In search of... an education

I've considered obtaining an AK clone as a plinker (the most obvious use)/home defense (the use I hope never happens) rifle.

Looking at the various sites I find a bewildering array and variety of AK clones. What's the difference between a Polish and a Bulgarian and a Chinese made? What are the choices for calibers/chamberings?

It makes choosing a 1911 clone look easy.

Is there a central repository for information that is up to date, authoritative and written so the information impaired can understand it?

Tons of great sites out there. AR15.com has an AK section with some decent information and links to authorative sites.

Yeah AK's can make 1911's look like they've got next to nothing for options. Much like the AR series, you have to know what you're looking for. The best way I've found to do most of that is to come up with a price I'm willing to pay and go from there.

There's actually a couple of good looking AK's for sale on this site right now.

Things to look for:

Make sure the Front Sight Post isn't canted to either side!!!! Fixable, but a pain none the less.

Check the wood, look for big gouges and splits.

Ask about trigger slap for that particular weapon. Most times AK's running more than $500 won't have the problem, but check it out anyway.

Yeah you can spend a ton of time looking for various parts and at the different models. I've got a Rommy, it was a cheap buy and needed work. I'm about $200 more into it above the origional cost, but it's a damn fine weapon sans trigger slap _fix coming soon_ and they aren't hard to work on and cheap to improve.

Again, figure out what you want to spend and go from there. You can snag em' as low as $250-300 all the way up to 1K+

I agree with BadShot.

I've got a Romanian SAR1. Paid $349 for it two or three years ago. They are no longer producted. Now it's the WSIR or something. But I've put some money (again about $200) in "improvements" into it. Now I've got about the same amount into it as I would in an AK I likely wouldn't have added much extra $$$ too. But instead of coughing up $550 - $650 up front I was able to spread it out over several months. Plus I enjoyed working on the rifle. Something else to think about.

Another option is to get in on one of the builds. :cool: