I know there are alot of surplus, chinese made, russian made, and god knows how many more ak47 makers are out there but which is the best?

Looking at getting one, honestly for no real reason, more just I WANT ONE, have since I was a tiny kid and honestly got to have one. The thing is I want the ak relability, I want to drop it in the mud, bury it in the sand, and it keep working(not going to but hey) So what manufactures do I want to avoid and what ones do I want to go after, any tell tell signs country markings or something I should run from? I know of 4 local shops that have them, all 4 diff brands and setups, running from 400 bucks to 700 bucks

i am not sure if glock makes an ak

Anything Chinese is good. Saiga is the real deal, made in Russia and caliber choices include 5.45x39, 223/5.56x45 Nato, 7.62x39 and 308/7.62x51 Nato. Many different opinions out there, might try looking around at www.akfiles.com or www.theakforum.net both dedicated AK sites. The ones made by Lancaster have had problems. Century Arms International CAI is making one with 100% USA parts, I saw the NRA TV show did a test on one a while back and they liked it. Or if you like to tinker and build things buy a parts kit and build your own. The two sites listed above have all kinds of info on how to build one from a kit.

thanks, I was looking at saiga today, the shop down the road a ways sells them

I think saiga mags are different than a std AK mags and are much more expensive, siagas are a good for California where AKs are banned,

The norinco sks takes std ak mags.

Depends on the caliber. The 7.62x39 will use regular AK mags, same with the 5.45x39, the 223 can use AK chinees or german mags. Some times they need to install a bullet guide in the gun but that is very easy to do. Check out the links to the AK sites and all your questions will be answered. Also look at www.saiga-12.com

i like arsenal although some say they are over priced. go to KVAR's website.

Not quite. The Norinco Paratrooper model is the only SKS I have heard of that will take standard AK mags without modification. I think every other SKS has to use detachable aftermarket mags for the SKS itself. Such as the plastic Tapco mags. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's how it works.