I want a "modern sporting arm" but am confused by the many choices.

[Arik]

Where to start. Ok.....for your intent Century MADE will probably be fine. Century has had SOOOO many problems over the years that many of us refuse to buy the guns they make. Coming back to the CA39 ....it's the 2nd version. The first had issues. This is revision #2. By all accounts it's fine. They did do away with the cleaning rod and bayo lug but you don't really need one. Again....for your purposes.

It will, or rather it should, run on steel case ammo. I say "should" only cause you don't know till you try it.

Stick with SURPLUS mags if you can. Used, besten, rusty battle mags still last longer and function better than commercial stuff. Aim Surplus has Polish surplus really arsenaled mags for $10/ea.

Look up on YouTube how to sight it in. It's not like an AR. AK47/74 Union has some good videos and explanations. Sight in with GOOD ammo.

 

[Sailfish 40]

Yugo Zastava NPAP DF AK Style Rifle, 7.62x39, with Underfolder Stock.

In my opinion this is currently the best deal on an AK.

 

[GatorFarmer]

The AK will seem more familiar if you are used to mag changes on the Mini 14. I had one of the Yugos before I left SC. It seemed a solid gun. I had the underfolder as I had wanted one. It was very 80s action movie cool, but I should have got a fixed stock. Eh.

I still say get a new model Mini14.

 

[BAM-BAM]

Life was so much simplier back in the days when the only choices were "ABC"..........Armalite , Bushmaster and Colt.

Remember the KISS principle.........Aimpoint, maybe a weapon's light and a sling.

My favorite for range/general use is an;14.5" old flat-top w/ fixed flash hider ( mid 90s) Bushmaster with an Ace fixed skeleton stock 1-4x20 Leupold scope (backup/flip up irons) and 10 round magpul mags.

At the range a lot of folks ask me what it is.... as it doesn't have much of an AR profile.



I also have a "new model" Mini...... one of the first run "NRA guns" w/ the new short (16.?") heavy barrel...... I'd had 2 mini's in the past and as a former Rifle Team shooter...I couldn't live with the stringing. The new ones are much better.... still not target rifles but a good to go utility .223. Mine wears a Hogue gillie green stock and a 1-3x20 Weaver V3 and I keep a mix of factory 10 and 20 round mags for it......10 round mags are very low profile.


I liked the "Lego's for men" comment.......

 

[gregintenn]

I'll throw another kink in this.

Caje, Do you own an SKS?

 

[rags]

Another 7.62x39 offering...

and the #811000 of which you speak.

 

[g8rb8]

Caj,
You know the "sporting rifles" are politically incorrect?

The good news is you've got a lot of good choices. The bad news is trying to sift through all the opinions.

Sound like you've already made up your mind on the S&W Sport II. I cannot comment on that choice as the only AR-15 platforms I've owned are Colt. S&W, along with a lot of other manufacturers, seem to have a good reputation so the S&W is probably a good choice.

Regarding AK-47's: Stamped versus milled receiver. Both are good and for all practical purposes the stamped receiver is probably as durable as a milled receiver. Buttstocks length: NATO (longer) versus Warsaw Pact (shorter). Most folks I know prefer the longer NATO buttstock. I could go on for a few paragraphs about subtle differences in various AK-47's but, from a practical viewpoint, it probably would affect your buying decision.

Over the years, as mentioned by Arik, the Century made products and some other "parts gun" products (foreign kits with U.S. receivers) have had a significant number of problems. I haven't followed those products the past 4-5 years to know if some of the issues have been fixed. A no-brainer for buying an AK-47 is to get a rifle 100% made in an arsenal that is dedicated to making the AK-47 which means a used pre-ban rifle, a "modified" or "sporsterized" post-ban rifle (i.e. a MAK-90), a rifle from Arsenal in Las Vegas or a Saiga Izhmash as mentioned by BigBill. There may be some other choices but those are the main ones I recall. Arsenal rifles are easy to order to your LGS via Davidson's Gallery of Guns with just a few clicks. My favorite AK-47's are pre-ban Chinese but they are getting hard to find and expensive. All said I imagine the Century product would probably be okay and $700 is cheap for a milled AK-47 rifle.

