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Posted: 8/21/2015 2:36:45 PM EDT
Grab a beer (or other beverage of your choosing) and reading glasses if you need them. This is a bit wordy but I hope worth the read.
This past Saturday I acted on the urge to purchase an AKM-pattern rifle. After doing a bunch of research and reading/watching reviews, I finally settled on the new WASR-10 from Century Arms. I picked it up yesterday! -----Background----- This is my first Kalashnikov-pattern rifle of any sort, and to be honest the desire for one has come about rather recently. When I first got into firearms, I wasn’t too interested in an AKM variant as I didn’t much care for the design when compared to other rifles. As both an enthusiast and an engineer, I have tremendous respect for the rifle and its design for what it was and what it was designed for, but just never felt like getting one. So fast forward a few years, a few handguns, a few bolt actions, and a few semi-autos. Earlier this year after getting a M1911A1 reproduction, I really got the desire form some simpler, military-design firearms. I picked up a SP1 upper and started on a Retro build and helped a friend build his first AK, and then we got on the topic of AK-style rifles and what his options were in California. Well that was a poor choice for me because I started helping him look and the idea sort of got planted in my head too. At the start of August, with my retro AR build delayed waiting for its lower, I really started looking and it became apparent that I was going to be getting an AK-pattern rifle, it was just a matter of when. -----Selection Process----- I started with a list of things I wanted and went from there. I was going to post asking you guys, but figured you got enough of these kinds of posts and didn’t want to annoy anyone. -Intended Purpose: General-use. Range fun and plinking. -Price Limit: ~$750 -Caliber: 7.62x39 or 5.45x39 -Design: As close to a standard AKM as possible. -Furniture: Wood. AKM pattern preferred. -Stock: Solid stocks only. (I learned about underfolders the “hard” way with my UZI Model B ![]() -Side Rail preferred, but not a deal-breaker if the rifle had a lot going for it otherwise -Must take standard, surplus AK mags. -Sold by Atlantic Firearms is a plus I basically browsed Atlantic’s AK page with the exception of Classic Firearms for two or three options. I wanted something pretty basic and after looking at things from Atlantic (some of their home built offerings and exclusives), DDI, Petronov, I.O. Inc, Pioneer, Century (247C, C93v2, N/O-PAP’s, WASR), and even some things that were a bit off but could be “fixed” with the addition of solid stocks (Tantal, AMD-63 if the price was really good, even a VZ58/2008), I basically found myself looking at the I.O. Inc “Classic”, the WASR-10, and one of the USA-Made Century’s. The PAP’s fell off because of furniture restrictions, but they were an option, the Tantal because I’d have to go used and fear of the bad barrels (and for my first Kalashnikov, 7.62 just sounded better). And then I read some stuff and saw some things and dropped the I.O. Inc off the list. Possible frustrations, hassles, and issues they had but supposedly fixed was not worth saving $40 over the next option. Looking at the last three Century options, I decided to go with the WASR for a combination of smaller things that I wanted: side rail, bayonet lug, cleaning rod, ability to take AKM furniture without modification, no “modernized” parts like the BHO safety and jumbo mag release, the nice CHF chrome-lined barrels, and the larger amount of positive reviews and suggestions. Some of the other, more expensive AK’s seemed to be primarily different in what country’s parts they used, the fit-and-finish, and the furniture. With an AR it seems you can see a bit more when it comes to what your money gets you. But for an AK-type rifle, while I know the higher end stuff is great, I just wanted something basic and didn't feel I'd get more along those lines While I have no doubt that they are good rifles, I couldn’t justify the extra amount when this would just be a fun plinking rifle. I’d rather spend the difference on ammo. For $600 shipped, the WASR-10 seems to be exactly what I wanted at a very attractive price. As longs as it works well and with reasonable accuracy for an AK-style rifle, I’m sure I’ll be plenty happy with my purchase. I plan to keep this rifle very basic. The only thing I plan to add for sure is some nice Romanian furniture (I really want to try that handguard with the integral vertical grip and I do not like this black pistol grip). Down the line I may consider some form of optic for occasional use, but it will be a Soviet/Russian style one that latches on to the side. Also that pin retaining plate instead of the hook/”paper clip”, but I don’t know if that is just a convenience thing or not. -----Basic Questions----- I do have a few questions regarding Kalashnikov rifle ownership: Anything in particular I should watch out for with my rifle? Any specific tools you’d suggest I look into? I already have a front sight tool on the way. What is a good way to zero the rifle so the rear sight’s range adjustment is functional? I’ve seen the method of using the “P” setting, methods that just say to zero it at 100 and you’ll be good, and then methods that just seem to zero at whatever range they want and not touch the rear sight at all. I have access to ranges from 10yd-600yd, and I’d like to be able to use the neat ladder sight when I switch between them. I’ll be using the next post to go through my initial thoughts on the rifle and the post after that for an initial range report. |
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Front Sight tool is definitely great. Otherwise, there's nothing special you need.
