Speaking of Guns...
 

I'm thinking of buying one of Arsenal Inc's Saiga based AKs (either 47 or 74 - I haven't decided yet).

Has anyone here ever owned/fired one of these?

--Outlaw.

Dont own one nor have I fired one but a while back someone did a comparison video on youtube between the Arsenal and the Vepr. They also had a video shot at the range with some comments. You may want to take a look at those if you can find them. Might have been by CivilianTactical.

I do actually have experience with them and Ill tell you this: Not worth what they what for them.

Now the question is what do you want it for, just to own an AK or for a specific purpose?
A lot of times people overlook the simple WASR, but its just as much if not more of an AKM than the Arsenal.

Your best bet, buy the Saiga in the caliber you desire and convert it yourself. Ive done two of them. For the money you save you could buy a few thousand rounds to go with your new rifle, and have gained a lot of experience and know-how with the AK platform.

But again I ask what will the rifle be used for?
If its a SHTF gun, then 7.62x39. Its the round that all others are judged by on the modern battlefield.
If its just going to be a fun range toy then the 74 for sure. Ammo is STUPID cheap. I mean I stocked up on it a year ago and the price hasnt gone up at all. Only thing cheaper is 7.62x54R.
x39 is actually becoming hard to find on the cheap. I just bought my last 5000 rounds of the Yugo M67 ammo. It seems that the supplier says they will not be importing any more of it.

Aren't the Romanian AKs the way to go?

I haven't heard much good about any firearm coming from there, most of them were used with low military grade ammo, and the combination of corrosive powder together with the poor maintenance means they're all a bit knackered.. Then again considering that the last thing you need in an AK is accuracy beyond 100yds..

To be honest the only great thing about AKs are the gas system mechanism and the 7.62x39 ammo, other than that they're just cheapo ordinary assault rifles, which again, don't get me wrong, do their job fantastically :-)

An AR-15 with the AK gas recovery mechanism is probably a good compromise, but then again I've never been a huge fan of the .223 :-/

So, which country builds the best AKs?
The Chinese ones suck too, did the Yugos ever build them?


you could as well go for a SIG, they are precise but heavy. PITA if you ask me unless it's a commando version.

the ones coming from former Eastern Germany are probably the ones in best nick, they were looked after like only the Germans can and they're mostly former Russian.

SIGs are defo too heavy. Last time I went to Italy I tried a Car15 with the new picatinny style front barrel guard made by Oberland, beautiful gun but far too heavy for my taste :-(

I've never really fired any civillian version of these types of guns. But the main point about the AK's were their simplicity, lack of maintenance, and overall fireability. The old AK was fairly rock solid in the harshest of environments.

If I was to buy a civy version of a weapon with a 7.62 it would have to be something similar to a SCAR-H though. Sometimes we pull out the light arms at the range so things like the M4, SCAR-L and H, and occasionally foriegn confiscated weapons (AKs etc) that teams keep in their inventory. I wasn't really impressed with the AK, definitly not for an accuracy weapon. The sights are easy enough and the weapon is definitely fairly idiot proof, but nothing compared to the SCAR.

I also thought I heard the Romanian version was the way to go?

I think the no need for maintenance of AKs is surely a bit overrated, but it's true, you can leave them to themselves and they will keep on working, extremely simple guns but obviously not that accurate. Helluva fierce thing to use in close combat though!

oh, if we're talking about big assault rifles I'd rather stay classic (and classy) with my Garand M1.
30-06 calibre is by far the best compromise, it's a whole whopping kg lighter than the SCAR and keeps 8 rounds in its very sleek design, which means you can use it also on prone position without the magazine being in the way.
The M-14 is another lovely gun, and maybe more versatile than the Garand.

I haven't heard much good about Rumanian stuff, but never tried it myself. Even their version of the Dragunov is a bit crap.