While many familiar with the AK platform have come to know and love the simplicity and durability of Mikhail Kalashnikov’s masterpiece, those new to the AK space are left with more questions than answers.
By the end of this article, we will help you to distinguish between AK-47 range toys, AK safe queens, go-to-war AKs, and AKs to avoid at all costs.
In each category, we discuss the qualifying characteristics and features of AK-47s/AKMs. We provide top picks and honorable mentions, along with the ‘AK-47s to avoid’ list. Our choices consider cost, value, availability, and proven reliability.
AK-47 Range Toys
With range toys, you expect there to be some hiccups from time to time. You may experience a failure to feed or even the rare double-feed if you’re unlucky.
It may be picky with certain brands of ammo, and may not work well with all your magazines, but should function well enough to get some much-needed practice shooting targets downrange.
Some of the range toys on this list may very well function fine past 5,000 rounds while others may develop issues well below that round count.
“Range toys” are typically any firearm that is:
- Fun to shoot
- Cheaper to buy/operate
- Not relied upon in dire straights
- Safe to shoot & won’t explode!
No matter what they may or may not be capable of, they really shouldn’t be considered as your primary AK and will likely not survive long after the torture you put it through!
Still, for the price you pay, most of them are good enough to have fun with at the range without worrying about roughing them up.
It’s possible, with moderate use, they might even make for a decent truck gun, or as a backup rifle in a pinch, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves!
#1 AK-47 Range Toy: Century Arms VSKA
We think the VSKA is the best candidate to get good at using, and familiar with shooting, an AK at the range or training grounds.
It’s reliable enough to withstand abuse through a variety of training tactics, as well as accurate enough to help assist in your accuracy training.
It’s a bit expensive for a range toy, with an MSRP of $799 (we’ve seen some priced even higher- nyet good), but worth it if you don’t want to put thousands of rounds down your go-to AK that will likely set you back hundreds more.
Due to Century Arms’ use of cast internals, we feel the VSKA is best suited to this category of AKs.
Although surviving 5k rounds of torture seems like a lot, all of the go-to AKs on this list have hammer-forged parts and cold hammer-forged, chrome-lined barrels that can withstand 30k-50k rounds before experiencing a failure (trunnions & receivers hold up much better too).
Although we recommend any primary weapon you own should be broken in with no less than 200 rounds, we don’t see any benefit in abusing your main AK any further.
The most important metric is your ability to use that weapon effectively, efficiently, and under a wide variety of circumstances.
That’s where range toys can come in handy and save your go-to option from excessive wear and tear.
The Draco AK also makes a fun range toy for those who like to offend the most people possible and don’t mind the blowback!
AK-47 Safe Queens
Due to recent leadership changes, fears that the current administration has set its sights on banning future imports of rifles resembling the infamous AK47 are steering the prices of said rifles sky-high.
As you may have guessed by now, safe queens are firearms that are in the realm of collectibles that go up in value as their scarcity and demand increase.
Many newly imported AKs are now falling into “safe queen” status when, just a few years prior, they could be had for a much lower price.
Previously, this category only included AKs that were pre-ban imports from Eastern Com-Bloc countries that are now starting to include earlier post-ban imports from Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, and Polish factories.
The Arsenal you’re shooting today may become your safe queen of tomorrow!
What’s our pick for AK-47 future safe queen?
We’re glad you asked… and we suspect you may have guessed after seeing its meteoric rise in price over a relatively short time!
#1 Future AK Safe Queen: Arsenal SAM7R-61
Starting at $1,800 for the bare-bones polymer furniture option to over $2,500 for the more tactical options,
Arsenal’s Bulgarian-made, milled receiver AK 47s are only going to go up in value over time. Being one of the most readily available amongst safe queens means you have a great chance of actually obtaining one before the prices skyrocket!
Your chances of owning an Egyptian Maadi, Chinese Norinco, Yugo M70, Ukrainian Vepr, or Russian Molot (to name a few) are growing slim to none and come at a substantial cost at auction.
