New To AK-47s: Romanian SAR-1

CDR_Glock · January 17, 2017, 01:11 PM

I have always had AR-15 type rifles. Never had an AK, except for the Saiga 12 and VEPR 12.

I traded for a Romanian SAR-1. It has a threaded barrel, I think. My friend put a Tapco trigger into it.

So what type of muzzle break or flash suppressor do you recommend?

There is a scope mount on the side, what type of mount do you recommend for stability?

So I read these are only good for 5000 rounds? How do I get the barrel changed at the end of its life. Are there aftermarket barrel replacements?

Thank you for any advice.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

oldscot3 · January 17, 2017, 03:50 PM

The side mounts are best for standard eye relief scopes, I run a cheap one without issues but others prefer more expensive units for various reasons.

There are a variety of forward mounts that replace the front hand guards with a unit that has picatinny slots for mounting red dots, etc. that have long eye relief.

5000 rounds is a lot, but the barrel isn't the only issue with wear and tear on an AK. Trunnions, bolt and carrier, tail piece extension, etc. all take a beating in operation. If I wore one out, I'd just buy another rather than dump money in a beater.

Rob of AK Operators Union Local 47/74 has done extensive durability testing of several AK variants. Look him up on YouTube when you got hours to burn, there's a wealth of info there. He also has a store with parts like muzzle brakes etc. that he has found to be good.

I also learned a lot about AKs reading up on them at the AK Files forum. A lot of those guys are very knowledgeable but FWIW put your thick skin on, some of them are not always kind to rookies with questions they've seen a hundred times. You might want to just lurk and read for awhile.

joeb · January 17, 2017, 06:34 PM

Nice one. I don't believe you're going to actually wear anything out. The sar's are robust and deliver years of service, at least mine have. No complaints here on accuracy either.

highpower3006 · January 17, 2017, 08:43 PM

Nice rifle, chances are it will out live even the cockroaches at the end of the world.

Unless you are shooting on full auto, muzzle brakes aren't really all that necessary. The same goes for flash hiders if you aren't shooting at night or in low light situations, they serve no real utility. I have several Chinese AK's and none of them have brakes, just muzzle nuts to protect the threads. My AES10B RPK also came with just a muzzle nut also. I can discern no difference in felt recoil between any of my AK's whether they have a brake, flash hider or nothing.

I think that most people put some kind of brake on more for looks than any kind of actual utility. Of course if you are a tier one operator you MUST have a brake, preferably one with spikes on the front for breaching doors. If not one of those, at the very least you will need one that looks like it came off of the main gun on a tank.

If you go to a range to shoot, often times a brake on a firearm is super intrusive and annoying to those who are shooting next to you. The 7.62x39 is a mid power cartridge and the recoil is really not bad.

AK103K · January 20, 2017, 08:20 PM

I have an SAR1. Bought it back in the 90's. It has some "slightly" canted sights and came with some wicked trigger slap. I tried all the fixes and finally put a Red Star Arms trigger in it. My wood is basically like yours, just a little more blonde.

I dont believe they came with a threaded muzzle, or at least mine didnt. Ive had AK's with brakes and AK's without. The AK74 type brakes do have a little less felt recoil, and enough so you can tell between a gun with it, and one without, but its really not that much of a difference. They are louder as they redirect the blast.

The slant brakes dont do anything other than look correct. If you want a muzzle device, a flash suppressor/hider would be your best bet, assuming your muzzle has been threaded. The threads should be 14mm left hand threads. If it was done here later, after the fact, you may want to verify that.

I was never a fan of the side mounts for the optics. Id used some fo the Russian "Kobra" sights and mounts and just never liked how they mounted or shouldered. The Ultimak handguard rails were just showing up and were an epiphany. With the right sight, you could actually cowitness your irons to the dot, and the sight was up front and out of the way. The rifle shouldered and shot just like it did with the irons, and you got the same basic cheek weld as you d with the irons. Once I figured out that the cheaper sights were a waste, and got my first Aimpoint, Id found my set up, and its been that way ever since.

