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.
The problem we see with aks here in America is not the quality of the parts sent to us in parts kits but the quality of the workmanship putting the kits together once they get into the states; canted front and rear sight blocks, bad head spacing etc. in a lot of cases they’re assembled quickly and haphazardly to sell them cheap. Good thing aks have such a good design that they can be put together poorly and still work.
I have both the Arsenal and WASR. Both are very reliable. With red dots on both, they are both very accurate. AK is a very durable platform. Perfect SHTF rifles. 122-125 grain bullets. Plenty of stopping power. 1000 rounds costs only $250. Inexpensive to shoot too.
heck yeah dude, Ive got a RAS47 that Ive been getting a lot of hate for from a couple people, and I know I will keep an eye on the go no-go headspace issue that may come up in the future, but Ive never had a single malfunction with this rifle, and the ammo is inexpensive :-) Have you noticed a difference between brass and steel cased in your AK's?
Ive got a fully milled receiver Century arms 63D, 5000 rounds in and the bluing hasn't even started to fade on some of the parts and I've done full mag burns too! Came nicely sighted in with no canted sights! So far excellent!
After watching a lot of AK videos, I decided to order a Wasr 10. I love it. All matching numbers. No canted sights like a lot of people claim. I love mine. Don't believe the bad reviews. Don't miss out on an awesome rifle.
Should have spent a lil more an got a sam7 arsenal. Jus my opinion. I have 1 of the better wasr an its a great ak but it jus doesn't come close to my arsenal. But im a "u pay for what u get" type person. Good luck with ur ak an keep shootin!👍
@@allmotordc5rallmotorfa575 i know the idea of a $600 rifle being just as good as your $2000 rifle sucks but the fact of the matter is Arsenals simply don't outperform wasrs... they just don't. Is the fit and finish better? Definitely, WASRs generally aren't pretty. Is it worth paying that much extra? Depends, I guess. With all that said, Arsenal is an amazing company that doesn't sacrifice quality and really cares about their product. I respect the s**t out of them.
I have been shooting WASR's for years and they are some of the best rifles ever made for the money. For the price tag, I would rather have 2 WASR's than one Arsenal. That's just me. Great video!
Wasr are great guns but there's no comparing a Wasr and a Arsenal.. I have both and love both but if i had to grab 1 and go to battle, arsenal all tha way.
The whole thing about the Wasr ak and wobbling mags is something that was an issue back in the day but was corrected in 2008 after some of those assault rifle laws changed and they no longer have that issue anymore thankfully... Very smooth very fun and a well-made reliable weapon
I'd love to leave them "as is," but they are virtually unshootable with those little bitty short stocks. They are like a child's toy when I pick them up. The after market stocks are what got me back into the AK after giving up on them for about a decade or more. I love being able to shoulder them like a real rifle; they are so much fun and are great rifles.
While in the Marine Corps back in 91; I picked up a discarded AK half buried in the Kuwaiti desert sand with the bolt cover missing, it must have been dropped there by an Iraqi republican guard trooper we recently defeated a week or so earlier...we all new how reliable the AK's were. I picked it up, the attached mag had a dozen rounds in it, I chambered it and fired the whole mag....not one stoppage after being half buried in the sand over a week.
I was there a forward observor ( with Army) I saw a lot of those we also picked up and they always worked. Made me wonder why I was walking around with an M16 A2 in a plastic bag....After being out of army I refuse to ever use AR again. I loathe the rifle. Just a cheap 22 roided up
Century Arms imports them from Romania and does some modifications to them to comply with US laws to make them legal here. They are still made in Romania. Century makes a version of the AK here though.
WASR 10/2015's have absolutely junk wood, the only improvements made were cosmetic. the older rifles might have been rough, but I'd say they're of better quality than the post-2015 WASR rifles.
just got a Romanian WASR 10/63 today but haven't shot it yet. It looks great. No canted sights, tapco G2 trigger, matching serial number on bolt, NO magazine wobble at all. The rivets are not put in too deep, everything looks great. I cant wait to shoot it.
Thanks for making great videos. I have a WASR 10 63 . Mine works great with Bulgarian new surplus mags. I stained and sealed the wooden stock and added a bigger grip. Mine works fab and eats any 7.63x39 that I feed it. . I am happy with the accuracy and I use a V-Bar mount with a 4x32. Spot on.
I have a Wasr 10 that's a 2014ish made one. 1k rounds later, zero issues. Yes, many of the early ones sucked, and I have no love for century, but at the price point the current wasr is a great gun.
+Sean K It will say WASR-10 on the side of the receiver, the 10/63 is no longer made, these were made from surplus parts kits. The WASR-10's are brand new production rifles made with all brand new parts. Also, they no longer have the Tapco G2 trigger in them, they now have the Century Arms RAK 1 AK trigger installed which in my opinion is slightly better than the Tapco G2 trigger.
