I'm newbish to AK's, though not completely ignorant of them. though most of my experience is in the AR arena from my service, so my question is this; Are there any significant differences between the varying countries of origin as far as AK's are concerned? I can see the cosmetic differences in furniture, finishes, brakes, etc. but are there any more consequential differences, like quality of materials used, design modifications (ported gas block vs ported gas tube, different tolerances for different parts, ie thicker stampings etc), machining quality, etc. I'm looking at getting the Polish build Atlantic sells, while it seems expensive from the last time I looked at AK's (the ~$450 days) it does seem to have some features that set it a step above the CAI/WASR type guns, and from what I can find, seems to put it about equal in terms of quality with the "high end AKs", at least of the more recently built "high end AKs" that shall remain nameless.

No noteworthy differences I guess.

I have handled Russian, Yugoslavian, Romanian, Hungarian, Polish, and Chinese AK's. The machining and craftsmanship seems to be better on the Polish rifles than any of the others.  That Polish rifle from Atlantic should be a great addition!

Pretty much this... The lack of machine marks and such make them stand out more just a tad.

My Polish Archer is nicer build then my Arsenals.

Good question and my answer is after having most all, the Chinese guns are the best but all are built to a mil spec and I am talking the real military guns.  and I know that my Chinese guns shoot true to point of impact some others don't.   I have both stamped and milled,,, my go to is a mak 90 milled gun.  That being said I like my Polish U/F also.  I have heard that Misr ak are at the bottom in quality the only one I have not owned, so just hearsay.....

Your asking about the best AK in the Polish AK forum. What do you expect to hear? Chinese are the best, Polish next best in my opinion.

AK's are like religion or politics everyone is not going to agree. I current have A Polish Beryl {archer}, A Malot RPK IV, A Hungarian AMD 65 and a Polish Tantal.  I lean to the Polish Beryl or Malot RPK. If I were you I would ask questions on different AK forums about a certain type of AK that I liked. Then I would check gun shops and gun shows. That way you can get a hands on feel for the rifle.

I lived and worked in AK using countries for years. People in the USA that are AK afficionados are just minor hobbyists when compared to people who have literally used all of them and breath AK's like a religion.

If you were to go to Russia- they would say their's is the best. They say that about everything from light bulbs to tanks. They are good but can be sloppy.

If you were to go to a MVD gunsmith in Ukraine he would say Polish, then Russian. then Bulgarian.

I would say Polish for two reasons, they have very modernized machinery purchased very recently and source steel from western Europe/Germany. They also had a very good reputation in soviet times.
Also they seem to take a little more pride in the weapon system. Fit and finish is also better.

The Atlantic Polish AK is really cool looking. They have a couple different furniture options.

This. I have a unissued 1955 Polish M44 that is just gorgeous. Commercial quality machining and finish. Better than a lot of commercial stuff to be honest. And a 1939 Radom Vis 35 that is machined impeccably.