Romanian guy here. Had used two AKMs, standard 7.62x39mm in military service - one in bootcamp and one in my combat engineer battalion. The first one was manufactured in 1964 (!!!), the second one was from 1985. There was no difference between them in yhe quality of woodwork or metalwork. Both fired great; I never had jams or other problems with them (of course, we cleaned them every day, even when we have not shoot with them). We also cleaned the magazines every day and we were told to be careful with them, not to drop them or anything. We didn't have to worry about the ammo, that was issued to us on range or when we were on guard duty. We shoot quite a lot, since there was a lot of ammo that had to be disposed of, so we shot quite old ammo, but it never misfired (being properly stored into an Army ammo dump helps a lot...). So what I'm trying to say is that I saw a lot of people saying that the quality of romanian AKs is not good, so maybe the producer (Cugir plant) or the importer are doing something wrong, or anything like that? As I sad, I used two rifles, old and used by other soldiers before me, and their performance was beyond satisfactory. P.S. And don't get me started on the accuracy issue, I only say this - it's not the gun, but the man that uses it. P.P.S. English is not my natve language, but I hope I'm inteligiblle.
haha thanks. Seriously, never meant to make it an hour..figured 15-20 minutes at the outset, but so it goes. The sad part is after watching it myself, i thought of things i left out that i really wish I had included hehe.
Ozark Bear Arms hey do the wasr 10’s have a double stack bolt? Cause mine doesn’t work with a lot of the bolt hold open mags, the bolt just slides right over them, I started looking at my bolt and it looks like a single stack bolt? I thought maybe you would be the go to person to ask thank you
I'm from Belgium and we got no ban on Ak rifle. One of my ak's are a Romanian AIM, people could say wath they want over Romanian Ak, mine have thousand and thousand rounds and still working perfectly. The only "bad" on this rifle is the finish... But do we really need a nice finish on Ak? Then I got a canted front post.... But I don't really matter... Thanks for this piece of history. Greetings from Belgium. Quentin QL
Lol your countys romanians are completely different than americas ousr are made from parts kit from a company called century arms and they made them wrong your country probably takes more pride im their work
Custom_Diesel_Gas um.. no. They're sent here as single stack rifles from Romania. All Century does is open up the mag wells & make them 922r compliant.
Got my WASR 10/63 in 2013 I put the Texas Weapons rail and hand guard, and a tube folding stock on it with a Circle 10 muzzle break. LOVE it !! Got it new for 400.00. Best deal I ever got. No canted sights, all riveting was perfect. Wouldn’t trade it for any other AK. Great rifle, eats any ammo you feed it! Thanks for the video, great job.
I bought a WASR 10/63 nine years ago and really had no idea what I bought until I watched this video. Mine has a 1983 dated trunnion with the triangle stamp. It’s numbers matching from what I can tell. Also has the XY markings. Thanks for making this informative video.
Just got a WASR10 as my first "assault rifle".....at least that's what my firearms registration card says. Got a great deal on it and figured why not go with an AK instead of an AR as my first semi rifle outside of my old ruger that my dad left me. I love it and I am grateful for this channel and the work you and team do. I've learned so much. Watched your other videos and you have me wanting to get an Arsenal.
I found this video very educational (well, at least for myself, although I have spent over a decade in the Soviet Army and Russian Police with military grade AKM and AK-74 rifles in my hands), so I now I share it with my fellow gunners.
Great vid Misha....Really makes me appreciate my 10/63UF....Cool thing with mine is that it has a 1965 dated trunnion and is all #'s matching matching.
Thank you for taking the time making this. It's September 2020 when I am watching this and I just picked up one that was bought for around $300 back in the early 2000's/ It's marked 1964 and has the barrel nut/ muzzle break welded on. My buddy bought several and sold this to me for $600 doubling his money and after watching this I feel I got a good deal.
N K93. I know what you mean. I have others. They are smoother and better finished. They cost more. But they don't get my motor running like my WASR, all dressed up in Magpul!
It's American wood it's to be expected. First thing you should do after getting a wasr is getting furniture then update trigger group if it isn't either a Rak 1 or Tapco G2. Trust me when I tell you The G2 isn't much different than the Rak 1.They look and feel the same.
Mischa thank you very much for this most informative video about one of my favorite rifles. The information you provide was spot on, i bought my Wasr GP10 in the early 2ooo’s and it came with the following accessories leather sling, two 30 RND steel Mags, cleaning rod, with cleaning kit in the butt stock. Military wood furniture, bayonet with lugs, and the slanted AKM muzzle break. The price was 300.00 $. Just like you said the price has gone up and the buyer is getting lest accessories. Thank you aging for posting.
I really don't see why people have every claimed these rifles to be somehow sub standard. They are military rifles built on a semi auto receiver. Period, end of story. They are as good as anything else built in a com bloc factory anywhere in the world. Esthetically, there are prettier versions but they always run and run well. I have arsenals, yugos, Chinese, you name it and my wasr runs as good if not better. I hope the myth continues, one day when they are not being imported any longer, I will sell off all the used ones I picked up for 2 -3 hundred bucks and clean up! People said the same thing about the Chinese rifles back in the day and now they go for a small fortune. Every dog has his day.
