Where have all the AKs gone?

F

Famas

New member
Yesterday, I attended a very large gun show in Indianapolis, IN called the the "Indy 1500". It is a huge show. I went there to purchase ammunition for my Yugo M-70 AK, and came out with a sealed can of 1000 rounds for $250. I think I got a good deal. However, I noticed a sudden shortage of AKs. In all of the show, I counted perhaps no more than 20 AKs, mostly WASR with fixed stocks. One or two were folders, and a couple of ridiculous little things called Draakos (sp?)??? I also noticed only 4-5 SKSs, mostly Russian and one Yugo.

I can remember a few years ago these abounded at gun shows, almost every table had at least half a dozen or more. What happened to all of them? Have they all been purchased? Is it the same everywhere else or just an isolated phenomenon?
 
I've noticed something similar. There's 3 local pawn shops that buy/sell guns, I don't go terribly often, maybe once a month just to see what they got, and it seems like they never have AK's. They'll always have at least 2 AR's, and sometimes as many as 4 or 5, but between those 3 shops this year I've seen a hideously modified WASR and a Saiga-12 shotgun and no other AK's.
 
I have notices that as well. Ive been to 8 gun shops in the last month or so and have only seen 4 AK variants (3 wasr and .223 unconverted saiga) and 20+ ARs. Not like it was a few years ago. Guess People are wising up and buying AKs while they can.
 
I think a lot has to do with the regulatory changes.

According to the ATF, you can't use barrels out of foreign parts kits anymore, and that increases the price; US barrels aren't as cheap as surplus combloc ones. As the price of a decent AK rises, it becomes less attractive when compared to some other designs that come from US makers complete with a known warranty and customer support (things not often found in spades with AKs). Those WASRs that used to be $300 are now pushing $500, and the AKs of good quality have risen as well. In those price ranges, the Ruger Mini and various ARs start looking rather attractive.

Good deals can still be found, but they aren't quite as prevalent as they used to be.
 
I think a lot has to do with the regulatory changes.

According to the ATF, you can't use barrels out of foreign parts kits anymore, and that increases the price; US barrels aren't as cheap as surplus combloc ones. As the price of a decent AK rises, it becomes less attractive when compared to some other designs that come from US makers complete with a known warranty and customer support (things not often found in spades with AKs). Those WASRs that used to be $300 are now pushing $500, and the AKs of good quality have risen as well. In those price ranges, the Ruger Mini and various ARs start looking rather attractive.

Good deals can still be found, but they aren't quite as prevalent as they used to be.
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There is nothing preventing you from building a gun with a foreign barrel. the p[roblem is that the barrels aren't being imported anymore. US made AK barrels are selling for under $100 and kits minus barrels are selling for $100 too.

Romanian AKs wholesale for $419 at Classic arms, or you can buy a Russian Saiga in original condition for $300 or restored to military configuration for $450.

Not as cheap as they used to be, but they're out there.
 
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no they are still being made but the gun shops i asked they said they wont order them unless someone says they wanna buy one. i had to get mine ordered. but i did pay $475 an im only a days drive from indy if you guys wanna come to illinois an buy them :)
 
There is nothing preventing you from building a gun with a foreign barrel. the p[roblem is that the barrels aren't being imported anymore.
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I didn't remember what the change was, exactly, but I did remember that it had something to do with the barrels no longer being importable or usable for whatever reason.

The thing is, even though a $100 AK barrel is still pretty cheap (all things considered), it still adds to the cost. As you point out, they're still available, but at higher prices. I suspect that the higher prices are having people look harder at rifles produced domestically. If you're talking a $500 WASR from the local gun shop or a $600 Ruger Mini-14 or -30, you do have to take a step back and ask if having Ruger stand behind it is worth the extra... I suspect that for many, it is.

I know I'm not seeing the same number of AKs sitting on shelves that I was a few years ago. For whatever reason (I'll admit I could be wrong, but I'm not sure then what the reason might be), the local shops aren't stocking them as much anymore.
 
I have two words for you.
DEMOCRATIC
PRESIDENT
haha, everyone is buying every AK47/74, SKS, M14, and AR15 they can get their hands on because of all the fears of weapons bans.
 
As much as I hate Obama and think that he would love to ban most of the guns in the country, I'm pretty sure the barrel ban was actually a bush executive order.
 
When I got into guns about a year ago I could find them locally for around $400, last week I bought my first on for $500. It was the best deal I found in town. I didn't want to wait longer and have to pay 600 or maybe not be able to by it at all. Mine is a new century arms AK.
 
haha, everyone is buying every AK47/74, SKS, M14, and AR15 they can get their hands on because of all the fears of weapons bans.
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That was true from November 2008 through about mid-2009. It hasn't been the case for over a year now (close to two). For a time you couldn't hardly find entire rifles or major parts for most self loading box magazine fed rifles, but now shortages are pretty much limited to small builders of in demand items.

There's plenty of stock of the assorted rifles (except for the SKS, but that has more to do with overseas stocks being depleted), it's more a matter of what is actually stocked at the local level.
 
It could be that the AK is seen as a more likely target for banning. First off, the vast, vast majority of AK's are at least partially foreign-made, it would probably be more politically dangerous to hurt domestic manufacturers rather than foreign ones. Secondly, AK's have more of a reputation for being a "bad guy" gun and superficial perceptions are often enough to demonize a firearm in eyes of anti-gun folks (why else would there be a call for a ban on "barrel shrouds" by those who don't actually know what those are, doesn't matter, they just "seem bad").

Lastly, maybe people are afraid about future instability within our society and feel the need for semi-automatic rifles, and AK's are amongst the most affordable and easiest to "get into" as far as semi-auto rifles go. All these things combined probably result in a "get em while ya can" attitude and thus our AK shortage.
 
Even before Holder became AG, California sucked the nation dry before Calif's '89 AWB was enacted. Virtually every available EBR went to CA where Californians were grabbing them up because they were going out of style.
 
It seems that interest has waned recently. I put one of mine up for sale recently for what I considered to be a more than fair price and had very few nibbles. That may be because AR prices have really plummeted to an all time low all things considered.
 
I know that AKs are very popular with the whole new demographic of guys called the SHTF club. when I was first starting to get into guns a little over 2 years ago I came across a few guys thta owned AK47s and spouted off about the end of civilized life as we knew it and I remember thinking thoise guys were completely off their rockers. now lo and behold I am paying frequent visits to the SHTF forums and have made indepth comparisons to the AR15 and AK47 for multipe applications and though I love my AR15s and they would fit just about any need I could ever have. I now have an AK47 as a backup. when I first started looking at them I could get a romanian AK47 for $400 I spent $700 on mine..way to much for the final product I ended up with but I can say that when you can pick up a budget model AR15 for $600 that is 100% american made with a warrenty, it's hard to justify spending $700 on a part import, part american AK with no warranty and hard to locate parts(other than furniture).
 
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