Last edited by Casual Friday; 03-18-2019 at 11:35 AM.
I would look at the Polish AK pistols from Atlantic Firearms over anything made by Century. They dont come with the brace but they are in the mid $600s and they do come with a forward 1913 rail so you should be able to stay under a grand.
https://www.atlanticfirearms.com/pro...p-lynx-classic
If not a Draco.
Last edited by HCM; 03-18-2019 at 11:44 AM.
The following are steaming piles of turd that borderline on dangerous:
Century RAS47
Century C39
Century C39 V2
Century “American” Draco - any size
Too many reports of the guns going out of headspace in under 2k. Too many reports of rifles grenading. I would avoid the new VSAK too based on past performance.
The PSA have had many issues with reliability and durability too.
Too many guns with bad heat treat coming out of Zastava the past few years. PAP, NPAP, OPAP and M92 all randomly effected. No “safe” date range.
The Romanian, Cugir built, guns improved around 2012.
Arsenal ((10)) guns declined slightly.
I follow the AK stuff pretty closely because I have several of them - and this is the first I've read anywhere about the OPAP also being affected by the heat treat issue. Everything else I've seen indicated that PAP & NPAP models were the problematic ones, and M92's occasionally but uncommonly affected.
I have around ~4k through my OPAP with zero issues. I do periodically examine my AK's closely for egging FCG holes, barrel pin movement, etc just on principles I learned from dealing with some shoddy home built AK's over the years. I have about 1k through my M92 as well - no issues.
Do you have any guidance on what I can continue to examine to see if they're affected by the bad heat-treat?
Atlantic Arms is the best source for stuff like that but stuff like that tends to come in batches and sell out quickly.
Best bet for an off-the-shelf option is the imported Draco - many vendors do not specify whether it's the US made or imported Draco, but the imported one is Century Arms product number HG1916-N
They're easily found around $600 from a variety of vendors that have them in-stock.
They come in in spurts. You'd have to get on the email list, and jump right away, I don't think many get imported at one time.
Draco's can always be found. #dracoseason