Russian Made AK?

N

Nightcrawler

New member
In the most recent Federal Arms "Guns -n- Stuff" catalog, they feature "Russian AK rifles" on page four. They have real slick looking plastic furniture, and you get your choice of either 16" or 20" barrels. They have pistol grips, so I'm assuming that they've got 10 U.S. parts in 'em.

The 7.62x39mm version (takes standard AK mags, not those stupid single-stack magazines) costs $299.00, dealer price. The .308 version costs $399.00 and $419.00. The .308 version takes only eight round magazines, which I'm assuming are Saiga-308 mags. (AIM Surplus has a Saiga .308, which comes with two eight round magazines, so I put two and two together.)

My roommate is really pumped on getting an AK. Does anyone here think he'd go wrong with this Russian AK, with injection molded plastic furniture, from Federal Arms? It's hard to go wrong with an AK, methinks.

Just as a side note, on page 13 of the same catalog, Federal Arms has a SA M-7 rifle, which is apparently an American made AK. It has black synthetic furniture and retails for $499.00. You could get a VEPR II from RobArm for that much, so I'm wondering what the story with this one is. Does anybody have one?
 
If we're looking at the same FAC catalogue, these aren't real russian AK rifles.

These are real Saiga sporters that Hesse has converted to take pistol grip stock sets, and feed from AK mags.

Just be aware that the ad is misleading.


ALSO - the ones that I have seen didn't have standard AK handguards - they just left the Saiga's on there.
 
So...

Thanks for the input. I've heard nothing but bad things about Hesse Arms, unfortunately. Should I advise my roommate to get the Romanian AKs instead? I wanted to get a Romanian AK last time...ended up with an Egyptian one. It worked fine, except for trigger slap. Do the Romanian ones have problems with trigger slap? Do you think he should get the 7.62x39mm, the 5.45x39mm, or the .223 version?
 
Robinson Arms AK-47. "Made in Russia" right on the gun. Furniture and trigger are US made. Among the best, if not THE best AK on the market. Currently for sale around $440.
 
well...

...my roommate is on a budget. I've suggested the RobArm, but I'll have to see what he says.

Any other good AK variants out there he should consider?
 
Hess builds those guns up from Saiga's.even with the Saiga furniture they are way above qualitywise than the SAR series.They use real RPK receivers and if didn't weld the brakes on they would be easy to convert into AK clones.I have a Saiga thats been converted to take regular AK mags,has a 16" barrel with an AK 74 brake.I hate to say it but its more accurate than my Polytech.
 

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Probably the best AK for someone on a budget is the Romanian SAR 1 or SAR 2. I kind of like the 7.62 SAR 1, but the 5.45 is just as tempting. There are also some WASR 10s that have been modified for the high cap mags out there that are good also.

They are nice rifles. Price is $239 to $279. The newest ones seem to have nicer wood. Some will have trigger slap which is due to incorrect geometry on the H/T/S. Replacing the fire control components with a good set of US made ones such as the FSE for about $35.00 would cure that problem.
 
As far as being Hess built the only thing you need to worry about is the US made fire control parts they use.If the parts are made by FSE should be no problem.
 
okay...

It's looking like Tomorrow, my roomie will go to a local FFL and order the Hesse-Arms modified Saiga 7.62x39mm, synthetic furniture, pistol grip stock, 16" barrel.

If, by chance, it has trigger slap like my last AK did, what parts does he order, where does he order them from, and who puts them in? We live in a small area, there are few 'smiths in the area at all, muchless ones familliar with the AK's trigger group.
 
It probably wont have trigger slap.

FSE fire control parts are sold by www.ironwooddesigns.com I dont think they have them on their website yet, but the price is $39 I believe

www.tennesseguns.com has Gordon Technologies fire control parts for $45

www.k-varcorp.com has their own forged parts which are very good also and I think they are around $50.

You can put them in yourself. The AK has a simple trigger group no special tools are required. Take a good look at the parts before you remove them and notice how the hammer spring goes. There is a thin wire spring on the left hand side of the receiver that slides forward to release the pins that hold in the hammer and trigger/disconnector (this pin is the remains of the auto sear spring). Pull the pins out and the parts will drop out. I put the hammer back in first and use a small screwdriver to hold the hammer spring, which also works with the trigger, up out of the way. Then I put the trigger and disconnector back in and let the hammer spring fall back into place. After that the small wire spring goes back in to secure the pins.
 
The VEPR II is a great rifle!
If he is on a budget, I would go with a Romanian SAR-1

Check out www.aimsurplus.com

If he is serious, he should act soon! With the recent events the inexpensive AK's are moving fast.
 
Hey Nightcrawler, I went shopping for an AK-47 this weekend, and checked out the SAR1, but the fit and finish were a bit too rough (I'm sure they function just fine, though). I picked up one from Arsenal USA, and I'm quite pleased with its quality. The gun is made by FEG of Hungary, and the finish is very nice. I paid just under $500 for mine. Maybe your roommate could find one listed in Shotgun News? The VEPRs are excellent as well.
 
Arsenal SA M-7

This is an American made AK made by Arsenal USA in Nevada, according to SKSman.com. Very cool looking furniture, Federal Arms has it for $499. For that money, though, my roomie could probably get a VEPR II, but the M-7 looks cooler. It DOES take standard AK mags, correct?
 
Nightcrawler, not that one, though it does look good. I checked the manual that came with my SSR85B, and they have a site at www.arsenalusa.com. It looks like these guys import the parts and assemble them in Houston (I never knew it until this past weekend), but I don't know whether they sell directly to the public. Their number is (713)378-0226, so maybe they can tell you where to locate one of them in MI. Hope this helps.
 
If you go the with the Federal Arms Hess built AK you'll need US made followers and floorplates to keep your part count legal.These things aren't that easy to find but Federal Arms says they well have them at special prices in the near future.
 
Saiga AK

We had a Saiga AK from Federal Arms in the Store for one day.
The one we got was well made and had great fit and finish for an AK. Ours came with one 30 round mag, sling and crappy cleaning kit. Federal Arms in out of them currently. We tried to order more after ours sold so quickly.
 
Here's the quick version...

Hesse - stay away from them...period. If you're that tight for $$ go with a Romanian SAR.
Robarms - VEPR II's are very good. They use heavy RPK type receivers and are very accurate(for an AK).
Arsenal USA - SSR-85s are very good(they are in Houston btw). They are built on Hungarian FEG stamped receivers. The original ArsenalUSA rifles were built on Bulgarian receivers but KVAR(see below) obtained sole import rights for the Bulgarian parts. They then switched to Hungarian & Polish parts for their rifles.
Arsenal/KVAR (Nevada) - SA-M7s are built with Bulgarian(& US) parts. They are also very good. Arsenal(not ArsenalUSA) is the sole source importer from the "real" Arsenal factory in Bulgaria.
 
You can fix trigger slap, you know.

Trigger slap happens when the hammer is pushing the secondary sear backwards, and the bottom of the secondary sear hits the trigger. Just grind a bit off the bottom rear of the secondary sear so it doesn't hit.

TOR
 
On the same topic...

What about this one?
http://www.southernohiogun.com/products.html

Ak-ri762.jpg
 
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