If there is no cant in the front sight or randomly the rear sight bends to a side. Otherwise, stick with Easter European mags, Chinese (not Korean - except the new jet black 20s). Bakelite, Circle10 and Toffs Technologies are all great but are more money. Good luck and enjoy! |
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Quoted:
AK sight tool is the only AK specific tool I've needed so far. For zeroing - remember they use metric over there so 109 yards is 100 meters. Two easy ways to do it, either zero @ 100 meters with the sight set to one or a touch low at 100 yards... or... AKOU has a great video on how - note that you want to zero a bit lower if you only have a 100 yard range and are using the 300meter method. View Quote Thanks! I've watched that video and others from them as well. Based on some calculations I found, it says that a 100M zero setting with a 7.62x39mm should be about 0.19" above the point of aim at 100yd. That seems to make sense and I was planning on drawing something up quickly in CAD so I have a nice "AIM HERE. BULLETS SHOULD BE HERE" for that range. Granted, that assumes I can actually get some good shots off. I like to be optimistic, but realistic. ![]() At the range I joined, I have access to up to the 200 yard range without taking a qualification check. then I can go out to 600 yards |
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Most of those shavings are likely from Century opening-up the magwell, which is how they got into both the barrel and gas tube. Yes, the parkerizing is weak on the Romanian rifles, but it does the job and it accepts paint readily should you decide to go that route. Congrats on the new purchase!
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Quoted:
Most of those shavings are likely from Century opening-up the magwell, which is how they got into both the barrel and gas tube. Yes, the parkerizing is weak on the Romanian rifles, but it does the job and it accepts paint readily should you decide to go that route. Congrats on the new purchase! View Quote That makes a lot of sense and I feel really dumb for not putting those two factors together myself. Also thanks for the info on the park job. |
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do 2015 WASRs have romanian cugir receivers and romanian chrome lined barrels?
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Most Romanian AK's I've had the front sight post position was factory set to zero the rifle not merely pressed in to some arbitrary spot and then the post installed. Some AK's will have the sight post set at the extreme edge of their adjustment range to get them zeroed. If this bothers you, you can cant the FSB in the direction the front sight post is maxed out and take a small needle file to the FSB pin holes to adjust them when reinstalling the FSB pins. This will give a bit of cant to the FSB but will have the benefit of making the sight post more centered.
If you want to mod it in this way make sure before any filing and reinstalling the FSB pins that you check your actual zero at the range and adjust the position of the FSb accordingly to zero the rifle and center up the front post. Alternatively you could just buy an RPK windage adjustable rear sight (can be a bit pricey) and install it without any mods, center up the front post and adjust the rear sight to achieve your zero. Congrats on your new rifle... |
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Can you take a pic of the magwell from directly underneath the rifle?
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Congrats on your new rifle and welcome to the darkside!
