Hey all, just bought a Romanian AK-47 with full stock and its 7.62x39. I'm not new to the AR threads and know alot about AR's but now i'm in unfamiliar waters!

Basically, I bought a cheapo AK 7.62 and in the process of trying to clean out all that orangeish shit thats in/on/around/EVERYWHERE, that I really realized my AK isn't the quality I'm used to from my Bushmaster M4..

Did I get a junky rifle (it was only $350)?? Can any Russian (i'm assuming they're the best of the AK's) parts fit on/in my AK??

Thanks for all the help!!

Master Chief,

Welcome to the "dark side!"  

No, you didn't get a "junky" rifle.  Just have to keep in mind the old adage, "you get what you pay for."  Is your rifle a WASR or SAR1?  

Pretty much all parts are interchangeable.  And yes, Russian parts are excellent.  So are Bulgarian, Hungarian, Yugoslavian, Chinese...you get the picture.

Bud

MasterChief,
I too used to be a hard core AR shooter, Bushmaster and Colt.  I recently got the AK bug real bad and had to buy a Romy WASR to go with my SA-93 which is being re-furbushed right now.  An AK is definately a lot different weapon system than an M4, but I have to say I have really come to appreciate it and enjoy the heck out of shootng it.  After spending quite a few hours cleaning my Romanian, re-finishing the wood, tweaking a few things and getting it sighted in, I have to say it has really grown on me and seems to have a really sexy "girl next door" quality to it.  This thing is so simplistic and reliable that it's SCARY.  I also think the fact that you almost have to re-finish and tinker with the damn thing once you purchase it is one of it's appealing qualities.  Neither of these rifles has ever jammed on me or had a FTF, and the ammo for them is still relatively inexpensive (wish I could say that for my ARs...).  I also paid $350 for mine and for that price I have absolutely no complaints.  I reccommend that you add your own little modifications and upgrades/changes to it, take your Ak out, use it, abuse it, and enjoy...

Cool, yeah the gun def. needs a refinishing. So what are some good upgrades the Romanians need? Russian hardware? Do US companies (if any) make better parts?

Quoted: Cool, yeah the gun def. needs a refinishing. So what are some good upgrades the Romanians need? Russian hardware? Do US companies (if any) make better parts?

Master Chief,

Check out this website:

www.k-var.com

Quoted: Quoted: Cool, yeah the gun def. needs a refinishing. So what are some good upgrades the Romanians need? Russian hardware? Do US companies (if any) make better parts? hr Master Chief, Check out this website: www.k-var.com

Thats alot of accessories, what I need first is knowledge about the different makers of AR internal/external parts. Basically, can you take a romanian rifle and swap out parts that are Russian made? What parts (if any) are typically replaced right off the bat in the Romanians?

I wouldn't think you need to replace any parts unless there is something wrong with them.

Romanian rifles frequently could use refinishing of the wood and metal, and the front sight is often not mounted perfectly vertically.

Thats alot of accessories, what I need first is knowledge about the different makers of AR internal/external parts. Basically, can you take a romanian rifle and swap out parts that are Russian made? What parts (if any) are typically replaced right off the bat in the Romanians?

Did yours come with the el-cheapo Plastic folding stock? If so, alot of guys like to rid their rifle of that, replace it with a wire folder if you can still find one...or go back to the original style laminated stock, only refinish it before you do....at least I see alot of people re-doing their furnature sets....Make sure you keep the proper parts count on your rifle to keep BATF from "pulling a Waco" on your compound. You can find Compliance info here:

www.ar15.com/content/page.html?id=80

You can also find alot of other info in the 'Build it yourself", and "AK reference" sections.

Good luck with your new rifle, and welcome to the darkside!!

Another good parts source is www.dpharms.com. The owner is very good to deal with and he is willing to talk with you when you have questions.

You may also want to vist this site for some excellent general information:
www.gunsnet.net/Linx310/index.shtml

Welome MasterChief,

Check out this page for some good information on your new Romanian AK: www.gunsnet.net/Linx310/

I wouldn't go crazy spending a bunch of money replacing parts.  You can spend another $350 swapping out parts and in the end you will still have a Wasr-10 worth $350.  When you pay more money for an AK, you pay for fit and finish, not reliability.  IF you want "pretty", look at Bulgarian rifles from Arsenal Inc in Nevada www.arsenalinc.com/products.htm

I have two Romanian AK's and have refinished both:

SAR-1 in 7.62x39


SAR-2 in 5.45x39

In my opinion you bought a junky rifle. But dont worry , I made the same mistake. You have to figure that after you buy the new stock set and refinish , you could of just spent the extra 200$ and bought a Vector or SSR . These come with excellent finish.

