AK-47 7.62x39 which manufacturer

[stonewater]

ok guys and gals,

if you had 800 dollars and were doing to invest in an ak platform, what would you get. I have been recommended saiga and arsenal,and that I should get a stamped reciever, as they dont crack from the heat. I want a weapon that I can use the enemies ammo in, cause the chi-com's are comin, they are going to want their invesment back! ak ammo is much cheaper than ar platform ammo too! also had a recommendation of sending the weapon to www.rifledynamics.com for "upgrades ' including parkerising.

stonewater

rev 4:13

[protus]

ok guys and gals,

if you had 800 dollars and were doing to invest in an ak platform, what would you get. I have been recommended saiga and arsenal,and that I should get a stamped reciever, as they dont crack from the heat. I want a weapon that I can use the enemies ammo in, cause the chi-com's are comin, they are going to want their invesment back! ak ammo is much cheaper than ar platform ammo too! also had a recommendation of sending the weapon to www.rifledynamics.com for "upgrades ' including parkerising.

stonewater

rev 4:13

any well made AK will work.
if 800$ is the budget is that just for rifle or rifle,mags and ammo?

as to "add ons"

add a sling

if your worried about rust paint it.

if you have old eyes...
add an ultimak rail and optics.

besides that they dont need add ons or upgrades...

[Lowdown3]

You ought to be able to get an Arsenal for that??? Too bad John just closed the gunshop!

Having a couple base model Arsenals for a year or so now, I'm pleased with them. The magazine well is VERY tight on one of them- too tight actually. Their should be a very small amount of side to side play there. The trigger pull SUCKS IMO and the bolt, carrier and gas tube are proprietary parts so they won't interchange with my others.

They are tightly made though and right out of the box have delivered very good accuracy for that platform. A whole nother trigger to get used to for me- it's not the same as the other AK's I've owned (before that tragic boating accident).

I wouldn't hesitate buying an newer Arsenal though. I'm waiting for someone to come with some adapter or something where you can use standard AK hiders, brakes and BFA's on Arsenals. They have those goofy huge proprietary threads.

[biathlon]

No they're not. http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2...rifle-qbz-95g/ They have an entirely new rifle/ammo combination funded almost completely by Wall of China Mart. If you're serious about a fighting weapon and are convinced of the wisdom af the AK platform get onea these.http://www.centerfiresystems.com/DRA-GUN-B.aspx

[Lowdown3]

You seem to really like the Dragunovs type weapons. What's your rationale behind that?

I'm guessing it's Wyoming and the wide open spaces?

[Spock]

wll for $800 you should be able to get an SGl21 for that new but i'd look for a slightly used one in the $600ish range. Arsenal was way over stocked last year and had a huge sale and they blew thousands out at $500.

the arsenals are really propritory. they just aren't AKMs. They are AK100 series rifles. what that means is they are AK-74s chambered in 7.62 rather than 5.45. 90 degree gas blocks vs 45 (hence the "odd" lenght gas pistons) lightening cuts on the bolt carrier. the bolt has a narrow stem vs the thicker stem on the AKM. the big goofy threads are 24 mm x1.5 right hand twist. there aren't alot of flash suppressers in that size. manticore arms has thier night shroud in that size and cnc warror makes a copy of the bulgarian FS too but thats about it.

if i had $800 to spend right now on my dream AK i'd buy an un converted Saiga 1st. then i would buy the UTG Saiga quad rail, tapco double hook trigger, a pistol grip and an AR15 type stock and get a bullet guide for the trunion and convert it over. the front sight base i'd press off cut press back on, and have a gunsmith thread the barrel for 14 LH threads AKM muzzle devices.

what I'd end up with is an AK thats accurate, has more rail space and more handguard area than any other AK, that takes a myriad of muzzle devices and I'd only have about $600 into when it would be all said and done.

as a matter of fact if funds permit this year I intend to do just that.

[Klayton]

LOL Lowdown3, I was about to ask the same thing... :)

[Klayton]

OH, and as for funds this year, just talked to the MRS, we are definitely putting the two handguns we want up to the top of the list with all that is "going on" in congress atm... ;)

[stonewater]

SGL,

my biggest concern is having "one off" parts in the receiver, gas block, etc. I would like to have plenty of parts available, and I have seen several shows where an ak is still firing after 20,000 rounds, my AR would be dead by then..... I am planning on making the platform feel as much like an AR as I can, as that is what I am used to. I had an ak brake on my first AR had it unpinned and had a flash supressor put on, don't remember the brand off the top of my head. I really want something that is 2" moa at 150 yards consistently. I realise that has a lot to do with ammo, but I have heard horror stories of rattle trap AK's that wont stay true for longer than 1 minute :) I am not fond of "spray and pray" if you get my drift. my AR's shoot very true.

I understand most of what you said except for the front site base removal, what is cut?
I have seen places that offer barrel threading for the AK platform, is a stock AK not have a threaded barrel?