I bought a wasr 10/63 a few years ago. shoots great invested better parts on it and made if a better gun. I know people who spend over 1000 on a arsenal and still spend money investing on it. I believe I came out on top with my Wasr
I own the Arsenal Bulgarian milled receiver based AK. Great rifle. I spent a little more because I wanted too. IMHO there is no such thing as a "bad" AK. Their tolerances are so loose that it's hard to build one that won't work. Get yourself the best one you can afford. You'll love it!
"Tapco works beautifully" I believe I'm correct in saying that this is the first time this phrase has ever been uttered by someone not working for Tapco
I just bought a WASR 10/63 back in January and have absolutely no complaints whatsoever! At 599.00 bucks I think it is a very good bargain, especially if your just getting into the AK platform. Arsenal makes an awesome AK no doubt, but for almost 400.00 cheaper the WASR takes the cake for this guy!
Always a pleasure to watch your videos, hickok. Even though you often say you're not the expert, I beg to differ. To me (a guy who is new in the gun world), your advice is second to none. Your approach to explaining the guns you shoot is thorough, and I trust that when I watch one of your videos, I'm going to come away equipped with a lot more knowledge than I previously held. Thanks for what you do for us on RUclips, keep up the fantastic work. It's obvious you love what you do!!
Recently purchased a WASR-10. It's actually a very well made AK. Not too much rattle and the mags fit nice and snug. I even put Iraqi issued steel mags in it that were well used and still a tight fit. About 600 rounds though it and no FTF/FTE. Great rifle for the price.
I have two 10/63's and both are fantastic. One of them I have owned for 20 years and I have ran thousands of rounds through that rifle in all weathers. I have been up the creek and over the mountain with that thing. It is utterly reliable.
Glad I bought my WASR years ago. I checked on pricing today and they have more than doubled. I have put thousands of rounds down the tube and it still shoots like the day I bought it.
Hickock45 _The historian_ ... Bringing us back to when "AKs are not that expensive" and you "could find an Arsenal in every gun store" and "WASRs had a reputation for not being that good" Funny what 10 years can do.
I paid 950$ for my fully milled receiver century arms 63D, with 4 extra mags and an upgraded grip 6 years ago! And I thought that was too expensive for an AK back then... I knew the price would just keep on going up with all the shootings we have :( so I figured I needed to invest right away!! I miss the days they used to be like 400$ for a good one!!
Well the one in this video is not bulgarian. It is a brand new Kalashnikov factory made Saiga with cold hammer forged chrome lined barrel. They come from Izmash (the old Izhevsk company) in the Sporter configuration with a monte carlo style stock and 10 round magazine (love mine). The trigger is moved back to where the AKM's pistol grip is so that the hunting stock can be used without the pistol grip. I have the 5.45x39 version. I bought it because it not made from spare parts. I have 6 bulgarian 5.45 mags and shot over 1400 rounds of 7n6 WITHOUT a bullet guide contrary to the erroneous internet info being passed around. (your mileage may vary) ;)
great unbiased video. I just picked up a Wasr 10 from Cabelas that was on sale walked out paying 501.50. The front sight is not cantered no mag wobble with Poly mags the bloc mags wobbles a little bit but not much, tapco trigger. only thing I have to do was dremel the weld off the barrel cover to expose the threaded barrel to put on a PWS FSC47 muzzle break
It's required to support a longer barrel (and therefore a longer lever in physical terms). You should note, that US have some specific importation laws, and imported rifles are usually built on domestic receivers, so I can't guarantee you'll find a Saiga with an RPK receiver. On the other hand, you'll know it when you see it, RPK receivers have visible bilateral protrusions, where the trunnion extension is.
Love the videos man, only thing i can say negative, is that if a person has an ak chambered in anything but 5.45 or 7.62 (i.e. 5.56) they are not very bright crayons indeed.
I bought my wasr 10 brand new for $500.00 right out of the box roughly 3 years ago and never had any issues what so ever, a lot of fun to shoot, especially for the price.
nickserio35 They are. The rifles made post-'08 have outrageously better QC. Their bad reputation comes from the much older rifles. Unfortunate, but it does mean that those in the know can get a good rifle now for a really nice price and not have to worry about price gouging so much.
HondoLane76 I get what you are saying now. Let me clarify a bit. I know all AK platforms don't use the same parts but I do know that some AK patterns do, I think all modern WASR 10's for example are built on par so you could takes parts from one gun and use it on the other. But obviously you couldn't take an AK-47 and use those parts on an AKM even though they are the "same" gun.
That's exactly what we all needed to hear. A man that has a lot of experience with firearms telling us how it really is and not these fan boys trying to convince us. WASR and Arsenal are the same, its just whoever bought the Arsenal overspent just for the brand.
When I bought my WASR-10, my wife and I were living in just outside of Rochester, NY. Imagine that, going to a gunshow, and buying a WASR in Cuomo's socialist state. Anyway, that was years ago, and we are back home in the south, thank the Good Lord. The WASR is a fine rifle, the only problem I had was with the magazines. I remedied that situation by buying up a bunch of Bulgarian mags. I haven't had a problem since. Trick this baby out, and she will look like the more expensive AK's; and in the hands of a competent rifleman, they will shoot quite well, out to 100 yards. Hickok, were I you, I would hang onto both AK's. Some food for thought! Great educational video, as usual.
