Quality: ****
Availability: ****
Price: $$$
Overview: High quality imports with a wide variety of AK's donning the "SA" and "SGL" designations. Quality comes at a price though - expect to pay anywhere from $800 to around $2000 depending on which specific model and caliber.
Quality: **
Availability: ****
Price: $
Overview: Probably the most common of all imported AK's are Century Arms' rifles, which flooded the market years ago and continue to do so to this day. Although sometimes cheaply made, often with milled receivers and canted front sights you do get what you pay for. And their guns are by far some of the cheapest AK's out there with most of their rifles selling for less than $500.
Quality: ****
Availability: ***
Price: $$-$$$
Overview: Popularized by Discovery Channel's "Sons of Guns," Red Jacket Firearms has a reputation for great quality and lifetime warranties. Sometimes on the expensive side, these well-made rifles are more than worth the price.
Quality: ***
Availability: **
Price: $$
Overview: Recognizable for their quality work and importation of Hungarian AMD-series AK's built on the original FEG receivers, TGI stands as a good mid-range AK seller. Their rifles are of good quality and have the reputation to back them up without the higher prices of companies like Arsenal. The only real drawback to the TGI guns is that they are not as common or as well known as Century Arms or Arsenal and some gun stores may not know them.
There are plenty of other domestic manufacturers\importers of AK's in the U.S., but this is a pretty good cross section and start for someone who hasn't seen all of the reviews there is online.
Overview: Recognizable for their quality work and importation of Hungarian AMD-series AK's built on the original FEG receivers, TGI stands as a good mid-range AK seller. Their rifles are of good quality and have the reputation to back them up without the higher prices of companies like Arsenal. The only real drawback to the TGI guns is that they are not as common or as well known as Century Arms or Arsenal and some gun stores may not know them.
There are plenty of other domestic manufacturers\importers of AK's in the U.S., but this is a pretty good cross section and start for someone who hasn't seen all of the reviews there is online.
I have to disagree with you on the century arms AK47. Having just purchased one, without canted sights mine you (you have been reading to many old reviews), and on the money at 100 yards (I didn't even have to adjust the sights) and with Gun Tests magazine giving it an A- in their un biased testing i would give this AK47 **** for quality and availability and I paid $485 including shipping ***** stars for that.
ReplyDeleteI won't disagree, but there are still lots of older Century Arms rifles in circulation and it's up to luck sometimes what ones you get.
ReplyDeleteSometimes you get a solid rifle that does everything it is supposed to do, and sometimes you can get one of the older and cheaper AK or HK rebuilds. And because you still have a decent chance of getting an older one I gave it the ratings I did. But in the end it's just my opinion. I definitely respect your opinion with your particular rifle though.