I own a GP WASR-10/63 (Well built with matching serial numbers) and I’m looking into taking my first carbine class. Over the past few months I’ve learned and practiced tactical reloads, malfunction drills, and shoulder transitions (Using a VCAS sling) after reading and watching various people run AK’s in carbine classes. I know I’m not the absolute master of the AK but my main concern is that my WASR will go down on me during a class and I do not own another carbine to use as a backup. I know basic/intro classes usually don’t have you running your gun hard but I don’t want to be that guy who shows up with a P.O.S. gun thinking it will run under actual use and ends up mooching off of someone else who was actually prepared.
In short, will my WASR work in a carbine class? I know it’s an AK but I constantly hear about lower quality items going down in classes all the time and I don’t want to attend one until I know my gear will (For the most part) run without issue so I can concentrate on my own skill and work rather than my gear.
Bring a couple spare parts (firing pin and/or spare bolt is probably most important).
Depending on who you take the class from they may or may not be teaching the techniques you’ve practiced, so have an open mind. Above all, keep your muzzle in check and be safe on the line. You’ll be fine.
All my magazines fit well and I’ve been drilling into my head muzzle awareness and good safety manipulation. I have confirmed zero and shot my AK at 25 and 100 yards with success (Then again, who doesn’t shoot well off supported bench?).
Thanks for the tip to bring an extra bolt and firing pin. I will be picking up those two items and checking their head space before I go to a class.
Keeping an open mind is my main focus as there are different ways to run an AK (Or any other weapon system). I’ve been in “Sponge Mode” and will be for the rest of my life as I keep learning more and more from everyone.
Oh, and bring gloves. AK’s get hot quickly, and many WASR’s have sharp edges all over them (something else you could spend some time inspecting, if you wish).
My standard WASR procedure is to zero the sights, fit the mags, and file down all sharp edges. Then shoot the piss out of it.
When I got my first AK (a WASR) I bought a boat load of mags and ammo for it.
I loaded up each mag with 30 rounds and headed to the range. I would “shoot the piss out of it” until I had a malf. If I had a malfunction I would put that mag to the side and mark it and kept shooting.
I then took all my “good” mags, reload them, and fired away. I had zero issues.
I reloaded all my “bad” mags (i think there were 3) and again experienced double feeds.
To date I have had zero issues with “good mags” that have been tested in this manner. I have more AKs now and some run some “bad” mags perfectly, so I just mark them accordingly.
This would probably be the biggest thing you want to make sure is taken care of before you go to a class with a WASR. Make sure you have at least 8-10 100% reliable magazines.
Another thing i’ll add to whats already been said. Lube the thing. I’ve seen a few at some of the shooting matches i’ve been to that the guys say “its an ak” it doesn’t require all the lube an AR does. When they start running them hard, they malfunction. If they would have lubed in them, they work.
I recently took my new WSAR out to range, slapped on the 75 rnd drum and unloaded it. I had to stop once to crank the spring up on a FTF but other than that it was sizzling lube when I got through. It’s amazing the punishment AK’s will take and keep on ticking. I realize that this isn’t a premium AK but it works. Accuracy is not too bad but it’s no AR.
I took a Vickers AK class back in February wondering the same thing. Will this rifle break down on me?
I dont have another AK, so, hopefully I wont be S.O.L.
2 days before the class, I cleaned up and oiled the rifle really good. It ran through the class with no problems at all.
Matter of fact, I took another AK class here 2 weeks ago and had 0 problems.
Looks like if you have a good WASR (and it sounds like you do) I wouldn`t worry.
Second the gloves. The handguards get hot very quick, and racking the bolt alongside a sharp dustcover can make you an unhappy camper if it happens to cut you.
Other than that, I don’t see where a WASR that’s proven reliable is at any real disadvantage compared to any similar iron-sighted 7.62 AK, or even an iron sighted AR in most instances.
You’ll do fine with it, and I personally think its a great point to start with. Kudos for not diving into the deep end of the gear pool and coming out with lasers, bipods, and mag couplers before you even shoot it. Give us an AAR once you’ve run it through the class, I bet a lot of the AK-inclined guys would love to hear about it.
In addition to the likelihood of your rifle failing, your instructor will likely fit some AR-based instruction (general operation, malfunction clearing, etc) into the course that will not apply to you since you wouldn’t be running one.
I would beg, borrow, or steal a rifle for the duration of the course, and put a higher priority on obtaining one in the future, even at the expense of your WASR.
ETA: Also, if your instructor times your drills relative to the rest of the class (which is likely), you won’t have a reasonable frame of reference for comparison, something you should want to have.
In the end it’s your money, but I believe that you would be shorting yourself by having an different platform from the rest of the students.
There’s a lot of assumptions here. I disagree. The last rifle class I went thru was pretty evenly split bt ARs and AKs. Unless this is a LEO type course you are probably not gonna b the only AK in the class. A good class/instructor will make his class weapon platform neutral unless it’s marketed as a AR or AK class. If the instructor isn’t familiar with AKs and ARs I’d be leary of taking the class from them. As far as the timer thing goes, I can rock an AK74 just as fast as an AR when it comes to timed shots. Reloads are a touch slower, but no biggie.
Lots a WASRs have made it through lotsa classes. I wouldn’t worry about it.
Has he made any modification to it? I don’t see anything wrong with a Romanian AK, my SARs run just fine but I’ve seen lots of problems with SAR rifles due to the conversion mag well.
Lots of problems with magazines that are easily inserted wrong and get stuck in place. Things like that.
Do you know if he had the magazine well somehow corrected, or did he simply get lucky and got a decent one?
It’s an early WASR, he, being Larry, went through it and tweaked anything needing tweaking, like smoothing out the mag well. He also refinished it in a phosphate/parkerizing (the stock black oxide finish rusts easily), and slapped a different stock set on there.
When he wants to teach a standard AKM/this is what you’ll run into overseas or if some shit bag goes off in a mall/kind of thing, he’ll use his WASR. When he wants to show the potential that a Kalashnikov has as a modern service carbine, he’ll bust out his Arsenal Inc. SLR-106CR modernized.
The main thing I’d worry about with a WASR is the fire control group. If it’s a quality US set, you shouldn’t have any problems. If it’s the standard Century crap, I’d replace it with a Tapco G2 or K-Var FCG.
Above all, don’t let your gear stop you from taking a training class. Like others have mentioned a few small tweaks and spare parts can get you through it, and if it hasn’t gone down while you’ve been practicing you’re probably in good shape.
Don’t worry about what the others in class are doing, worry about what you’re getting out of the class.
I’ve never seen a broken part on an AK that made it stop running that was originally installed.
My advice (as a huge AK guy and very competent AK operator) is that if it is built correctly and you have tested it and your mags that the likelyhood of a catastrophic failure that took you out of the course entirely is very low. I dont recall seeing an AK go off line for more than a few minutes (15-20) in the dozen plus classes I’ve attended or the many matches.
training is important… get some and damn the torpedoes!!
