Late Christmas Present

[PennsyPlinker]

Last night we met up with the final group of relatives to complete our Christmas visiting obligations and gift exchanges. I was given a small envelope with that most versatile of gifts inside. After thanking the givers and sending them on their way at the end of the evening, I turned to my loving wife and said, "you already know where I am going with this tomorrow". She said, "Yeah, the gun shop."

Fast forward to the gun shop this afternoon, after getting in a couple loads of firewood. I walked in with the intent of looking hard and close at a Kel Tec Sub 2000. I was thinking along the lines of a long gun, as I already have more handguns than hands, and the long gun inventory could use some work. The Kel Tec was gone, but he had these rough looking AK type things hanging on the wall...

To make a long story a little shorter, I came home with a Romanian WASR. What exactly does WASR mean, anyway? The number on the side looks like 10/63, but the engraving is a little wavy. I had a friend of mine along with me, and we went straight to the range, ran some patches through it, and commenced to make some noise. We put about 200 rounds through it before we had to leave so he could get to work. It was his first time ever firing a semi auto rifle, and he was grinning like a little kid. I think I was too, although I am a little older than that. Boy is this thing fun to shoot! While I am sure it would not win a match against some other fancier guns, it will hit a bad guy very easily out to 100 yds.

I checked in here after getting home this evening, and already found Weaselchew's site mentioned in another thread. So, I am on my way there to read up on this thing. Just wanted to sound off a little. I am sure there will be questions coming.

As I was typing this up, Daughter #2 came walking in the door. It was one of those things where she was running in and running out to meet one of her friends. I held up the new gun and said "Looky here". It stopped her dead in her tracks (so to speak). She is now planning on going to the range with me tomorrow so she can shoot the thing before she goes back to school, and already told her mother that shopping for bridesmaid dresses (for Daughter #1's event) will have to wait until she puts some rounds through this thing!

 

[Juna]

First off, congrats on the new purchase!

Secondly, I was also considering a Kel-Tec Sub 2000 & my wife got me a WASR 10 for Xmas, too! Actually, I still have to pick it up, but I'm excited based on your range report. That's pretty funny that we were considering the same guns and wound up with Xmas WASR 10's. Can't wait to get that puppy out the range!

How much did ammo run you? Did you experience "trigger slap" when you shot it? How's the accuracy? Recoil?

 

[PennsyPlinker]

Thanks Juna, and the same to you. I think you will really have some fun with this thing. We fired about 200 rounds of Wolf steel ammo through it. It got very hot, to the point where grease was cooking out of the stock. It stank pretty bad, like they mixed Crisco with cat pee to get the consistency they wanted. It needs a good cleaning to get the rest of the cosmoline off of it, but I may have to do something about the stocks. They are very poorly finished, with sanding scratches and fuzz. They are all plywood with the exception of the upper piece on the forestock, which looks to be some variety of beech. I have a full woodshop, so walnut stocks are not out of the question.

Recoil is not bad at all. I am big - 6' 2" and 400 lbs. People ask me who I play pro ball for, since it is not a marshmallowy 400. But my friend is 6' 2" and 150 lbs - very much on the lean side, and he had no problem with recoil at all. The other long guns with which I can compare it are the 03A3 .30-06 I used to own and my Winchester Model 94 in .44 magnum. Compared to them it was very easy to shoot. I did not notice any trigger slap, and even though I did not think to look for it, after reading about it, I think I would have noticed with the number of rounds we fired. The trigger says Tapco USA 62 on it.

Accuracy? I was shooting fairly fast, like one round every second or two, an I was able to shoot some ragged holes, although the distribution would not be something to brag about. If it were even a medium sized bad guy, every round would have been center of mass for me. For my friend, he had a couple of flyers, but again, probably 95%+ of his rounds went into the COM. The sight needs some adjustment for me, as I was consistently shooting to the left of the target.

Good luck with yours, and I will look forward to reading about your experiences!

Edit in: I misread your ammo question. We got 480 rounds for $109.00. The guys at the gunshop told me we could get it cheaper on line, but we were not waiting to shoot this thing! I was going to buy a smaller amount, but my friend really wanted to shoot this thing, and he volunteered to pay for some ammo for the privilege.