Just in case you're thinking of dragging it through creeks and the woods here is a "Cajun" review of the Century Arms CA39v2.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFqsa_9qmE4"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFqsa_9qmE4[/ame]

 

[BigBill]

I think in 7.62x39 the rifles don't get any better than a Chinese norinco sks wether it's a 20" barrel or a 16" paratrooper. There both very accurate.
The bore size is very important. The Chinese sks, Russian sks, Romanian sks, Albanian sks, are ok.

The yugo sks the bores are larger this runs into accuracy problems. Yugo bores can be as large as .3115". Now send a .308" bullet down the bore.

I think the yugo used the bore diameter for the industrial chrome linings. But had no chrome to line the bores and chambers.

The brand new Russian Izhmash Saiga sporting rifle is just that a Sporter.
I didn't want a used put away wet Ak/akm. I purchased saigas for hunting.

No matter which rifle you pick get the chromed line bore and chamber.

 

[RJJ 1971]

995TS 9mm carbine - just because I like to be different.
For me up to bout 100 yards with no optics needed (more skilled hands than mine) probably up to 150 -175 yards.

Plus for the price of the carbine and it's ammo - huge savings over AR or AK platform.

 

[alwslate]

I've seen a few articles about the Mini 30. 8" groups at 100 yds seems
to be the norm. I saw one test of a Mini 30 and a Chinese SKS
comparison. The 100 yd groups of the Mini 30 were double the size of
the SKS.

 

[Arik]

The AK will seem more familiar if you are used to mag changes on the Mini 14. I had one of the Yugos before I left SC. It seemed a solid gun. I had the underfolder as I had wanted one. It was very 80s action movie cool, but I should have got a fixed stock. Eh.

I still say get a new model Mini14.

Yugo Zastava NPAP DF AK Style Rifle, 7.62x39, with Underfolder Stock.

In my opinion this is currently the best deal on an AK.

Thus ^

Underfolder or downfolder.....same thing. Is cool till you try it. Either love it or hate it. Don't buy one till you shoot one

 

[Arik]

I think in 7.62x39 the rifles don't get any better than a Chinese norinco sks wether it's a 20" barrel or a 16" paratrooper. There both very accurate.
The bore size is very important. The Chinese sks, Russian sks, Romanian sks, Albanian sks, are ok.

The yugo sks the bores are larger this runs into accuracy problems. Yugo bores can be as large as .3115". Now send a .308" bullet down the bore.

I think the yugo used the bore diameter for the industrial chrome linings. But had no chrome to line the bores and chambers.

The brand new Russian Izhmash Saiga sporting rifle is just that a Sporter.
I didn't want a used put away wet Ak/akm. I purchased saigas for hunting.

No matter which rifle you pick get the chromed line bore and chamber.

As of last year there are no more Saigas imported. Ban!

SKS are fine but don't actually hold up to the use of AKs. In Russia they were a stop gap for 2 years then they went the way of the dodo. In Yugoslavia they were issued to 2nd line troops. Some saw action some didn't. Most SKS front line troops were there cause there was no AKs to arm them with. Even the Chinese and NK got rid of the SKS as a front line rifle in the 70s. Too many issues as a combat rifle.

 

[Arik]

995TS 9mm carbine - just because I like to be different.
For me up to bout 100 yards with no optics needed (more skilled hands than mine) probably up to 150 -175 yards.

Plus for the price of the carbine and it's ammo - huge savings over AR or AK platform.

AK ammo per 1000 is only slightly more than 9mm

 

[KLYDE]

Caj,

..................Just in case you're thinking of dragging it through creeks and the woods here is a "Cajun" review of the Century Arms CA39v2.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFqsa_9qmE4

That video is an absolute classic.

 

[shotgun693]

If you want to hit anything with 7.62x39 beyond 100 yards get an SKS. With almost any AR you can actually hit a target out to 300+ yards.

 

[model70hunter]

I've owned 2 AK's. The 1st was 25 years ago, NIB yugo nice gun my son killed deer with it.

