School me on the AK platform!

[PatrickChewing]

Hey guys,

I'm getting an itch to get an AK rifle. I have owned a few in the past but looking to get into a nicer one. It's been on my bucket list to become proficient with the AK platform and would like to take some carbine classes. What's the best place to start? I have done some research but it all leaves my head spinning and I'm not feeling any more confident about what I should get. I'm not opposed to a custom set up but maybe one of the nicer 'off the shelf' models would suit me fine. I would like to stick with 7.62x39 because I have tons of ammo.

I appreciate all the help!

 

[killborn]

Re: School me on the AK platform!

I guess it all really depends on what you want to used it for. My experiences with AK's have been quite extensive, but all of it in work environment where I did not always have a choice at all the nice top shelf models one could find here. I always preferred the original Russian made AK with a solid wood stock. A beast of a rifle, but dependable. A bitch to use when in and out of vehicles. The folding butt versions, of which there are a few obviously had mobility advantages, but on longer distances I found them to be less accurate. Easy to maintain and certainly a lot of different manufacturers out there. Though the AK is still found and used in many countries, it is slowly starting a downhill slope to its death. All just personal opinion of course.
What is your motivation for wanting one? Will you used it on a regular basis? What does the ammunition run? I am pro piston and you can't go wrong but there is better out there.

 

[Ballistic Artist]

Re: School me on the AK platform!

Arsenal!!! They are the best. Thats it. All the custom AK's use the Arsenal as a base. Very Accurate. Only other one would be a Sig 556R 7.62x39. But its not an ak it just uses the same mag and round. Did I mention Arsenal??

 

[bassani]

Re: School me on the AK platform!

tag....the Sig is an AK style rifle with a folding stock

 

[BravoSector1]

Re: School me on the AK platform!

I have several Arsenal Inc's and am impressed with the fit, finish and performance. I would start with one of them for "off the shelf" performance. The platform gets a bad rap for accuracy by those whom have not fed their AK the proper diet of GOOD ammunition and provided it a GOOD trigger...just like they would their bolt gun or black rifle. I'm running a suppressed Romanian AK now that is a solid 1.5MOA rifle with an Aimpoint mounted. Good ammo, trigger and optics will realy improve the capability of this platform. A breeze to field strip and maintain.

 

[windermike]

Re: School me on the AK platform!

I build my own. They are not that complicated and I am sure someone close to you has the tooling. You don't need to spend $1000 on an arsenal to have a nice ak.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Re: School me on the AK platform!

If what you want is a 7.62x39 semi that shoots well, the AK may not be your best choice.

I think I'd rather have a synthetic stocked Saiga. I think I'd even rather have a decently made and synthetic stocked SKS. Mine is a Norinco (not top notch) that rides in a Choate Dragunov stock (and is probably the best configured stock choice).

If you want a semi AK, I think the Saiga is your best choice.

I also believe that the near future will encompass a proliferation of AR platforms designed for the AK's cartidge and magazines. That's a good development, and will probably further accelerate the true AK's decline.

I think that soon, the best AK isn't really going to be an actual AK after all. It founded the niche, but time and its competition have overtaken it.

Greg

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: School me on the AK platform!

Just my .02 but you might look at the Vepr series of AK style rifles. I have a Vepr K and honestly it is the most accurate, smoothest AK I have ever handled. In my opinion the Vepr is higher quality than the Arsenals. Keep in mind that is MY opinion. They are milled receivers and are basically RPK trunions and barrels. These things are built like tanks. However, the downside to such a rigid design is that they are on the heavy side. Your only two options that I can think of to counter this problem is to either man up or lay down with a bipod. I've done both. The only other issue I had with mine in the factory configuration was the buttstock. It looked like a 1st grader designed it. Ugly as a mud fence. Ace ltd. must have thought the same because they make a rear receiver block for the Vepr series that lets you use their stocks. I have a side folder on mine. I'll try to post a pic for you later. As far as accuracy goes, mine holds a minute out to 200 and that's as far as I've shot it. That's with good ammo. Not wolf. With Wolf it averages minute and a half at best at the same distance. The rifles are made in Russia and were imported through Robinson Armament a few years back. You can still find them on Gunbroker from time to time. After having mine I won't own another style AK. Hope this helps. Good luck with your decision.

 

[BobD]

Re: School me on the AK platform!

Here's a different idea for you...
I was just recommending Rock River in a separate post.

I don't have any personal experience with it but they have developed an AR platform that accepts standard AK mags. You can find some of the nicer Russian offerings but I think this is pretty interesting.

