ashooter
03-12-07, 23:18
I'm not a huge fan of the AK series, having owned 3 in years past and not being overly impressed with reliability or ergonomics... BUT, after briefly discussing the possibility of hosting one of EAG's AK Operator's Courses, I'm thinking it might not be a bad idea to get up to speed at least to the point where I'm comfortable using one. After all it is probably the most prolific small arm on the planet - makes sense to be able to get the most out of it if that's what I happen to have in my hands for some reason.
I've read the "stickied" post here, but I am beginning to shop around and there are a LOT of variations out there, so I'm still not sure how to get the most bang for my buck. I'm not looking for a high-dollar custom AK with add-on sights, optics, rails, etc, but a plain-jane typical stamped receiver, fixed stock "beater" AK, while still being a decent quality weapon. What info sifting I've done has me leaning toward either a SAR-2 or Polish Tantal for a 5.45mm or a MAADI, SAR-1, or Yugo M70 for a 7.62mm. I'm leaning toward a 5.45 simply because I already have a few magazines lying here from the piece of junk kit built Bulgarian '74 I got rid of a couple of years ago, and 5.45 magazines seem to be in plentiful supply (at the moment).
DCI receivers are good, right? Ohio Ordnance, Hesse, Vector are junk? Any specific builders to seek out or avoid? Anything out there that's a screaming good deal right now? Again, I'm after an AK that's as close to a "stock" rifle as possible so I can learn how to deal with this system's idiosycracies and shortcomings.
I've read the "stickied" post here, but I am beginning to shop around and there are a LOT of variations out there, so I'm still not sure how to get the most bang for my buck. I'm not looking for a high-dollar custom AK with add-on sights, optics, rails, etc, but a plain-jane typical stamped receiver, fixed stock "beater" AK, while still being a decent quality weapon. What info sifting I've done has me leaning toward either a SAR-2 or Polish Tantal for a 5.45mm or a MAADI, SAR-1, or Yugo M70 for a 7.62mm. I'm leaning toward a 5.45 simply because I already have a few magazines lying here from the piece of junk kit built Bulgarian '74 I got rid of a couple of years ago, and 5.45 magazines seem to be in plentiful supply (at the moment).
DCI receivers are good, right? Ohio Ordnance, Hesse, Vector are junk? Any specific builders to seek out or avoid? Anything out there that's a screaming good deal right now? Again, I'm after an AK that's as close to a "stock" rifle as possible so I can learn how to deal with this system's idiosycracies and shortcomings.