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The truth about WASR 10/63's


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they will work damn fine.....

 

these dracos and the wasr 10's all have the same issues.....

 

look them over really well before you fork over your cash....

 

i want to say the wasr's are non military guns.....the sar's are military guns and are better, but you cant find em anymore really

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My "rule" cannot be disagreed with. Therefore you are incorrect. Lets look at the factory Russian builds vs, ANY Romy G kit: 1.The Russian factory paint job is superior to the rommy one and anything

Based on what criteria? Kit builds tend to be worse than factory builds as a rule. Im not sure you thought that through.   Russian AK > Romanian AK.... not the other way around.

A quality Non-Century build, using a good 80's Romy G kit, is easily the equal or better than a Saiga.

I've got a SAR3 and it is a really great rifle. I like it almost as well as my 223 Saiga. I lucked out and got 6 30 round Weigers with it. It runs without a hitch.

Edited by canoecanoe
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My 10/63 is awesome. You gotta break it down and really clean it up. The wood/and black finish suck, but imo, it adds to the baddassery.

 

I've got to really shoot it and adjust the sights and see what she'll do. As of yet, I've just done some informal target shooting from 40/50 and 100 yards. I can hit cans and shit pretty easy.

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My 10/63 has been a flawless rifle. It was ugly, but everything works like it should, and operates just as smooth as my Saiga in 5.45

 

If anyone really believes a communist nation was saving "rejected" parts in huge piles in the 70's and 80's just so that they could eventually sell them to buyers in the US after the fall of the Soviet Union, then you might also be interested in some dihydrogen monoxide I have for sale as well. Lets think about this for a second... You really think that the Soviets didn't melt down any rejected parts to be used to make better parts? Why would they save these thousands of parts that they had no use for in huge piles? That's an atrocious waste of resources for a regime that was bent on squeezing every ounce of efficiency from it's workers. The main problem that WASR's suffer from is the fact that they are cheap. This means two things. One, is that people assume they are far worse than more expensive rifles, and two, more people buy them. The Romanian AK's make up more of the US market than any other country of origin. More rifles means that odds are better of one having a problem. If they put out twice as many AK's as another country, there will be twice as many that have problems. Not long ago everyone was also bashing those cheap Chinese bullet hoses... What happened to that?

 

 

I'm with you. I'm new to AK's but I'm not sure how the saiga could really be much better than my wasr-10/63. I mean, my wasr has the 1000 meter sights, tapco g2 trigger, chrome lined barrel. It's fit and finish could be better, sure. But I actually like how it looks. Looks mean. It's not like it's some rusty bucket of hodge-podge parts. The numbers match on mine. Haven't had a jam, don't have canted sights or gas tube. I don't get it.

 

 

 

I do however want a saiga. 5.45 or .308. I was going to get one too, but, $50 more, then add FFL transfer, then add the parts and work to put the trigger in the right spot. IDK.

 

 

I guess I won't know until I have both :super:

 

 

 

 

Oh, and as for accuracy, the first fucking thing I shot at was a coffee can filled with water at like 40 yards. I didn't adjust the sights, they're set on "p", nailed it. Then hit it another 4 times in a row. It's pretty accurrate so far.

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  • 4 months later...

okay people, chillout. theyre all AK's. no matter what gun ( romanian russian polish yugo etc etc etc), its gonna get the job done. They all kick @ss. I have a WASR 10/63 and the thing works great. never had a problem with it. the only reason people diss the WASR is that its cheap! and the only reason they are CHEAP is because there are so many imported. So why dont you all stop being so prejudice and shoot em. ull see that there is no difference shooting-wise from a russian to a romanian

Edited by WASRdude
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okay people, chillout. theyre all AK's. no matter what gun ( romanian russian polish yugo etc etc etc), its gonna get the job done. They all kick @ss. I have a WASR 10/63 and the thing works great. never had a problem with it. the only reason people diss the WASR is that its cheap! and the only reason they are CHEAP is because there are so many imported. So why dont you all stop being so prejudice and shoot em. ull see that there is no difference shooting-wise from a russian to a romanian

 

 

I am not sure I agree with what you say, But Welcome to the forum!