They were substandard because fitting on a receiver that wasn't milspec. The finish was poor, the eood was poor, the alignment of gas blocks and sights were poor abd the mag well was loose. The price and reliability were good though, and that was the draw point.
i just found your channel and holy moly you are a wealth of knowledge. theres so many nuanced differences between different aks and you do an excellent job showcasing and explaining them all in detail. earned my sub. wish i could like 10 times. thank you!
Superb history, thank you! I have a new WASR, thought the stock and handguard seemed cheap, now I will start looking for furniture for it tomorrow. Really appreciate your channel...
Thank you much, and you should be able to find original Romanian wood furniture at a very reasonable price. Apex & Centerfire have had it recently in the $25ish range I believe.
MAN I learned a lot from this. Got my first AK. Its a WASR 10/63 with the side folding wire stock and I got a smoking deal from a buddy who hadn't shot it in many years. This was a great lecture!
Hey man, humungous thank you, you’r succinct and erudite presentation was fabulous. I gladly subbed man, and am looking forward to checking out the rest of your content! My hat is off to you sir.
Thank you good sir, I really appreciate all your time and effort and knowledge making this video, great info and well spoken. Great video thanks again!
Nope, not for these days. Back when the WASR was $300, the AK was no where near as popular as it is today, and Cugir was offering them to Century for a lower price, and Century was ok with making a slimmer profit margin.
I bought one in 2008 and have only fired 2 mag through it back then. Haven't touched it until today. I just google it if it was any good and damn, I got a good military wasr 10/63 for only $400. All matching #
You should see 2021 😧. I bought one of these at dunhams in Maryland of all places for 250 bucks. Bought a Yugoslavian sks there too for 79 bucks. Those were the days
Love your video's, picked up a WUM1 ratmil C.U.R.7.62x39 Intrac import last weekend. Paid $650 for an unfired rifle that had the thumbhole stock removed and a regular stock and pistol grip installed. Just finished cleaning out all the cosmoline from inside the receiver but rally happy with this. Guy told me it was a SAR1. Receiver stamped 1997, one of the first Romanian imports.
Also has uncut bayonet lug and muzzle nut tac welded on. Accepts regular mags. Am going to cut the nut off as it has the muzzle pin already on the sight block.
Good score, yep 1st year for them to come in so that's pretty cool. These are just good, solid, dependable guns. Not much flashiness or anything, but they don't need that stuff.
I had one of the "QC be damned" WASR-10s around the 08-09 timeframe. Was my first centerfire rifle given to me by my dad. It had a severely canted front sight where even drifting the post all the way to the left still didn't help. Had a super wobbly stock and lots of play in the magwell. The best part was it would even fire out of battery which was why we sold it off as a parts gun.
Purchased my WASR 10/63 9 years ago and it has become my favorite rifle by far and I own 5 different caliber rifles from bolt action to lever action and the WASR is the most simple weapon to operate
I Have a gp/wasr 10/63, 1980 dated trunnion. I picked it up from a friend, he had it for a long time, then i looked at new wasr's in stores now, and they felt, not a nice/solid compared. your video helped me figure about when this was produced, so thanks a ton, super informative.
I'm confused about the situation around 20:35 So they were bringing the GP WASRs over, century was doing their thing and then selling them. The Romy G kits were coming in as well, and then in 2005 the authorities said that the barrels couldn't come over in the parts kits, IF they'd been part of a machine gun. How did the WASR 10/63 help with this if they were essentially taking the same barrels off machine guns? Were they good to go because those were shipped as rifles and not parts kits? Were people just buying the 10/63 so they could get the barrels to build out the Romy G kits?? Were the Romy G barrels that much better than the barrels that were being sent in the previous generation GP WASR rifles?
That was great man respect !!! Excellent content lot of information gonna watch this again w couple friends who are Romanian enthusiasts. Oh thanks for hitting me back a week or so ago I appreciate that.
My first WASR, bought in the early 2000s, was missing the entire bolt assembly! It had the carrier, so it looked complete. So much for QC! Have loved every one I owned since then.
Thank you for sharing such an excellent and comprehensive video dedicated to a great AK import variant. I bought a used GP WASR-10 last August as my first AK and I have absolutely no regrets. It must be an early import because it has a front trunion year of 1981, matching numbers on the small parts and electro pencil import marks on the receiver. When I bought it, it had the "donkey dong" front handguard, plum colored pistol grip and the shellac Romanian wood stock with the black stripe down the rear. The only thing I have changed out is the front handguard because I prefer the palm swell style and added a leather Romanian sling. So far, I have put over 3,000 rounds through it and it still runs like a top and has no issues eating up even the junkiest Tulammo.
The WASR10 is probably the best, first AK to own. Yours originally came with the usual furniture, but the previous owner changed it out for a set of surplus 'Romie-G' stuff. Most of the guns built from original military parts came in 2007-2013. Yours probably did too.
Misha, I know you said you don't have a doctorate, but I've learned more from you than I ever have from most professors. You have an astonishing memory. I have a request: please consider making a video about the WASR-3. It is becoming rare, and from what I've heard it had something of a checkered history as it was supposed to have had a lot of modifications done on it.
Thank you, I'd love to honor your request but I simply don't have a WASR-3 nor do any friends. If one coms into the store, it'll get a video for sure though, cheers.
