IS a SAR 1 a decent shooting gun ??

[straittactical]

i thought about purchising one but i thought i heard somthing bad about them is a SAR 1 better than like a WASR 10? i heard one of the Variants not sure which on takes single stacked mags. not the standard AK mags.
any info Pros and Cons would be appreciated
thanks mike

[shooter521]

Originally Posted by straittactical

i thought about purchising one but i thought i heard somthing bad about them is a SAR 1 better than like a WASR 10?

Individual examples will vary, but on the whole, the SAR-1 is superior to the WASR simply because the SAR-1 receiver was designed to accept military (double-stack) mags from the outset, while the WASR is a single-stack gun converted (with varying degrees of success/quality) to take double-stack mags after importation.

That said, recent production WASRs seem to be much better in terms of quality than the ones being built just a couple years ago.

No matter whether you're buying a SAR or WASR, I recommend examining the gun in person if at all possible, as both types can suffer from a laundry list of maladies, most commonly canted sights, excessive "slop" in the magwell, ill-fitting furniture, trigger slap, and rust or burrs in strange places.

The good news is, they generally clean up well and are solid shooters. While they were a good deal at $379 back in the day (like, a year ago)... at current prices ($500-600+) there may be better options.

[sporter]

SAR-1 is a ban era AK that was generally a pretty good quality rifle.
Some of the WASR type AK's have been known to have some cosmetic issues but generally work very well.

Either one will probably serve you well however the boat has sailed on the SAR series of rifles and are generally not available unless you happen upon one.

[Turtle]

Never shot one but have heard about there superiority over the WASR's. At the very least you should inspect it for quality. You might have hit something really good. Just off what I have heard about them.

[SnoopLoggyDog]

I have both the WASR and SAR-1 and am happy with both. Neither rifle has ever malfunctioned after many 1000s of rounds.

That said, the WASR needed to have the front sight assembly moved 1/8 inch to the right because it was canted. The forward gas block needed the same fix. The wood looked like it was hacked into shape with a hatchet. The magazine well had to be deburred and the mags wobble back and forth when inserted. It also had a hell of a case of trigger slap that is still slightly there, after installing a new Tapco trigger. Good thing I only paid $300 for the rifle.

The SAR was good to go out of the box. If I had a choice, it would be the SAR-1.

[sig1473]

I had a SAR-1 and got rid of it several years ago. Big mistake. There is no comparison between a WASR and a SAR-1.

[indykid]

The SAR-1 is still the only AK variant imported into the land of "shall not be infringed" that was a military issue rifle. All others were commercial rifles made specifically to meet the sporting clause of the second amendment, or the George the First "less evil" part of the second amendment.

That rant out of the way, I have an SAR-1 that I lost count of the rounds fired after 13,000. Don't shoot it as much just because of the cost of ammo, but it has always been one of my favorite shooters. They do clean up very nicely. As stated above, make sure the rifle is straight, and the wood matches, but don't turn one down because the lacquer looks glopped on. A little wet sanding followed by some auto polish can turn the stock set into a mirror shine worthy of a Weatherby.

[Prometheus]

The SAR is generally far superior to any of the WASR's or similar bastardized platforms.

A few cosmetic issues aside they are the best built weapons imported since before the ban.

The triggers will need work as they are American made junk. A dremmel or a G2 trigger kit from tapco and it's good to go.

The magwells have never been an issue as I've seen. They are all 100%. Some have a canted front sight post, but it's nothing that can't be fixed fairly easily and in most cases you can drift the front sight far enough that it doesn't matter.

I'd buy a SAR sight unseen any day before a sight unseen WASR. Too many potential "unfixable" problems over the SAR.

[smokingman]

Most Sar-1s are top of the line aks.I would rather have one of those than most other aks. I still kick myself for selling the one I had.

[signut49]

there is no comparison between a SAR 1 and a WASR. i'd rather have one SAR than 10 WASRs. had a SAR 1 and sold it . stupid me!!!