+LIVINGCHURRO Because I can bang the WASR around and not worry about the durability, or the finish. Besides, Arsenal coats their firearms with an undesired, lacking coat that wears ridiculously easily. There are other things I can say I like more about the WASR in relation to he Arsenal, if you'd rather I go into full detail.
+Aaron Cabrera You certainly won't have to worry about the durability or reliability of the WASR. They are absolutely reliable and will run with any rifle I have ever fired, and run circles around most.
I've been watching your videos for a few years and never left a comment. I just wanted to thank you for all the time you put into your videos and for sharing your knowledge. I enjoy watching you shoot and listening to your very informative talks on the firearms you feature. Keep putting out the good stuff!
I have a Cugir (WASR) WS1-64 (425mm barrel) with a folding stock and a Cugir WS1-63SB (320mm barrel) with a red dot sight (it has 4 reticles) from the Russian Army. I already had different AR15 models, but I sold them again after a short time. If I had to defend my life, there would only be 3 weapons for me: Glock 31 (.357 SIG), Glock 17 (9mm Luger) and an AK clone. Original AK 47 are unfortunately forbidden in "oh so free" Germany.
I like my WASR, and after having to enlarge the magwell I haven't had any problems. The rifle came with 2 surplus metal mags. The first was snug, and the second didn't fit at all. I enlarge the magwell so that the first mag slides in and out rather smoothly. The second mag was visually thicker than the first and I didn't want to enlarge the magwell too much, so I actually ground down both sides of the mag. Now it fits very tight but at least it fits. Both mags tend to feed ok, but sometimes fail. I bought some surplus flat back metal magazines. These fit loosely but feed perfectly. I also have 2 Korean 75 round drum magazines that fit loosely but feed perfectly. I finally picked up some Tapco mags and they fit and feed perfectly.
There's a local WASR-10 I've been thinking about getting. Thanks for the video. Helps ease my mind a bit. I've read alot about the canted sight, mag wobble and trigger slap. I know what to look for but it's nice to know even if those problems are present, they're not game breaking.
The main differences between the AK and AKM are forged vs milled receiver, a different recoil spring assembly (interchageable), a different trunnion and barrel mounting (in one instance the barrel is screwed in, the other it's pushed in an pinned), a slightly different (though interchangeable bolt carrier), smooth vs ribbed receiver cover (interchangeable), thread protector vs flash hider (interchangeable) and bayonet mount. Most AKs in the US feature a mix of these features.
If you're gonna spend enough to get an arsenal you might as well get an AR so you can hit targets beyond 300 yrds, an AK should be a cheap rifle that works. Arsenal rifles may be great but you're still limited to 300 yrds and in.
Imakeplanesboom To be fair though, many of us don't have access to a place where you can shoot longer distances and truly learn how to properly aim a rifle for bullet drop and other factors.
Hulbert Parsons In reference to the original comment, he was saying that people shouldn't buy an AK and just get an AR, I mentioned that people should just get better at shooting instead of getting the SLIGHTLY more accurate rifle. Thanks for your comment
Imakeplanesboom Oh I agree with you, just wanted to throw out there there's only so much many of us can do. If 7n6 was still coming in I'd say get a 5.45 gun and you've got the best of both worlds. I still think it's a solid option. Commercial ammo is still cheaper by a lot and you can spend that extra money shooting, which is the only way to get good.
Fast forward to 2021 and we have the ALG AK-E trigger which makes the very good tapco seem like garbage. lol But I can say though IMO that’s the only trigger that is better than the ole tapco G2 AK trigger.
Century mills out the magazine well to accept all mags including yugoslavian mags which is why romainian mags as well as other eastern europeon mags wobble ! Yugoslavian or Chinese magazines fit nice and tight in WASR-10 AK's which is the way they are designed to fit , Tightly ! Magazine wobble is from using improper magazines in amerikan AK's that were milled out to take all mags !
I just saw this comment from 2 months ago and it's really funny because I picked up an M70 from JG for $499 and a M85 5.56 AK pistol for $399. Awesome, awesome guns! It's great to be back in business with the AKs.
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.
Good to hear my friend. I've owned a WASR10 Ak47 since 2001 never had an issue with mine.
I love my Wasr 10. At 50 yards I have no issue getting 2” groups. Beyond satisfactory for my needs
The problem we see with aks here in America is not the quality of the parts sent to us in parts kits but the quality of the workmanship putting the kits together once they get into the states; canted front and rear sight blocks, bad head spacing etc. in a lot of cases they’re assembled quickly and haphazardly to sell them cheap. Good thing aks have such a good design that they can be put together poorly and still work.
@@xXKingReptarXx Jim fuller is the only one you can trust
qotsa1 absolutely lol
You addressing ME, Mr. "Tough-guy Keyboard Warrior"?
hickok45 🤣🤣🤣get him hickok
Hahaha
He got to address us too #HickokFansRule
Love rewatching the older videos. Hope you are doing well
Tapco 👍🏽
It hurts me to see such a fine rifle limited to semi-auto by a piece of paper with a signature on it.
