Actually, my VEPR is a stamped receiver...but it's the stamped receiver from an RPK. Twice as thick as the standard stamped receivers with a reenforced trunnion as well, IIRC. A sturdy, heavy, weapon.
Actually, my VEPR is a stamped receiver...but it's the stamped receiver from an RPK. Twice as thick as the standard stamped receivers with a reenforced trunnion as well, IIRC. A sturdy, heavy, weapon.
Ah- didn't know that. It sure as hell felt heavy.
I wish Templar was here- he's a walking encyclopedia of Cold War small arms.
Thanks for all the great feedback guys. This is exactly what I was looking for. I had heard of both the Co. mentioned before. Especially Saiga, if anyone hasnt, they must live under a rock. Sounds like they are who to go to (either Co., not one over the other so much). Caliber-- 7.62x39 was def. the route I was leaning. I know, I didnt mention it in my OP and knew I would hear about it.
TCVA said (down arrow), which a bit, I knew to an extent but, not all, which is exactly why I sought out expert opinion on the subject. (not to single out this reply, all were appreciated)
With AKs there is such a huge variation in the dimensions and quality of parts out there that modding them becomes problematic and sometimes downright dangerous. GS and I were both on the range when one of the students in the Vickers class had an unintentional discharge as he attempted to take the safety off on his weapon for a drill. He was doing everything properly and because of that nobody was hurt. The mix of parts in his gun (IIRC a blend of 922 compliant parts and combloc parts of indeterminate origin) resulted in this rare occasion (it had never happened to him before) where taking the weapon off safe caused a discharge.
I saw a repeat of that at the previously mentioned range session...another officer who had brought his relatively new AK took the weapon off safe and ended up launching a bullet...only his weapon was pointed up in the air instead of at a low-ready when this happened. I haven't had the chance to look at his weapon to figure out what was going on with it yet.
To me, it's worth spending some extra money to buy a quality AK that isn't as likely to have those kinds of assembly issues due to tinkering or some drunk peasant assembling the weapon with a hammer. When you buy one of the Arsenal or Saiga rifles you're getting good internal parts that aren't likely to turn your semi-auto into a burst weapon or a weapon that launches bullets when you take the safety off. As an added bonus, their front sights tend to be useful (rather than canted so badly you can barely zero it) and they typically don't have big important parts (like the trigger) break and jettison themselves from the weapon.
People like to think of the "AK" as a monolithic entity, but in truth they aren't. How one is made has a huge impact on the service you're likely to get from the weapon. It takes a fair amount of skilled labor to produce a good AK that doesn't have issues. As far as I've been able to see, Saiga and Arsenal seem to have the necessary skill to deliver consistently good rifles.
Thanks again, keep the feedback comin
P30
I hate to be the fly in the ointment.
I bought an Arsenal SGL21-71... A month... and a half ago ish.
It's with Arsenal now, they seem to make quality guns.
Word to the wise, inspect the gun before you throw away the box, manual, test target and/or magazine, if you need to ship it back it must be in Factory condition.
Basically the top safety detent wasn't milled out all the way, which causes the selector to push up against the dust cover, which causes it to stick and I mean STICK (Russian Gun Lock itself is what I started calling it), like white knuckle grip pushing on it to get it to come out of safe kind of stick, like cut your thumb on the safety when it finally releases stick.
They have a one year Manufacturer's Warranty with certain stipulations I don't care for, such as if you use an American made magazine, they will void your warranty, not recommend you use better quality magazines, but void the warranty of the gun.
If you use anything other than CLP on your finish, they will not warranty the finish (let me just go ahead and tell you, it's a spray on finish meaning, it's glorified spray paint, just being honest (ETA: I also want to say, I don't know if that's all AK's, but, that's how mine is/was))
Technically, if you install anything other than an Arsenal Factory Part they will void your warranty, they saw I had a different pistol grip, but she said to change it out. They decided not to void my warranty because I was dumb enough to email them a picture of the issue with a different pistol grip. (I don't think after what the discussion turned into, they were going to push that point, I still haven't fired the rifle)
I knew all of this going into buying the gun, and I bought it, my Father honestly, buys the same guns I do regularly, he bought one too, had no such issue.
I don't find it common place to hear issues about their Customer Service.
The Lady I'm dealing with has been very helpful.
But know that before you buy an Arsenal, don't accept sub-par quality, and don't attempt to fix it yourself until you're certain you don't want manufacturer support anymore.
I'll post pictures if I need to. Honestly, I was a bit worried about it, but they've put my mind at ease, I'm still dealing with the issue being resolved. She's done a great job.
I will also say this, for some reason, the foreign weapon importers market just seems shady (not just AK's... FAL's seem the same way, same with the H&K clone market), After what I've heard I'll never buy a Century gun, or a Lancaster Arms AK. I'd say I'd probably buy an Arsenal again, but with the way their prices are rising, that's debatable.
http://www.k-var.com/shop/product.ph...cat=353&page=1
This gun was around , $699 a year ago, it was $749 when I bought it within the last two months, and now it's $771. I want to say it was down near $650-$600 two years ago. I don't know if I'd pay $800 (which it looks like it will be at soon) for it.
I still like Arsenal, but I feel that's the truth, not going to sugar coat it. The other thing to keep in perspective is, frankly, You might hear some bad things "out there" about Arsenal here and there, but they probably also sell more AK's than most other manufacturers, so, they're going to have more issues, because frankly, it's percentages, the amount of guns you make, eventually you'll put out a bad one.
If you make a 1,000 guns and put out three bad ones, and compare that to a manufacturer who puts out a 100 and puts out three bad ones, even though they have the same number of issues, are they still just as bad?
Look for Canted Front Sight Bases on AK's, I inspected mine at the FFL's, I didn't think to look at the Safety (It's my first AK, so I'll admit I'm an amateur on the subject).
I have heard good things of Atlantic Arms, but anyway, that's all I've got.
I'll post pictures if I need to.
ETA: http://www.arsenalinc.com/warranty.htm
Arsenal's Warranty page, just in case there were any doubts about what I said.
Originally Posted by GermanSynergy
Ah- didn't know that. It sure as hell felt heavy.
I wish Templar was here- he's a walking encyclopedia of Cold War small arms.
I heard that Templar guy is an ass though.
As far as heavy.....
Heavy is good, heavy is reliable.
To the OP, how much are you looking to spend?
Ah! The AK expert has finally arrived!
Willkommen, mein herr.
Look into Krebs Custom.
Just wanted to let all who replied and everyone else (I'm so psyched) know that I will be the proud new owner of an Arsenal SGL21-66 tomorrow. Got the call from my shop shes here today. I dealt with Atlantic Firearms for the purchase. Pretty good folks too I might add. $905 OTD. I know, pretty pricey but, from what I've read the Arsenals are supposed to be top tier. I guess we'll see tomorrow huh.
Heres a link to Atlantic with the SGL21-66 http://www.atlanticfirearms.com/storeproduct822.aspx
Last edited by P30shtr; 06-30-2011 at 05:17 PM.
Just picked up a Hungarian Kalashnikov myself. Can't wait to get it to the range.
Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk
What about that Sig 556 in 7.62x39 that accepts AK mags. I Know nothing about the 556's track record, but that gun seemed really solid and well built.
Reply With Quote
