New Shooter looking for 1st AK platform recommendations

[SocomM4]

Convert a saiga.

[Atlantic Firearms]

We will have some Krebs KV-13 coming in soon that will not have the folder and we can ship them to CA.

[REDdawn6]

There you go. Atlantic to the rescue. They are great to deal with as well. IMO, under 1k for a rifle and the rest on ammo.

[Cashrip]

Pick yourself up an OPAP before they are gone. Some places still have them for around $600. By far the best bang for your buck.

[Vaktathi]

Hi Gunners,

I am a new shooter, I browsed the web on some options and kept getting conflicting or completely bias reviews...

Background, AK-47 (Chinese model) was the first gun I ever shot with my father and would like to get a accurate AK variant rifle. Just wanted to get some real opinions so I don't make a bad decision at the LGS.

Located in Downtown SF & Sacramento, any recommendations on great local inventory would be very helpful!

Hope this message reaches some of the AK loyalist, thanks for any and all advice!

With a large budget and an emphasis on accuracy (as much as an AK can), I'd recommend an Arsenal SAM7r.

The milled receivers do have a small increase in accuracy, providing you're a good enough shot to make it matter (at the expensive of being heavier and having less compatibility with aftermarket stocks and the like) and they're extremely well made. On top of that, the SAM7 series is not on a ban list (like the SLR series) nor is it reliant on now sanctioned Russian imports (like the SGL series).

They're not cheap, probably running you $1200-1500, but Arsenal makes the best quality AK's you're going to find.

That said, if you want to save some scratch, something like an O-Pap may be more in order.

[dvs762]

I agree with cashrip..get an OPAP as soon as you can..awesome rifle...mine was dead nutz on straight out of the box at 100 yards and Ive shot to 300 yards with no front sight adjustment...heavy duty rifle...

[kalieracer]

The rifle they posted is 2,350.00

There you go. Atlantic to the rescue. They are great to deal with as well. IMO, under 1k for a rifle and the rest on ammo.

[foreppin916]

+1 on the Krebs such an awesome rifle!!

and +73459802347 on atlantic firearms. They have AK's from cheap to high end and prices for everyone!

[beanz2]

KV-13 vs. OP-14

Thanks for all the positive posts & PMs! Really excited to get a rig on the range.

What would are the pro / cons between Krebs Custom OP-14 vs KV-13 Rifles?

I hadn't even heard about the OP14 til you mentioned it but looking at circle 10's site it looks like the KV-13 is still a nicer gun than the OP-14.

Heres my take on it so far

The KV-13 is still a nicer rifle. its built on a VEPR and has a folding stock. However, it has a 'traditional' dust cover in that it isn't on a hinge like the OP14 which is similar to a TWS dogleg rail dust cover.

The OP-14 comes with a stock that has a cheek riser (very nice but you can attach one to the KV-13 for not much $$). The OP-14 has a muzzle brake whereas the KV-13 has a flash hider.

Also, the OP-14 comes with magpul MBUS which are plastic and are usually used on ARs shooting 556. idk if the recoil of 7.62x39 will break em. kinda lame that they aren't going with the pro models from magpul.


I have a KV-13 that I leave in a safe in Arizona. That thing is amazing and was already zeroed (100 meters) right out of the box. Krebs doesn't mess around, their guns are unbelievable. However, the folding stock feature (I think) needs to be pinned to be CA compliant (even with the BB) which is totally gay and the reason I just left mine in AZ.

The OP-14 only needs a BB to be CA compliant so that's probably a better choice, even if it is a slightly less awesome (but still way better than 99.9% of AKs) than the KV-13

heres my baby in all her glory (though taken with a crappy camera phone and in poor lighting conditions)

At least back when Krebs was selling the KV-13 directly to the public, they offered options to the buyer. To CA buyers, he'd gladly delete the folder and, in my case, used a Wilson Combat muzzle brake as I intended to make it featureless. I still received the gun with a mag lock as they did not have a grip wrap.

The biggest issue with the KV-13 is using a magnified optic. If a red dot works for you, great, as it can be mounted low ahead of the cover mounted rear sight. The non folding rear sight becomes more of a hindrance as it limits how far back you can mount the scope even with RS Regulate's excellent rails. If you mount the scope above the rear sight, you may need a cheek riser. Even RS Regulate recommends using a regular AK top cover in those cases.

The OP-14, OTOH, has folding and removable sights, so the choice of optics is wider. I wonder if Circle-10 AK can take special orders for a different muzzle device, but at least the SRVV brake is not a flash hider. Correct me if I am wrong please.

Of course the grass is always greener on the other side, but once this 2014 SSE rush is over, I'd like to put my name on the list for an OP-14 too.

If Krebs is doing a special run of OP-14 for Circle 10, I wonder if he is doing special models for Atlantic or Copper Custom?

Blaine, any hints?

[theneko]

Pick yourself up an OPAP before they are gone. .

Where are they going...?

[m03]

Where are they going...?

A rumor was circulating that they had ceased importation, probably in order to force a panic buy for people who were on the fence about purchasing them.

There were enough of them brought in that, even if they stopped importing them, finding them on the secondary market shouldn't be a problem.

[kalieracer]

Not a rumor but an executive order from our leader obummer


QUOTE=m03;14748273]A rumor was circulating that they had ceased importation, probably in order to force a panic buy for people who were on the fence about purchasing them.

There were enough of them brought in that, even if they stopped importing them, finding them on the secondary market shouldn't be a problem.[/QUOTE]

[Arkangel86]

I agree with cashrip..get an OPAP as soon as you can..awesome rifle...mine was dead nutz on straight out of the box at 100 yards and Ive shot to 300 yards with no front sight adjustment...heavy duty rifle...

I got one for sale in Norcal

[theneko]

Are you talking about the EO banning K Concern rifles? That does not cover Zastavas AFAIK. Let's not create a panic that isn't there.

[Click Boom]

Lol.