Amen
uncle in the Marines says no one in their right mind would ever have it on auto for hitting a target - but, damn its fun :P
Errhka that's probably true but mine is halfway accurate one semi. Maybe I'll win the lottery and buy a full auto polytech
dont complain, try being limited to staight pull only AKs in the UK
and even then the sheep still go mentle
Nellson Stout I'm going to win the lottery buy myself a palace and build underground bunker :)
Who needs two aks? I own 4 and its not enough!
1911forever
It's never enough
Once u get bit by tha bug u can never stop lol
Hahahahaha
I have 6 and 1 rpk. Now I'm just working on my 7.62x39 ammo stock pile.
I concur , never too many ak's. Always a different country to collect. Kinda like pokemon but manlier.
who needs two ak's? come on hickok45, everyone needs at least a few!
as the great king of the universe, you need at least 6
I have both the Arsenal and WASR. Both are very reliable. With red dots on both, they are both very accurate. AK is a very durable platform. Perfect SHTF rifles. 122-125 grain bullets. Plenty of stopping power. 1000 rounds costs only $250. Inexpensive to shoot too.
heck yeah dude, Ive got a RAS47 that Ive been getting a lot of hate for from a couple people, and I know I will keep an eye on the go no-go headspace issue that may come up in the future, but Ive never had a single malfunction with this rifle, and the ammo is inexpensive :-) Have you noticed a difference between brass and steel cased in your AK's?
Steel is just dirty. Not that my 10/63 cares though
1000 rounds cost $180 now
Ive got a fully milled receiver Century arms 63D, 5000 rounds in and the bluing hasn't even started to fade on some of the parts and I've done full mag burns too! Came nicely sighted in with no canted sights! So far excellent!
1000 rounds are close to $400 now...
After watching a lot of AK videos, I decided to order a Wasr 10. I love it. All matching numbers. No canted sights like a lot of people claim. I love mine. Don't believe the bad reviews. Don't miss out on an awesome rifle.
Agree. If you buy one, get one made by an actual AK specialty dealer/gunsmith
Kyle Anderson no
Should have spent a lil more an got a sam7 arsenal. Jus my opinion. I have 1 of the better wasr an its a great ak but it jus doesn't come close to my arsenal. But im a "u pay for what u get" type person. Good luck with ur ak an keep shootin!👍
@@allmotordc5rallmotorfa575 you get what you pay for *
@@allmotordc5rallmotorfa575 i know the idea of a $600 rifle being just as good as your $2000 rifle sucks but the fact of the matter is Arsenals simply don't outperform wasrs... they just don't. Is the fit and finish better? Definitely, WASRs generally aren't pretty. Is it worth paying that much extra? Depends, I guess. With all that said, Arsenal is an amazing company that doesn't sacrifice quality and really cares about their product. I respect the s**t out of them.
I have been shooting WASR's for years and they are some of the best rifles ever made for the money. For the price tag, I would rather have 2 WASR's than one Arsenal. That's just me. Great video!
Totally agree! I went with WASR and spent another $300 on accessories and optic. Still came out cheaper than plain stock Arsenal.
BTW I love all the WASR haters out there for keeping the price low on the wasr 10 for all of us real shooters. Arsenals are great too.
Wasr are great guns but there's no comparing a Wasr and a Arsenal.. I have both and love both but if i had to grab 1 and go to battle, arsenal all tha way.
@@allmotordc5rallmotorfa575 how is it ANY better than WASR? HOW?
@@jarredkrumm2712 how similar is a wasr to a c39v2? Those are garbage, for that reason I wouldn't buy anything from Century
Wasrs are fine entry level ak's and are better than most us made or built ak's
@@chucknabox1164 would you recommend an n-pap or o-pap over a wasr?
The whole thing about the Wasr ak and wobbling mags is something that was an issue back in the day but was corrected in 2008 after some of those assault rifle laws changed and they no longer have that issue anymore thankfully... Very smooth very fun and a well-made reliable weapon
Hey I'm Romanian 👍 🇷🇴 I speak it fluently too! Good video Hickok45
Checking in here with the Wasr-10 made in 2019... Great AK no issues at all, stamped well, and the front sight is straight.
Owned my WASR10 since 2001 she still going strong I never had an issue with mine.
I'd love to leave them "as is," but they are virtually unshootable with those little bitty short stocks. They are like a child's toy when I pick them up. The after market stocks are what got me back into the AK after giving up on them for about a decade or more. I love being able to shoulder them like a real rifle; they are so much fun and are great rifles.
While in the Marine Corps back in 91; I picked up a discarded AK half buried in the Kuwaiti desert sand with the bolt cover missing, it must have been dropped there by an Iraqi republican guard trooper we recently defeated a week or so earlier...we all new how reliable the AK's were. I picked it up, the attached mag had a dozen rounds in it, I chambered it and fired the whole mag....not one stoppage after being half buried in the sand over a week.