I dont know where the 5000 round limit on the barrels came from. When I bought mine, 1000 rounds of 7.62x39 was still $75, and I know I have a good bit more than 5000 rounds through mine. They are tough, youll be fine.

This was my SAR back when I first got the Ultimak and was trying out some red dots. It had been painted, but Id stripped most of it off, and it was in between paint jobs.

This is what it looks like today......

Even with its canted sights, it still shoots well with ammo it likes. This was shot at 200 yards from a cross legged sitting position using the irons and Wolf 154 grain SP's, and fired at a steady cadence. The three round group towards the bottom was fired from a rest to confirm zero......

If youre a reasonable rifle shooter, they will do you well.

joeb · January 21, 2017, 07:45 AM

Aahh! More nice rifles to look the good out of.
SAR's did not come with th'd barrels so it has been done by an owner. Some of them also came slightly undersized and had to opt for a different th'd to install muzzle devices. This applies only to 1's and 2's because I know nothing of the 3's.

dakota.potts · January 21, 2017, 10:16 PM

http://www.cncwarrior.com/Knurled-Co...or-p/24205.htm

This is what I have on my Century VZ2008. When I bought it, the stock had a tendency to slap the shooter in the face painfully and also leave a bruise on the shoulder. For $40, this comp from CNC warrior took a very large part of the recoil away. It's not very comfortable to shoot even for extended periods - loud, though. Highly recommend it as long as you double up on hearing protection.

Ignition Override · February 8, 2017, 02:04 AM

How about the Original type of wood on SARs? I traded last week for mine, a first Romanian.

The wood grain looks exactly like the wood seen on WASRs.

January 17, 2017, 01:11 PM	#1
CDR_Glock Senior Member Join Date: September 30, 2010 Posts: 704	New To AK-47s: Romanian SAR-1 I have always had AR-15 type rifles. Never had an AK, except for the Saiga 12 and VEPR 12. I traded for a Romanian SAR-1. It has a threaded barrel, I think. My friend put a Tapco trigger into it. So what type of muzzle break or flash suppressor do you recommend? There is a scope mount on the side, what type of mount do you recommend for stability? So I read these are only good for 5000 rounds? How do I get the barrel changed at the end of its life. Are there aftermarket barrel replacements? Thank you for any advice. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

January 17, 2017, 03:50 PM	#2
oldscot3 Senior Member Join Date: July 1, 2007 Location: texas Posts: 997	The side mounts are best for standard eye relief scopes, I run a cheap one without issues but others prefer more expensive units for various reasons. There are a variety of forward mounts that replace the front hand guards with a unit that has picatinny slots for mounting red dots, etc. that have long eye relief. 5000 rounds is a lot, but the barrel isn't the only issue with wear and tear on an AK. Trunnions, bolt and carrier, tail piece extension, etc. all take a beating in operation. If I wore one out, I'd just buy another rather than dump money in a beater. Rob of AK Operators Union Local 47/74 has done extensive durability testing of several AK variants. Look him up on YouTube when you got hours to burn, there's a wealth of info there. He also has a store with parts like muzzle brakes etc. that he has found to be good. I also learned a lot about AKs reading up on them at the AK Files forum. A lot of those guys are very knowledgeable but FWIW put your thick skin on, some of them are not always kind to rookies with questions they've seen a hundred times. You might want to just lurk and read for awhile. Last edited by oldscot3; January 17, 2017 at 03:58 PM.

January 21, 2017, 10:16 PM	#7
dakota.potts Senior Member Join Date: February 25, 2013 Location: Keystone Heights, Florida Posts: 3,084	http://www.cncwarrior.com/Knurled-Co...or-p/24205.htm This is what I have on my Century VZ2008. When I bought it, the stock had a tendency to slap the shooter in the face painfully and also leave a bruise on the shoulder. For $40, this comp from CNC warrior took a very large part of the recoil away. It's not very comfortable to shoot even for extended periods - loud, though. Highly recommend it as long as you double up on hearing protection. __________________ Certified Gunsmith (On Hiatus) Certified Armorer - H&K and Glock Among Others You can find my writings at my website, pottsprecision.com.

