AK comparison question.
I am interested in how a Romanian WASR rifle compares to a Bulgarian Armory USA/ISD LTD rifle. Looking for thoughts on quality, reliability and value. Thanks in advance.
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Well the WASR is inexpensive- good ones are common- but every once-in-a-while you can get a bad one that does not shoot straight because of canted sights. Century Arms is not known for quality. 0 -
In a competitive market, you generally get what you pay for.
Quality control on WASR rifles can be variable, with some of the WASR rifles having canted (ie crooked) front sights, problems with "trigger slap" (that's where the cycling action causes the just-fired trigger to jump forward against the trigger finger) or bad finishes.
Not every gun has these problems, and those that do can generally be fixed up with some work. But buying one of these you can't see or try is a bit of a crap shoot, and having to fix any gun is a PITA.
In terms of the Bulgarian guns, here is some info from a wiki site:
quote:Armory USA's Bulgarian Imported AKs
All information and research by ShooterDave; editted and formatted by Sean Newton
I did some research on the Bulgarian AK known as the SSR85 C-2. It's based upon the Armory USA 1.6mm receiver. When the 2005 barrel ban was introduced, Armory USA got around this by importing complete Bulgarian-built rifles from the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense. These rifles, although using stamped receivers, were built from milled parts kits. The receiver was designed by a Mr. Ivan Kolev, a chief engineer at Arsenal of Bulgaria, and that is the reason behind its unconventional dimples. The rifle uses special front and rear trunnions, and a new trigger guard. The result is somewhat of a hybrid AK. They are imported with a single-stack magazine well, which is opened up to double stack after importation at Armory USA's American facility. Armory USA has 3 sets of stamping dies - 2 in the U.S. (1mm and 1.6mm), and one in Bulgaria, in 1.6mm.
The SSR85C-2 is made by ISD of Bulgaria. Where in Bulgaria, and why they were set up, is the 2 dollar question. The first SSR-85's were built with Hungarian receivers and Polish parts kits. The later versions, the SSR-56's, used a Chinese Polytech barrel on the same receiver. Some were made with Ohio Ordinance Works receivers.
-- SeanNewton - 31 Oct 2007
Of course if you want to get one, get it, particularly if you find one you like at a good price. In general, I'm not convinced that now is the best time to buy an AK.
*LOTS* of these guns got moved during the recent "Obama panic", but since then its become pretty clear that he doesn't have the votes to pass any signficant gun control act right now.
In the meantime, prices are dropping, availability is increasing, and I wouldn't be surprised if in 5-6 months time, there is a bit of a glut of these on the market, with people trying to trade in their barely fired examples for cash in a bad market.0 -
The WASR ans SAR rifles that I have owned or shot where all capable of exceptable accuracy.. 2" to 4" groups at 100 yards.. The Arsenals i have shot usually shoot between 1.5" and 3" at the same distance with the same ammo. The usual group i shoot consists of five rounds, and i try to measure the groups dispersion. 0
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