AK 47

[flak88mm]

I'm saving up for an AK47 and was reading thru the forums about SGL21, vs SGL23, vs. the Romanian ones WASR 10/63. And then also I read about a bullet button that makes it hard to change out magazines. Then I read the terms "mag wobble".

Bottom line, I want a good AK brand maker that can accommodate a bulgarian 10/30 banana clip, and to suffer the least mag wobble, and to suffer no, or to the the very least, bullet jams.

The thing that makes me undecided in which to get is due to the fact that one day I go on youtube and people saying that the romanian AKs are sh#$ because it kept jamming (i saw some footage), and then I hear about the SGL23s having a bullet button that you can't really manipulate, then other days, I see people complaining about mag wobble on the Saigas and the Romanians. So i'm like "which one is better?"

I hear pros and cons between Saiga and Romanian Rifles. What should I be looking for when the time comes that I have the money saved up? I basically want one where I can shoot as many bullets thru it and still survive all the punishment.

[SJgunguy24]

Six and one half dozen the other. Final fit and finish are what really matter. Mag wobble is a design trait, that way all mags will fit and feed. Go to a shop and hold a few examples.

[xxINKxx]

I don't have much personal experience with high end AKs. I do own a century arms wasr 10/63 and made sure I inspected it befor purchase (checked the sights to see if they were canted/crooked, charged the bolt several times for smoothness and didn't lock back) Everything checked out good in my hands.

It ended up being perfect! It accepts all my high cap mags, Chinese, Romanian, Hungarian ect ect. No wobble. I'm not sure what AKs don't except double stack, since 2 CA legal AKs I own both take all my high caps from out of state. You can get wasrs that come ca legal for around 469$ which ain't bad for a totally rugged gun.

Mine eats any cheap steel ammo I can find, blasted a ton of tracer rounds out of it in AZ and had a blast too. After I got my wasr it made me less of an AR fan boi.

I purchased my first Ak a year ago or more at big 5 (inter ordinance casar) stay away from those, biggest pile ever. Pretty much everything on the gun had an issue.

[Josh3239]

AKs are all fairly consistent in what they do.

Do to magwell cuts, magwell stabilizers, magazines made of steel vs polymer, just the overall size and weight of the AK mag they will all have some sort of wobble to some degree.

Arsenals from my understanding are just converted Saigas. Saiga are made in the Izhmash armory in Russia, Izhmash has been cranking out Russian military weapons for a long time. Saiga is essentially just a semi, sporting AK.

WASRs are made in the Cugir factory in Romania, the Cugir factory makes many things including AKs and they have been making AK since the 60s.

Saigas seem to be held to a higher esteem as they tend to not have front sight and gas block cant, which is rarely a serious issue and more a cosmetic one. Also Saigas are usually converted anyways so gas block or front sight cant doesn't matter to most shooters.

[omniman]

I'm saving up for an AK47 and was reading thru the forums about SGL21, vs SGL23, vs. the Romanian ones WASR 10/63. And then also I read about a bullet button that makes it hard to change out magazines. Then I read the terms "mag wobble".

Bottom line, I want a good AK brand maker that can accommodate a bulgarian 10/30 banana clip, and to suffer the least mag wobble, and to suffer no, or to the the very least, bullet jams.

The thing that makes me undecided in which to get is due to the fact that one day I go on youtube and people saying that the romanian AKs are sh#$ because it kept jamming (i saw some footage), and then I hear about the SGL23s having a bullet button that you can't really manipulate, then other days, I see people complaining about mag wobble on the Saigas and the Romanians. So i'm like "which one is better?"

I hear pros and cons between Saiga and Romanian Rifles. What should I be looking for when the time comes that I have the money saved up? I basically want one where I can shoot as many bullets thru it and still survive all the punishment.

Dude,

It's an AK, they ALWAYS shoot, and never better than 2moa, just get a pretty one you can afford. I have a wasr10 with a polished bolt and refinished furniture in Russian Red. It's damn sexy, and I have never had a single jam. Mags wobble like they should, and it will hit center mass on a siloette target at 100 meters, all day, weather I clean it or not, thats design spec....

