the begining....forgive me for saying so.

Not a flame,just a difference of opinion.I've been buying and collecting AK's since 1986 and have had some of the best avaliable at one time or another.In the past,I have'nt been very impressed with the SAR1 but the newer ones I've examined have really improved.With the exception of the mint condition Valmet M-62 I had at one time and the Yugo M90 and a few of the Chineese AK's I've had over the years,I've had to [and enjoy doing] clean up,re-finish,polish rails,fix trigger slap,straighten front sights and adjust mag releases on many AK's I've purchased in the past few years.The SAR 1 I bought recently just needed a finish on the stock set.I'm also partial to paint over park and the existing metal finish will be sufficient as a good base.

sfcret,
if you weren't tring to flame him then let me say i'm sorry for accusing you of it.i must have jumped the gun. i just felt that he liked his new sar and you were flaming him.
maybe i should use more tact next time  lol
john former e-5

I guess I just got lucky,I have'nt paid much attention to the SAR1 series until I first spotted the laminated SAR1 I had to buy.Since then,I've checked out 4 more at local shops and every one of them had croocked gas blocks and sights.If you can find a straight one,jump on it!