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For the record; the Draco's (as an SBR) seem to be a different animal than the WASR's in terms of construction. The fit & finish is significantly better and the 1.5mm receiver is pretty awesome compared to a Century built piece, IMHO. I know some have complained about canted FSB/Gas Blocks on WASR's and Draco's, but my .308 Saiga came with a canted FSB...

It's a PITA, but easy enough to fix. Other than that issue, I have seen WASR's with far more serious issues (like barrel pins that could be pushed out by hand, bolt carriers bind 'cause the rear sight block was canted, internal reciver rails pop off due to poor welding, etc...).

Macbeau sends...

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For the record; the Draco's (as an SBR) seem to be a different animal than the WASR's in terms of construction. The fit & finish is significantly better and the 1.5mm receiver is pretty awesome compared to a Century built piece, IMHO. I know some have complained about canted FSB/Gas Blocks on WASR's and Draco's, but my .308 Saiga came with a canted FSB...

It's a PITA, but easy enough to fix. Other than that issue, I have seen WASR's with far more serious issues (like barrel pins that could be pushed out by hand, bolt carriers bind 'cause the rear sight block was canted, internal reciver rails pop off due to poor welding, etc...).

Macbeau sends...

I agree that there are some WASR's with problems out there, but for the most part, they work perfectly fine. Mine works fine. I don't know that Draco pistols have 1.5mm recievers. From the pictures, they look like standard 1mm AK's.

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For the record; the Draco's (as an SBR) seem to be a different animal than the WASR's in terms of construction. The fit & finish is significantly better and the 1.5mm receiver is pretty awesome compared to a Century built piece, IMHO. I know some have complained about canted FSB/Gas Blocks on WASR's and Draco's, but my .308 Saiga came with a canted FSB...

It's a PITA, but easy enough to fix. Other than that issue, I have seen WASR's with far more serious issues (like barrel pins that could be pushed out by hand, bolt carriers bind 'cause the rear sight block was canted, internal reciver rails pop off due to poor welding, etc...).

Macbeau sends...

I agree that there are some WASR's with problems out there, but for the most part, they work perfectly fine. Mine works fine. I don't know that Draco pistols have 1.5mm recievers. From the pictures, they look like standard 1mm AK's.

Dracos have the standard 1.0mm receivers.

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For the record; the Draco's (as an SBR) seem to be a different animal than the WASR's in terms of construction. The fit & finish is significantly better and the 1.5mm receiver is pretty awesome compared to a Century built piece, IMHO. I know some have complained about canted FSB/Gas Blocks on WASR's and Draco's, but my .308 Saiga came with a canted FSB...

It's a PITA, but easy enough to fix. Other than that issue, I have seen WASR's with far more serious issues (like barrel pins that could be pushed out by hand, bolt carriers bind 'cause the rear sight block was canted, internal reciver rails pop off due to poor welding, etc...).

Macbeau sends...

I agree that there are some WASR's with problems out there, but for the most part, they work perfectly fine. Mine works fine. I don't know that Draco pistols have 1.5mm recievers. From the pictures, they look like standard 1mm AK's.

Dracos have the standard 1.0mm receivers.

...and they have the same issues as WASR's. A quick search of the saiga forum shows we have two members who sent their dracos back due to finish/canting issues.

 

Buy Russian/Buy once. :super:

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my wasr runs just fine. Funny thing is that I shoot about the same size groups with my wasr as I do with the Colt M4s at work. hmmmm :rolleyes:

 

People tend to become snobby about the things they buy. Your toy simple has to be the coolest thing out there because you own it. that said some rifles are better made then others.

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My 7.62 rifle is a WASR. I got one of the better ones. I like it because it was inexpensive and you can actually find spare parts for it. Now that K-Var has Saiga parts, maybe I will sell it and go for a real Russian 7.62! I don't reload but if I did shoot brass that's another reason to go with a WASR, they don't kill your brass like some Saigas.

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Now that K-Var has Saiga parts, maybe I will sell it and go for a real Russian 7.62!

As usual, K-Var is bending their customers over.

 

Buying just a few Saiga parts costs about the same as a new Saiga rifle.

