Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles NOT an AR? But a AK 47?

I am in the market for a AK-47 not the milled receiver but one of the Hi-Cap versions? Preferable with the longer synthetic BUT Stock for full sized AMERICANS. Not the pallet wood or so called laminate shortie made for VC or underfolders or side folders.
Just looking for a good reliable AK with slant muzzle brake adjustable sights for plinking.

I've shot a few AKs. They're fun to blast away with, but I'd never buy one. 6-12" accuracy at 100 yards was my experience with them.

Even when plinking, it's nice to hit something now and then.

See if you can find a Vector arms AK-47. They are built on American made recievers, use new barrels made in the US, and are assembled from either polish or hungarian parts kits. You'll see a huge difference in overall quality and accuracy, and they are priced very reasonably at under $550.00.

I've sworn off AKs but considering what we may be looking at in the near future, they're still tempting. If I were to buy one, I'd go for an underfolder because I like the idea of compact firepower for a gun of that nature. Those Vectors looked nice and have a 5 year warranty but I don't know anyone who's put one through the paces so durability would be a concern. Anyone have a chance to abuse one of these? If so, how'd it fare??

Nebraska, there is a shop that did a 2 year long abuse test on a Vector, follow the link on this post and just scroll down their page past the pistol tests to see the photos and read what they did to it. I bought my First Vector a few years ago, the minute I took it out of the box it was apparent that the overall quality was way better than what I had previously seen in most AK builds, and the first few range trips made a believer out of me. Both of my Vectors are 2 moa @100 yard guns with the cheap Russian steel cased poly coated ammo and standard iron sights, and do much better with handloads. I have 2 of them now, and have put a couple thousand rounds down range between both of them, never had any issues with either of them. Heres the link to the Vector test. Vector test

There are some very accurate AK�s out there. The one�s made by Arsenal and Vepr are as accurate as your run of the mill AR and you still get that legendary AK reliability. If you want the ultimate AK then shop around for a Valmet, but be prepared to part with some cash.

The ones with the milled recievers were early rifles, and had a bad rep, were expensive to make, complicated, and Russian milling machines weren't up to the job. I haven't seen one in a long time.

I don't know when they changed to stamped recievers, but they're supposed to be more reliable. The milled ones are easy to spot because of the "lightening" cuts on the side.

An AK ain't for me. I've owned one, shot a bunch, and been shot at by them. They're a helluva design if putting lead in the air is your primary concern, which they do extremely well, and which they were designed to do...firepower. That's a great and proven military concept, but less applicable to civilian use.

Valmet is an "AK" style rifle, a civilian version. I'd rather have a AR personally over a AK copy, or Chinese AK or whatever.

Im starting to see more and more AK 47's and SKS show up at our local range than AR/15,S. I am currious by human nature, so I ask the AK owners why they like their particular weapon of choice. The most responce I get is the cost of ammo VS the cost of 5.56 for the AR-15, second is availableity of parts, third is the price of the weapon, and fourth home security. Most say that if an intruder ducks behind a wall, most likely that a three round burst through sheet rock & 2X4's or 2X6's you have eliminated the threat. You can own possibly 3 AK's for what it cost for one TOP OF THE LINE AR-15. Iff you look a the SKS than its more than worth the trade off. I have spent more than enough time behind the butstock of a M-16 being a USAF RETIRED NCO. I can tell you that im less, than impressed or inspired to buy a $1000.00 AR-15 when I can probably purchase three AK-47s for the same price. Probbably why the Russian weapon / Chinese made NORTH KOREAN used weapon whooped our AZZ in VIET NAM. Funny that you see more US soldiers in IRAQ and AFGANISTAN carrying AK's when possible. FLAME ON!
HOGBUSTER

Not by my observations but maybe I'm just not looking close enough....

Me neither.

Opening fire with an AK in a combat zone, is a great way to get lit-up by the good-guys though, particularly in a low-light situaton.

I don't recall the battle where the VC kicked our azz either. Must be CRS kickin' in....

You can probably buy four Tarus revolvers for what a Colt Python costs, but what you have is four Taurus revolvers. So what's the point?

I have NEVER seen a US soldier in any films carrying an AK in Afghanistan or Iraq, unless he was Special Forces operating with native troops.

My azz didn't get whupped in Viet Nam.

Gene � The earliest AK�s had a stamped receiver, but they didn�t work. So they went to a milled receiver. I�ve never heard any complaint about milled AK�s other than they�re expensive to build and they�re heavier. There has never been any reliability issues with a milled AK. They finally went back to the stamped version when they worked out the problems associated with the stamped receivers (steel quality, stamping accuracy, welding issues, trunion design).

The Valmet isn�t just a �civilian version.� It�s a semi-auto version of their military rifle. They were made in .223, 7.63x39 and .308. The Finn�s used the 7.62x39 version which IMO is the best general issue military rifle ever built. The Valmet�s are the equal of most AR 15�s in the accuracy department and almost as reliable as a Russian AK. They�re fantastic military rifles.

Hog - The �US Soldiers� you�re seeing in Iraq with AK�s are Iraqi security personnel in US uniforms. While I believe the AK is a better weapon for street fighting, our forces would be unlikely to pick up AK�s over their M4�s for a number of reasons, but a couple that come to mind are:

1. They�ll get their arses chewed if they lose their M4
2. AK�s found in Iraq are generally in fairly poor condition
3. And most importantly, as MontanaMarine pointed out�you don�t want to wander around a combat zone looking and sounding like the enemy.

Where do you find a Valmet??

You have to find them on the used market. Generally go for $1,500-$4,000

The Finn Army rifles are bult by Sako now.

My truck gun and home defense guns are both AK's. The truck has a Romanian WASR 10 with a TAPCO folding stock and my home is guarded by another Romanian SAR 1 with an original military metal folding stock. These are defense guns, not target or hunting rifles. They're cheap so getting scratched up is no big deal. They both can hit plates at 100 yrds offhand, thats all the accuracy I need, reliability is second to none. VEPR's, Vector Arms, Bulgarin SSR-85C-2, Ohio Rapid Fire may all be of higher quality but the cheaper Romanians all work just as well. From what I'm seeing, 7.62x39 sells for about the same price as 5.56, all of which has gone up significantly in the past few years. I'm not against AR's, I'm x army myself, their good rifles, I just think the 5.56 is worthless as a military round. Follow military.com and you'll see alot of criticism on that round over in Iraq and Afghanistan. You may not see our guys carrying AK's, thats against military policy, but they may have them tucked away in case they need them.

There's nothing wrong with owning/using an AK, if that's what you want and like. I point out the accuracy only so HOG' might make an informed decision.

The AKs start about $350, and the ARs about $800. A guy has to make his choices and lay down his money.

My handy little 16" Bushmaster Dissipator loaded up with 77gr Nosler BTHP will keep them easily inside 10" at 500 yards, and is still a handy close-quarters tool. That's easy for me to like.

Well, Kevin, can't cite my sources, so I guess I'm out of luck.

I heard it on the History Channel, the story of the AK. But I can't say there weren't attempts to stamp it before. I know the first ones issued (well, I don't really know, I think I know) that the first miliary ones were milled.

As for the Valmet, it's got an AK style action, but to say it's a civilian version would be iike saying the Mod 70 is a civilian version of the 98 Mauser.

Which isn't a bad comparison, I suppose. Anyway, I can't defend my position, except to say the stamped version, accordign to the somewhat dubious History Channel:" was an improved version.