Waffen Werks AK-74 Variant Review

[plouffedaddy]

I've had a my WW74 rifles for a while now and have at least a spam can through each; here's what I've found so far:

Pros:

-Reliable. The only malfunctions of any kind I've had to date were do to a bad mag (had issues in 3 other rifles).
-Accurate. I've been able to shoot several groups under 3'' with irons from the prone. Nope, I'm not going to win any Camp Perry matches but I'll take that with 7N6 and no optics (and me behind the gun).
-Cost. These rifles may be more than they used to be but they’re still a good deal in my opinion.
-Gun Kote finish. Many AK companies these days have paint based finishes; one of the most durable is the Gun Kote finish used on the WW74 rifles. It holds up very well to most solvents on the market. The finish is applied inside the receiver which is not the case with some of the competitors out there.
-Built on matching Bulgarian parts kits.
-Chrome lined ESS 1 in 7.75'' barrel (more on this below) spec’d by Waffen Werks to match the original Bulgarian AK-74 dimensions. A lot of AKs on the market are using non-chrome lined barrels and are priced similarly to the WW74. The chrome lining is a great feature when shooting corrosive surplus ammo, which I use about 95% of the time...
-Chrome lined muzzle brake and gas block.
-Comes with a hard shell rifle case.
-All of my mags lock up tight with little to no play/wobble.
-Relatively available. Most rifles are in short supply these days but a couple of online vendors get shipments of these pretty regularly (Snagged mine at Atlantic. They offer shipping discounts to forum members…) as well as quite a few gun shops around the country.

Cons:

-US barrel. As you’ll see in the video below, I would certainly prefer a cold hammer forged com-bloc barrel. That said, they’re becoming harder and harder to come by in the US market. I’d venture to say that 90% or more of the people that may buy these rifles won’t put enough rounds through them to ever notice a difference and if you can afford that many rounds likely you can afford to re-barrel the rifle.
-Ships with a Tapco mag. I would certainly prefer a surplus mag but it is what it is.

All in all I think you get a lot of rifle for your money and the availability of relatively inexpensive surplus ammo is an added bonus.

Here’s a video review with some shooting at various distances, a discussion of the pros/cons, a 3 shot group at 100m, disassembly and assembly of the rifle (for the new AK shooters), and some final thought on the rifle:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nf54SR4Utw

[alvincullumyork]

I was looking at this rifle last year when I had a little money in my pocket and I decided to wait around for a couple more people to run some rounds through them first. Now I am a little past broke and am likely to stay that way for a significant amount of time. I could punch me in the nose right now.

[jpmuscle]

Pity I have two WW 74s coming next week from Atlantic but I didn't I was not aware of the forum discount. I was a bit torn between this particular model and a arsenal but figured for the increased price the benefits or arsenal would be negligible. The waffen will do everything I want it for and do it well.

[plouffedaddy]

I was looking at this rifle last year when I had a little money in my pocket and I decided to wait around for a couple more people to run some rounds through them first. Now I am a little past broke and am likely to stay that way for a significant amount of time. I could punch me in the nose right now.

Indeed. They keep going up and up in price. My first one was about $100 cheaper than the 2nd...