Should I buy a romanian WASR 10 AK-47?

Question

I saw the cheap Romanian AKs at dunham's sport, selling for 400. They look and feel really cheap, but I just can't seem to find quality AKs anywhere. None of the local gun stores have them in stock. I know atlantic firearms and some online places have the high quality ones with the russian red wood that I want, but I really don't want to deal with all that FFL transferring hassle. I asked a few of the dealers if they can order one directly from Lancaster Arms, but theyhad no clue what I was talking about and said they'd get back to me on that and never did.

http://www.lancasterarms.com/New Standard Gun Page.html

This is the kind I want, but no one has them or knows what i'm talking about. So should I just go to dunham's and get the WASR?

Answer 1

Get the one you want or you'll be disappointed with the one you get and never fully enjoy your AK.  

Answer 2

Go to a gun show (larger the better). I went to one around the nations capital this last weekend. I saw at least 50-60 aks there. You can discuss the price or you might even find something you like better than an ak. However, I own an ak (sar -1) and have heard some bad things about the WASR 10's. Good luck!

Answer 3

DO NOT GET THE WASR..... Last Sunday afternoon my Romanian WASR 10 EXPLODED at 4 in the afternoon... Thats right blew up!!! I have owned several AK47 rifles in the last 25 years and this one is the worst gun that ever happened to me.... Luckily I had my safety glasses on and this hat I had on took the brunt of the receiver cover blasting me in the head.... I spent 3 hours picking schrapnel steel out of my face, arms and neck.... Every day for the last 4 days I have been picking steel particles out of my arm..... I took the rifle to a gunsmith and it is inconclusive what happened to the rifle. He suspects either the bolt wasnt completly shut when it fired or it was a hot powder charge in the cartridge..... This particular AK I bought about 5 months ago and put approximately 1100 rounds thru it. It was cleaned after every use so I am a little miffed as to what happened.... Fortunately the bolt didnt come all the way back and blow my head off.... When I get a little time I am going to photo the rifle and put it on the AK forums to show what happened... When it exploded the bolt opened about 3/4's of an inch and the escaping gas bulged out the sides of the stamped sheet metal receiver, blew the top receiver cover off hitting the ceiling of the range cover (of course bouncing it off my head on the way up) all the while blowing hot gas and steel schrapnel into my face, neck and left inside of my wrist where the magazine plugs in....... BUY A BETTER GRADE OF AK47 RIFLE. Forget the WASR.....

Answer 4

WASR's are kind of the low rung of the domestic AK's not that you can't get a decent WASR just that some are kinda cheesy. Watch out for loose magazine wells and canted front sight bases.

The way you order a gun online or via internet is this:

Go to a source like Gunbroker.com or Atlantic Firearms, pick out the gun you want.

Then find a local gun gun store that will do the transfer for you. This normally costs about 25$.

Then you order the gun from gunbroker or whereever and they will need a copy of the gun store's federal firearms license (FFL) the gun is sent to the gun store, you go in get your back ground check pay for it and your good.

Shop around and look at the Vector and Arsenal AK's YUGOs are supposed to be pretty good too.

I hope this helps

Kurdis

Answer 5

WASRs arent the best quality.. but they are reliable.  Loose mag wells are a common problem, but you could upgrade some parts if any were crappy for cheap money.  Id suggest you buy it, and then if you have any problems with it, just go to the closest gunsmith and order some new parts to fix the problem.  $400 is a good price for a WASR.