At what point are "cheap" AK's no longer cheap to you?

[checkmyswag]

Yes, I have sour grapes for not buying the various cheap AKs I looked at years ago, for around $250-$300 (if I recall correctly) or the Bulgarian ones for $500.

Seeing WASRs now going for nearly $500, I had to ask myself, "at what point are these guns no longer worth the money?"

Of course, they are "worth" whatever the market demands, but at what point do these guns go from being a deal to you to being overpriced in your view?

Perhaps I'm getting old and not respecting inflation as well.

 

[Omaha-BeenGlockin]

No way am I paying $500 for a RomAK----so I must be getting old too.

There's a lot higher quality firearms out there at that price point.

 

[Texan Scott]

When you have to pay a gunsmith to make it do what you thought it was supposed to when you got such a good deal on it, it's not such a good deal anymore. That said, I'd be OK with 500 for a nice AK, but much more than that seems steep... I drool over the marlin 336 stainless steel, so any firearm that approaches that pricepoint, I start thinking for the money,I'd rather have the 30-30.

 

[Inebriated]

WASR's are worth $400 at best.

Luckily, I sold mine for $550.

 

[Kitchen_Duty]

I agree, for $500 you can get a lot of different rifles. Depending on what you want an AK might fit the need but AR's aren't much over $500. Of course, SKS's are rising in price too though.

 

[kingcheese]

I was looking to get an ak at one time, a few years ago, but for the price there where better rifles, so i decided to start on an ar15, and the cost when its done will be around 600$, a little more money, but a lot more versital platform

 

[meanmrmustard]

What ARs aren't much over $500? For what even the most questionable DPMS costs I can still save $100 and get a Romy. No way I'm passing that up for a Sportacle. Smith Sports aren't under $700 anymore round these parts, so the AR vs AK price point is moot till we start talking about Arsenals, which id prefer over the top tier ARs anyway.

At what cost do AKs begin to turn me off? $600 for WASRs, too much too late.

 

[Sam1911]

Worth? Well, what do you need it to do for you? Why are you buying this gun? Is that need more important to you than the $500 or $600 or whatever you'd have to fork over to meet that need?

Is there some other weapon that would meet the same need as well, or nearly as well, (or better?) for less money?

If this is just a collectible, a "stocking up" gun, or a play toy, then "worth" boils down to simple market economics. It is worth whatever someone will pay for it, and/or worth whatever the average market price for that item is. If you shop around the various websites and LGSs and $500 is what a WASR costs these days, then that's what it is "worth" because it is a simple commodity.

If, on the other hand, you NEED a rifle for a task, then the money is likely somewhat inconsequential. If you have a purpose which that rifle will serve, then you pay whatever have to to be ready to handle the task. That you paid $100 "too much" for the spot price of that rifle the month or week you bought it won't ever matter in the least.

 

[rbernie]

Seeing WASRs now going for nearly $500, I had to ask myself, "at what point are these guns no longer worth the money?"

Given that the Saiga is a far better piece than any CAI-manhandled Romanian, I can see no reason to pay a price for them that even starts to approach that of a basic Saiga conversion.

 

[nathan]

If SHTF does happen (the good Lord forbids), the AK is the most comforting tool at my disposal. The $350 value will be worth a hundred times as my life and lives of my family are at stake. A few hundred dollars today will mean nothing if we are talking of saving your life and limb.

 

[fatcat4620]

I agree, for $500 you can get a lot of different rifles. Depending on what you want an AK might fit the need but AR's aren't much over $500. Of course, SKS's are rising in price too though.

Name one AR not much over $500 that can run with a WASR?

 

[nathan]

And with the surplus Yugo ammo , its a perfect combination of power and performance. Brasscased, hot loaded , and built for long storage and war .

 

[checkmyswag]

I didn't bring up ARs. But I knew people would. I like ARs AND AKs.\

But, since some of you all went there...

A Colt LE6920 is worth it to me for up $1200/$1300.

A nice AK is worth it to me up to maybe $600/$700.

But at some point with either rifle, I'm out.

Same w an SKS, nearly universally loved at $100, but not so much at $250/$300.

 

[nathan]

AK 47 plus this ammo, you bet you are in good hands. Built for war baby !

http://wideners.com/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=100000187&dir=18|830|852

 

[minutemen1776]

Before the panic buying four years ago, I had lots of opportunities to buy a WASR at $300, but I never saw one that I thought was worth even that. I know they have their fans, but I've always thought the ones I've seen in shops were as a rough as a cob. That may be all right for price-point gun buyers who revel in the spartan qualities of the AK platform, but I want something nicer for my money. I finally bit on a Polish AKMS about a year ago at $500 and sunk another $100 into mags. I've never regretted that purchase. So, I suppose my break point is $500-$600, assuming that what I'd get was of acceptable quality, including fit and finish.

 

[Caliper_Mi]

Name one AR not much over $500 that can run with a WASR?

Del-Ton - $470 http://www.del-ton.com/AR_15_Rifle_Kits_20_s/58.htm

Dealer price through Midway is even lower if you've got your C&R. Add a stripped lower for $100 and you're not much over $500.