![]() And thanks for a great in-depth post/review and all the pics, it's a lot of work making a post like that and I really appreciate folks who go to that kind of trouble for the community. ![]() |
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And I thought mine had a lot of metal in it
![]() Nice looking rifle, they've come a long way since the 10/63 |
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Just for clarification ,The SKU# is a internal SKU we use here and has nothing to do with anything official from Century , We list W/O Bayonet on there because the WASRs from a year two back used to come with bayonets and customers still try to demand a bayonet thinking that somehow we are stealing them. Please let us know how your new rifle worked out for you at the range !!!!
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Quoted: Congrats on your new rifle and welcome to the darkside! ![]() And thanks for a great in-depth post/review and all the pics, it's a lot of work making a post like that and I really appreciate folks who go to that kind of trouble for the community. ![]() View Quote Yes indeed a great effort OP, and thanks. |
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Thanks a lot for all the input guys! I'm heading to the range shortly and will get feedback on the most important part later tonight.
I added a few pictures to the original post based on some requests. Sorry if they aren't the greatest, but some were rather awkward to try and get. I can also report that I am already finding creative ways to use my new rifle. Take a good look at the rear plate on the stock. Does that look like the face of a meat tenderizer to you? I don't know if that is a simple coincidence, but I may or may not have tested it on some beef round steak on Friday. Quoted:
do 2015 WASRs have romanian cugir receivers and romanian chrome lined barrels? View Quote Yes. I added a picture of the receiver markings. As for the Chrome barrel, I can't get a good picture but simply from looking down it and seeing the sheen, I can say it certainly appears chrome lined as it looks like some of my other crome lined bores (and not some of my non-chrome lined bores). Plus, I doubt Century would lie about something so major! Quoted:
Most Romanian AK's I've had the front sight post position was factory set to zero the rifle not merely pressed in to some arbitrary spot and then the post installed. Some AK's will have the sight post set at the extreme edge of their adjustment range to get them zeroed. If this bothers you, you can cant the FSB in the direction the front sight post is maxed out and take a small needle file to the FSB pin holes to adjust them when reinstalling the FSB pins. This will give a bit of cant to the FSB but will have the benefit of making the sight post more centered. View Quote Thanks for the info! I'll be heading out to the range shortly to sight it in. I really don't want to unpin things. Not going to lie, but that seems like a lot more work than it is worth for a fairly aesthetic change (assuming the rifle zeroes). Quoted:
Can you take a pic of the magwell from directly underneath the rifle? View Quote Sure thing! Added to the original review post for you! I also took one with the BCG and cover on, but figured you wanted one with just the receiver so you could see through. Quoted:
Congrats on your new rifle and welcome to the darkside! ![]() And thanks for a great in-depth post/review and all the pics, it's a lot of work making a post like that and I really appreciate folks who go to that kind of trouble for the community. ![]() View Quote It is work, but if it helps someone who was in my situation then it is absolutely worth it! I did the same thing after I build my first AR. As for the dark side, I don't know what you mean. As of right now, this purchase is saving me money! I was planing on building an KISS 16" AR down the line (solid stock, A2 upper) to have a nice intermediate between my other AR's. Now I have a rifle that already fits that bill and it is a type of rifle I didn't have before but wanted. ![]() Quoted:
Just for clarification ,The SKU# is a internal SKU we use here and has nothing to do with anything official from Century , We list W/O Bayonet on there because the WASRs from a year two back used to come with bayonets and customers still try to demand a bayonet thinking that somehow we are stealing them. Please let us know how your new rifle worked out for you at the range !!!! View Quote Stealing bayonets? Really? That is kind of special to get accused of that. Your price on Romanian bayonets is quite reasonable anyways. Either way thanks for the clarification. I updated the comments about my experience with you guys to clarify this. I will say that your activity on the forum combined with your reputation for customer service were major factors in my choice to purchase from you. The prices, selection, and QC brought me to Atlantic, but the reviews and reputation sealed the deal. Plus, your willingness to modify rifles for California is great. My friend is there (and with the sweet living conditions he has, he'd be a bit crazy to leave no matter how stupid the laws are) and Atlantic is the main place he looks at things. |
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Nice review. Thanks for taking time to do it. Looking forward to the range report. I've been thinking about getting one of these myself. You are right about Atlantic being great to deal with. They have some of the best CS out there.
