Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles An Old WASR 10 With A Few Practical Refinements

I picked up a WASR 10 a few weeks ago and took it out for a rough zero & function check. My '200 yard line' has a fence in the way that makes it 195 yards per Google Earth. This includes several sight adjustments and is about typical for an unrefined, basic AKM clone. Tula FMJ was used.



I find it impossible to get a good shoulder mount with with the basic Romanian AK stock, so a UTG pad is going on it. This one has a light but long, creepy Tapco G2 which renders it effecively a double-action. A Red Star two-stage trigger is in the works. In the interim, I chucked the front sight (which resembled the Michelin Man more than anything else) in a drill and turned it down to 0.055” and plugged the UTG pad on.

I tried a Mojo 'Click' sight, which a direct replacement for the standard AK rear and it adds about an inch to the sight radius.



I started getting 195 yard, 3 shot groups where a couple are snuggled right together and the 3rd wanders off 6 or 7 inches. I've been shooting with my glasses on, to keep that damn little bowl from dividing diagonally; but the front sight fuzzes on me after 20 rounds or so. This long, unpredictable trigger ain't helping; but I think the rifle is mechanically accurate, given the platform.



The crown in Romanian AK's usually looks like it was done by a drunk monkey with a chainsaw file. This is not conductive to accuracy and I correct them by running a fine silicon carbide ball in the muzzle at low RPM, followed by the same tool wrapped in 400 and 600 paper. I stop when I have a visible bevel that kisses the rifling. The thing to remember here is to go slow and careful. If you do, you will always turn out a better crown than what came on the gun.

Now I have a gift for getting the worst example of any product and unfortunately, this manifested itself in the Mojo click sight. The damn thing walked windage on me and I was soon back to the standard rear sight. 'Einheit' over at Soviet-Steel.com suggested the 'fuzzing' that occurs with AK sights is caused by too many right angles at the top of the sight; and this is easily cured by breaking the top of the notch. I took a small, round Swiss file to this one and it sharpened the front post right up.



And it worked pretty good. I shot this target at 195 yards while checking zero with three loads. Tula FMJ ("T"), Barnaul Silver Bear SP ("BSB") and Barnaul Golden Bear SP ("BSB"). 



Next came the Red Star Trigger which I installed, adjusted and meticulously double-checked as I proceeded. This is an engineering marvel for AK platform rifles, fully adjustable for one or two stage function, pre-travel, over-travel, sear engagement and weight of the second stage. I set it up as a two stage. The only modification necessary was the removal of a few thousandths from the safety to clear the trigger tail. 

The resulting trigger reminds me of a good 1903 Springfield trigger more than anything else. It has about 3 3/4 pounds of take-up and I left quite a bit of that. The second stage is definite and breaks crisply a 4 1/2 pounds. I set the over-travel stop with a tad of free play, just to ensure everything had room to crud up. Then I yanked the trigger back out, douched it with carb cleaner and blue-Loctited all the settings. When the Loctite set I function checked it with 2, 3, 4 and on up through 10 rounds in the magazine. This provided an opportunity for some offhand shooting at random small targets to 50 yards.

Damn, what an improvement. I couldn't miss a small Rem Oil can at 25-30 yards and even hit the end of it twice. At distance, the difference is amazing. Two days ago I was glad to just hit the 'tin man' from an improvised rest at 195 yards. With the Red Star Trigger installed, I could hammer his 4x6 inch head at that distance. This poor old "inaccurate AK" is out-shooting my lever actions.

Nice work. Was the barrel chromed? Curious as I have done some crown improvements on blue steel guns but not tried chromed guns, nice pictures and write up.

Thanks Jimmy. All the WASRs I've owned had chrome lined barrels and careful recrowning doesn't seem to affect them differently.

While the Combloc sling is well and good, at 59 I am unlikely to be doing pull-ups at 1500 feet with it wrapped around the skid of a HIND helicopter. I like lightweight slings and QD swivels and this is easily accomplished by recontouring the front loop to accept one...




...and screwing the a QD stud into any available orifice in the stock.



The hay is out and I finally get to stretch this thing out a bit. Best three rounds of Tula FMJ (rested) this AM, 310 yards, 6 1/4 inches. Since the last update I scored an OD NATO length Arsenal stock for 15 bucks and a KVAR safety with the index finger tab and bolt hold-open notch. Watch out Mr. Coyote...

I think your garden variety AK is capable of much better accuracy than many would have you believe.

My eyes suck so I'm going to need to get a red dot mounted before I can see just what my new C39V2 will really do. What I have seen so far is promising. With good ammo and a steady rest I wouldn't be surprised if I could get it to do sub 2 MOA.

nicely done!

Thanks guys. With a little TLC I find the AK to be about as accurate as any rack-grade, slam-bang military rifle. This is the second WASR & third Romanian I've tweaked out. The SAR-1 had a little bend in the barrel and never beat 4 MOA despite my best efforts. The previous 10-63 shaped up almost as well as this one. 5 shots, 195 yards with Tula FMJ.

Nothing to sneeze at there, Sarge. Nice work.

I keep wanting a WASR. Can't make myself pay current prices but I just keep telling myself I need an AK.

Very nice. A WASR was the final straw that turned me into a AK hater for many years. I bought a cheap Romanian and then traded into a WASR. Both had problems but instead of trying to sort them out I just sold them and formed an opinion. I've finally found one I really like though and have a lot of respect for the platform.

It looks like you've got a handle on it. Congrats!

I have bought and sold 2 AK's now, the desire to own an AK is always overcome by the operating system, just me I think. If you could find a $400 WASR that was decent would be a good buy. $1000 for Polish WPB is a lot of cheddar for a gun that costs $150 to make probably.

interesting website. They measure headspace after a lot of shooting, the Century RAS failed with a no go gauge after I believe 5000 rounds. In some cases a cheap AK probably will not last as long as a cheap AR.

https://www.youtube.com/user/AkOperatorsUnion

So my MOE grip, Tapco birdcage flashider and the Hogue forend all came in today. The old WASR is getting primary duty as a critter getter so I decided to degrease & rainproof it while I had it torn down. It got two base coats of black high-heat stove paint and a coat of dark OD boat paint over that. Mimosa leaves were overlaid on the OD and a final light spray of black over that. Idle hands are the devil's workshop...

man if you'd put that much extra into an AR it would be .5 moa gun if it wasn't to start with, with no work.

LOL.

Nah that's to easy... I'd rather do it with an AK or Mini 14

Nice job SargeMO. It looks like it was a fun project and I like the results.
I'm about to start a similar project. While I'm in 100% agreement with rost495 I already have a few very accurate AR's. For me this is just a fun hobby and I like a little variety.

gun tinkering is almost always a good way to spend time.