AK47 and Nagant Question

[FireForged]

A buddy showed me a flyer he received from Federal Arms Corp where they have several soviet type rifles dirt cheap. I was wondering who makes a "quality " AK (Russia, egypt,Romania ect) They had many listed.

Also I was wondering if the Russian Nagant 7.62x54 is a quality rifle?? I have a very old one that I am afraid to fire and may buy one in "new condition" unless I hear something neg about them Thanks in advance!!!

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[Jaeger]

IMHP the Bulgarian AKs are the best of the best. (SA93, SLR95, etc...)
The Moisin Nagant is a quality rifle. I find them to be a bit awkward in the human engineering dept. but a Nagant in good shape will serve you well. I bought a 91/54 (similar to a M44 but w/o the bayonet) for $65. It didn't look like it had ever been fired. It's a rugged little gun and is reasonably accurate. The price is right on these guns right now (ammo is cheap too!) Pick one up.

 

[Destructo6]

With AKs, about the only ones you need a quality check are the Egyptian Maadis and the 5.45x39 Romanian rifles. Fit and finish aren't quite as good on these. I saw a Romanian 5.45 whose barrel/trunion had been installed at about a 5degree cant to the right of centerline.

About the only ones you should probably avoid outright are the Hesse receivered AKs. I haven't seen much made by Hesse that passed a cursory inspection.

Unfortunately, the only was to get a real Kalashnikov, made by Izvmech, is to buy a Saiga or VEPR.

I have a Polish Nagant M-44 (carbine with side folding bayonet), and I've been impressed with this thing. It's accuracy is, by the seat of the pants, amazing. The recoil is pretty amazing, too. The fit and finish are great, only having wear around the muzzle (where the bayonet attaches) and the top of the front sight protector. This thing has matching numbers (bolt, receiver, etc) and appeared to have been stored immediately after being produced (Having been made in 1952, and the AK replacing it around then, I understand that this is exactly what happened).

 

[spleenandideal]

FireForged~

Check out www.AK-47.net for info on AK variants. A great place to learn about the most widely used long-arm of the not-so-free world. I recently acquired a pre '89 ban Polytech, and it is by far my most favorite AK variant I currently own. The romanian SAR i got a few years back and, although ugly, shoots spectacularly. I've handled the new MAADIs that are out now with the US legal pistol grips....the finish is not all that inspiring, but for the do-it-yourselfer, these are great guns to refinish. According to the experts at AK-47.net anyway.

I too have the Polish M44 with the bayo....purchased in as-new condition a couple years back for 65 bucks. A beauty, though as Destructo6 pointed out, can be a bruiser after bustin' several boxes of surplus ammo. You cannot lose with any M-N varaint out there. But I personally think the carbines are the prettiest of them all.

 

[James K]

All the M-N rifles are good. Some of the best are those made here, which are very accurate, but the Russian and Polish are very good also. The recoil of the little carbine is brutal, though, especially for those tender shoulders not used to a full power military rifle.

Jim