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Well today was a bit of a bust at the range. All the things I had planned to do fell through / didn't quite come together: I couldn't find anything to fill the new rests I got, three stores didn't have ammo, the fourth store had horrific, gouging prices, the WASR is shooting way to the side, and the sight doesn't seem to want to move.
To add insult to injury, I realized when I got back that I think I was trying to drift the sight the wrong way anyways. The rifle is shooting about 10"-12" to the left. I joked with a friend that this must be one of the California versions as it refuses to go anywhere but to the left. Now that I am home, I managed to use some oil and a light rubble mallet to get the front sight to drift with the tool. Downside is that I have to go check the zero again which, even though it means shooting more, means that I won't know about the results for at least a week. Function wise, the rifle works just fine. The action is smooth and the trigger is quite nice. |
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That's the nicest finished Wasr I've seen! Wood looks decent too!
My Sar1 bought back in 2001 looked like it was kicked across a gravel parking lot. Edited to add I use c-clamp style ak front sight tool. I also bring along a short piece of pipe to use as a breaker bar (get more leverage) on the C-Clamp sight tool. Those front sight drums are in there good and tight. |
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Quoted:
That's the nicest finished Wasr I've seen! Wood looks decent too! My Sar1 bought back in 2001 looked like it was kicked across a gravel parking lot. Edited to add I use c-clamp style ak front sight tool. I also bring along a short piece of pipe to use as a breaker bar (get more leverage) on the C-Clamp sight tool. Those front sight drums are in there good and tight. View Quote That's a good idea. I'll try and find some small ID pipe to use. Hopefully I can get out to the range again next weekend (hopefully more prepared as well!). That should allow for a bit more fine adjustment than gentle mallet taps, no matter how light the mallet is. Now that the sight is more centered, the C-clamp tool can attach more easily as well. I'd rather have the front sight be tight and difficult to adjust than loose and not hold a zero!. |
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The FSB may be canted for a reason. Shoot it and see if it's good and on target. If it is, and canting the FSB to the plumb position will not interfere with zeroing, you can certainly fix it or have it fixed. But there's a chance that it had to be canted in order to get the rifle to zero.
The way I correct sight cant is to remove the retaining pins in the FSB using a hydraulic press with a drill chuck on the ram, loaded with lengths of 3mm drill rod. After that, I can either beat the FSB over with a brass hammer or press it off and press it back on using the hydraulic press and a fixture made for this purpose. Then, a drill press or a small round file can be used to remove barrel material inside the retaining pin holes before driving the retaining pins back in. I realize this process requires a lot of tools. ![]() |
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And sometimes you can just smack the shit out of the FSB with a rubber mallet and it will move ![]() I would center the sight post in the base and adjust from there. If you are shooting way left you will need to move the sight post to the left toward center anyway. |
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Quoted:I would center the sight post in the base and adjust from there. If you are shooting way left you will need to move the sight post to the left toward center anyway.
View Quote Yup! That is the plan. I actually ordered some Romanian steel mags and the Romanian furniture today as well. I want to see how the magwell is with metal mags. |
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some polymer ak mags hit the mag well at the rear area near the mag catch. newer polish and bulgarian especially. these mags have two small ears on either side of the rear catch which are supposed to prevent debris from entering the receiver through a small gap here.
unfortunately the milling that century does here is not totally complete. the mag well should be drilled or millled out in two small circular spots on either side of the mag catch base plate to be truly correct. it doesnt cause a problem with most mags because only a few types have these small ears. easiest thing to do is just clip or file the small ears off the back of the offending polymer mags. |
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Wood glue can work wonders, but I'd file this under SOL. The upper handguards are pretty snugly pressed into place with the spring and such. Can't hurt to try anyway, these aren't hard to locate though should the glue not work out.
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The wood glue seemed to work just fine. After a 24 hour cure and judicious sanding, the upper handguard / gas tube cover is installed. The extra layer of shellac also covered the tiny seam very well.