For me, (I own wasr-10 and Saiga) they are battle rifles limited in accuracy by their design. Its fine to me, they are still fun to shoot and never fail. I've never had a ftf or fte. You can buy much nicer than what I own; they will be more accurate from better build quality but the design is the same.

I would happy to have one of the better builds but thought maybe brings different idea to the table.

If you go traditional, get something milled opposed to stamped. Just remember that many of the parts are not interchangeable.

Good luck with you purchase

 

[BravoSector1]

Re: School me on the AK platform!

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BobD</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Here's a different idea for you...
I was just recommending Rock River in a separate post.

I don't have any personal experience with it but they have developed an AR platform that accepts standard AK mags. You can find some of the nicer Russian offerings but I think this is pretty interesting.

For me, (I own wasr-10 and Saiga) they are battle rifles limited in accuracy by their design. Its fine to me, they are still fun to shoot and never fail. I've never had a ftf or fte. You can buy much nicer than what I own; they will be more accurate from better build quality but the design is the same.

I would happy to have one of the better builds but thought maybe brings different idea to the table.

If you go traditional, get something milled opposed to stamped. Just remember that many of the parts are not interchangeable.

Good luck with you purchase </div></div>

They're not on the streets yet...

AND WHY CAN'T ALL OF YOU STAY ON THE OPs REQUESTED TOPIC????

Face Palm

 

[BravoSector1]

Re: School me on the AK platform!

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Greg Langelius *</div><div class="ubbcode-body">If what you want is a 7.62x39 semi that shoots well, the AK may not be your best choice.

I think I'd rather have a synthetic stocked Saiga. I think I'd even rather have a decently made and synthetic stocked SKS. Mine is a Norinco (not top notch) that rides in a Choate Dragunov stock (and is probably the best configured stock choice).

If you want a semi AK, I think the Saiga is your best choice.

I also believe that the near future will encompass a proliferation of AR platforms designed for the AK's cartidge and magazines. That's a good development, and will probably further accelerate the true AK's decline.

I think that soon, the best AK isn't really going to be an actual AK after all. It founded the niche, but time and its competition have overtaken it.

Greg </div></div>


<span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="color: #CC0000"><span style="font-size: 20pt">???</span></span></span>

 

[windermike]

Re: School me on the AK platform!

Here are three Aks built from parts kits. I have thousands of round through 2 of them and I just finished one of the romanians.They all have been very reliable. the hungarian milled rifle is also very accurate.

Build your own it is much more fun. You will also understand the ak alot better.

Mike

 

[cvcustom]

Re: School me on the AK platform!

Try bravo 18 they do a lot to the ak for the price very dependale

 

[mavrick10_2000]

Re: School me on the AK platform!

Most of the issues with the lesser expensive AK's are canted front sites. Which means you'll have to drift the front site left or right. If you wanted to use a red dot, in many cases cowitness would be unusable because of the cant in the sight.

Most of the reported accuracy issues are related to crap ammo. Works for what it's designed for, but don't expect miracles.

With that said a Saiga(K-var)/Arsenal or Vepr are the two easiest models to start with. Quality is generally very good, good fit and finish.

Something to look at in the 7.62x39 are the newly designed Sigs. They fixed the previous generation issues in both 5.56 and the Russian round. Ergonomics will feel closer to an AR, but with the AK op rod/piston style gas system and rear folding stock in one of the models. The mag well has much more reinforcement and has been opened up to accept any slop found with Surplus mags and the difference with something like the Bulgy Circle 10 Waffle mags.

Something else to keep in mind, if you're thinking of running the surplus Yugo 7.62 ammo because of price, there's been a significant shortage since late last year and what is available has gone up, with many locations reporting they don't know when any more is coming in. This is the mildly corrosive primed, brass cased stuff. For Classes I'd go with Golden Tiger or Silver Bear, for meat rounds or SD they'll work, but you can't top the Corbon 123gr loads but it's pricey.

If I think of anything else I'll PM you.

 

[PatrickChewing]

Re: School me on the AK platform!

Big thanks guys!

 

[c4xplsv]

Re: School me on the AK platform!

I have an arsenal. It's nice, very reliable but not really a tack driver. I'm sure the ammo plays a big part there. My father-in-law has a norinco that shoots a little more accurately at distance. The disadvantage to the AK is weight IMO. They would more cumbersome in a carbine course compared to an AR platform. But then again, they all have their ups and downs right? Anyway, Arsenal makes a good AK and it runs like a champ. I did a few mods to mine to make it a little more ergonomic.