Stonewater

John 3:16-17

[biathlon]

Lowdown, I do not care for ANY of the pistol grip weapons. Real SVDs sell for $5000+ at the very least and none of the AK style weapons are even remotly lefty friendly. My recommendation was based on his budget and my own preferrence for something other than the 7.62x39 which is in my own opinion limited to 300 yards or less. The rimmed Russian 7.62x54 is a superb hard hitting 500 yard + cartridge. The commie spam cans are(or were after this Az shooting)cheap and plentiful. Just for the record here, I very much prefer my LEFT HAND bolt guns. When things get really really bad, that's what I'll grab. None of the newbies have any business buying any gas operated rifles before they have at least a 308 bolt gun and the skill to use it well out to 500+ yards. Perhaps some of the guys trapped in large urban areas feel the need to be able to fight their way out to some remote rural location and that's a legitimate concern. An AK may be what they will feel best equipped to do this with.

[Spock]

arsenal sells parts for the saiga/sgl series of rifles. the FCG is your standard single hook AK FCG. I've watched a video on youtube where a guy doing a siaga conversion replaced the gase tube with an East German AKM tube he had to do some fitting on the tube.

if you are looking for a 2 inch groups at 150 yards you can quit looking at the AK you just aren't gonna get it. the AK is a combat rifle not a precision varmit rifle. there is no free lunch in this world. to get that legendary mud slinging reliablity something has to go and thats precision accuracy. thats not to say you can't hit anything with it its just not going to double as a short range sniper rifle. 3-5 moa is pretty typical with russian ammo. fyi the accuracy acceptence standard for the garand was 4 moa. that 3-5 moa will get you on the bad guy at 300 yards and perhaps a bit more.

understand its not an AR-15. its not going to work the same as one and you really can't make it work the same as one. you have to understand that its diffrent. the trajecory is diffrent and you need to learn it. the sights are diffrent the safety is diffrent, and the recoil and recoil impulse are diffrent. you can't cram it into an ar-15 shaped hole.

saiga rail:

[Lowdown3]

Lowdown, I do not care for ANY of the pistol grip weapons. Real SVDs sell for $5000+ at the very least and none of the AK style weapons are even remotly lefty friendly. My recommendation was based on his budget and my own preferrence for something other than the 7.62x39 which is in my own opinion limited to 300 yards or less. The rimmed Russian 7.62x54 is a superb hard hitting 500 yard + cartridge. The commie spam cans are(or were after this Az shooting)cheap and plentiful. Just for the record here, I very much prefer my LEFT HAND bolt guns. When things get really really bad, that's what I'll grab. None of the newbies have any business buying any gas operated rifles before they have at least a 308 bolt gun and the skill to use it well out to 500+ yards. Perhaps some of the guys trapped in large urban areas feel the need to be able to fight their way out to some remote rural location and that's a legitimate concern. An AK may be what they will feel best equipped to do this with.

Here is a perfect example of what I always say about people talking out of their own perspective. Understand I'm NOT dogging you Biathlon, I'm just gonna use this as an example.

He said that a newbe should first get a bolt gun and be able to hit targets at 500 yards.

Can anyone think of HIS rationalization on this based on what little we know about him? Here's a clue, look at his location. :)

Big wide open spaces require weapons that can reach out across those big wide open spaces!!

Someone living down here wherein average shots are well under 200 yards would be foolish to first off get a bolt gun IMO. Why? Cause it's really not a 100% necessity when you can't normally SEE targets more than 100 or so yards away!

LOCATION has a lot to do with the choices we make. For my area, for a newbe to only have a bolt gun would be tantamount to suicide.

However when you have a couple hundred yards where you can spot BG's away, a bolt gun as the first gun idea does have some merit.

On a side note- an AK is probably easier to use left handed for those not familiar with the system than an AR.

[stonewater]

thanks for everyones input. for the record I am left handed and left eye dominant. my AR's are lefty including the left side ejection port, and ambi safety and mag release. they are custom from that perspective and parts are limited to the manufacturer for my uppers, lowers are no problem. I hate bolt guns, because of my handedness, and did not want to pay the upcharge for a mirror image bolt gun, so I live with my tikka t3, but otherwise unless it was a barrett 50 :) don't really want one. with that said, I like the ak charging handle as a simple roll to the left while leaving it on the shoulder allows left handed charging. I do understand it is a different platform, but the videos you posted up top make me want a saiga just like yours!! there may be a weapon sale in the near future.... either way the saiga will probably be here real soon. I was watching the follow thru video, I want my weapon to be similar.

Stonewater
phillipians 4:13

[biathlon]

I spent 6 years on active duty and have a thick skin Lowman. You guys can dog me all ya want. I'm usta it. If you can't see targets more than 100 yards away you may wish to consider some sort of optics.

Carlos Hathcock had his pick of just about any weapon he wished and chose an out of the box Winchester model 70. He sent a whole lot of AK toters to hell with it. I do not claim to be any where near the Rifleman he was. And, yeah, the distances up here are LOOONGG. I live near a spot where you can literally see the curve of the earth. I'll try to post some photos of my boltys and some practice shots too.

[Lowdown3]

Biathlon, my point was engagement distances not eyesight when I mentioned 100-200 yards average distances down here. Other than a couple months of the year on certain farm land, i.e, cropland that at that particular time doesn't have corn growing on it, most areas down here (think timber and swamp) you cannot see 200 yards because of the thickness of the brush.

It's a TOPOGRAPHICAL and LANDSCAPE difference. I.e, Wyoming- Hills, wide open spaces where you can see far away. S. Georgia- flat timberland, thick woods, close in tightly filled with brush spaces where you can maybe see 50-100 yards because of the denseness of the foilage.