I was there a forward observor ( with Army) I saw a lot of those we also picked up and they always worked. Made me wonder why I was walking around with an M16 A2 in a plastic bag....After being out of army I refuse to ever use AR again. I loathe the rifle. Just a cheap 22 roided up
@@wilsmith6551 you sure are dumb
Wil Smith in certain climate conditions, tell this @ jon smith who’s the dumbass. His plastic will feeeze up. 😉😅
@@wilsmith6551 especially considering if you’re in a situation where you can’t safely stop to clean your weapon you need the reliable AK
@@jonsmith9708 Am I? The AR platform wont even work in the very cold weather ( Montana) etc. If my life depended on it....Not a chance
Newer production WASR's have fixed many if not all of the problems the earlier WASR's were criticized for.
+frios011 Yep. Have had mine a year now and no issues at all.
Century Arms imports them from Romania and does some modifications to them to comply with US laws to make them legal here. They are still made in Romania. Century makes a version of the AK here though.
No problem
frios011 same speaking from experience
WASR 10/2015's have absolutely junk wood, the only improvements made were cosmetic.
the older rifles might have been rough, but I'd say they're of better quality than the post-2015 WASR rifles.
Love my wasr 10/63. Never had a issue of any kind. My Magpul mags work great and its as accurate as you need it to be.
just got a Romanian WASR 10/63 today but haven't shot it yet. It looks great. No canted sights, tapco G2 trigger, matching serial number on bolt, NO magazine wobble at all. The rivets are not put in too deep, everything looks great. I cant wait to shoot it.
+TWDxKILL3R let me know how it goes...... I just ordered mines...
I looked up "WASR vs Arsenal", and I was so glad to see Hickok had a video made!
You are truly a master at gun etiquette happy to have you represent us!
I like the way he never tries to sway you one way or the other. Just an honest review in his opinion. If only news reporters would do the same
Thanks for making great videos. I have a WASR 10 63 . Mine works great with Bulgarian new surplus mags. I stained and sealed the wooden stock and added a bigger grip. Mine works fab and eats any 7.63x39 that I feed it. . I am happy with the accuracy and I use a V-Bar mount with a 4x32. Spot on.
I have a Wasr 10 that's a 2014ish made one. 1k rounds later, zero issues. Yes, many of the early ones sucked, and I have no love for century, but at the price point the current wasr is a great gun.
"Kareem Abdul Jabbar could shoot this gun." LOL.
🤣🤣🤣🤣 is it because he has long arms?
Morgan Morse 😆 islamic terror
I have several Arsenal rifles. They are outstanding.
Life IS good... Especially when you own an AK. Thank you for another amazing video hickok45:)
I have an old sar-1, a great entry level ak. I've had it about 20 years or so and it still runs great. it got me into AK's.
The U.S military needs a DIVISION of you...Great VIDEOS. .God bless
The new production WASR 10's (not the 10/63's) are of much higher quality and all around great rifles.
+ajttambo how does a noobie know if he is getting an old or a new one?
+Ştefan Ciochină the 10/63 doesn't mean it's old..wasr 10/63 is an upgraded version of the wasr wasr 10
+Richard Whitehead No, the 10/63 where build on used surplus parts while the WASR 10 rifles where new production.
+Sean K It will say WASR-10 on the side of the receiver, the 10/63 is no longer made, these were made from surplus parts kits. The WASR-10's are brand new production rifles made with all brand new parts. Also, they no longer have the Tapco G2 trigger in them, they now have the Century Arms RAK 1 AK trigger installed which in my opinion is slightly better than the Tapco G2 trigger.
ajttambo My 10/63 functions much better than my 10
Arsenal parts are not made in russia but Bulgaria
@Aaron9 Ehm, that's why It's called... "Bulgarian'' type version, ya' idiot
Sgl is made in Russia.. slr is made in Bulgaria. Both are imported by arsenal. Or were before the russia sanctions
Id be in heaven with a range like that!
Nice video
i want to meet hickok45 he seems like a awesome guy and fun to shoot with
Dingdonglong umm why cant i just say i want to meet him
Dingdonglong ok...whatever dude your logic makes no seance
Dingdonglong you looks like Osama didn´t Obama killed you?
Sami Gami Nope, the Navy Seals killed Bin Laden.
***** Oh nooooooooooooooo!
(In my best Mr. Bill voice.)
Thank you for always being a reliable source of gun knowledge.
I bought a wasr 10/63 a few years ago. shoots great invested better parts on it and made if a better gun. I know people who spend over 1000 on a arsenal and still spend money investing on it. I believe I came out on top with my Wasr
The Kareem Abdul-Jabbar part made my day.
I love my Bulgarian Arsenal full auto Type 3.That is first AK that Bulgarian arsenal made and the nicest AK i ever see.
I own the Arsenal Bulgarian milled receiver based AK. Great rifle. I spent a little more because I wanted too. IMHO there is no such thing as a "bad" AK. Their tolerances are so loose that it's hard to build one that won't work. Get yourself the best one you can afford. You'll love it!