8 years ago I bought a cheap one in 223. The only good thing about it was I bought a few K rounds of 5.56. Maybe more than that.

It sat in my safe unboxed. I sold it and kept the ammo when the AK prices got pretty high and found an AR HBAR. I have fired many other AK's and worked on a few.

There is no comparison between the 2. Sure one may be the worlds #1 used battle rifle but it is only because of the friends they pick and the AK can be made with very little work.

The most important use of an AK is for firing in the air when celebrating.

I think the LE Colt or clone 6920 or similar is pretty nice.

But if one liked to be different and stir the pot one might buy an AK.

Wait a minute, on 2nd thought this gun was made for you. Pay attention to the good posts on brand, model and the best clips. No air fire celebrations at weddings or during duck season. $269 per K sounds good. Hope you find nice one.

P.S. I've watched some Matlocks, should regular folks get nervous when a lawyer says, wait a minute I'm confused, can you help me out here.......I vote we get nervous.

 

[GatorFarmer]

The SKS had a longer service life than most people realize. During the insurgency in Iraq, examples were still being captured by American forces. A Marine armorer I knew told me that these sometimes had cheap commercial Chinese optics on them. I had read that elsewhere as well. Apparently they were pressed into service as some sort of ersatz designated marksman rifle by insurgents.

They are also still used by liscensed hunters in Russia. Which means that there are ones that have seen 30 years of Siberia and kept on working.

As an added irony, guys during the Balkan wars grew up on American movies and would express a desire to visiting Americans for M16 type rifles. Grass is always greener.

 

[Arik]

If you want to hit anything with 7.62x39 beyond 100 yards get an SKS. With almost any AR you can actually hit a target out to 300+ yards.

Um ok. Same sights, same twist, same bullet, similar barrel length. There is absolutely nothing magical about the SKS.

AK just under 100 yards. Ammo is Lapua

AK 200 yards Standing. Red dot

Same distance rapid fire

AK 300 yards. Red dot

I have some 400 yard shots. I'll post them when I find them

 

[Arik]

The SKS had a longer service life than most people realize. During the insurgency in Iraq, examples were still being captured by American forces. A Marine armorer I knew told me that these sometimes had cheap commercial Chinese optics on them. I had read that elsewhere as well. Apparently they were pressed into service as some sort of ersatz designated marksman rifle by insurgents.

They are also still used by liscensed hunters in Russia. Which means that there are ones that have seen 30 years of Siberia and kept on working.

As an added irony, guys during the Balkan wars grew up on American movies and would express a desire to visiting Americans for M16 type rifles. Grass is always greener.

Russian SKS are smooth bore. There are laws against having rifles and how to obtain them. Most common rifles are smooth bore making them essentially shotguns.

There were lots of odd guns in Iraq and especially Afghanistan. Iraqis were using PPSH41 at one point during the war.

Balkan countries issued SKS to rear troops or when AKs were unavailable. Most countries dropped the SKS from front lines long ago.

 

[spad124]

I had a Century C15 A1, a repatriated M16 parts kit that Century built into an AR15A1, compete with a Century branded lower and triangular hand guards. It was ok, but the lower was sloppy and many of the parts were pretty worn. Accuracy was fair. Was it serviceable? Yes. That was traded for a shotgun.

Then I bought a Sport I. A much better rifle. The machining tolerances are much closer. It felt more like it was one gun instead of the Century which felt like an assembly of parts. Accurate also. If you want an good, inexpensive AR, get the Sport. If you want an AR with the carry handle, get the Sport and a $50 carry handle from fleabay and mount it. Many people take carry handles off to mount red dots so the handles are cheap. Much less expensive than the upcharge for a sku with a carry handle.

Personally, even though my Sport I was a very nice carbine I just didn't like a 16" barrel and a collapsible stock. So, the Sport was sold and I bought a quality M16 parts kit converted to semi auto, a quality 20" barrel and a quality lower. The result is what I think an AR should be-20" barrel, full stock and the triangular hand guards I used to see on the nightly news when I was a kid.

But, my Yugo SKS is still probably more fun to shoot and it likes the cheap steel cased Russian ammo best.