Egyptian Maadi??

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Dave R

New member
A local store (Intermountain Outdoor for Idahoans) has a weekend sale with post-ban Egyptian Maadi's for $199.

Are these decent AK-variants? I checked out ak-47.net--most of the posters were talking about Steyr Maadis which were apparantly earlier, and higher-quality (and higher priced). These guns looked pretty fresh. The one I tried cycled smoothly.

I'm assuming accuracy would be in the 2-3MOA range?

Looking forward to comments from any of you AK gurus.
 
Sorry but I don't have any experience with the newer Maadis. Mine (out of state :( now) is an earlier Steyr version (1 of 2000). In a writeup by SoF (Soldier of Fortune), the early Maadis were the closest one could get to the Russian AKM and this made them highly desirable among AK collectors. You may be amused to learn that the original advertising for this gun had it against a blaze red (can you say "Commie") background with the words (I believe in Commie yellow), "Make this gun the symbol of your American Freedom!" Yeah we scoffed, a commie gun as a symbol of our freedom. Little did we realize how prophetic they were...
 
Dave I have had 3 Maadi AKs, also a couple of Norinco and a Polytech. The Chinese AKs have always shown peening of the hammer after several hundred rounds. The Maadi never has I believe that the steel is a bit better with the Maadi. The workmanship as regards finish is something else. The Maadi seem to have suffered in that regard over the past 7-8 years. I understand that the Romanian AKs are nice and the price is pretty close. Also you have the scope mount on the side of the receiver for what it is worth. You are probably looking at 4 inch groups at 100yds with the Maadi which is fine in a self defense/plinker. If you care about good accuracy build yourself an AR 15 for about 525.00 and have the best of both worlds.FWIW ALEX
 
Maadis for $199? They must be the one that only take the 10 round single stack magazines. If that's the case I'd just as soon have an SKS. If you like the AK, I'd spend a little more if I were you and get one that takes normal capacity mags (30+ rounds). They are still pretty cheap, in the high 2s - low 300 range in price.

BTW, Maadis ain't pretty, but they always go bang. I like mine.
 
Yeah, Good Guy, they come with a 10 rnd single stack, so I assume that means they only take single stacks?

I know what you mean about taking an SKS over the Maadi. But the Maadi is shorter, handier, lighter...
 
Few years back, I bought a Egyptian MAADI (taking double-stack 30rd. mags) in PRK for $219!

It was put together by blind retarded chimps. The front sight was canted beyond belief. Ugly black paint. Crappy thumbhole stock that couldn't fit a human hand. Takedown lever was stuck in place; had to use a hammer to move it.

My dilemma: sink a couple hundred bucks to upgrade to US made parts to install a pistol grip and decent stock set... or sell it and buy an AR.

I now own a Bushmaster
 
If you want a quality single stack AK, take a look at the Hungarian SA2000M. This is one sweet rifle. I was considering the SKS but loved the way the SA2000 looked. Most of all, it has excellent accuracy. The Choate stock and foregrip are very comfortable . I changed the color of them too O.D. Green, very pleasing to look at. CDNN has the SA's for $219 I believe.
 
There's a few versions of the new (non-Steyer) Maadis. The MISR-90 is will accept standard AK mags while the MISR-10 only takes the 10-rounders.

Early MISR-90s generally came with the thumbhole stocks and Chinese Parts (MISR-Maks). Use of all mags is legal. Converting these to pistol-grip guns can be done by adding the appropriate amount of US-made parts, but some of these 90s have awkward cuts at the rear of the receiver which would make it difficult to fit a conventional stock.

Later versions of the 90 have US-made hammers, triggers, and disconnectors. In order to use full capacity mags with these, you'd need to add US-made floor-plates and followers to the mags for a total US parts count of 5. The finish on these guns apparently comes from the paint section of your local True-Value hardware store.

MISR-10s have a slightly different receiver and a narrower mag-well. If I understand correctly, they contain all imported parts. Some folks have converted these into full-capicity guns by opening up the mag well with a dremel and replacing 5 imported parts with 5 US-made parts. The legality of doing so, however, remains questionable. Romanian versions of this 10-round gun are also on the market today.

Another option (and my recommendation) would be to go with one of the 3 Romanian SAR versions that are out on the market now. Fit & finish is better compared to the Maadi series, and each contains a US-made trigger, hammer, disconnector, gas piston, and pistol grip, so there is no need to add US-made floor-plates and followers to your mags.
The SAR-1 is 7.62x39, the SAR-2 is 5.45x39, and the SAR-3 is 5.56x45 (.223). If this was going to be your only AK, the availability of ammo and mags prompts me to recommend the 7.62x39 SAR-1.

The SAR-2 (5.45x39), however, is one fun little gun. Ammo is harder to come by, but I'm finding it more and more at the gun shows. I ordered all of my 5.45 ammo from Ammoman. 30-round mags are among the cheapest (price-wise) out there - as low as $4.99 each at CDNN compared to $12 and up for 7.62x39 mags.

Yet another version of the Romanian AK is the Romak line-up. I'm not going to pretend to know anything about these, but from what I've read, Romaks tend to have better fit & finish compared to the SAR series, but you'd be stuck with a thumbhole stock. Prices on these are higher, as they are suppossedly banned from importation. Just checked out AK-47.net and they seem to be much higher than when I last checked. :(

Here's a pic of my SAR-1 with Bulgarian Polymer furniture:
http://www.geocities.com/shootinbulldawg/akpics/sar1right.jpg

And here's my SAR-2:
http://www.geocities.com/shootinbulldawg/akpics/sar2right.jpg

A good place to go for SARs is AIM Surplus.
 
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