Bought my WASR 10/63 ($400 from Buds!) around 2007. Stained the wood and fixed a slightly canted front sight. Well after 3000 plus rounds 0 issues 👍🏻. Have run Europe surplus , Mag Pul, Pro Mag, Chinese and Circle 10 magazines that all run flawlessly! All parts matching numbers, the goodies and a 1969 manufacturing date. Still My favorite plinking rifle to this day.
I have a 2016 Wasr 10 and I love it, it shoots great also I put new Polish laminate wood furniture on it that I purchased from Arms of America! Thanks for Your great reviews and videos!
You really know your dung here..! I have a WASR-10 that I bought in late 2004...The manufacture year was 03. Still own it with no failures what so ever. Mine has no mag wobble using Polish 30rd AK mags..Great video here..!!
Wow this guy is definitely an encyclopedia of the Romanian akm Out standing job I own 3 early versions of that gun and I love them all I don't care what anybody says great job keep up the good videos
I just bought my first WASR made in 2015. Guy i bought it from put surplus romy furniture, swapped the bolt for a maakdi(?) Chrome bolt and a russian bakelite grip, even gave me a nice case. Paid 800 (little high i know, but im okay with that). I'm loving it so far, i want to get one of the underfolders and or rpk's from atlantic arms and have multiple AK's.
That 10/63 KR is really interesting. I'd never heard of one of those. A Draco might make an interesting donor for conversion to that configuration if someone wanted to avoid a tax stamp. 58:36 Most accurate description of the Kalashnikov, ever.
I got a Romak99.1 post ban , The import stamp says Romarm/Cugir D.I.G. VA Beach VA. The last numbers of my serial are 98-99 so i assume maybe came in 98 or 99 but suppose could be totally unrelated to date and just be a number too, been a great gun ive put at least a thousand rounds through it so far , I got it used so no telling how many total now , but , great rifle , I know this older vid, im actually , re watching and didnt notice you mentioned the romaks before lol love your channel and what you do man! Great information and awesome collection of beautiful rifles ! Hoping friday imma be picking up a new AK , Zastava , possibly haha have a good one ! Stay well stay safe !
Great video. Very informative! I remember when the WASRs were sub-$500 back in the days of Russian imports. Had a WASR and foolishly sold it. Picked up one few days ago at Atlantic Firearms for $699. Wanted a "beater" to supplement my FIME Veper AK74 and Arsenal SAM7R-66.
if your buying a new WASR-10..do self a huge favor..get rid of that tapco pistol grip nut....Tapco's nut has plastic inside of it, therefore when it makes contact with the steel grip screw it will eventually wear it out...go get yourself a 100% real solid steel pistol grip nut..on the other hand..Tapco's makes one of the best AK retaining plate ..its all steel, and it replaces the flimsy shepherds crook. TAPCO is a great company..don't get me wrong.
This was my first rifle I ever purchased in 2003. I believe I paid $300 and it came with 2 magazines a sling and an oiler. Great rifle. Don't have it anymore, but I do have another early 2000s WASR.
Back in February of 2011,I bought a 10/63 single stack from Dunham’s Sports for $279.99 (I still have the receipt) that had a 1967 date on the trunnion. Matching numbers,except for the recoil spring. Couple of months later,I bought a double stack for $349.99,1983 date. All the steel shavings from opening up the mag well were still clogging the internals,but a simple strip and clean fixed that. I love these rifles,real Combloc quality,and minimal aesthetics. Damn,I’m envious of your collection.
Dammit, i had a gp wasr 10-63 made '63 rebuilt by romania and i traded for a glock 20. I bought a new production, but it doesn't have that cold war feel.
Are you sure the wood on the new guns is US? Century says that the grip, fcg, piston and brake are the foreign parts as before. That, and I've seen Iraqi contract AKMs from Cugir with the same looking wood (just stained a bit darker).
You meant US parts right? And yes, I am sure. A guy on the AKFiles just wrote Century asking and was told the buttstock was US made (along with its screws and other metal even). However, they did not say the handguard was US, so its possible some WASR10s still ahve original Romanian handguards...or from elsewhere for that matter. These days, the piston seems to be original Romie too, at least again according to Century with the newest guns.
I have one. It's a nice rifle. What I'm curious about is the Albanian production AKM's that have a flat side reciever, no mag well dimples. As far as I know, they are the only standard capacity military issue AKM's to be in this configuration. I read somewhere (and a long time ago I think) that China assisted Albania with technical support when they set up production. If so, why the unique reciever? It looks more like Cugir assisted them, not China.
I couldn't say why Albania used a flat sided receiver, not a lot is known about those guns...not yet anyway. Cugir didn't start making dimpless magwell guns until the 21st century though.
Ozark Bear Arms, Ok. Well that info helps me a bit. I guess there are no Albanian AKM'S in the States then? At least none sold in the public sphere? I'd love to find out more.
*TheVoxOfReason* All Albanian AK's were either exported elsewhere or cutup by a NATO program primarily funded by the U.S., U.K., Germany, Norway, and a few others to dispose of the millions stored in warehouses and bunkers across the country. Albania made so many because they pissed off everyone even their Chinese allies so they were afraid they would be invaded by anyone and everyone at anytime. So since they couldn't afford to get rid of them they had First World countries pay for their disposal as part of their deal to align closer to the West and join NATO. So except for the few Chinese guns and Albanian SKS's that managed to come in you won't be seeing any Albanian AK kits cause they are elsewhere or destroyed. Don't look to them to start making new ones for export either since I talked to an Albanian intimately familiar with their AK program. He said they mismanaged and neglected the state of their AK tooling so bad that to replace it would be too costly so they have abandoned AK's altogether. I would say the reason they lacked dimples was to save money, make it simpler, and make more AK's in a short period of time compared to the time it would take to add that feature.