 

[jvr]

Re: School me on the AK platform!

polytech norinco arsenal / my opinion varies from gregg. I have never shot a nonrico that had failure to feeds. I have seen many saigas with problems at the range. They may have all had bad magazines. But it has been 6. As for ragged holes from these guns. I have never tried. Hit 10 inch plates with iron sights at 100 (with old eyes). Not much of a problem.

I tried to buy a used vepr last week (we could not agree to a mutual price). Nice gun; heavy and all the aftermarket ak stuff does not fit. Finish and fit were very good.

 

[BravoSector1]

Re: School me on the AK platform!

Vepr .308's are running $999 at aimsuplus if that's your cup of tea. Should be a great shooter.

 

[Bluegrass Tactical]

Re: School me on the AK platform!

I've spent quite a bit of time with AK's. For a factory built one go with Arsenal, they will run even when caked in west TN clay. For a custom built one Rifle Dynamics is the gold standard, also check out the Colorado Shooting Sports upgrade. AK's are true fighting rifles so they sacrifice some accuracy for unbelievable reliability. The only downside to them is if there is a serious problem the end user most likely can not fix it.

 

[317millhand]

Re: School me on the AK platform!

To save money, I would get a MAK90 and swap the ugly stock and any other parts that you dont like. The Mak's are the most accurate versions that I have ever owned and alot of that is due to the great trigger.

 

[QuietM4]

Re: School me on the AK platform!

If you want a high-end, custom built AK, Rifle Dynamics out of Vegas is the way to go. Also built on Arsenal kits.

My Arsenal SLR-107F is a great machine, and accurate. People always say AKs are not accurate, but they are more the sufficient for a battle rifle. I can get reliable 1.5 MOA groups all day all the way out to 300M. For a battle rifle, I don't need much more than that. While the steel sights leave room for improvement, there are many ways to attach a more reliable optic. I use the rail system from US PALM with a Trijicon RMR attached.

Stay away from the 7.62x39 AR uppers...I have never seen one run anywhere close to reliable as an AK will. As for the Sig 556R, it is not an AK. It is a Sig 556 that takes AK mags...and barely does that.

 

[mavrick10_2000]

Re: School me on the AK platform!

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: QuietM4</div><div class="ubbcode-body">If you want a high-end, custom built AK, Rifle Dynamics out of Vegas is the way to go. Also built on Arsenal kits.

My Arsenal SLR-107F is a great machine, and accurate. People always say AKs are not accurate, but they are more the sufficient for a battle rifle. I can get reliable 1.5 MOA groups all day all the way out to 300M. For a battle rifle, I don't need much more than that. While the steel sights leave room for improvement, there are many ways to attach a more reliable optic. I use the rail system from US PALM with a Trijicon RMR attached.

Stay away from the 7.62x39 AR uppers...I have never seen one run anywhere close to reliable as an AK will. As for the Sig 556R, it is not an AK. It is a Sig 556 that takes AK mags...and barely does that. </div></div>

That is the older Sig design you're referring to. The reworked version takes any mag thrown at it just as well as two of my Rifle Dynamics builds.

It's not a true AK, but the Op Rod/Gas system design is similar enough to call it AK like IMO.

 

[Ballistic Artist]

Re: School me on the AK platform!

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Greg Langelius *</div><div class="ubbcode-body">If what you want is a 7.62x39 semi that shoots well, the AK may not be your best choice.

I think I'd rather have a synthetic stocked Saiga. I think I'd even rather have a decently made and synthetic stocked SKS. Mine is a Norinco (not top notch) that rides in a Choate Dragunov stock (and is probably the best configured stock choice).

If you want a semi AK, I think the Saiga is your best choice.

I also believe that the near future will encompass a proliferation of AR platforms designed for the AK's cartidge and magazines. That's a good development, and will probably further accelerate the true AK's decline.

I think that soon, the best AK isn't really going to be an actual AK after all. It founded the niche, but time and its competition have overtaken it.

Greg </div></div>



LMFAO!! With All Do Respect Sir, you should do a bit of research...

 

[1Sg (ret)]

Re: School me on the AK platform!

Find a good quality kit and a good builder.You wont be sorry.The military kits are generaly good quality.When put togeather by someone that knows what they are doing you cant go wrong.Mags are cheap and built like a bank vault.The older yugo kits use a thicker reciever as does the norinco guns.The thicker recievers make the guns a little more accurate as the reciever flexes when fired.Someone mentioned milled earlier.They are more accurate but heavy.I have a custom built milled gun on a german kit that holds around moa @ 100.Its smooth as glass.Hope this helps.The sorriest ak in the world without a buttstock will still run like a haint.Just personal experience.Oh by the way the AK 74s are a hoot also.Just food for thought.