Going rate for f/a AK(transferrable)

[iscariot]

I've decided to take the plunge and go ahead and get my hands on a F/A ak. I was curious if anyone here knew the cheapest place to get one of these? i don't need clips, complete sets, just the rifle. Any suggestions?

[clay]

check the Bower's 'NFA for Sale' board at www.subguns.com (http://www.subguns.com)
There's usually one or two on there every couple of days. Have you decided if you want a full stock or a folder?

[iscariot]

I'd prefer a full stock. I haven't found a folder that's comfortable.

[clay]

The full stocks usually cost a bit more. Usually somewhere in the neighborhood of $800-$1000 more. I've got both types, and I personally prefer the folders. It took a bit of practice to get comfortable with the folders, but now they feel natural. The less expensive class 3 AK's that you see will probably be the folders. There is a block that Federal Arms makes that allows you to use a folding stock on a full stock AK, but the stock won't fold over an inserted magazine. But it does give you the versatility of a folder, in case sometime in the future you might want it, without dedicating an entire gun to it. That way, you can have the best of both worlds.
One word of advice on Class 3 AK's. Right before the machine gun manufacturing ban went into effect in '86, SWD did a lot of conversions on PolyTech AK's. There are some of these conversions that have the sear hole mis-aligned, and they have to be fixed. Usually, they weld the hole back up and re-drill it correctly. It's no big thing, but on some of them it has to be done.
Some people complain that SWD did poor quality work, and refuse to buy them. I think that we should be grateful to SWD for realizing what was going on in congress and getting as many transferable conversions done as possible before the cut-off date. I personally have inspected and shot at least a dozen of the SWD conversions over the last 14 years, and have yet to see one of these mis-aligned conversions. However, they do exist, and you should be aware of them if you decide on a PolyTech SWD conversion. Like I said, it's an easy problem to fix, and it only takes a gunsmith a few minutes to fix, and it doesn't affect the value of the gun.
Good luck with it.