You also get better sights, better optics mounting, better mag release, last shot hold open and the potential to easily float the barrel.

Yes, I've been holding off on adding an AK to my collection because of current prices. I was considering $420 that Dunhams was offering this past weekend for a Century build, but I guess somewhere around $400 is my tipping point for an AK.

 

[GBExpat]

Being firearms-sane (my current state), I would not pay anywhere near $500 for the run-of-the-mill AKs that I always see advertised.

However, if I were suffering from an acute case of AK Frenzy/Starvation/Gotta-Have-It, I probably would.

On this subject, I am lucky... if I want to have a new AK I will simply build-up another from one of these Kits & Receivers on which I stocked-up several years back.

IIRC, the last AK that I purchased cost me $150 from Centerfire ... a WASR with a full-size/wide trunnion (wink,wink,nudge,nudge) ... that was probably ~8 years ago, before I began to roll my own.

And, yes, my initial judgement regarding current market prices vs "value/worth" of such things is heavily influenced by my memory of many of my purchases from not so long ago.

Not so much an O.L.D. thing as an older thing.

In the late '70s I can remember shopping for a milsurp Mauser for my Dad (the rack of them that I was looking at cost $70/ea, IIRC) and thinking back with fondness to the time just before the '68GCA went into effect, when many department stores had wooden barrels filled to overflowing with all manner of milsurp longuns for ~$10-$15.

 

[fatcat4620]

Del-Ton - $470 http://www.del-ton.com/AR_15_Rifle_Kits_20_s/58.htm

Dealer price through Midway is even lower if you've got your C&R. Add a stripped lower for $100 and you're not much over $500.

You also get better sights, better optics mounting, better mag release, last shot hold open and the potential to easily float the barrel.

Yes, I've been holding off on adding an AK to my collection because of current prices. I was considering $420 that Dunhams was offering this past weekend for a Century build, but I guess somewhere around $400 is my tipping point for an AK.

Nice try. When your bolt shears a lug or your barrel is shot out the WASR will keep on ticking. Dont even get me started on what would happen if you dropped that thing.

 

[fatcat4620]

Also I would say that the price had not gone up, the value of the dollar has gone down.

 

[wojownik]

The depreciated exchange rate of the dollar is one factor driving up domestic pricing of commodities - take the WASR as one case in point - but that's not the only factor.

Price increases for rifles like the WASR have been significantly greater than the dollar devaluation (in the same time period). So something else is at work - such supply and demand, scarcity of parts, changes (growth) in producers' profit margins (both the suppliers of the parts kits abroad, and the added labor - and markup - by the importer/assembler/contractors).

Also, one might factor in that demand is being driven by factors different than "normal" consumerism - hype, fear of bans, TEOTWAWKI, whatever... The market does not necessarily have to be rational. Or fair.

Similarly, I picked up a SGL-21 from from K-var a few years ago for around $525. This "premium" AK currently lists at $879. The price increased by 40% in this time period, but the dollar did not depreciate by that much in the same period.

FWIW, I picked up a ROMAK-I and -II for $250 each back in the day. Toss in the compliance parts and new furniture to reconfigure them from thumbhole stocks to pistol grips, the total investment was around $350. Back in the day.

So, what's my highest price for a low end AK - about $400. For a high-end AK. About $600. So, as a consumer, I've been pushed off the bell curve - WASRs seem to be cruising right past the $500 mark.

For me, AK pricing is currently in general higher than their "worth", all other things being equal. But that's purely my own personal calculation, owning a few such rifles already. If I did not have one, really wanted one, and didn't feel like waiting (or betting) that the market rationalizes again, yeah, I'd probably plunk down several bills to pick one up. But, no way could I rationalize plunking down a grand or more on an AK, unless it was personally signed by Mikhail Kalashnikov.

 

[Inebriated]

You also get better sights,

Subjective.

better optics mounting,

A quality side mount will work just as well.

better mag release,

Subjective.

last shot hold open

AK's can have that.

Yes, I've been holding off on adding an AK to my collection because of current prices. I was considering $420 that Dunhams was offering this past weekend for a Century build, but I guess somewhere around $400 is my tipping point for an AK.

Get a Saiga.

Nice try. When your bolt shears a lug or your barrel is shot out the WASR will keep on ticking. Dont even get me started on what would happen if you dropped that thing.

That's because with WASR's, there's a good chance you're getting a shot-out barrel from the get-go. lol

 

[sansone]

an AK over $400 would force me into an AR purchase, simply much more rifle for a little more

 

[fatcat4620]

I believe wasr 10s come with new CHF chrome linned barrels.

 

[JFtheGR8]

I'd say over $500 is no longer cheap for an AK. I have about that in my Saiga which I just converted. It has a bolt hold open too so an AK pattern rifle can have that. My Del Ton cost me just under $700 to put together by the way.


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[One_Jackal]

When the AK was under $200 it was to much for me. Compared to an SKS an AK isn't really superior. The government took the SKS out of the picture, not the AK. When both were first imported in large numbers everyone wondered why pay $200 for the Russian POS when you can get a SKS for $50?