Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Which AK would you buy today if you were buying an AK?

on TV all the cool operators use AK's.

This. Put a 7.62x40WT barrel on it, won't even have to buy new mags.

I have owned, and used, probably 20 different AK variations. The only one I kept was an Arsenal SA93. Simply the best of the best, and it will put "lie" to the three or four MOA reputation. Good, honest 1.5 to 2.5, all day long,

nice rifle!

Case closed!

FAL....

I would buy another Arsenal SGL21, just like the one I own now. The cheaper "knock-off" copies are missing important mil-spec features such as the bullet guide riveted to the front trunnion and the stud located on the left inside of the trunnion that serves to rotate the bolt into battery as it's pushed forward by the bolt carrier.

The piston is also hard chromed. MANY rounds through mine with zero malfunctions and plenty accurate for my purposes.

I put the longer NATO length stock on mine (synthetic) and a tritium front sight, a US Palm grip and a bunch of US Palm 30 round magazines.

Great Rifle. I have it's very close cousin the SGL20. Mine came with the NATO stock. The only thing I've done to mine is add a R/S mount and Aimpoint Pro sight.

I've owned milled and stamped from a varity of countries and this one is without a doubt the best of the bunch.

Only downside is they have gotten outragously expensive now that you can't buy them anymore.

That right there would be a hog killing machine here in FL.

The Saiga SGL series or the Arsenal SLR series. The stamped-receiver/poly side-folder is the best option. My current favorite AK has well over 18,000 rounds through it and is still going strong. Total of ONE malfunction in those 18,000+ rounds. That was remedied by touching the charging handle with one finger (the round didn't quite chamber fully). Bolt went forward and the rifle hasn't missed a beat in thousands of rounds since. I love my ARs, but an AR will stop working sooner and go down again sooner than an AR when conditions are bad. That's just the way it is and that's based on experience with hundreds of rifles from both sides. Each has its place and I encourage everyone to have plenty of both.

.....The Romanian guns are of measurably lower quality, though I have an under folder 7.62 with 12,000+ rounds on it that still works and shoots fine. I did replace the disconnector after the 11,000rd mark, however.

I'm geared up for AR's, but still love me some AK. Long-stroke gas piston just works. I've had x39 and .308 rifles in AK format shoot just as well as so-called rack grade AR's... assuming similar ammo. Add a free-float, decent trigger, and better ammo to an AR, then the difference widens. But for their intended purposes (assaulting?), they ain't that far apart other than the AR is much more optic-friendly.

And, I think you'd be hard pressed to find any respectable carbine instructor talk-down on either platform. Best to learn and understand both before judging either.

I've been out of the AK-game for awhile but the newer WASRs are getting some good reviews. And should be close to your budget limit.

J

Do you have the Saiga or the Arsenal? Sounds like you can go broke buying ammo for them before you break one of them.

I owned Saigas.

Rob Ski has some vids you might like. He's in the middle of an Arsenal torture test. Finish is bubbling/burning off and a trigger issue so far at 2000 rds.

Link -- Rob Ski vids

I have a Norinco MAK-90 with milled receiver that I replaced the ugly wood with walnut from Ironwood.

My stamped Russian SGL-20 will shoot 2.5 MOA all day long with Wolf ammo. And it will just cut under 2.0 MOA when fed Lapua ammunition.

I have never found the milled rifles to be any more accurate than a proper stamped gun. The supposed "receiver flex" is not where accuracy issues present in an AK; it's all that moving mass over the barrel.

Still, the SA93's are straight up the nicest AK's I've ever laid hands on.

The AK is a good weapon, it's just a very different thought process from the AR.

Back around 2003 when special ops were playing around with different weapons, including a 7.62x39 upper and a lower that would accept AK mags for their AR's, they just weren't having much luck with such things. So their boss asked them why not use AK's when in the field for long periods of time (they wanted to be able to use captured ammo). The special ops guys all said the AK was chit. When their bosses told them to prove it, they had to do a very exhaustive series of tests on the AK, and lo and behold; they determined the AK was a good weapon, capable of pretty much anything they needed it to do in the field. So they dumped the 7.62x39 AR idea and have been using AK's ever since (for the ops where they expect to used captured ammo).

when you consider the average accuracy of the AR and ball and then the M1A and ball and then the M1 and ball, the AK can't really be all that bad.

They suck IMHO, but I'm an accuracy nut... I just don't like big groups. I expect to hit where I aim even at 100 yards and 4 MOA doesn't allow that often.

But really, a rack M1A and AR will shoot much better with great ammo. An AK I've never seen that make a lot of different.

An M1, well it needed some work for sure. Plus better ammo.

When you figure average engagement distnaces and target size, then you realize why sloppy guns still get it done.

Jimmy, I'm not a fan of the AK-47. However, I read with interest the latest article in Gun Tests about the US made PSA AK-47 MOE Edition, and the Century Arms RAS47 Magpul-Zhukov guns.
They had good things to say about both. I suggest you look up the article. E

At least you can sling those up when you shoot. Can't effectively do that with an AK. So, the practical accuracy of those is at least 2x better than the AK.

My club has 200 yard matches monthly. It's really not hard to find an M1 that will hold the 10 ring of an SR target using a sling. But I've yet to see anyone even hold a SR center with an AK. Even with a scope. It's just not a very "shootable" rifle.

The PSA guns are interesting - they have both an AR that accepts AK mags, and a bonafide AK. They don't list the prices, at least not at the moment.