 

Caveat Emptor

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I have a WASR 10/63 and it has ran just fine for w/o any issues. It has the fcg, piston, pg, and slant brake that are US made but everything else is Romanian. The mag well was even opened up correctly accepting all types of mags. I am happy with it and I got it for a good price. My Draco has also functioned really well w/o any issues either. I have one Bulgarian in 7.62 and an Arsenal 106UR and both of those have also ran w/o a hitch. Now I am waiting for my Saiga 12 to come in along w/ my conversion pieces. So far I have been really happy with all of my AK platforms.

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I bought one during the ban with straight sights and it was an excellent shooter, no hiccups. I bought one in '06 with straight sights that never missed a beat and was pretty accurate for a cheap AK. I'd rock another one if I didn't have so many other AKMs.

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I bought one during the ban with straight sights and it was an excellent shooter, no hiccups. I bought one in '06 with straight sights that never missed a beat and was pretty accurate for a cheap AK. I'd rock another one if I didn't have so many other AKMs.

 

evl, I really respect your collection for the fact that they're all chambered in 7.62x39, (aka the original and superior AK caliber). :up:

 

My WASR 10/63 also had no build defects. It was a very accurate rifle, all things considered.. and it was kind of cool having a rifle whose parts, (besides the receiver), were manufactured in 1964. However, I got a chance to sell it for $850 FTF in the late spring of '09, and I really couldn't pass that up.

 

I've bought a few Legion Saigas and an IZ-109 since and I've never looked back. Romanian AK's can be quality rifles, but I'd rather have Russian, (and/or Bulgarian), Kalashnikovs any day of the week.

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Hi all,,, I also bought a WASR 10-63(Dunham's 379.00) back in May....since then I have ran 160 rounds threw it with no issues,,,but someday would like to own a Arsenal SGL....for myself it's a nice starter gun (AK platform)....thanks,

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  • 1 month later...

I've got a 10/63, it's a decent rifle. I refrain from calling it a good rifle because I have nice rifles, Sigs, Rugers, Bushmasters, Saigas, ect, and it's not nice like they are, but it functions every time I pull the trigger. Mine hasn't got the mag wobble that seems to plague a lot of folks with older rifles, nor has it sight cant or any of the other issues that people seem to complain about. I think theres a lot of elitism regarding the rifles, they definitely DO work and yes you CAN get a lemon. It definitely ISNT as nice as a Arsenal, but it's a lot CHEAPER.

 

At the end of the day I'm happy with it for what it is, a lightweight rifle that I can throw in the back of my truck and not worry about it getting fucked up. I also like the fact that if I throw it in the mud and get it dirty it'll only improve its looks.

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  • 1 month later...

I think most people who are saying wasr 10/63 are cheap, not as reliable as saiga, not as accurate, ect have never owned one or never shot one.

 

A gun is only as good as how well it shoots, and how long it will last reliably.

 

My WASR shoots just as good as my buddies AR15 16" with irons out around 200 yards. My WASR has never jammed, and I think I have cleaned it once or twice. My sights are not canted as far as I can tell, but I have seen some older wasr non 10/63 with sight cant...

 

So let's see, for $300 I have a accurate reliable AK that I would trust to go bang at anytime to save my life. I believe my WASR will out live me and continue going bang long after im dead.

 

People who say a SKS is a better gun are being snobby. They are two different platforms. Yes some SKS's can be more accurate than AK's, but a shit load of them can also be a hell of a lot less reliable and a lot of them not more accurate. SKS is not a AK, and nothing replaces 30 rounds of bang for the price / cost of a AK.

 

IF you own a Saiga 7.69 or some other more expensive AK great!!! Just don't act snobby and try to justify the cost by posting misleading information about a quality firearm.

 

My Saiga 12 was a vodka special from factory, and I hear a shit load of saiga 7.62x39 are also. This DOES NOT MAKE THEM BAD GUNS!!!, Just bad in the form they are in.... ANY AK type gun just like an AR can have problems from the factory, and lucky for US most AK's are extremely simple to work on and fix.

 

Century has had some problems sure, it's a $300 gun. IF you have a problem send it in, it will be fixed problem solved!!!

ALL GUN MAKES/MODELS can and DO BREAK/HAVE PROBLEMS. They are all machines made by man, and some have flaws. The challenge we have is picking out the guns that do not have these flaws.