 

[ohioarmedneutrality]

Congrats to both of you on your new-found Christmas joy!

I got a GP WASR 10 for Christmas also. Planning on shooting holes through something this Saturday or Sunday. Working during this week has been a drag. Dark when I leave, dark when I get home. Not conducive to shooting (or at least seeing what you are shooting at)

I think this has been an AK-47 Christmas. Seems like everyone is getting one. Wonder if this has something to do with a new, unpredictable Congress or if the Romanian's are just priced right at the moment. Either way, the wait is killing me.

 

[Juna]

Cool! Thanks for all the info. I still have to pick up a rifle cleaning kit (I only have a 9mm/.38/.357 cleaning kit) so I can get the cosmoline off of it. Any suggestions for how to best get it out of there short of a bunch of swabs through the barrel & a bunch of scrubbing?

Ohio: I know the feeling. Sometimes I work weird hours, too. Let me know how the range trip goes! I probably won't get there til 2007!

 

[PennsyPlinker]

Kerosene works well for removing cosmoline, at least on other machinery. I don't see why it would be a problem with this thing either. It isn't like it is going to hurt the wood any.

 

[PennsyPlinker]

I think this has been an AK-47 Christmas. Seems like everyone is getting one. Wonder if this has something to do with a new, unpredictable Congress or if the Romanian's are just priced right at the moment.

Well I had some money burning a hole in my pocket, but I did consider that the high capacity mags and evil looking guns might become scarce again when I was making my decision. I was a little surprised when I told my wife about it. She is not a real enthusiastic shooter, but she supports my habit. She took me aback though when she said, "An AK-47!?! They're so evil looking!" Now she knows better than that! Of course, she is used to my John Wayne style Winchester 94.

 

[ohioarmedneutrality]

"Evil looking?" Heck, that's part of the appeal!

My folks came over to visit on Christmas day. I already told my dad beforehand what I was getting and made him promise not to tell my mom, who HATES guns.
When I brought it out to show them, the contrast between the two was worlds apart. My dad was grinning from ear to ear (he's a former Marine). My mother, on the other hand, had a look on her face like I had just driven an M1Abrams tank into the living room.

 

[ohioarmedneutrality]

First outing with my WASR

WOW! Why did I wait so long? In the words of Chris Farley, "That... was... AWESOME!"
Went out to the woods behind my parent's house. Someone had left some old plastic milk jugs out there (presumably other shooters) so I set one up as a target.
Started off slow, just to get a feel for it. I was really surprised at how little recoil there is, although it does take some adjusting to re-aim.
Then I speeded it up some. One shot propelled the milk jug probably 15-20 feet in the air, where it landed in some tree branches. THAT right there was worth it.
All-in-all fired 90 rounds. Wolf FMJ. No jams, misfeeds, etc. Barrel got d*** hot, especially after some rapid fire. I let it cool down now and again since it was smoking.
I hope to take it to a local range so I can test its accuracy and any sight adjustments that need to be made. Today was just the initial test drive, and so far, excellent.
I've heard some bad stories about the WASRs, but mine worked like a charm. No so-called "trigger slap." I really want to get some extra mags so I don't have to stop and reload all the time.
Now I understand how easy it is to go through a mess of rounds in a short time. The most fun I have had shooting in quite a while. I think extra magazines and ammo will be on my Birthday/ Christmas/ Anniversary/ Valentines Day/ etc. list from now on.
I am officially addicted.

 

[PennsyPlinker]

Yeah, lots of fun, ain't it? I am starting to look for some inexpensive ammo too. It's just too bad we lost our shooting range in the back yard when the development went in behind us. Plastic milk jugs, soda bottles, and tin cans full of water are a lot of fun!

 

[ohioarmedneutrality]

I filled an empty 2-liter full of water to take with me to my parent's house today, then forgot to bring it along. Had to use some pop cans instead. Thankfully I didn't forget to bring the ammo!
Put another 80 rounds through her today...not one problem. What a great rifle!