January 17, 2017, 06:34 PM	#3
joeb Senior Member Join Date: August 11, 2007 Location: Coastal South Texas Posts: 135	Nice one. I don't believe you're going to actually wear anything out. The sar's are robust and deliver years of service, at least mine have. No complaints here on accuracy either.

January 17, 2017, 08:43 PM	#4
highpower3006 Senior Member Join Date: July 30, 2011 Location: Savannah TN Posts: 1,220	Nice rifle, chances are it will out live even the cockroaches at the end of the world. Unless you are shooting on full auto, muzzle brakes aren't really all that necessary. The same goes for flash hiders if you aren't shooting at night or in low light situations, they serve no real utility. I have several Chinese AK's and none of them have brakes, just muzzle nuts to protect the threads. My AES10B RPK also came with just a muzzle nut also. I can discern no difference in felt recoil between any of my AK's whether they have a brake, flash hider or nothing. I think that most people put some kind of brake on more for looks than any kind of actual utility. Of course if you are a tier one operator you MUST have a brake, preferably one with spikes on the front for breaching doors. If not one of those, at the very least you will need one that looks like it came off of the main gun on a tank. If you go to a range to shoot, often times a brake on a firearm is super intrusive and annoying to those who are shooting next to you. The 7.62x39 is a mid power cartridge and the recoil is really not bad.

January 20, 2017, 08:20 PM	#5
AK103K Senior Member Join Date: May 1, 2001 Posts: 10,223	I have an SAR1. Bought it back in the 90's. It has some "slightly" canted sights and came with some wicked trigger slap. I tried all the fixes and finally put a Red Star Arms trigger in it. My wood is basically like yours, just a little more blonde. I dont believe they came with a threaded muzzle, or at least mine didnt. Ive had AK's with brakes and AK's without. The AK74 type brakes do have a little less felt recoil, and enough so you can tell between a gun with it, and one without, but its really not that much of a difference. They are louder as they redirect the blast. The slant brakes dont do anything other than look correct. If you want a muzzle device, a flash suppressor/hider would be your best bet, assuming your muzzle has been threaded. The threads should be 14mm left hand threads. If it was done here later, after the fact, you may want to verify that. I was never a fan of the side mounts for the optics. Id used some fo the Russian "Kobra" sights and mounts and just never liked how they mounted or shouldered. The Ultimak handguard rails were just showing up and were an epiphany. With the right sight, you could actually cowitness your irons to the dot, and the sight was up front and out of the way. The rifle shouldered and shot just like it did with the irons, and you got the same basic cheek weld as you d with the irons. Once I figured out that the cheaper sights were a waste, and got my first Aimpoint, Id found my set up, and its been that way ever since. I dont know where the 5000 round limit on the barrels came from. When I bought mine, 1000 rounds of 7.62x39 was still $75, and I know I have a good bit more than 5000 rounds through mine. They are tough, youll be fine. This was my SAR back when I first got the Ultimak and was trying out some red dots. It had been painted, but Id stripped most of it off, and it was in between paint jobs. This is what it looks like today...... Even with its canted sights, it still shoots well with ammo it likes. This was shot at 200 yards from a cross legged sitting position using the irons and Wolf 154 grain SP's, and fired at a steady cadence. The three round group towards the bottom was fired from a rest to confirm zero...... If youre a reasonable rifle shooter, they will do you well.

January 21, 2017, 07:45 AM	#6
joeb Senior Member Join Date: August 11, 2007 Location: Coastal South Texas Posts: 135	Aahh! More nice rifles to look the good out of. SAR's did not come with th'd barrels so it has been done by an owner. Some of them also came slightly undersized and had to opt for a different th'd to install muzzle devices. This applies only to 1's and 2's because I know nothing of the 3's.

February 8, 2017, 02:04 AM	#8
Ignition Override Senior Member Join Date: February 18, 2008 Location: About 20 nm from the Big Muddy Posts: 2,887	How about the Original type of wood on SARs? I traded last week for mine, a first Romanian. The wood grain looks exactly like the wood seen on WASRs.