Today I was at the local gunshop when a guy walked in wanting to sell a SAR-1.  Well, he ruined this thing.  Shot around 3,000 rounds through it without cleaning it EVER.  There was some corrosion on it from exposure.  He attempted to refinish the wood - piss poor job.  Epoxied a scope mount on the dust cover and then ripped it off, leaving epoxy all over the cover.  Shop didn't want the hassle so they passed.  Guy runs into me in the parking lot and asks me if I would give him $70 for it.  Well, against my better judgement I did.  Three hours into cleaning it so far and grinding the epoxy off of the cover.

I'll be picking up some grill paint for the cover tomorrow and am considering on a complete refinish of the stock... or maybe I'll just bite the bullet and pick up a new KVAR stock set.  There is a certain appeal to having a $100 AK that was a private sale.

I just want to tell Campy and Rot to bugger off... I hold you two responsible for this addiction and overwhelming desire to tinker!  Bastages!

Sounds like you lucked out. I think the most I've ever cleaned my guns was when I was taking them to the shop to trade-in or sell.

blast, park, and smile

But its an AK....they're SO tolerant of abuse....

Sounds like you've got yourself a fun little project.

I want to see before and after pics too

As soon as the photoserver is working I'll post some before, and in progress shots.

Against your better judgement? $70 bucks would be a steal for worse SARs then that!

That's like shooter-grade SKS money.  

You could save even more money and buy someones takeoff SAR stockset, and a top cover for cheap.  

Or you could use your lack of investment to get a great AK for cheap by sending it to Inrage and getting it refinished and fixed up with a slant brake for $100 and have a $170-200 dollar high-quality AK.  

That's what I would do.  

You lucky dog you!  BTW, I hold you personally responsible for getting me involved in this sickness better known as the "Dark Side".

I forgot to mention, I have a K-Var plum set that I will be willing to part with.  

Quoted: You should be able to get a new top cover for the same price as (or less than) the BBQ paint..

762AP had some new ones for $8-$10 recently.

Cruel? Who’s being cruel to whom?

$70, Call the police someone’s been robbed.

(nice segue into my next point)

Sounds like it might be too good to be true, you might want to call the Police just to make sure it’s not hot.

Best regards, J

Actually, Hiram has voiced a growing concern of mine; there will be more and more of these customized/WECSOG/Bubba'd/whatever AK clones on the market as time passes.  Nearly everyone here has modified an AK clone, myself included.  Some of these mods are harmless exchange of furniture or other small bits.  What concerns me are the AK clones in the secondary market that have been worked on/over by former owners without skills, tools, or taste, for that matter.  I mean the guy that tries to straighten his crooked FSB with a hammer, not realizing he has to knock the pins out first?  Or the guy that polishes his FCG with a coarse Dremel stone on high speed, then wonders why it goes FA if it fires at all?  OR the former owner that felt compelled to coat the entire weapon with Duplicolor bedliner, including the barrel, then ends up with a coked-up mess after bumping off 200-300 rounds?  OR how about the bump-o-matic former owner who was never known to squeeze one off at a time?

Don't think so?  How many heavily modified SKSs are walking around the average gun show?

As Hiram can attest, these used and abused AK clones are on the market, and there will be more of them.  On one hand they represent perhaps an inexpensive source of ready-made receivers and other useable parts, but some unknowing and inexperienced buyers may be getting themselves into trouble buying a clone that is defective or unsafe to fire.  

Defective bubba'd AK clones and other milsurp semi-autos can be just as dangerous to the RKBA interests as a Columbine.  Somebody unknowledgeabe buys a bubba'd/abused AK clone, it goes FA on them and somebody gets injured or killed.

I do not believe this is a trivial "chicken little" matter; there have been countless individuals with little or no skills who have purchased inexpensive AK clones and through the process of making the purchase they believe themselves to be suddenly endowed with gunsmithing skills when previously they struggled with figuring out which end of a Crescent wrench went on a nut.  "How do I take this apart?" indeed!

Hiram, you done good, from a financial standpoint and also for taking one abused AK off the market.  At least that one is in good hands and will be correct and proper.

JMO,

Noah

I'll take a bubba'ed up AK for 70 bucks any day of the week.....you did good man.

Now you got something to tinker with,,, new toy, tinkering, dam good deal,,, What more could a guy ask for?...lol

Thanks guys, couple of points.

Functionally she appears ok and untampered with... just filthy as hell.

It was sold to the previous owner by the shop that passed on it.  I checked with the owner before doing the deal.  It was not stolen.

Raptor, I'll take that plum set off of you... but I ain't payin more for the stock than I did for the rifle, capisce?

Inrange will refinish and install a brake for under $100?  Anybody know his turnaround time?  I'm going to contact ORF as well and get a price and my local smith.

I have an RSA trigger group sitting around here...  hmmmmm, might have just found a new home for it.

I'll contact 762AP about a new cover, thanks... Of course with the epoxy ground off, the existing cover would just get refinsihed with the rest of the rifle.

DAMN!  I knew I should have countered with $50 when he asked for $70!!!!!  Where was my Aim Surplus flyer when I needed it? *grumble grumble*

Last gun show I went to there was a vendor selling Maadi and SAR AKs that had been in a fire of all things. He was asking $45.00 for each one. Think any of you guys could work any magic on those mangled rifles?

Depends a lot on the amount of heat in the fire, anything from warped beyond all saving to just needing a new stock set and blast/park job.

Quoted: Inrange will refinish and install a brake for under $100?  Anybody know his turnaround time?  I'm going to contact ORF as well and get a price and my local smith.

Troy Sellers quoted me $100 dollars for a complete refinish and attachment of a slant brake on my SAR, as well as correcting any problems like crooked sights, etc.  

It's not a bad idea for a normal priced SAR, so with only $70 invested in the rifle, you could have a real great peice for around $200.  

I would suggest that epoxy is heat sensitive.  A heatgun or propane torch briefly applied to the top cover should be sufficient to easily remove the epoxy.