"Tapco works beautifully" I believe I'm correct in saying that this is the first time this phrase has ever been uttered by someone not working for Tapco
My Arsenal SAR M1F is made in Bulgaria, not Russia. Izhmash and Molot are the main Russian factories.
Is the izmash or molot better
All "Arsenals" are made in Bulgaria. That is the name of the Bulgarian factory.
@@chernorizetzhrabar1313 The SGL Arsenals were made in Russia, all the other Arsenal’s are Bulgarian though
I just bought a WASR 10/63 back in January and have absolutely no complaints whatsoever! At 599.00 bucks I think it is a very good bargain, especially if your just getting into the AK platform. Arsenal makes an awesome AK no doubt, but for almost 400.00 cheaper the WASR takes the cake for this guy!
i love mine but i kinda wish i would of sold it when the price got up to $1000 for one
@@akshooter762 well now you can
And now they are near 2 grand!!! I paid over $1800 for my Arsenal sam7f-62.
I love my WASR-10/63. Absolutely love it! Hickok45 MLH&R!
Great comparison vid, seems like they both hit what you're aiming at
Can't get enough AKs, LOL
Thanks for posting!!
Always a pleasure to watch your videos, hickok. Even though you often say you're not the expert, I beg to differ. To me (a guy who is new in the gun world), your advice is second to none. Your approach to explaining the guns you shoot is thorough, and I trust that when I watch one of your videos, I'm going to come away equipped with a lot more knowledge than I previously held. Thanks for what you do for us on RUclips, keep up the fantastic work. It's obvious you love what you do!!
"Kareem Jubar could shoot this gun comfortably". Hell yes, Go Lakers! I was fortunate enough to see Kareem play live. Great player. Nice video
Hickock you got a slice o heaven there man.. Playtime at the range right off the deck
WASR 10 are 1k now. Forget the stock market, guns are a good investment. Wish I bought about 10 when they were 500.
Recently purchased a WASR-10. It's actually a very well made AK. Not too much rattle and the mags fit nice and snug. I even put Iraqi issued steel mags in it that were well used and still a tight fit. About 600 rounds though it and no FTF/FTE. Great rifle for the price.
Отличное видео ! Интересно узнать об истории оружий + посмотреть их в действии. Один из моих любимых оружейных каналов.
@blastun, According to what I've read, they are both.
AKM's are supposed to have a slight magazine wobble. Same for the gas piston.
Regards
I have two 10/63's and both are fantastic. One of them I have owned for 20 years and I have ran thousands of rounds through that rifle in all weathers. I have been up the creek and over the mountain with that thing. It is utterly reliable.
I absolutely love my SGL-21, it's my "go to" gun when SHTF.
Glad I bought my WASR years ago. I checked on pricing today and they have more than doubled. I have put thousands of rounds down the tube and it still shoots like the day I bought it.
When you decide which one to keep, I will gladly store the other for you!
Hickock45 _The historian_ ... Bringing us back to when "AKs are not that expensive"
and
you "could find an Arsenal in every gun store"
and
"WASRs had a reputation for not being that good"
Funny what 10 years can do.
Best AK is the one you bought at affordable price, and that is doing its job.
I paid 950$ for my fully milled receiver century arms 63D, with 4 extra mags and an upgraded grip 6 years ago! And I thought that was too expensive for an AK back then... I knew the price would just keep on going up with all the shootings we have :( so I figured I needed to invest right away!! I miss the days they used to be like 400$ for a good one!!
@@TarmanTheChampion I paid 3 fitty for a VSKA in a St Louis pawn shop😉
That cabinet is a prime example of the difference in concealment and cover
I love the WASR-10
1 sick Civic SI FB6 me too. I've only put a few hundred rounds through it but many more will follow
1 sick Civic SI FB6 I've considered getting one but I'm used to being smacked around by 3 inch magnum 00 buck so I figured I'll be fine without one
Well okay then lol
Scott Bromberg that is why I own one myself, very easy to clean.
same here
I love my Arsenal RAK and Circle 10 mag combo... Simply perfection. :)
Arsenal are Bulgarian AK's, and they are the best ones!
+Sir Tomaz and probably some of them are made in US.
Well the one in this video is not bulgarian. It is a brand new Kalashnikov factory made Saiga with cold hammer forged chrome lined barrel. They come from Izmash (the old Izhevsk company) in the Sporter configuration with a monte carlo style stock and 10 round magazine (love mine). The trigger is moved back to where the AKM's pistol grip is so that the hunting stock can be used without the pistol grip. I have the 5.45x39 version. I bought it because it not made from spare parts. I have 6 bulgarian 5.45 mags and shot over 1400 rounds of 7n6 WITHOUT a bullet guide contrary to the erroneous internet info being passed around. (your mileage may vary) ;)
Personally, I prefer the Vepr but to each his own.
Vepr
I have the Arsenal Sam7 UF. Love it !
great unbiased video. I just picked up a Wasr 10 from Cabelas that was on sale walked out paying 501.50. The front sight is not cantered no mag wobble with Poly mags the bloc mags wobbles a little bit but not much, tapco trigger. only thing I have to do was dremel the weld off the barrel cover to expose the threaded barrel to put on a PWS FSC47 muzzle break
I think they're up around $750.00 now.