After getting a 2018 Production WASR10 with beautiful rivits, a well fitted and tight BCG, and dead straight sights I'm hooked. I have modified the rifle extensively and although it's much more deployable from a tactical standpoint in my custom configuration I have ruined it's collectablity which is fine because I bought it with the intention of making it a defensive rifle. Nevertheless, while I'm not dirt poor I'm certainly not a man of means. I must have a WASR10 to keep "original" so to speak. I hope they are still imported until next tax season. I'm gonna get a WASR10 underfolder, a Romanian AKM accessory kit and bayonet, a Romanian 75 round drum, and a surplus cleaning rod and Romanian handguard set (preferably with the forward pistol grip, but as long as it's milsurp) and Romanian surplus pistol grip.
I also have a 2018 production wasr10. Sights are straight, rivets are super nice and clean, and I'm impressed with how little side to side magazine wobble I get with all kinds of surplus and modern steel and polymer magazines. I hated the furniture that came with it but swapped it for some nice romanian laminated stuff for under $70 and now it looks proper. Love it.
I saw a wasr underfolder at my local shop earlier this week, if I had known it was there before I went it to pay on something else I would have put it in layaway with that being said, I went into another shop and found a romak 99.2 late model, has a hi cap mag well, has a pistol grip and what not. I bought it.
Romanian guy here. Had used two AKMs, standard 7.62x39mm in military service - one in bootcamp and one in my combat engineer battalion. The first one was manufactured in 1964 (!!!), the second one was from 1985. There was no difference between them in yhe quality of woodwork or metalwork. Both fired great; I never had jams or other problems with them (of course, we cleaned them every day, even when we have not shoot with them). We also cleaned the magazines every day and we were told to be careful with them, not to drop them or anything. We didn't have to worry about the ammo, that was issued to us on range or when we were on guard duty. We shoot quite a lot, since there was a lot of ammo that had to be disposed of, so we shot quite old ammo, but it never misfired (being properly stored into an Army ammo dump helps a lot...). So what I'm trying to say is that I saw a lot of people saying that the quality of romanian AKs is not good, so maybe the producer (Cugir plant) or the importer are doing something wrong, or anything like that? As I sad, I used two rifles, old and used by other soldiers before me, and their performance was beyond satisfactory.
P.S. And don't get me started on the accuracy issue, I only say this - it's not the gun, but the man that uses it.
P.P.S. English is not my natve language, but I hope I'm inteligiblle.
I'm thinking about purchasing a WASR underfolder model. Any experience with that one?
@@GenXJay670 exactly the same thing just a differently cut receiver
They are very accurate
A whole hour devoted to the WASR and its history? Splendid!
The sad part? After we did this one, i realised I had forgotten to mention a few things I'd wanted to bring up...oh well hehe.
This guy is a human encyclopedia! Unbelievable
lol thanks much for watching, cheers.
that's a fact jack
I know I always like his vids very informative
This dude is the Bob Ross of AKs
Gun ASMR
Hugh Mungus I nominate you for best comment ever.
Agreed
You hit the nail on the head with that one. He loves these guns with a great passion!!
Brandon herra is the king
This dude has forgotten more about AKs than I will ever know in my lifetime.
I just watched an hour long video about nothing but WASRs. ....AND LOVED IT. Great work Mish
haha thanks. Seriously, never meant to make it an hour..figured 15-20 minutes at the outset, but so it goes. The sad part is after watching it myself, i thought of things i left out that i really wish I had included hehe.
Ozark Bear Arms hey do the wasr 10’s have a double stack bolt? Cause mine doesn’t work with a lot of the bolt hold open mags, the bolt just slides right over them, I started looking at my bolt and it looks like a single stack bolt? I thought maybe you would be the go to person to ask thank you
My gosh what a treasure trove of AK knowledge Misha is.
Awesome video ! I'm from Romania and I served in romanian army but I don't know that much about AK made in Cugir. Many thanks !!
Thank you much for watching & Welcome anytime, cheers.
You didn't carry an AK?
Thank you for your service! Any serviceman earns my respect, regardless of the country. It's a selfless thing to do!
@@ozarkbeararms8840 Man, you're good! Didn't know a thing about AKs, now I start wondering an liking them!
I'm from Belgium and we got no ban on Ak rifle. One of my ak's are a Romanian AIM, people could say wath they want over Romanian Ak, mine have thousand and thousand rounds and still working perfectly. The only "bad" on this rifle is the finish... But do we really need a nice finish on Ak? Then I got a canted front post.... But I don't really matter... Thanks for this piece of history. Greetings from Belgium. Quentin QL
Thank you much for watching & sharing.
Yeah mine came the same few coats of varnish and my furniture looks perfect
Lol your countys romanians are completely different than americas ousr are made from parts kit from a company called century arms and they made them wrong your country probably takes more pride im their work
Custom_Diesel_Gas um.. no. They're sent here as single stack rifles from Romania. All Century does is open up the mag wells & make them 922r compliant.
