Romanian WASR problems

[PONTIACDM]

Several years ago I had heard about how good the Romanian WASR was. I went to the local shop and purchased one. It sat in my safe for about 6 months before I tried to fire it. It came with a target with 3 holes in the center of the it. Yet when I went to chamber a round the bolt wouldn't close. Took it to a gunsmith friend of mine and he said the ejector was drilled wrong. I lost money when I sold it. Then a year passes and I keep hearing how good these guns are. Well everyone gets a lemon every now and then right? So, I go buy another one at a gun show. Three or four months go buy and I go to shoot it. About every other round won't fire. I tried different bullets with the same effect. Lost money on that one also. Are these guns that bad or am I that unlucky? If I ever purchase another ak it will be the Mac90 Chinese. Anybody else have any problems with them?

[Delta-3]

You didn't get lemons. Those WASR's are just on the very bottom of the "worth it" AK scale. Buy the Mak 90, you won't believe the difference!

[NRAJOE]

WASR's are crap...I've had 10 AK's...2 were WASR's...they got ditched quick...

Save your money and buy a milled:



You'll never look back....

[mike63]

Yah. wasr's are crap. there on the bottom of the "worth it" AK scale. Mines only made it to 3200 rds. with no problems. Of course I expect it to fall apart just any day now.

[billy]

i dont know how many rnds. have gone through mine. A LOT!
never a problem.

i finally lost interest in it.
good gun but now i am after accuracy.

[Rave]

The Mac90 is a bear,probably one of the best stamped AK's imo.

[SSwee]

Wasr's being good or bad usually has a lot to do with who assembled them.
SS

[SwedeSteve]

Agree with SS and Billy! Im not sure how many rounds ive put through mine, but ive had no jams, ftf's, anything!

[AKCLONE]

Romanian AK's are great. A WASR built with a dimpless receiver with the "not so perfect" Romanian parts that didn't make inspection, not so good. I love my WASR, but you are taking a chance with them. The only real problems seem to be canted sights and a bad finish I have heard of the chrome lining being messed up in some, but have never seen it.

Again, I love my WASR. I have never had any problems but I would suggest that you get a Romy G kit built up or do it yourself. They are the best bang for the buck IMO.

[azguy]

I love mine, no AK will ever be all that accurate over 75 yards, but they are so fun to shoot. The trigger slap can be quite bad though.

[billy]

mine came with the g2 trigger group.
no slap.
after about 3000 rnds. i said to myself what am i doin?
spraying bullets is fun but someone else has to foot the bill before i'll do it again.

[Beer Forever]

I had a couple really good WASRs, I like them a lot and they were accurate enough and dependable. I have fired a lot of AKs and I think that for the money your best bet is a Yugo M70, they are excellent AKs. My buddy has one and I can out shoot many a rifle with that baby. The WASR is a lower tear, introductory AK, and will do the trick, but if you want a good solid rifle, spend the extra money because there are a lot of great AKs out there. The Yugo M70 is one of the best deals on the market right now and people are always having big sales on them. My buddy got one last year for $450 new out the door.

[chainmailleman]

I just bought a WASR and it has a Canted Gas Block. I'm going to order a parts kit THEN attempt to fix it myself so if I screw up I have a second option. Hell with 150 bucks for a parts kit....romanian AKs are the way to go with cheap replacement parts.

[just_a_car]

From what I've heard, a canted gas block is indicative of an over-tightened barrel, as the gas port is off-center with the sighting line. If I understand the situation correctly, all that would have to be done would be to straighten the barrel and then adjust the location of the front sight to be vertical.

AK-Kit builders out there, is that a fair assessment?

[Death Metal]

Romanian Kalashnikov Rifles

[Rave]

My WASR is old,imported in 1980 and has dimples,not taken it to the range yet.
For what it's worth,the previous owner,who had quite a few guns for sale at the show said he had a lot of fun burning up ammo with it,had no problems,but was reduceing his collection.

[mike63]

Alot of WASR's have canted gas blocks and or front sights. As tight as these things are, they can be very hard to straiten. Unless the gas block is canted enough to interfere with the piston, there really is know reason to straiten it, as far as function is concerned.
The gas block and the front sight are slightly canted, but it never really bothered me so I've never done any thing about it.

[chainmailleman]

I just fixed my gas block. It's much easier to fix than I thought. I bought a set of nail punches from Walmart and a small tack hammer. I removed the bluing around the gas block and the pins came out with ease. I just tapped the gas block 4-5 times with the hammer and she was straight. I also took the bluing off of the bolt carrier. It's so much smoother to cock than it used to be.

[just_a_car]

chainmail... make sure you haven't pushed the gas block to where the gas port no longer vents into it. That will totally screw the semi-auto capability of your AK. A lot of times, they over-tightened the barrel such that the port wasn't vertical and so they matched the gas block to it. If yours is like that you will have to adjust the barrel and put the block back. Just keep that in mind the first time you shoot it at the range, just in case it doesn't function properly.

[Rave]

Originally Posted by Rave

My WASR is old,imported in 1980 and has dimples,not taken it to the range yet.
For what it's worth,the previous owner,who had quite a few guns for sale at the show said he had a lot of fun burning up ammo with it,had no problems,but was reduceing his collection.

P/S,all the pieces are straight,sight,gas block,etc.