Romanians arent bad rifles at all but sitting next to a bulgarian, hungarian, russian etc you can definately see the difference. I would rank them near the bottom but definately a GREAT gun for the price.
ETA Hopefully I dont sound like a gear snob.

You know, Peter G. Kokalis at one time was the GOD of military firearms reporting.

Then he left SOF to go to SAR, good move.

Then something happened at SAR and he went to Shotgun News.

Now, it seems like more and more he's just becoming a shill for Century Arms.  That article he wrote on the Century CETME was the breaking point for me.

His early stuff from the 80's is still solid stuff, but I just bypass what he's writing in Shotgun News.

In fact, the Romanians were always the "poor cousins" in the Warsaw Pact and there AK's weren't nearly as well regarded as the Russian, Polish, DDR, Bulgarian, or Hungarian AK's.  Alot of people (myself included) will put the Chinese rifles ahead of the Romanian.

The Indian army has had ALOT of issues with Romanian AKM's that they purchased within the last 8 or 10 years or so.  The bolt carriers were not properly heat treated and they've had some other issues as well.

The SAR-1's were decent rifles by and large.

The kits coming in I think are actually better parts than rifles made post-Pact break up.  There used to be 3 armories in Romania; Romtechia, Ratmil, and Cugir.  With the end of the Cold War and post 89 Revolution, times got very hard and two of the armories shut down.  The technicians and gunsmiths who knew what they were doing left.

Take a look at the early Romanian imports like the WUM I and II, they were much higher quality than the current WASR-10's.

The remaining armory hired a bunch of people who could be had at low wages and quality control went way, way down.

The last batch of bolt carriers K-Var got from them weren't heat treated either and the gas pistons weren't hard chromed.  It's doubtful if K-Var is even going to keep dealing with them.

All this was not intended to turn into a bash the Romanians post.  They did turn out some really decent weapons, but when you compare them to the other Eastern Bloc countries, they fall a little short.

There have been more than a couple posts from guys who pulled a tour in the former Yugoslavia about how the Yugo and Bulgarian rifles were the most highly prized, while the Romanian rifles weren't.  Yeah, it's annecdotal, but it's what people who were using them over there think.

Anyway, I think it's a real shame that Kokalis' writings have been reduced to the level they are now.

Quoted: Quoted: In fact, the Romanians were always the "poor cousins" in the Warsaw Pact and there AK's weren't nearly as well regarded as the Russian, Polish, DDR, Bulgarian, or Hungarian AK's.  Alot of people (myself included) will put the Chinese rifles ahead of the Romanian. Techincally, Romania wasn't a member of the Warsaw pact and Ceausescu wouldn't allow Warsaw Pact training exercises on Romanian territory.  BTW, Aside from more machining marks, is there any data to support the inferior quality of steel or anything else used in the Romanian rifles compared to other country's AKs?  I've seen Polish AKs with chrome flaking off inside the barrels but have never seen this on Romanian AKs... I am speaking about "G" rifles and not WASRs.

Romania was a member of the Warsaw Pact.  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Pact#Members.  That doesn't mean that Ceausescu wasn't on the best of terms with the Soviets.

If you go back and read my last post, I stated that the kits coming in from rifles that had been built years ago, prior to the break up of the Warsaw Pact, are from better/higher quality rifles than what they are shipping out now.

The Indians have had problems with soft bolt carriers, K-Var had a major problem with them shipping un heat treated bolt carriers and gas pistons that weren't hard chromed.

Quoted: The Indian army has had ALOT of issues with Romanian AKM's that they purchased within the last 8 or 10 years or so. The bolt carriers were not properly heat treated and they've had some other issues as well. The SAR-1's were decent rifles by and large. The kits coming in I think are actually better parts than rifles made post-Pact break up. There used to be 3 armories in Romania; Romtechia, Ratmil, and Cugir. With the end of the Cold War and post 89 Revolution, times got very hard and two of the armories shut down. The technicians and gunsmiths who knew what they were doing left. Take a look at the early Romanian imports like the WUM I and II, they were much higher quality than the current WASR-10's. The remaining armory hired a bunch of people who could be had at low wages and quality control went way, way down. The last batch of bolt carriers K-Var got from them weren't heat treated either and the gas pistons weren't hard chromed. It's doubtful if K-Var is even going to keep dealing with them. All this was not intended to turn into a bash the Romanians post. They did turn out some really decent weapons, but when you compare them to the other Eastern Bloc countries, they fall a little short. There have been more than a couple posts from guys who pulled a tour in the former Yugoslavia about how the Yugo and Bulgarian rifles were the most highly prized, while the Romanian rifles weren't. Yeah, it's annecdotal, but it's what people who were using them over there think. Anyway, I think it's a real shame that Kokalis' writings have been reduced to the level they are now.