"Kareem Jabbar could shoot this comfortably" As a Bucks fan I was dead by that reference.
Go Bucks Go
It's required to support a longer barrel (and therefore a longer lever in physical terms). You should note, that US have some specific importation laws, and imported rifles are usually built on domestic receivers, so I can't guarantee you'll find a Saiga with an RPK receiver. On the other hand, you'll know it when you see it, RPK receivers have visible bilateral protrusions, where the trunnion extension is.
Love the videos man, only thing i can say negative, is that if a person has an ak chambered in anything but 5.45 or 7.62 (i.e. 5.56) they are not very bright crayons indeed.
I bought my wasr 10 brand new for $500.00 right out of the box roughly 3 years ago and never had any issues what so ever, a lot of fun to shoot, especially for the price.
I hear wasrs are a lot better now
nickserio35 They are. The rifles made post-'08 have outrageously better QC. Their bad reputation comes from the much older rifles. Unfortunate, but it does mean that those in the know can get a good rifle now for a really nice price and not have to worry about price gouging so much.
Mines been fantastic
Bought my Norinco and Polytech rifles back in the 90s, I'm still very much happy.😊
Who needs two AKs?! What kind of question is that?! Hickok, I'm so disappointed... ;-)
mafiashpagety
I'd prefer a minimum of four.... :-)
Caesar Seriona That is a good idea IMO whenever you can dup firearms.
HondoLane76
Well duh, I know that. I am saying you should always have two of the same weapon.
HondoLane76
I get what you are saying now. Let me clarify a bit. I know all AK platforms don't use the same parts but I do know that some AK patterns do, I think all modern WASR 10's for example are built on par so you could takes parts from one gun and use it on the other. But obviously you couldn't take an AK-47 and use those parts on an AKM even though they are the "same" gun.
+Caesar Seriona why use the second gun for parts?? Why not just use the second gun?
That's exactly what we all needed to hear. A man that has a lot of experience with firearms telling us how it really is and not these fan boys trying to convince us. WASR and Arsenal are the same, its just whoever bought the Arsenal overspent just for the brand.
Did he say "gun porn" lmfao thats hilarious!!!! Love this guy!!!
Yes. Izhmash makes the "Saiga" line of rifles, Arsenal re-manufactures them in the US into a mil-spec AK 103 type rilfe.
man i never walk into a gun store and see an arsonal on the rack
Larger, well-stocked gun shops will often have them. I can think of two or three around Nashville that will generally have them.
the outpost has a whole lot of guns down in murfreesburo, legend says hickock likes to visit them every once in a while
When I bought my WASR-10, my wife and I were living in just outside of Rochester, NY. Imagine that, going to a gunshow, and buying a WASR in Cuomo's socialist state. Anyway, that was years ago, and we are back home in the south, thank the Good Lord. The WASR is a fine rifle, the only problem I had was with the magazines. I remedied that situation by buying up a bunch of Bulgarian mags. I haven't had a problem since. Trick this baby out, and she will look like the more expensive AK's; and in the hands of a competent rifleman, they will shoot quite well, out to 100 yards. Hickok, were I you, I would hang onto both AK's. Some food for thought! Great educational video, as usual.
i love that hes got the ussr flag underneath the rifles
Love my WASR 10/63, but if I get the chance and money I would like an arsenal too, and I'll keep both! Love the video Hickok, keep them coming.
i have to eat my words. i walked into bobs trading post in Kansas and on the wall he had 3 arsenals now he has 2:)
Sounds as though you are the proud owner of a really nice AK!
is that "bobs trading post" in salina ks .?
Just got an Arsenal last week. It's an Arsenal Sgl-21-62 and it runs flawlessly. That plum color sure looks good. Only problem is its CA compliant....
Is it weird that I still want a WASR even after having an Arsenal?
+Aaron Cabrera Yes.
+Aaron Cabrera Jk.
why do you want the WASR over the arsenal ?
+LIVINGCHURRO Because I can bang the WASR around and not worry about the durability, or the finish. Besides, Arsenal coats their firearms with an undesired, lacking coat that wears ridiculously easily.
There are other things I can say I like more about the WASR in relation to he Arsenal, if you'd rather I go into full detail.
+Aaron Cabrera You certainly won't have to worry about the durability or reliability of the WASR. They are absolutely reliable and will run with any rifle I have ever fired, and run circles around most.
I've been watching your videos for a few years and never left a comment. I just wanted to thank you for all the time you put into your videos and for sharing your knowledge. I enjoy watching you shoot and listening to your very informative talks on the firearms you feature. Keep putting out the good stuff!
Ive seen WASR 10/63s sell for a 1000! :,(
Makes me glad i bought a 5.45 Arsenal for 800 :D
I just bought a wasr 10 for about 1000 cause its the only good ak i could get my hands on :( but idc i have an ak now :D
I have a Cugir (WASR) WS1-64 (425mm barrel) with a folding stock and a Cugir WS1-63SB (320mm barrel) with a red dot sight (it has 4 reticles) from the Russian Army.