Speaking of shellac, after removing the old finish from the lower handguard and redoing it, it looks fantastic! The entire set of "new" furniture has had its shellac touched-up or redone, then was buffed with 0000 steel wool. It looks gorgeous and I'll post pictures after the range trip today! This time I'll be sure to bring oil for the front sight and a rod /small mallet for leverage. |
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Quoted:
The wood glue seemed to work just fine. After a 24 hour cure and judicious sanding, the upper handguard / gas tube cover is installed. The extra layer of shellac also covered the tiny seam very well. Speaking of shellac, after removing the old finish from the lower handguard and redoing it, it looks fantastic! The entire set of "new" furniture has had its shellac touched-up or redone, then was buffed with 0000 steel wool. It looks gorgeous and I'll post pictures after the range trip today! This time I'll be sure to bring oil for the front sight and a rod /small mallet for leverage. View Quote You could remove the finish/shellac from the upper handguard, then laminate a piece of birch veneer over the whole thing. I used a vaccum bag to keep the veneer in place while the glue cured. You can do the entire operation with the handguard attached. I did that on a MAADI handguard that was heavily chipped. Stained it up with rit dye tinted amber shellac. ![]() |
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It's nobody's business but yours, but please do be careful of 922(r).
And if you have a source for US made followers, please let me know. ![]() |
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You probably learned this, but it is 100x easier to put the rear flats of the gas tube in the vise and twist the upper handguard off. This way, you can really snug the vise up without cracking the wood.
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Quoted:
It's nobody's business but yours, but please do be careful of 922(r). And if you have a source for US made followers, please let me know. ![]() View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
It's nobody's business but yours, but please do be careful of 922(r). And if you have a source for US made followers, please let me know. ![]() I appreciate the thought! This is my first rifle where 18 U.S.C. § 922(r) / 27 CFR 478.39 really matters; my Tavor doesn't really have a way to be non-compliant unless you use foreign mags and my IMI UZI Model B Carbine is pre-1990. I actually contacted Century Arms with regards to this and the list of US-Made compliance parts on a WASR-10 when you receive it is below: -Trigger -Disconnector -Hammer -Piston -Muzzle Device -Pistol Grip Based on the parts on the AKM-pattern rifle that matter, this means that I am fine if I use US-made magazine but over if I use foreign magazines. As I prefer the steel ones, I've already started looking at my options. One way would be changing the followers, but I would rather not have my compliance based solely on the magazine in use. More likely what I will do is get a US-made pistol grip. I have been looking at some options, such as taking a brown one (and possibly modifying it to look like bakelite, there is a guy on the Retro forums who can do this), getting one from Ronin's Grips that are close to the right color to begin with, seeing if I can get a TimberSmith laminate grip, or even getting a wood one from IronWood. Also tempted to put up a WTB on EE. Quoted:
Well dang, I would've traded you a complete set of Romy G furniture for that nice new beech wood, but you probably want to keep the originals. Nice job. I did a couple sets a while back, this one was my favorite. http://i.imgur.com/vk0XI37.jpg I didn't think anyone would want it. Then again, I know little of what people want on AK's and since posting that I've gotten other people asking about the furniture set. I'm waiting to hear back from Century about the chip in the stock before I consider doing anything with it. I don't know if there is any value to keeping the original parts, but I usually do. |
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Figure I'd update you guys on some Customer Service related stuff from Century Arms.
I contacted them this past Wednsday regarding the original stock that cracked as I was removing it to clean out the receiver and test fit the new furniture. The got back to me the same day (within 3 hours) and asked for some details and pictures. They asked for a form (a waiver for shipping stating that everything that everything they could ship for a repair was legal and that I was 18 or older) and a state ID. Mid-day Friday I got an email saying that a new stock would be shipped out "on or before 9/14". The entire process would have taken even less time if the pictures I had weren't at home, causing me to reply to emails after working hours. I have to say, I am quite impressed in how Century CS handled things. I was expecting them to say it wasn't covered and I approached the situation by asking if it was, but the ease and speed at which things were taken care of is impressive for any company. |
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