 

 

The simple TRUTH and fact is there is a whole shit load more WASR 10/63's that are great reliable guns than there are bad ones. I would even bet that 98% of them are all reliable firearms that rarely ever jam. Yes %5 of them may have canted sights, but this is usually never a reliability problem, and easily fixed. If you are snooping around GUN shows and only buying based off price, then yes you run a greater chance of buying a gun with a problem. On the other hand I have seen straight as an arrow WASR 10/63 at recent gun shows for $300. Don't be to cheap, look for quality and function first. If it looks beatup / canted don't buy it. All the wood will be crap but that's a easy weekend project fix.

 

WASR 10/63's are GREAT AFFORDABLE AK Firearms, and I am more than impressed with their accuracy, flawless reliability, and over all solid feel. Quit being a SNOB if you own anything you feel is fancier, at the end of the day these will go down in history as cheap, reliable, and just as accurate than any $500-1000 AK. I can make soda cans dance all day long at 50-100 yards, and any bowling pin/bowling ball sized target at 200 yards is dead.

 

Any distance longer than that I wouldn't want either a AK or AR15 shooting at it, give me a 30-06 .308 7.62x54r 300 wsm or 50 cal any day of the week :)

Edited by Kalashnikov Kyle
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i want to say the wasr's are non military guns.....the sar's are military guns and are better, but you cant find em anymore really

 

It appears that one has to inspect every WASR-10 individually to make sure there are not any canted sights or anything. The magazines can wobble a bit (Century basically took a Dremel tool and ground out the single stack magazine well so a double stack one would fit), but I have heard they can be pretty reliable. Of course, I was actually driven away from getting a WASR-10 back when I was hearing all kinds of negative things about them. I was looking around in a gun shop in the Spring of 2007 and I saw a bunch of WASR-10's, a few Saigas (in hindsight, I should have jumped on these back then, as even a Saiga 12 cost a little over $300.00 in those days), and an SAR-1. I knew that the SAR-1 was said to be better than the WASR-10 based on some questions I asked in internet forums back in those days, so I jumped on it and paid $389.00 for that SAR-1. Yes, it was obviously used (the previous owner tried to make a "pistol" by sawing most of the butt-stock off and the shop owner replaced it with a mismatching blonde colored butt-stock), but it was in pretty good shape. It has been a reliable rifle for me and the only time it had some failure to fire issues was when I was using those crappy Pro-Mag AK magazines (stay away from their AK mags; they can even make an AK jam).

 

The SAR-1 is not the highest quality AK out there in terms of fit and finish (Saigas, Yugoslavian models, and Arsenal models clearly have better fit and finish), but it was a good deal for the price I paid at the time. And unlike the WASR-10, it was designed to take double stack magazines (it has dimples in the receiver). The SAR-1's do have a few issues, but they are not major: 1. Due to "assault weapon" restrictions at the time, they came without bayonet lugs and threaded barrels. 2. The fire control groups they came with are pretty lousy and are known for trigger slap. This is easily remedied by replacing the fire control group with a Tapco G2 one like I did.

 

Since the furniture on the SAR-1's is Romanian to begin with, I ended up replacing it with another set of Romanian furniture - the butt-stock appears to be laminated and has some kind of black stripe toward the back of it and I got one of those "pistol grip" style lower handguards. I also put a Romanian sling on this rifle.

 

If you are looking for a $300-$400 AK and you don't want to bother with converting a Saiga, a WASR-10 is not a bad option as long as you inspect it to ensure you don't get one with canted sights. Some have problems, some don't. But then again, one should examine any gun before even considering purchasing it, whether it be the low end WASR-10 or a higher end Arsenal AK. If you want a Romanian AK that is a step up from the WASR-10, jump on the SAR-1 like I did (assuming you can find one at a decent price).

Edited by 7N6Wolf
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  • 7 months later...

There are rumors out there that the newer WASR's don't have the same problems as the ones that were modified during the Ban. I assume this was due to the fact the 10 rd magazine limitation was no longer in effect and the magazine well did not have to be recut. Anyone know when the "newer" rifles were produced?

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If it says "Made in Romania" it came in as a single stack rifle. Even if it was yesterday. Unless it came in looking like a Saiga. Less problems is simply better quality control, there and here.

 

The mag well "problem" is unique to WASRs usually however all the other "problems" (canted) show up in all builds at one point or another (unless you had a cutom built)

 

If your looking to buy one.inspect it first if all looks good and functional....enjoy it!