I already had different AR15 models, but I sold them again after a short time.
If I had to defend my life, there would only be 3 weapons for me: Glock 31 (.357 SIG), Glock 17 (9mm Luger) and an AK clone.
Original AK 47 are unfortunately forbidden in "oh so free" Germany.
I need way more than 2 AK’s.
I like my WASR, and after having to enlarge the magwell I haven't had any problems.
The rifle came with 2 surplus metal mags. The first was snug, and the second didn't fit at all. I enlarge the magwell so that the first mag slides in and out rather smoothly. The second mag was visually thicker than the first and I didn't want to enlarge the magwell too much, so I actually ground down both sides of the mag. Now it fits very tight but at least it fits. Both mags tend to feed ok, but sometimes fail. I bought some surplus flat back metal magazines. These fit loosely but feed perfectly. I also have 2 Korean 75 round drum magazines that fit loosely but feed perfectly. I finally picked up some Tapco mags and they fit and feed perfectly.
"Who needs two AKs..." LOL.
They are pieces of history my friend, they must be preserved, just as any other artifact should be.
That was a well made cabinet .. Looks still functional after all that abuse .. Might need a new paint job ..
1:14 ha! not in Killinois. these are dang near IMPOSSIBLE to find
So glad you are unbanned.
There's a local WASR-10 I've been thinking about getting. Thanks for the video. Helps ease my mind a bit. I've read alot about the canted sight, mag wobble and trigger slap. I know what to look for but it's nice to know even if those problems are present, they're not game breaking.
As much as I hate everything the USSR stood for damn if they didn't design a fantastic rifle
The main differences between the AK and AKM are forged vs milled receiver, a different recoil spring assembly (interchageable), a different trunnion and barrel mounting (in one instance the barrel is screwed in, the other it's pushed in an pinned), a slightly different (though interchangeable bolt carrier), smooth vs ribbed receiver cover (interchangeable), thread protector vs flash hider (interchangeable) and bayonet mount. Most AKs in the US feature a mix of these features.
If you're gonna spend enough to get an arsenal you might as well get an AR so you can hit targets beyond 300 yrds, an AK should be a cheap rifle that works. Arsenal rifles may be great but you're still limited to 300 yrds and in.
300 yards and in if you're using iron sights. Learn how to shoot and you can hit further!
Imakeplanesboom To be fair though, many of us don't have access to a place where you can shoot longer distances and truly learn how to properly aim a rifle for bullet drop and other factors.
Hulbert Parsons In reference to the original comment, he was saying that people shouldn't buy an AK and just get an AR, I mentioned that people should just get better at shooting instead of getting the SLIGHTLY more accurate rifle.
Thanks for your comment
Imakeplanesboom Oh I agree with you, just wanted to throw out there there's only so much many of us can do. If 7n6 was still coming in I'd say get a 5.45 gun and you've got the best of both worlds. I still think it's a solid option. Commercial ammo is still cheaper by a lot and you can spend that extra money shooting, which is the only way to get good.
agreed...the AK-47 is cool but it's basically a 30-30 with big magazine...
...30 cal bullet @2300fps,so there.
The Tapco trigger on my AK (Polish underfolder) is awesome. I couldn't imagine a better trigger for my AK...
Fast forward to 2021 and we have the ALG AK-E trigger which makes the very good tapco seem like garbage. lol But I can say though IMO that’s the only trigger that is better than the ole tapco G2 AK trigger.
2019 anyone ?
2020 great !!
2020 too. God knows we need em now
Wasr I seen was $950 now and a used Arsenal they were selling for $1700...
Century mills out the magazine well to accept all mags including yugoslavian mags which is why romainian mags as well as other eastern europeon mags wobble ! Yugoslavian or Chinese magazines fit nice and tight in WASR-10 AK's which is the way they are designed to fit , Tightly ! Magazine wobble is from using improper magazines in amerikan AK's that were milled out to take all mags !
most magazines wobble in just about every AK platform. Stop spreading bullshit
virgil kane never heard of an AR with wobbly mags, or canted front sight posts, poor riveting etc...just sayin
What else can you say except. (" This dude is the MAN".) I love this fricken guy.
AK47, when you absolutely, positively want to kill every mfer in the room, accept no substitute. Hallelujah!
Samuel muthafuckin Jackson...
I just saw this comment from 2 months ago and it's really funny because I picked up an M70 from JG for $499 and a M85 5.56 AK pistol for $399. Awesome, awesome guns! It's great to be back in business with the AKs.
guns are cool, the flag not so much. use the flag as a 300 yard target
JB I usually shoot Israel's flag myself.
I don't waste my ammo
Anybody with a star is a SATAN WORSHIPER..... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ill slit a communists neck
those commies built that rifle so its only fair to give them respect.
I bought a Romanian made M10-762 and it's pretty awesome. Came with a quad rail for all the fun attachments. Sights were dead on out of the box.