Is this AK a good rifle at decent price?

[Bill_Rights]

I am not an AK person, but occaisionally think of getting one. Please give opinion on this one: Wideners/CenturyArms/ATM

AK1960 AK47 1960 Model, 7.62x39, w/ Milled Receiver. $589.99

AK-47 1960 semi auto rifle chambered for 7.62x39.

Has USA manufactured 16in barrel and Milled receiver by ATM. Wood furniture may be either solid or laminate or a mixture of both with a synthetic pistol grip. Features a slant cut muzzle brake and comes with one high capacity magazine and a Surplus Bayonet. This firearm was assembled by Century Arms International using both new US made parts and original used surplus parts.

My use for the rifle, besides plinking fun, would be back-up home defense/neighborhood defense. Would want iron sights to be good ones but may add low-power or reflex/holo-sight optics in future. Would this receiver or rail support that?

 

[M1key]

You will pay more for a milled receiver AK with little added benefit other than extra weight and less receiver flex. I would want to have a look down the bore and check out the internals before I'd buy.

Take a look at the Saigas if you want a NEW manufactured Russian AK. You should be able to pick one up for much less money. You will also get a side rail for mounting optics. Not so with the other milled one.

SC

 

[Chopdoktor]

"Is this AK a good rifle at decent price?"- Is the Pope Catholic? Haha, yeah, brother, you can't go wrong, in most cases. I agree with M1key, and I'll add: outside of collector value, milled offers little to no advantage for the price difference vs. a stamped. Pretty much any make of AK out there will do you fine for life, and you'll get the value out of the money you put into it. Just be wary of anything by Century, especially the WASR-10's. Some are just fine, but many are, well...not.

 

[Sky]

I have one from Centerfire systems that I paid $349....It is now $399. Mine looked all new inside and out and have not had any problems with it shooting anything I have wanted it to.

 

[conrad427]

i'm sure i read somewhere that the stamped recievers were actually the same weight or heavier. no matter i like the looks of the milled reciever, and would buy an old ak rather than a new one. If they started making the griswold family truckster again I would get the crummy old one instead of the crummy new one.

 

[Gordon_Freeman]

I'm sure that AK will be a good one, but why not save up $200 more and get an Arsenal SGL? Get a beater AK after you get a premium one because you will want more than one anyway.

 

[JHenry]

i dont trust century, but thats way cheaper then any other milled ak. which is good or bad depending on you outlook

 

[Bill_Rights]

Thanks for the help. Several of you have said "milled offers little to no advantage for the price difference vs. a stamped" or words to that effect. I suspect that programming a modern neumerically controlled milling center is cheaper than ordering a set of stamping dies, for the manufacturer, if you're only going to make a few hundred or few thousand units (actually, I don't know at what qty the break point would be, but once you've started, you'll go way past it ). And probably the stamped pieces need a few spot faces and such from the mill anyway....

Guessing, I bet the stamped is steel while the milled is aluminum alloy, hence the nearly same weight.

 

[RatherNotSay]

do yourself a favor and get an arsenal inc sgl-21

 

[Bill_Rights]

AK butt stock length?

OK, I looked at the Aresenal SGL-21. What is the diff between a Warsaw Pact and NATO butt stock length? (I know what the two organizations are/were)

Saiga rifle - Russian made stamped receiver, 7.62x39 caliber, 16" hammer forged chrome lined barrel, front sight block with bayonet lug and 24x1.5 right-hand threads, accessory lug, muzzle brake, standard mil-spec. handguards with stainless steel heat shield, polymer furniture with Warsaw Pact or NATO length buttstock, U.S. made double stage fire control group, 1000 meter rear sight leaf, scope rail, and comes with a 5-rd magazine.

Is the U.S. made double stage fire control group significant?

 

[Auto426]

The Nato buttstock is 1 1/4" longer than the Warsaw pact version. Most seem to prefer the Warsaw length.

The U.S. made double stage trigger group isn't all that significant. Since the weapon has assault rifle type features, it is subject to the 922r law. It can have no more than 10 foreign made parts, so Arsenal replaces the triggers on the Saiga's with one of their own design to help meet those regulations. The trigger should be decent from the factory, but some prefer to swap it out with a Tapco G2 trigger group.

 

[JHenry]

nato length is longer by a few inches. The trigger from a saiga needs to be replaced during conversions and the US trigger is put in for compliance to 922r

 

[RatherNotSay]

I never liked the 2 stage trigger which is why I bought the tapco g2 3.5lbs trigger. If you do get an arsenal and swap the trigger make sure it's the single hook unless you plan on making some room for the second hook on the receiver. The nato length is too long for my liking which is why I bought a collapsible 6 position stock.

 

[Sebastian the Ibis]

That seems a bit expensive for what it is. "USA manufactured barrel" doesn't sound very good to me. If it didn't roll of a com bloc assembly line it is probably not chrome lined. Shooting an AK generally requires shooting dirty steel Russian cased ammo & corrosive Yugo ammo. I want a chromed barrel when doing this.

The only thing this rifle has going for it is the milled receiver. Some people like them. I have absolutely no idea why. It just adds weight and expense for zero benefit in an AK. It's like connecting a $10 bb gun scope to a marlin 60 with a $240 DD Ross USMC M40 optical platform. What is good in one situation is worse than useless in another, but people still think it must be better for some reason.

If I were in the market for a new AK. I'd get a converted Saiga from classicarms.us for $449. I don't know who converted them, but I would eagerly take the chance at that point. I shoot a garage converted saiga I bought on this forum, and could not be any happier.

http://classicarms.us/semi-auto rifles.htm

 

[RatherNotSay]

That seems a bit expensive for what it is. "USA manufactured barrel" doesn't sound very good to me. If it didn't roll of a com bloc assembly line it is probably not chrome lined. Shooting an AK generally requires shooting dirty steel Russian cased ammo & corrosive Yugo ammo. I want a chromed barrel when doing this.

The only thing this rifle has going for it is the milled receiver. Some people like them. I have absolutely no idea why. It just adds weight and expense for zero benefit in an AK. It's like connecting a $10 bb gun scope to a marlin 60 with a $240 DD Ross USMC M40 optical platform. What is good in one situation is worse than useless in another, but people still think it must be better for some reason.

If I were in the market for a new AK. I'd get a converted Saiga from classicarms.us for $449. I don't know who converted them, but I would eagerly take the chance at that point. I shoot a garage converted saiga I bought on this forum, and could not be any happier.

http://classicarms.us/semi-auto rifles.htm

Aftermarket with that rifle's front furniture is going to be different unless converted. It would have to be saiga specific and not an ak style fit. With no threading on barrel watch your 922r compliance.

 

[Twiki357]

I don't know what the difference is for Century vs Romanian, but that price seems high compared to the prices in the flyer I just got from J&G Sales. Romanian AK-47 prices from $439.95 to $469.95 depending on hardware.

 

[mortablunt]

It's probably a great deal.

 

[JustinJ]

I'd go Saiga or better yet an Arsenal, Russian or Bulgarian.

 

[RatherNotSay]

I don't know what the difference is for Century vs Romanian, but that price seems high compared to the prices in the flyer I just got from J&G Sales. Romanian AK-47 prices from $439.95 to $469.95 depending on hardware.

I think bulgarian is all made of original parts with matching numbers/symbols. Century use new and used parts from different guns. If your going to spend that much on a century it's best to get a romanian one fully loaded for cheaper.

http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/1050/products_id/411546098