Belgium people are really goo/ odd, Venice of the North :D i guess nobody notice canels of Amsterdam....
Man you really know your business.
Thanks much for watching.
Got my WASR 10/63 in 2013 I put the Texas Weapons rail and hand guard, and a tube folding stock on it with a Circle 10 muzzle break. LOVE it !!
Got it new for 400.00. Best deal I ever got. No canted sights, all riveting was perfect. Wouldn’t trade it for any other AK. Great rifle, eats any ammo you feed it! Thanks for the video, great job.
I bought a WASR 10/63 nine years ago and really had no idea what I bought until I watched this video. Mine has a 1983 dated trunnion with the triangle stamp. It’s numbers matching from what I can tell. Also has the XY markings. Thanks for making this informative video.
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge as a newer rifle owner it helps me out a lot
a full hour of knowledge and only 1 video cut to bring out diffrent ak's. legend
Good info. I've never heard the term "sugar scoop" to indicate the slant muzzle brake. I like it!
Completely impressed
I am truly humbled
I considered myself as a very knowledgeable firearms individual but nothing compare to misha
AK knowledge is different than normal firearm knowledge.
Holy crap I love this channel... new favorite gun tuber. Thank you very much for making/sharing
Just got a WASR10 as my first "assault rifle".....at least that's what my firearms registration card says. Got a great deal on it and figured why not go with an AK instead of an AR as my first semi rifle outside of my old ruger that my dad left me. I love it and I am grateful for this channel and the work you and team do. I've learned so much. Watched your other videos and you have me wanting to get an Arsenal.
I found this video very educational (well, at least for myself, although I have spent over a decade in the Soviet Army and Russian Police with military grade AKM and AK-74 rifles in my hands), so I now I share it with my fellow gunners.
I really enjoyed your tutorial on the venerable WASAR-10 'workhorse' !
Great vid Misha....Really makes me appreciate my 10/63UF....Cool thing with mine is that it has a 1965 dated trunnion and is all #'s matching matching.
I bought an sar1 about a year ago and didn't know much about it til I found this vid! Thankyou!
Thank you for taking the time making this. It's September 2020 when I am watching this and I just picked up one that was bought for around $300 back in the early 2000's/ It's marked 1964 and has the barrel nut/ muzzle break welded on. My buddy bought several and sold this to me for $600 doubling his money and after watching this I feel I got a good deal.
I have, in my opinion, just 2 "high quality" rifles -- a SAM7SF and a BCM AR. But my WASR-10 is my favorite rifle.
N K93.
I know what you mean. I have others. They are smoother and better finished. They cost more. But they don't get my motor running like my WASR, all dressed up in Magpul!
Those milled reciever guns are nice, but the stamped ones just feels more utilitarian and rugged!!!
@@jimtheedcguy4313 I sold the WASR. Still have the SAM7SF and BCM. I want to sell the SAM7SF as well lol
That American wood on the new ones is ugly as sin. Its like a hidden 50-150 up charge to the customer.
It's American wood it's to be expected. First thing you should do after getting a wasr is getting furniture then update trigger group if it isn't either a Rak 1 or Tapco G2. Trust me when I tell you The G2 isn't much different than the Rak 1.They look and feel the same.
you are realy delivering the best info man, i like it enough
Exact all the information I've been searching for, for days. Thank you!!
this fellow is top notch. just got my first ak a wasr. thank you so much I will be watching for your vids
In love with my 10/63 dated 83 matching numbers everything straight as an arrow. Whoever had it before me barely fired it too. Love your videos too
Sir, it was a pleasure to watch your video!
Mischa thank you very much for this most informative video about one of my favorite rifles. The information you provide was spot on, i bought my Wasr GP10 in the early 2ooo’s and it came with the following accessories leather sling, two 30 RND steel Mags, cleaning rod, with cleaning kit in the butt stock. Military wood furniture, bayonet with lugs, and the slanted AKM muzzle break. The price was 300.00 $. Just like you said the price has gone up and the buyer is getting lest accessories. Thank you aging for posting.
I really don't see why people have every claimed these rifles to be somehow sub standard. They are military rifles built on a semi auto receiver. Period, end of story. They are as good as anything else built in a com bloc factory anywhere in the world. Esthetically, there are prettier versions but they always run and run well. I have arsenals, yugos, Chinese, you name it and my wasr runs as good if not better. I hope the myth continues, one day when they are not being imported any longer, I will sell off all the used ones I picked up for 2 -3 hundred bucks and clean up! People said the same thing about the Chinese rifles back in the day and now they go for a small fortune. Every dog has his day.
They were substandard because fitting on a receiver that wasn't milspec. The finish was poor, the eood was poor, the alignment of gas blocks and sights were poor abd the mag well was loose. The price and reliability were good though, and that was the draw point.
i just found your channel and holy moly you are a wealth of knowledge. theres so many nuanced differences between different aks and you do an excellent job showcasing and explaining them all in detail. earned my sub. wish i could like 10 times. thank you!
Superb history, thank you! I have a new WASR, thought the stock and handguard seemed cheap, now I will start looking for furniture for it tomorrow. Really appreciate your channel...
Thank you much, and you should be able to find original Romanian wood furniture at a very reasonable price. Apex & Centerfire have had it recently in the $25ish range I believe.