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If it says "Made in Romania" it came in as a single stack rifle. Even if it was yesterday. Unless it came in looking like a Saiga. Less problems is simply better quality control, there and here.

 

The mag well "problem" is unique to WASRs usually however all the other "problems" (canted) show up in all builds at one point or another (unless you had a cutom built)

 

If your looking to buy one.inspect it first if all looks good and functional....enjoy it!

 

 

Thanks for the reply. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me (NOTE: it has to make sense to be right....). I would think they would want them to fit a standard AK magazine ( in the same way that saiga's come in with a full sized mag well i believe). As I am not an expert on the rifle any explanation is appreciated.

 

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Saiga come in as a "sporting" rifle that doesn't look like an AK and it comes with a 10rd mag. By law you can't use a standard AK mag in a Saiga unless you add enough US parts.

 

WASRs come in AK configuration so to pas US laws they can't take standard mags. Here they are given enough US parts to be legally able to accept standard mags. Once that's done the mag well is opened up. However they are given just a bare minimum US parts to save on costs and time. This is why you see them with US made plastic mags (US mags count as 3 parts and sticking one in make the rifle US compliant). When a rifle is made at the factory the mag well is stamped out by a machine. At Century it has to be enlarged by grinding on the existing magwell. 1 machine makes a more constant and even cut then several people using grinders. This is why WASRs have such drastically different openings from other AKs and from each other.

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it seems alot of people dislike WASR's. i own one and its had no problems at all. functions flawlessly, its accurate, and has never jammed, no matter how fast i pull the trigger.

 

i will eventually buy a 7.62x39 saiga and convert it myself, but thats just because i like AK's so much, i cant seem to stop buying them.

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Saiga come in as a "sporting" rifle that doesn't look like an AK and it comes with a 10rd mag. By law you can't use a standard AK mag in a Saiga unless you add enough US parts.

 

WASRs come in AK configuration so to pas US laws they can't take standard mags. Here they are given enough US parts to be legally able to accept standard mags. Once that's done the mag well is opened up. However they are given just a bare minimum US parts to save on costs and time. This is why you see them with US made plastic mags (US mags count as 3 parts and sticking one in make the rifle US compliant). When a rifle is made at the factory the mag well is stamped out by a machine. At Century it has to be enlarged by grinding on the existing magwell. 1 machine makes a more constant and even cut then several people using grinders. This is why WASRs have such drastically different openings from other AKs and from each other.

 

That clarifies it completely. Thanks.

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I basically bought an ACOG and got a free WASR 10 with it. (It was on the rifle). It also had a UTG quadrail, two Crapco stocks, a T6 and a folder, SAW grip, a couple of muzzle brakes, three magazines, and almost 100 rounds of ammo. I removed the ACOG for another rifle and replaced the stock with an EMI tube and M4 stock and added a DSA aluminum VFG. The thing is as accurate as any other AK I have with irons and makes a great beater rifle. It has no more mag wobble than any of my other AKs.

FWIW, I know a guy who ran a WASR loaner gun at a Vickers Tactical AK course and it kept up with all the higher end AKs in the class.

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  • 1 month later...

I have a rock-solid WASR as well. I think much of this snobbery arises in part because Wasrs are cheap guns, and this kind of snobbery happens with ALL cheap guns. The QC is not the best on the Wasr rifles, but they are still AKs and they shoot better than most of their owners can. Many people think AKs are inaccurate simply because they don't know how to shoot them. Also, there are more WASRs out there now than any other AK variant in the US, there's bound to be more problems that arise on such a high-volume product, simply because there are more of them.

I would still take a WASR over any production-level US made AK out there (not talking about $1K, 6 month wait custom builds). It's still made in a factory that has been making military AKs on Soviet machinery for a LONG time. Not some upstart US company with reverse-engineered receivers and non-chrome barrels. All in all a WASR is sort of your classic AK- Cheap, extremely reliable, minute-of-man accurate, roughly finished, extremely functional, and universally maligned by people with more expensive rifles. I know some Wasrs are stinking turds and I have certainly seen a few of them, but if you get the chance to hand-select the best of a bunch you can end up with a great, inexpensive AK that will do the job if you will.

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