I have been researching the ak-47 rifles and looking to buy one. I found a website, Joeken Firearms Inc. and was wondering if their rifles are high quality or junk. Does anyone have any suggestions on a particular US manufacture to buy from? Thanks.
AK-47, which to buy?
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where you located?
I was once told that the Chinese were the best made. you might have a local FFL that could help you out.
those guns are some serious fun!!
I miss mine
I was once told that the Chinese were the best made. you might have a local FFL that could help you out.
those guns are some serious fun!!
I miss mineI had a Eygyptian Maddi a few years ago that was nice, never had a problem out of it, I never went out of my way to abuse it like people feel the need to sometimes to get the seal of approval, for a fun plinker I would buy a AK over any of the Ruger Minis I have owned.
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Suzuki Burgman
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Suzuki Burgman
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Depends what you want it for. If you just want to burn ammo with 6MOA accuracy then any will do. The design is inherantly reliable, it would be just as difficult to buy a badly-made anvil. If you want something special there are all kinds of options. The nicest ones I've come accross in the US are custom jobs from Krebs Custom and Arsenal Inc. What neither custom builder offers is a .308 bore (as opposed to .311") so I'm building one myself on a milled receiver with custom barrel. I think most of the 7.62x39's bad rep for poor accuracy comes from the inconsistency of bullet diameters.
From Experience......
taking a hit from any of them will truly mess up your medical records. Nope, never took a solid hit from one, but sure got creased a couple times.
I have a Romainian WSR aka AK-47. I find they are a solid platform.
Some folks will tell you to get a milled received verses a stamped receiver. I never noticed any difference in them except the milled is slightly heavier.
One thing to be careful of is the front sight. Some AK's were assemble with the front sight mounted before the barrel was set and headspaced. This causes the front sight to be slightly keltered to one side or the other at times. What happens here is that you have only so much windage before you are into the front sight wings. Nothing a good smith can't fix, but a real pain. Double check this with a straight edge and a Mark III Eyeball.
Magazines are all over the place. The Russian mags are touted to be the strongest due to the external ridge protruding from the back of the mag. But those can be a pain in the hand in a hurry. Your choice.
Unless you are a masochist, I'd avoid the folding stock models. Looks good in the movies, but will beat you to death and are hard to maintain a good sight picture with.
Front pistol grip. Guess if you are using a folder, then the pistol grip is ok. Otherwise it is not real comfortable to hold on too when firing from the shoulder. I had one on an AK when I bought it. Cut it off, sanded the forehand grip to what I felt was right and viola'....a comfy fit.
Chinese AK's. Only thing I can say about them is to avoid the .223 version. They eat brass up. And the ejector has been known to pierce the brass and not kick it out the receiver, ergo, jam. I'm sure someone out there has one in 223 that is directly opposite of what I described, but that would not be unusual either.
The one thing you must remember is that the AK was built for a child to use. Or at least poorly trained soldiers. It is simple and functional. Will take alot of abuse. One of the reasons it has been the most exported weapon in the world. Cheap to make, easy to train on, simple to maintain. Break one, toss it and get another.
To be honest, I find it a much better close in weapon then the M16 series or it's derivatives.
One thing also. If you get one with what I call the Shovel type flash suppressor, it does not suppress the flash. It was designed to control the muzzle climb on full auto. At night you could really spot one firing cause it sprays the air above the muzzle with unburned powder for about 2 feet in the air above the muzzle. Didn't do a thing to help the user with his night visoin either.
Hope this helps some. But in the long run, tis the shooter's choice.
taking a hit from any of them will truly mess up your medical records. Nope, never took a solid hit from one, but sure got creased a couple times.
I have a Romainian WSR aka AK-47. I find they are a solid platform.
Some folks will tell you to get a milled received verses a stamped receiver. I never noticed any difference in them except the milled is slightly heavier.
One thing to be careful of is the front sight. Some AK's were assemble with the front sight mounted before the barrel was set and headspaced. This causes the front sight to be slightly keltered to one side or the other at times. What happens here is that you have only so much windage before you are into the front sight wings. Nothing a good smith can't fix, but a real pain. Double check this with a straight edge and a Mark III Eyeball.
Magazines are all over the place. The Russian mags are touted to be the strongest due to the external ridge protruding from the back of the mag. But those can be a pain in the hand in a hurry. Your choice.
Unless you are a masochist, I'd avoid the folding stock models. Looks good in the movies, but will beat you to death and are hard to maintain a good sight picture with.
Front pistol grip. Guess if you are using a folder, then the pistol grip is ok. Otherwise it is not real comfortable to hold on too when firing from the shoulder. I had one on an AK when I bought it. Cut it off, sanded the forehand grip to what I felt was right and viola'....a comfy fit.
Chinese AK's. Only thing I can say about them is to avoid the .223 version. They eat brass up. And the ejector has been known to pierce the brass and not kick it out the receiver, ergo, jam. I'm sure someone out there has one in 223 that is directly opposite of what I described, but that would not be unusual either.
The one thing you must remember is that the AK was built for a child to use. Or at least poorly trained soldiers. It is simple and functional. Will take alot of abuse. One of the reasons it has been the most exported weapon in the world. Cheap to make, easy to train on, simple to maintain. Break one, toss it and get another.
To be honest, I find it a much better close in weapon then the M16 series or it's derivatives.
One thing also. If you get one with what I call the Shovel type flash suppressor, it does not suppress the flash. It was designed to control the muzzle climb on full auto. At night you could really spot one firing cause it sprays the air above the muzzle with unburned powder for about 2 feet in the air above the muzzle. Didn't do a thing to help the user with his night visoin either.
Hope this helps some. But in the long run, tis the shooter's choice.
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