Steven Sevieria did you ever find new furniture.if so where?
MAN I learned a lot from this.
Got my first AK.
Its a WASR 10/63 with the side folding wire stock and I got a smoking deal from a buddy who hadn't shot it in many years.
This was a great lecture!
I've had a WASR for about 3 years now. I've had one stovepipe, I'm at least 3,000 rounds in. The thing is a workhorse. I've cleaned it a couple times.
Yeah they’re very well made. Totally worth the money. They make them even better now.
Hey man, humungous thank you, you’r succinct and erudite presentation was fabulous. I gladly subbed man, and am looking forward to checking out the rest of your content! My hat is off to you sir.
Thank you good sir, I really appreciate all your time and effort and knowledge making this video, great info and well spoken. Great video thanks again!
$300 for a WASR, man I wish thoughs days were back! paid $600 for a Lee Armory Romanian battle field pickup and thats not bad for these days
Nope, not for these days. Back when the WASR was $300, the AK was no where near as popular as it is today, and Cugir was offering them to Century for a lower price, and Century was ok with making a slimmer profit margin.
I bought one in 2008 and have only fired 2 mag through it back then. Haven't touched it until today. I just google it if it was any good and damn, I got a good military wasr 10/63 for only $400. All matching #
You should see 2021 😧. I bought one of these at dunhams in Maryland of all places for 250 bucks. Bought a Yugoslavian sks there too for 79 bucks. Those were the days
Please, please, please do one of these vids for the Dracos!
Love your video's, picked up a WUM1 ratmil C.U.R.7.62x39 Intrac import last weekend. Paid $650 for an unfired rifle that had the thumbhole stock removed and a regular stock and pistol grip installed. Just finished cleaning out all the cosmoline from inside the receiver but rally happy with this. Guy told me it was a SAR1. Receiver stamped 1997, one of the first Romanian imports.
Also has uncut bayonet lug and muzzle nut tac welded on. Accepts regular mags. Am going to cut the nut off as it has the muzzle pin already on the sight block.
Good score, yep 1st year for them to come in so that's pretty cool. These are just good, solid, dependable guns. Not much flashiness or anything, but they don't need that stuff.
I'm loving these history vids, keep up the good work guys!
Thank you for watching.
I had one of the "QC be damned" WASR-10s around the 08-09 timeframe. Was my first centerfire rifle given to me by my dad. It had a severely canted front sight where even drifting the post all the way to the left still didn't help. Had a super wobbly stock and lots of play in the magwell. The best part was it would even fire out of battery which was why we sold it off as a parts gun.
Purchased my WASR 10/63 9 years ago and it has become my favorite rifle by far and I own 5 different caliber rifles from bolt action to lever action and the WASR is the most simple weapon to operate
Love this channel!
Great vid. I've owned a few WASRs and they're all reliable guns. I prefer my Romanian SKS though.
I Have a gp/wasr 10/63, 1980 dated trunnion. I picked it up from a friend, he had it for a long time, then i looked at new wasr's in stores now, and they felt, not a nice/solid compared. your video helped me figure about when this was produced, so thanks a ton, super informative.
I'm confused about the situation around 20:35
So they were bringing the GP WASRs over, century was doing their thing and then selling them. The Romy G kits were coming in as well, and then in 2005 the authorities said that the barrels couldn't come over in the parts kits, IF they'd been part of a machine gun.
How did the WASR 10/63 help with this if they were essentially taking the same barrels off machine guns? Were they good to go because those were shipped as rifles and not parts kits? Were people just buying the 10/63 so they could get the barrels to build out the Romy G kits??
Were the Romy G barrels that much better than the barrels that were being sent in the previous generation GP WASR rifles?
Channel started as a neat showcase, and evolved into the most extensive US relevant AK history channel
That was great man respect !!! Excellent content lot of information gonna watch this again w couple friends who are Romanian enthusiasts. Oh thanks for hitting me back a week or so ago I appreciate that.
Clutch video thank you for info! Picking up wasr10 tomorrow and a Romak Saturday!
My first WASR, bought in the early 2000s, was missing the entire bolt assembly! It had the carrier, so it looked complete. So much for QC! Have loved every one I owned since then.
You have the best videos Mishaco. Thank you for sharing all of your knowledge!
Wish I would have gotten into AKs sooner, thank you for all the knowledge and insight.
Thank you for sharing such an excellent and comprehensive video dedicated to a great AK import variant. I bought a used GP WASR-10 last August as my first AK and I have absolutely no regrets. It must be an early import because it has a front trunion year of 1981, matching numbers on the small parts and electro pencil import marks on the receiver. When I bought it, it had the "donkey dong" front handguard, plum colored pistol grip and the shellac Romanian wood stock with the black stripe down the rear. The only thing I have changed out is the front handguard because I prefer the palm swell style and added a leather Romanian sling. So far, I have put over 3,000 rounds through it and it still runs like a top and has no issues eating up even the junkiest Tulammo.
The WASR10 is probably the best, first AK to own. Yours originally came with the usual furniture, but the previous owner changed it out for a set of surplus 'Romie-G' stuff. Most of the guns built from original military parts came in 2007-2013. Yours probably did too.
Interesting. I did notice a "09" stamped on the barrel when I took the handguard off. Perhaps that was the year it was assembled and imported?