[flak88mm]

Is there a performance difference between romanian double and single stack? I noticed at turners, the double stack are like 100 dollars more (around $550) vs the single stack? Is there any advantage of one over the other?

[Cuerno_de_Chivo]

My "high end" AK has mag wobble. At first it bothered me, now it doesnt. Any AK will do what you want it to do. It really depends on the price range. At my local shop they had a Romanian WASR for about 699 and the Saiga was 850 so i just went with the Saiga.Just stay away from Century rebuilt ones, if they are IMPORTED by them its fine, but if they assemble it, RUN AWAY! The SGL23 mag lock is a *****, but you can replace it for a normal one which is what im doing.

[RobGR]

Single stack is imported without 922r compliance mods, while the double is modded by century. If you mod the single stack to accept hi-cap mags, you will have to change out foreign parts to at least 10 US parts.

The non dimpled receiver or modded magwell (to accept hi cap mags) may have a lot of mag wobble. Mag wobble is normal in AKs.

Here's a great article I read last year about WASR 10, just a good overview -

http://thetruthaboutguns.com/2010/05/don-gammill-jr/gun-review-century-arms-wasr-10-romanian-ak/

But there's also a lot of hate out there, basically from buyers who have ended up with horrible excuses for an AK... there's a lot of them. It seems to be 50/50 with century.

Here's a lot more literature for you, they ramble on, but take from it what you will -

http://www.ak47world.com/rifles.html

I have an Arsenal, I love it, others hate on them too though "nothing but an overpriced saiga" etc, but it's dependable and I didn't have to worry about getting a century 50/50. I bought it from New frontier without the CA (Arsenal proprietary) sterilized BB. Solar Tactical Gen II BB is the best one to use on your AK or go featureless.

I also have a century draco. No issues so far, fun to shoot, deadly with a red dot, but had to deburr the bolt carrier rails. Crappy finish, but it's an AK, not a beauty contest.

[RobGR]

I purchased my first Ak a year ago or more at big 5 (inter ordinance casar) stay away from those, biggest pile ever. Pretty much everything on the gun had an issue.

The man is right, do not buy one of those, not matter what the guy behind the counter at Big 5 or Turners says... they are crap.... Which is unfortunate.

You can confidently pick up an Arsenal (Saiga conversion) AK and know that a guarantee stands behind it. Seems to be a rare thing these days from US AK builders. Other well respected builders besides a few local guys who remain under the radar; Red Jacket and Krebs custom to name a few. But those are really pricey too. Atlantic Firearms (.com) frequents Calguns, they have a bunch of CA legal AKs you can get through your FFL dealer. Then there are the Henderson Defense "certified" AKs which never seem to be in stock. Those come well recommended.

Google up any questions you have too, there is tons of info out there.

CA laws can be a little ridiculous and confusing, so be sure about those.

[ZX-10R]

Six and one half dozen the other. Final fit and finish are what really matter. Mag wobble is a design trait, that way all mags will fit and feed. Go to a shop and hold a few examples.

Correct response.

You need to handle as many as you can and see for issues that will be huge later.

I have two WASRs and one of them will walk an AR.

[RobGR]

Ha, Hendersons just got some in or, at least, since the last time I checked. Would love to grab this personally, but it's not listed as certified, the certified ones are out of stock **dammit!!!!**

http://www.hendersondefense.com/store/pc/Polish-AKMS-Underfolder-AK47-50p271.htm

Oh damn, US barrel... not sure about that either.

I also hear good things about Vector Arms AKs but have yet to pick one up and handle it.

[pyro3k2]

As long as it's an AK there will always be the chance of mag wobble. This is the AR equivilant of the upper and lower wobble, will it still shoot? yes. If a small amount is present does it hurt relability? no. In extreme cases of each it will however. But a littble bit is a non-issue.