Our choice of runner-ups and honorable mentions: If you want to start a more affordable AK collection that you can own now, consider buying some modern imports from the likes of Arsenal, WBP, Zastava, and CAI’s Romanian imported WASR-10.
AK-47 Go-To-War Options
This category will be the meat and potatoes of this article. When considering a go-to-war option, you have to consider a variety of factors:
- Has it been battle-tested?
- Does it have a track record or reliability?
- Was it made from forged parts?
- Is it made by a reputable manufacturer?
- Will it survive a nuclear explosion?
Ok. That last one was a bit of jest… but if the apocalypse happens to come in our lifetime, which AK-47 would you want in your hands?
If you’re even halfway serious about your training, when shooting hundreds of rounds a year for .40 cents a pop, then you already know how important your go-to war rifle is!
But, for those of us still getting our heads wrapped around what makes for a good AK-47 and what makes an AK-47 destined for the trash bin… confusion sets in.
Our top picks for AK-47s built for the zombie apocalypse… KEEP SCROLLING TO FIND OUT!
At Exoc Tactical, we often spend late nights scouring gun forums and YouTube videos for valuable information. Sorting through biased opinions can be time-consuming, but we’ve compiled a list of reliable AKs for any SHTF situation or TEOTWAWKI.
#1 Go-To-War AK 47: The Zastava ZPAP M70
This AK 47 Yugo AKM variant has seen a staggering amount of battle since its production in 1970.
It has been involved in 16 wars to date from conflicts arising through Southern Europe, and the Middle East, to Western and Southern Asia, and throughout Africa (*for more info click here).
With all that said, there should be no doubt about the ZPAP’s warworthiness! Zastava Arms is a very reputable manufacturer of AK47s and has many years of experience and expertise in the AK space.
We have one in our collection (pictured above) and outfitted it with an UltiMAK railed gas-tube replacement that lets you mount a scope giving you co-witness ability not typical on AKs (but pretty common on ARs).
We added a red dot Atibal optic that is just as tough as the M70! This model came with an upgraded ProMag Archangel stock with an adjustable cheek riser, 4 lengths of pull options, and a removable butt-pad (a $60 value).
We also appreciated the Magpul pistol grip and the Hogue rubberized handguards (an $80 value) which gives it a very strong purchase that we found lacking on most handguards.
After paying the initial cost of $998, we only had to spend a bit over a Benjamin to Gucci it out.
If you can rock the iron sights like Rob Ski that’ll do the trick, or, if you’re like the rest of us mortals, throw on a red dot and you’re ready to face the zombie horde!
#2 Go-To-War AK-47: The WASR-10
The first Romanian AK-47 imports started in 1997 and were coined the “Romak 991” at the factory.
Due to the 1989 “assault weapons” ban, they came into customs with a thumbhole stock and single stack magazines and could not possess any “scary features” such as bayonet lugs or threaded barrels.
Of course, in 1994, Clinton signed into law the crime bill which expanded upon Bush’s “assault weapons” ban which meant all weapons, both foreign and domestic, could not include any of the aforementioned “evil features”.
In 2003, the WASR series was born in compliance with the Warsaw Pact (hence the name, WASR) and it became an immediate success.
They were cheap and were often imported as military surplus parts kits that were later reassembled by several US companies and then sold to the US consumer as completed kit builds.
After the assault weapons ban expired in 2004, a new commercial series of AK-47s was made in the Cugir factory in Romania for commercial export only. This new civilian model was called the GP WASR-10 (the GP standing for “general purpose”).
No other AK has managed to amass as many haters and fanboys as the WASR…and for good reason!
During the relatively brief production period between 2008 and 2009, the GP WASR-10 amassed a justifiably poor reputation for being a notoriously unreliable and poorly-made hunk of junk.
This reputation was mostly earned due to people’s fears that Obama would ban imports of AK47s, causing a panic that led to some major FOMO purchasing.
