Ok, I will type out my words, and refrain from using slang. If you want to talk proffesionalism, then dano needs to show a little more respect because his approach to the situation does not make things any better. You don’t have to lecture me, all you had to do is show me a little respect and ill be respectful. Why would i respect you for disrespecting me? How do you expect anyone to follow his rules if he can’t even approach the situation proffesionally? I have been on the forums for years now and this is the first time anyone has even mentioned it to me.
I would take a look at a the DSA SA58 Para. That’s going to be the next one on my list. 
The VZ58 is a great buy and it is not an AK, but it does have some similarities in regards to the caliber, the shape of the magazine and the iron sights. It has a milled receiver and it is light in weight. It also has the advantages of the 7.62x39 caliber. After market kits are available to modify the weapon as you please. It is truly a great buy.
AK’s come in all different price ranges and are different in quality. I would get a Krebs Custom AK. I had a Krebs and bought an Arsenal that I was eventually going to get upgraded. When I got it, it was night and day different than my Krebs, so I sold it off that week without firing it. I bought anohter Krebs rifle instead, which was well worth the money.
If you don’t want an AK, I’d get a rifle from LWRC, or wait until LWRC and Magpul releases the new standard in 6.8 rifles and magazines.
Advantages of the 7.62x39 you mean greater ammunition costs less availability of good defensive ammo and greater recoil. Yea!
Pat
Greater costs compared to what?
5.45mm? .22LR?
Depends on your location. For me, I live in a semi-rural wooded area. The possibility of me taking a long shot is slim, unless I’m shooting down the highway. The ammo is way cheaper than 77 grain 5.56, the ballistics are like a 30-30 and have great penetration.
Just because of the round itself, any ammo is devastating in a defensive role. Some of the military surplus ammo is military issue ammo, which wasn’t produced for plinking, it was for use in armed conflicts?
Plus the ammo is cheap enough that I can afford to give the bad guy a lot of free lead and I don’t have to be stingy. As for recoil, I have no problem controlling my stamped-receiver AK, and I’m not talking about shooting from a bench. It’s not like you’re shooting .308.
It’s all about picking the right tool for the job, practice and shot placement, and shooting your target thoroughly.
The main advantage of 7.62x39 (and 5.45x39) is the ammo cost for a great defensive round. For what I was paying for 5.56 62 grain green-tip ammo, I can buy a lot more of the other two calibers.
The good ammo for it (Hornady ) costs nearly as much as .308 win around here. The surplus ammo while fine for plinking is not something I would use for defense unless forced to. I have a Arsenal AK and its fun to shoot but I can shoot .223 since I reload a lot cheaper.
Pat
If you reload that is a whole different situation for comparable ammo prices. I was looking at quality 7.62x39 ammo compared to quality mlitary surplus 5.56 in 77 grain.
The Hornady I’ve never shot and have zero experience with. I did read reviews where the 5.45 Hornady ammo, the metal cartrige cases rusted up in storage.
I was involved in a discussion on a AK-type training forum, and the consensus was (not my opinion) that the 7.62x39 round itself was devastating just for what it was. Buying the Hornady did nothing to increase terminal performance, but supposedly had an edge in quality control and minimal velocity difference from cartridge to cartridge.
I’ve also seen a lot of photos where guys hunted with the Russian surplus 7N6 (5.45x39) and that ammo is devastating on game as well. For 7.62x39 I try to find the 8m3 bullet or I like the surplus Yugoslavian ammo (I forget what bullet it uses).
For defensive use I don’t think it matters too much once you are talking about rifle cartridges. The thing I like about military surplus ammo, is they have flash retardants in the powder which commercial ammo doesn’t have. There is a difference between quality surplus ammo and Wolf ammo. A friend and I went out recently with the same rifles, and I was shooting Yugo ammo and he was shooting Wolf. The Yugo ammo had almost no flash or excessive smoke. The Wolf ammo produced a decent sized fireball during the day, and the excessive smoke was ridiculous. It looked like he was shooting a black powder rifle!
Around here, 7.62x39mm plinking ammo is about two-thirds the cost of 223 plinking ammo. Defensive ammo is more expensive for 7.62x39 and harder to find, but since I’m not shooting it every time I go to the range, I’m not concerned by it.
Get ya SCAR 17S. They are a great platform and you’ve gotta love a 308.
As for terminal performance the Hornady Vmax bullet does a lot for the 7.62x39. Standard surplus bullets in the 7.62x39 with rare exception generally suck. Check out some of the information in the terminal performance section of this fourm. A 7.62x39 bullet can leave a wound channel no larger than a .38 special round if a poor bullet is used.
https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=19885
Plus, you would have your loadout magazines filled with the more expensive defensive ammo. The bulk of your ammo would be surplus or whatever in quantity. To buy the defensive ammo in bulk would cost a fortune.
Thanks for the link. I know the Vmax bullet is good in other cartridges, so it would only make sense that it should work in the 7.62x39 too. The info I posted wasn’t my opinion, but just repeating what I’ve read.
No worries. The down side to the Vmax I found is its not that accurate in my Arsenal SL21 groups are in the 8 inch range with it which is about double what Wolf ammo is at 100 yards.But its good enough for use as my truck gun.
pat
8" INCHES?!
Did someone at Hornady forget that the AK uses a .311 bullet and not a .308? :blink:
8 Inches?!?! What?!? Are you sure?! My Arsenal is bone stock and it has better grouping than that at 200 meters with Vmax!