I’ve been pondering this thought after pricing out a few AK’s. Isn’t the AK platform supposed to be nearly “disposable”, dirt cheap and deployed en masse? Is it better to buy 1 high priced AK as opposed to getting 2 or 3, where you have no concerns about slogging them through the muck? Would it be an advantage to buy 2 or 3 to keep 1 running in the event of parts/pieces shortages? Do you get better reliability out of a $1500 Arsenal vs. a $559 Century? Better accuracy? What is $1000 better?
Has anyone else run this argument around in their ol’ squirrel cage? Whaddya think?
Sure, I can see how identifying the mission helps you to figure out what you need to get it done. For this mental exercise, I’m just trying to identify differences in the platform and why one is $1000 more than the other…
The only Arsenal I’ve seen that routinely gets $1000+ is the Classic and that is because it is an almost perfect T3 clone. Polytech Legends fetch similar sums for the same reason, collectors who want a T3.
There is also a pretty substantial difference in build quality between a milled Arsenal and a stamped, monkey-built Century. Despite the complaints about a few of the stamped Arsenals (mostly about finish durability and some issues with early 106s), I think there is a substantial difference in quality between the stamped Arsenals and Century-built rifles.
Well, I’m going to do my best to give you a straight-up answer, being that I’m biased toward the Kalashnikov and all…
You can buy a basic AKM clone for about $550 that will give you all the performance that you might ever realistically expect from that platform. It will be accurate, reliable and robust. It will even be nice looking!
So what do you get when you start shelling out big time cash for an AK? Well, you’re going to start getting things like polymer furniture with a heat shield in the lower HG (a very welcome addition) and a folding stock (quite handy). The foldig stock requires cutting the receiver and the installation of hardware. It also requires a special rear block. These are all labor-intensive items.
Here’s the big secret behind the AK - they’re much harder to build than an AR. Yes I know tribesman in the Khyber Pass can do it, etc. But skilled American labor is expensive, and that’s why skilled AK builders can command the prices that they do.
I recently purchased an AK, a Lancaster, from Blaine at Atlantic Firearms for a class I just got back from. In talking with him at the time of purchase and the others at the class this weekend we pretty much all arrived at the same consensus; that the AK should be cheap. That’s kind of the whole point.
I am of the school that doesn’t understand why anyone would take a $300 rifle (which is what most of these things really should cost) and turn it into a $2k rifle.
Milled steel receivers are enormously more expensive than a piece of stamped sheet metal.
As Katar pointed out, these aren’t screwed together like leggo toys (AR’s), it takes a pretty high level of skill to do these right.
They’ve been cheap because you’re dealing with foreign (post Warsaw Pact or Chinese) labor. Now that most AK’s are being built up here in the USA, you’re having to pay US wages on labor.
$750-850 will get you a professionally converted saiga with either a regular stock, or side folder. You’re not going to get a whole lot more quality/accuracy/durability out of a traditional stamped AK beyond that price range. The higher market ($1,000 and above) seems to be occupied by collectible AK’s and Krebs “KTR” type rifles.
This is basically what Blaine at Atlantic told me. I was impressed as I had basically told him that if I needed to spend $1k on the rifle I would, and he told me that no, a $500 rifle would more than suffice. Yeah, he may have a higher margin on the cheaper gun, or may have any number of other hidden interests, but having no reason to doubt him I liked that he would suggest a less expensive firearm after assessing my needs.
Some folks also try to make exact copies of their favorite style of AKs as well. These rifles are less for shooting and more for collecting and having a beautiful rifle.
I am of the school that doesn’t understand why anyone would take a $300 rifle (which is what most of these things really should cost) and turn it into a $2k rifle.
If you want to go to that school then go there. Would I pay $1800.00 for a Ted Marshall built milled receiver type III clone with all the right receiver markings?
In a heartbeat.