My first AK was a Romanian WASR. Me and my best freind went in and bought 2 of them from Atlantic . When I picked it up from my FFL I was horrified at how f&%king cheap that gun was. The metal looked like it had been through a war. The stock was the cheapest unfinished wood I had ever seen on a gun period. It was a pain in the ass to clean it because the edges on the reciever were so jagged and sharp I cut my hands. So I bought a new Poly stock set for 100$ , And that made it seem a little better. My Point being , After the new stock set I could of just bought a Vector Classic for the money that I had into the WASR. And even after the new poly stock, the WASR still looked like shit.

I put about 500rds through it and It never missed a beat. WASR may be a POS but It is reliable. I would grab a WASR to defend myself any day. I thought it was pretty accurate to (for how much of a POS it was).

Thats when I realized that in the AK world you get what you pay for. WASR is the cheapest so you get the cheapest. I had no reason to clean it because you dont have to clean a WASR. Now I only buy Pre Bans or Arsenal.  If your looking for quality then you have to get the AK's that are 100% factory built.

instead of buying a low-end rifle and changing out all the parts for more higher-end parts, why not just start off with a higher-end rifle?

did you really expect the same quality with a $350 AK as found in your $900+ AR?

Quoted: instead of buying a low-end rifle and changing out all the parts for more higher-end parts, why not just start off with a higher-end rifle? did you really expect the same quality with a $350 AK as found in your $900+ AR?

Well of course not... I know the Romanians are not the greatest of quality, but if you misunderstood what I was asking, I was simply asking if there are any internal upgrades that might want to be considered to curb any life/performance issues with the Romanian parts by simply getting their Russian counterparts.

You could put in a G2 double hook FCG from Tapco. Or a Red Star Arms adjustable trigger set. Or just leave it the way it is.

Well of course not... I know the Romanians are not the greatest of quality, but if you misunderstood what I was asking, I was simply asking if there are any internal upgrades that might want to be considered to curb any life/performance issues with the Romanian parts by simply getting their Russian counterparts.

From what I've gathered on this board, and the personal experience I've gotten from owning a WASR, there are no reliability/performance issues whatsoever with internal parts of romanian rifles versus Russian rifles...an AK is an AK is an AK....they are all virtually the same...the Russian or Bulgarian versions might be nicer looking, better fit and finish, but they all are very reliable.....century put some cheap fire control groups in some of the earlier WASRs which caused "trigger slap", but that problem has been corrected by them, and is easily corrected in the field with a file...no reliability issues though. Some milled reciever rifles are more accurate, but I believe mostly the reason is because the reciever is a little bit more rigid..they all still do what they are supposed to, fire when you pull the trigger...now I have had some limited problems with my rifle feeding hollowpoints, but I believe with some simple magazine modifications I've solved that problem, and the rifle has ran like a dream since..To sum it all up, if you've got the "slap" get the fix, otherwise, just enjoy the rifle, they are loads of fun to shoot, the ammo is plentiful (most of the time) and cheap...and if you accidently drop it on the sidewalk on the way to the range, and scratch the shit out of it, you won't cry...PS I'd like to see a pic of your gun collection, including your M-4.

Chief,

It's not junk, it just lacks the refinement of a rifle that costs 2-3x its value.  I've found the Romanian AK's every bit as reliable as the others, but the action is rough, the recoil is sort of a twangy feeling, and the finish sucks.  It's still pretty much all mil-spec parts, they just aren't fitted and finished right, and they’re thrown together for the American market.  Romanian military AK's are pretty nice, I have a Romanian military parts kit that I'm going to get built up pretty soon, it is very good in quality, and even the wood looks good.

So, here's what I'd do if I was in your situation.  While I doubt it will ever equal the quality of an Arsenal, what I'd do if you're willing to invest another 350-ish, you can send it to an experienced builder that will replace the trigger group, pistol grip (with something reddish), and refinish the rifle (including the wood).

Minus the dimples and assuming you have laminate wood, you'll have a pretty accurate AKM clone and something you'll be a bit more proud of.

I've used Arizona Expert Arms (AZEX) in the past and I'd recommend them as a good value for your money.  Yes there are less and more expensive builders, but I'd just ask Derek for a quote on turning your WASR into as much of a nice AKM clone as possible.

http://www.azexarms.com/akredo.htm

Good luck in whatever you want to do.