Who makes the best AK 47

[battleship]

I recently heard on the BBC - world have your say program, about Iranian built AK47 being the best on the market and people in the middle east paying up to an extra $300 dollars over the regular, chinese or eastern block versions. I dont own an AK yet but wanted to findout just why the Iranians can make a better AK than the rest of the market.

[ProtecSylt]

The hands down best AK I encountered in Iraq were the East German ones. The Chinese AKs being the worst I found.
I thought I have seen them all, but never knowingly played with an Iranian AK. There was one that my locals claimed was made in Egypt, and fit and finish on it was very nice.
My Iraqis seemed to like the Russian made AKs and tried to get one issued - but just from inspecting them I wasn't really impressed. They didn't seem to be more well made than any of the others. If it was about the steel used, I obviously couldn't tell you.

So, for me, the East German AK was the way to go - but I traded it for a M4 as soon as I got my hands on one anyway.

[JeffM]

I've handled lots of kits but I've never really been impressed with one over another. They all build into nice rifles.

[BP88]

I do.

Russia!

[69Mach1]

The Russian made rifles, but the Bulgarian AK's are close behind.

[jamesob]

chinese are a little rough finish wise, but reliability they are just as good as anything else.

[ojisan]

The Russian made rifles, but the Bulgarian AK's are close behind.

The milled receiver ones...not the folded sheet metal ones. : ))

[ptoguy2002]

Israeli military industries.

[xrMike]

M24armorer makes a nice one.

[Suvorov]

Finnish Valmets are hands down the finest AK derivatives I have come across, even nicer than the IMI Galils I have seen.

My buddy also built a couple of Yugoslavian Zastava parts kits into rifles and those are also dang nice - better than any Romania, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Maddi, or Chicom I have handled.

The Egyptian Maddis have to be the crudest that I have come across so far.

[JHC]

The Yugo's made the nicest AKs, it's a shame they weren't cleaned better while in use.

[xrMike]

The Yugo's made the nicest AKs, it's a shame they weren't cleaned better while in use.

I've always wondered about that. Never seen or handled a Yugo, but everybody talks about their high quality... Why didn't they chrome-line their barrels? You'd think they would, if their quality and attention to detail was so high.

I mean everybody bad-mouths the Romys and puts them at the bottom of the QC list, but at least they took the time and spent the extra money to chrome-line their barrels.

Just curious.

[Suvorov]

I've always wondered about that. Never seen or handled a Yugo, but everybody talks about their high quality... Why didn't they chrome-line their barrels? You'd think they would, if their quality and attention to detail was so high.
Just curious.

From my understanding it was due to the fact that Yugoslavia did not have enough chromium deposits of their own and given their unsteady relationship with the Soviets did not want to depend on them, or anyone else, for the manufacture of their firearms.

[xrMike]

Thanks for the education! It's something I always wondered about.

[Max-the-Silent]

In order:

Traditional 7.62 AK - Yugo, Russian, EG, Polish, Egyptian.

I've shot an NK AK that looked like a machine tool from WWII with a "wartime" finish - went bang every time.

AK74 types - Russian, Romanian, Polish. I put the rommy ahead of the Polish because the one I have experience with was a hell of a rifle in all respects - fit & finish were way above average for a mil AK, and I liked the three-shot burst on this one.

PI AK - Galil, Valmet.

Generally speaking, even though they sometimes look a little "Monday Morning-ish" Russian AK's really are the Cadillac of the type - the Rommy's that I saw in 03-04 that were being supplied to the Northern Alliance were the worst batch of crap I've ever seen in my 57 years on this planet - trunnions riveted in crooked, front sight blocks likewise, receivers out of true to the point that you couldn't retract the bolt to load a round, etc. etc. We didn't even try to repair 'em - take off the furniture, strip the receiver, torch and trash.

I guess when you buy in quantity, under $100.00 a copy with no on-site inspection, you gets what you pays for.