Great content. Matter of fact you are the best most knowledgeable person on ak’s ever Misha
THANK YOU! i AM GETTING ME ONE. Merry Christmas!!!!
You have done such a good job man. Very informative...
Man you have quite the collection of AKs. Nice. You are the authority on AK history and information. So glad I stumbled across you.
Thanks much for watching, cheers.
Misha, I know you said you don't have a doctorate, but I've learned more from you than I ever have from most professors. You have an astonishing memory. I have a request: please consider making a video about the WASR-3. It is becoming rare, and from what I've heard it had something of a checkered history as it was supposed to have had a lot of modifications done on it.
Thank you, I'd love to honor your request but I simply don't have a WASR-3 nor do any friends. If one coms into the store, it'll get a video for sure though, cheers.
I got hit up and was told the town of cugir is pronounced ku-jzir! It is not pronounced like an older woman looking for young cubs!
Perhaps, but we're Americans so just do our best hehe.
I’m from Romania and I know it’s pronounced cou-jeer. There’s no “g” sound like some people pronounce it cougar.
Bought my WASR 10/63 ($400 from Buds!) around 2007. Stained the wood and fixed a slightly canted front sight. Well after 3000 plus rounds 0 issues 👍🏻. Have run Europe surplus , Mag Pul, Pro Mag, Chinese and Circle 10 magazines that all run flawlessly! All parts matching numbers, the goodies and a 1969 manufacturing date. Still My favorite plinking rifle to this day.
excelente vídeo. Obrigado Misha
I have a 2016 Wasr 10 and I love it, it shoots great also I put new Polish laminate wood furniture on it that I purchased from Arms of America! Thanks for Your great reviews and videos!
Thank you for watching. I like and buy from AofA frequently myself. Good company, products come as advertised, and good CS.
You really know your dung here..! I have a WASR-10 that I bought in late 2004...The manufacture year
was 03. Still own it with no failures what so ever. Mine has no mag wobble using Polish 30rd AK mags..Great video here..!!
Yours is a 1st year production or at least import WASR10. Thank you for watching, cheers.
Wow this guy is definitely an encyclopedia of the Romanian akm Out standing job I own 3 early versions of that gun and I love them all I don't care what anybody says great job keep up the good videos
I just bought my first WASR made in 2015. Guy i bought it from put surplus romy furniture, swapped the bolt for a maakdi(?) Chrome bolt and a russian bakelite grip, even gave me a nice case. Paid 800 (little high i know, but im okay with that). I'm loving it so far, i want to get one of the underfolders and or rpk's from atlantic arms and have multiple AK's.
That 10/63 KR is really interesting. I'd never heard of one of those. A Draco might make an interesting donor for conversion to that configuration if someone wanted to avoid a tax stamp.
58:36 Most accurate description of the Kalashnikov, ever.
Two wasrs are better than one arsenal. The best handle for a knife is a wasr. Thanks for the excellence.
Thanks for watching. On one hand, i am glad the WWASR is getting recognition finally. On the other I'm not....as its really driven up the price haha.
great info as always. your gift of knowledge is appreciated! thanks
did you mean 2 arsenal are not as good as 1 wasr?
2 WASR's are an arsenal. ;)
My first AK was an Wasr2. Not the prettiest AK but was a soft recoiling sewing machine.
Still got my running
Thoroughly enjoyed this vid!
I got a Romak99.1 post ban , The import stamp says Romarm/Cugir D.I.G. VA Beach VA. The last numbers of my serial are 98-99 so i assume maybe came in 98 or 99 but suppose could be totally unrelated to date and just be a number too, been a great gun ive put at least a thousand rounds through it so far , I got it used so no telling how many total now , but , great rifle , I know this older vid, im actually , re watching and didnt notice you mentioned the romaks before lol love your channel and what you do man! Great information and awesome collection of beautiful rifles ! Hoping friday imma be picking up a new AK , Zastava , possibly haha have a good one ! Stay well stay safe !
well done and very impressive review for the ak aficionado.....love it. Keep up the good work!
thanks much for watching.
The only good RUclips AK expert
Subbed b/c of the excellent details!
Great video. Very informative!
I remember when the WASRs were sub-$500 back in the days of Russian imports. Had a WASR and foolishly sold it.
Picked up one few days ago at Atlantic Firearms for $699.
Wanted a "beater" to supplement my FIME Veper AK74 and Arsenal SAM7R-66.
I got my S.A.R. for 350 ,I'm glad I've kept it.
Excellent video Mishaco, thank you!
Excellent, interesting and full of history. Thank you.
Thank you for watching
My 2018 wasr is slightly canted to the left,within com spec tho.
The one I looked at was Cannet , is that bad to buy it like that are they all like that
Hell ya, the mighty WASR and Mishaco!
if your buying a new WASR-10..do self a huge favor..get rid of that tapco pistol grip nut....Tapco's nut has plastic inside of it, therefore when it makes contact with the steel grip screw it will eventually wear it out...go get yourself a 100% real solid steel pistol grip nut..on the other hand..Tapco's makes one of the best AK retaining plate ..its all steel, and it replaces the flimsy shepherds crook. TAPCO is a great company..don't get me wrong.
Very good presentation, lots of info, keep them coming.
Thanks much, cheers.
Great video! Very informative Sir!
Nice historical overview of the Romanian WASRs.
