SAR-1 Ak ???

[EX121]

Hey All, I saw an AK at the local Pawn/Gun shop today. The manafacture was listed as SAR-1 I belive it was stamped with a Romaarms? & made in Romania. It was priced at $485. It was a pretty plan jane wood stock, 1 mag, nothing extra.
Any comments?
Thanks

[Spock]

thats a romanian rifle made prior to 2004, the date of manufacture will be on the left side of the barrel trunion. $485 for a used romanian rifle is steep. these rifles were manufactured without barrel threads and without bayonet lugs. also the FCGs tended to be made of really low grade steel which necessitates replacement. romanian rifles, which can be made serviceable are not the greatest of quality. in that price range a norinco mak90 is a much better rifle. better internals, better barrel, better fit and finish. for a little more you could score a used SGL21 which run $650 ish used. you could also buy a saiga sporting rifle ($400 ish), a FCG ($35 ish) a butt stock ($25 ish) pistol grip ($20 ish) and a feed ramp ($25 ish) and for about $500 have a good working AK built on a Russian receiver and a Russian barrel and action. there is a pile of decent 500-600 aks out there.check out:

http://www.k-var.com/shop/home.php?cat=350

http://www.centuryarms.biz/

http://www.ioinc.us/our-products/rifles

http://www.budsgunshop.com

http://www.atlanticfirearms.com/storecategory90.aspx

[EX121]

Thanks it looks like I get to do some more intenet research, & maybe a trip to the gun show on sunday.

Sgl21-61 I'm a bit confused about your last sentence, your saying buy a sagia & upgrade it with a FCG (what this) and a new stock, etc, etc. Pardon my ignorance but what's wrong(?) with the sagia stock or another way of asking what's preferable to the replacement stock?
Thanks again for the information.

[EX121]

So from reading the Atlantic site, on the Sagia, it says it doesn't take the standard ak magazine but a sure fire 30. Not being interchangeable could limit mag availability. Is this a big problem?

[Spock]

the feed ramp i mentioned and a bit of filing to the mag catch fixes the mag issue so it take normal ak mags. this is one of the things arsenal usa does to a siaga to make a SGL21

watch these videos:

http://youtu.be/Z5-z7eXzWgc

http://youtu.be/o49-GsiEiQs

http://youtu.be/hEpp5QEX-TU

http://youtu.be/IPNMWmv_4y4

[Spock]

oh and FCG is Fire Control Group = hammer trigger and dis connector.

[EX121]

Thanks for the info. the conversion is outside of my abilities. I'm a bit anxious when it comes to drilling and filing pins out. I couldn't see the complete steps to reassamble process. I'll do some mor looking on You tube.

[Spock]

thats why i hit you with alot of links. also pick up Guns and Ammo The complete book of the AK-47. you can find it online or through your local Barnes and Noble.

there are ALOT of AK variants to chose from. the thing about AK is this. there is a narrow price window on these rifles. $400 buys a WASR/SAR and $800 gets you an arsenal and $1200 gets you a super awesome krebs.

however the market is crowded in that 500-600 ish price point which can make things confusing. to top it off you have two calibers to choose from 5.45 and 7.62. I think long term survival the 7.62 is the way to go.