The sudden increase in sales created a great demand and caused the relatively small Cugir factory in Romania to ramp up production at the expense of quality controls.
During this period many of these WASRs had some serious fit and finish issues which cost the WASR its reputation for quite some time.
Once word spread regarding these quality control issues, the Cugir factory was quick to address them.
By 2010, the Cugir factory had increased its production capabilities and added more gunsmiths to rectify the problem.
Flash forward to today and WASR has, once again, regained our trust and restored its reputation as a beloved staple in the AK world.
The WASR-10 truly embodies the spirit of the original Kalashnikov in all its quirks and imperfections!
Unfortunately, the time has passed when you could buy a WASR for $350 in the year 2000…but for $899 it’s still a good deal for a battle-ready import that’s 100% Romanian-made with a few finishing touches from Century Arms!
AK-47s to Avoid at All Costs!
There have been quite a few poorly-made AK-47 rifles that are examples of failed attempts by various manufacturers. Due to their bad reputation in the AK community, these earlier failures are well-known and avoided in the second-hand market.
Here’s our list of AKs to avoid at ALL costs:
- Century Arms C39 V1 & V2: Manufactured them of suspect materials, lacking QC.
- Riley Defense: Avoid the early cast trunnion models, their models now use cold-hammer-forged steel needed in the trifecta where it counts.
- ATI AKs: From poor materials to builds, issues abound. Avoid. Fortunately, not many are out there.
- Clearview/Classic Firearms AMD Builds: Horrible junk-metal barrels with poor heat treat and QC, gas ports the size of sewer pipes- no joke- and there has been repeated evidence of bolt grinding to get headspace correct. Hopefully, you don’t own one of these already.
- Pioneer AKs: Pioneer Arms frequently identify themselves as Radom which is a douchy business practice at best and hazardous to your health at worst. Word is, they rent a shop in the town of Radom but are not, in actuality, the real Fabryka Broni “Łucznik” Radom munitions plant- you know the ones with the original Circle10 10 AKs, parts, and barrels. They used old-school, poured-metal, castings, and also the same building techniques as I.O. (e.g. using a barrel as a bucking bar!) We have seen pics that show that they are, indeed, now in the old building the Fabrika/Circle 10 was in, and they appear to have some of their tooling. Avoid!
Conclusions & Honorable Mentions
Both of our top 2 go-to-war AKs are great examples of weapons made to last using only forged parts where it counts the most.
Just remember, these AKs are imported and opened up a bit to accept double-stack magazines before arriving on shelves or your local FFL for pickup.
We always recommend a thorough inspection at the point of pickup as a final quality control measure and cleaning off any excess metal shavings inside the receiver to ensure flawless function at the range.
Though counterintuitive, AKs don’t require much lubrication; just a touch of oil on the top receiver rails will suffice.
The carbon buildup that forms around the internal parts does a fine job keeping the action smooth but over-lubrication can gum up the action and cause failures!
Side Note: The US-made furniture on the Century WASR is of unquestionably bad quality. The pricier blond wood furniture option is made of a very lightweight and cheap feeling beechwood that won’t hold up in battle (let alone regular use).
The bland poly furniture on the base model looks as soulless as two black eyes and feels worse than a nylon mop bucket. Because of this, you’ll want to spend a bit more money on furniture upgrades, as we did, before she’s battle-ready!
Honorable mentions: The Bulgarian Arsenals and Polish WBP Foxes would no doubt serve you well, but they come at a much higher cost and aren’t practical options for most.
One of these days we hope to add our two favorite US-made and comparably priced AKs (the PSA AK-103 & KUSA KR-103) to our coveted “Go-To-War” list, but we feel they need a few more years (and perhaps a few more iterations) in the field before coming to a consensus.
Well, you’ve made it to the end of this article. Congrats comrade! Hopefully, you now have a better idea of which category your AK-47 falls into and what to look for in your next AK!
Spot on with this write-up, I truly believe that this website needs a lot more attention. I’ll probably be back again to read more, thanks for the information!