Proper job.
Thanks much for watching, cheers.
Best history of AK imports I've seen!
This was my first rifle I ever purchased in 2003. I believe I paid $300 and it came with 2 magazines a sling and an oiler. Great rifle. Don't have it anymore, but I do have another early 2000s WASR.
Back in February of 2011,I bought a 10/63 single stack from Dunham’s Sports for $279.99 (I still have the receipt) that had a 1967 date on the trunnion. Matching numbers,except for the recoil spring. Couple of months later,I bought a double stack for $349.99,1983 date. All the steel shavings from opening up the mag well were still clogging the internals,but a simple strip and clean fixed that. I love these rifles,real Combloc quality,and minimal aesthetics. Damn,I’m envious of your collection.
Thanks much for watching. We have another Romanian PM-63 video coming out very soon too, cheers.
Now they are hard to find under a 1000
I paid $950 for my 1963 trunion wasr 10/63 in 2021. Smooth as butter action.
Dammit, i had a gp wasr 10-63 made '63 rebuilt by romania and i traded for a glock 20. I bought a new production, but it doesn't have that cold war feel.
Very good information. Thank you sir. Please continue to bless us with your videos. Do some shooting with that new wasr :D
Thanks much for watching. We will have plenty of shooting videos coming up soon after September, cheers.
Are you sure the wood on the new guns is US? Century says that the grip, fcg, piston and brake are the foreign parts as before. That, and I've seen Iraqi contract AKMs from Cugir with the same looking wood (just stained a bit darker).
You meant US parts right? And yes, I am sure. A guy on the AKFiles just wrote Century asking and was told the buttstock was US made (along with its screws and other metal even). However, they did not say the handguard was US, so its possible some WASR10s still ahve original Romanian handguards...or from elsewhere for that matter. These days, the piston seems to be original Romie too, at least again according to Century with the newest guns.
This guy has a ton of knowledge and im not sure if hes blind but if he is that is amazing he knows where all the pieces are and the brands by memory.
I love this video I'm dealing for an older 10/63
I have one. It's a nice rifle. What I'm curious about is the Albanian production AKM's that have a flat side reciever, no mag well dimples. As far as I know, they are the only standard capacity military issue AKM's to be in this configuration. I read somewhere (and a long time ago I think) that China assisted Albania with technical support when they set up production. If so, why the unique reciever? It looks more like Cugir assisted them, not China.
I couldn't say why Albania used a flat sided receiver, not a lot is known about those guns...not yet anyway. Cugir didn't start making dimpless magwell guns until the 21st century though.
Ozark Bear Arms, Ok. Well that info helps me a bit. I guess there are no Albanian AKM'S in the States then? At least none sold in the public sphere? I'd love to find out more.
*TheVoxOfReason* All Albanian AK's were either exported elsewhere or cutup by a NATO program primarily funded by the U.S., U.K., Germany, Norway, and a few others to dispose of the millions stored in warehouses and bunkers across the country. Albania made so many because they pissed off everyone even their Chinese allies so they were afraid they would be invaded by anyone and everyone at anytime. So since they couldn't afford to get rid of them they had First World countries pay for their disposal as part of their deal to align closer to the West and join NATO.
So except for the few Chinese guns and Albanian SKS's that managed to come in you won't be seeing any Albanian AK kits cause they are elsewhere or destroyed. Don't look to them to start making new ones for export either since I talked to an Albanian intimately familiar with their AK program. He said they mismanaged and neglected the state of their AK tooling so bad that to replace it would be too costly so they have abandoned AK's altogether.
I would say the reason they lacked dimples was to save money, make it simpler, and make more AK's in a short period of time compared to the time it would take to add that feature.
Scott7891, This is very informative. Thanks for taking the time to fill me in.
Great vid i love the history
Thanks much for watching, cheers.
After getting a 2018 Production WASR10 with beautiful rivits, a well fitted and tight BCG, and dead straight sights I'm hooked. I have modified the rifle extensively and although it's much more deployable from a tactical standpoint in my custom configuration I have ruined it's collectablity which is fine because I bought it with the intention of making it a defensive rifle. Nevertheless, while I'm not dirt poor I'm certainly not a man of means. I must have a WASR10 to keep "original" so to speak. I hope they are still imported until next tax season. I'm gonna get a WASR10 underfolder, a Romanian AKM accessory kit and bayonet, a Romanian 75 round drum, and a surplus cleaning rod and Romanian handguard set (preferably with the forward pistol grip, but as long as it's milsurp) and Romanian surplus pistol grip.
I also have a 2018 production wasr10. Sights are straight, rivets are super nice and clean, and I'm impressed with how little side to side magazine wobble I get with all kinds of surplus and modern steel and polymer magazines. I hated the furniture that came with it but swapped it for some nice romanian laminated stuff for under $70 and now it looks proper. Love it.
I owned a WUM-1 in the late 90's, it was a great piece I shoulda never sold it!
Silent Stryker best one made
Thanks for the very informative discussion. Very interesting
man i had a SAR-1 ended up trading it off for something else now i wish i still had it.
I saw a wasr underfolder at my local shop earlier this week, if I had known it was there before I went it to pay on something else I would have put it in layaway with that being said, I went into another shop and found a romak 99.2 late model, has a hi cap mag well, has a pistol grip and what not. I bought it.