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View Full Version : How are the SAR-3's compared to the SAR-1's ???



pastprime
11-22-2011, 04:38 PM
I have a SAR-1 but am thinking of getting an SAR-3. Are the -3's as reliable as the -1's or not?

Primary reason to change, if I do, is that I have a lot of .223 brass, bullets, powder, and primers. I can load .223 cheaper than I can buy 7.62x39.

So, if I decide to buy or trade for one, are there any things to look for that could cause a functional problem??

Helen Keller
11-22-2011, 04:41 PM
they run like a top like the sar-1


mine dinged the brass pretty good though.

pastprime
11-22-2011, 04:46 PM
If a feller found someone to trade with, would it be pretty much straight up or some cash one way or the other...I've been out of AK for a while and lost touch with prices......and I know the economy in the tank...

imanaknut
11-22-2011, 05:04 PM
The only thing to really worry about with the SAR-3 is the hammer. The SAR-3 has a shorter bolt requiring the hammer to travel further to strike the firing pin. As such when Century replaced the Romanian hammer, they didn't always reface the angelic US 922(r) part. If the hammer does not strike the bolt squarely, it can damage the bolt which are really hard to find.

Other than that they are great shooters, and most are amazingly accurate for AKMs!

circuits
11-22-2011, 06:31 PM
The converted ak74 mags sucked hard. The only good mags (at least at the time) were the expensive and rare east german weiger mags.

Schuetzenman
11-22-2011, 06:44 PM
I would say Wieger steel mags and the circle 10 Bulgarians are OK. They both work in my SAR-3. A SAR-3 is the last AK weapon in my sizeable collection. It's the last because of these reasons; It is 1.5 MOA capable, runs and runs and doesn't need cleaning, lastly the .223 ammo it is chambered to run. It uses the same ammo as the AR15's in my collection and that helps me to standardize on a US made chambering.

Back to magazines, the Bulgarian mags do not work in some SAR-3 rifles, I'd say less than 10% of them. I never heard of a sAR-3 that wouldn't use Weiger mags though. AK 74 mags don't really work as the 5.45 round is much more tapered than the .223 ammo. When you load many rounds eventually the rim end of the cartridge sits lower than the shoulder up by the neck. This is when the bolt passes over the rounds and a jam occurs on attempting to load the first round. Robinson Armament the maker of the XCR rifle use to sell a plastic follower to convert the AK74 mag to .223 use. Those conversion followers seemed to work pretty good on the Vepr rifles in .223 that they sold. I have no idea if they still make them or have any in stock, talking conversion followers here.

FunkyPertwee
11-22-2011, 06:49 PM
The pros are its more accurate, ammo and mags are lighter, recoil is much lesser.

The cons are the cost of mags, parts are hard (impossible) to find, and I have this AK fetish that wouldn't allow me not to do the work to replace the front sight base with a threaded one and a '74 brake.

I want one to add to my SAR-1, not to replace it. I really like the way your AK is set up and if it were mine I would not change a thing including the PK-A sight.

imanaknut
11-22-2011, 07:44 PM
Believe it or not, I actually worked on an SAR-3 that wouldn't work with any mags!!! I did everything I know to try to get the sucker to pick up the rounds from either side, but even with the Wiegers it would still override one round every now and then. Really a frustrating rifle!

But that was the exception as most SAR-3s run perfectly with the mag that they were designed to use, the Wieger STG-940 Rifle System mags.

Have to add some spice to this thread!
http://www.gunsnet.net/photopost/data/500/medium/SAR-3-AK74.JPG

pastprime
11-22-2011, 08:25 PM
Thanks for the info folks. Imanaknut, that is a very, very nice looking rifle. I don't remember seeing a lot of lightening cuts on laminated stocks.

FunkyPertwee, what you said is the reason I am not advertising yet. It took a little while to get all my stuff together and while none of it's collector grade, it is a decent set-up.

I'm still catching up on AKM info so bear with me when I ask what might not sound like the most intelligent questions....:biggrina:

btcave
11-22-2011, 09:46 PM
SAR-3 is the only AK that I own. Shoots as well as my AR and has about 3000 rounds through it. Mine used to get finiky about brass cased ammo, it would fail to eject the case. It just ripped right through the brass rim. It seems to have lost that quirk after all the steel cased stuff I've put through. Now it shoots my M885 and the Wolf stuff without a hicup. I've got the Weiger mags. As stated above, if something breaks you'll have a hell of a time replacing a part.

insider
12-12-2011, 06:49 AM
Be sure to get the Redstar SAR-3 hammer upgrade, it will save you a lot of frustration.

insider
12-12-2011, 06:51 AM
Believe it or not, I actually worked on an SAR-3 that wouldn't work with any mags!!! I did everything I know to try to get the sucker to pick up the rounds from either side, but even with the Wiegers it would still override one round every now and then. Really a frustrating rifle!

But that was the exception as most SAR-3s run perfectly with the mag that they were designed to use, the Wieger STG-940 Rifle System mags.

Have to add some spice to this thread!
http://www.gunsnet.net/photopost/data/500/medium/SAR-3-AK74.JPG
Sounds like the rear end of the mag wasn't sitting high enough due to too thick of a safety stop plate. Did you try milling out the area above the mag catch?

Schuetzenman
12-12-2011, 07:17 AM
Sounds like the rear end of the mag wasn't sitting high enough due to too thick of a safety stop plate. Did you try milling out the area above the mag catch?

Though I agree with the mag not sitting high enough your cure is a no go. The safety stop plate could of been the cause or .... the rails were welded in a touch high. The stop plate would require drilling out the rivets then grinding on the underside of it so that the mag catch gets moved closer to the bolt group. That would lift the mags rear. I actually had to do that to an AMD65 build. Built it, went and test fired it in the white and it wouldn't pickup an rounds as it should, kept jamming the case about mid point with the bolt. I ended up reducing the thickness 50% and then it worked as it should.

imanaknut
12-12-2011, 03:20 PM
When I worked on the rifle, I measured the distance from the rails to the bottom of the receiver, and they were a bit high. I bent them down a bit which helped quite a bit in the function of the rifle. I also measured the receiver height and it too was a bit off, so I tapped down the area that the bolt carrier rode on just before passing over the mag.

Don't remember all the mods I made to the friend's rifle, but when I got it you were lucky that it would shoot two rounds in a row. After all the work I did, while I wouldn't stake my life on that rifle, you now stand a chance of firing off a full Wieger.

We tried shooting it while pulling back on the mag, but just when we thought that would fix it, the rifle would ride over a round on the right side. Although I haven't 100% given up on that baby, it is the first firearm that I have not been able to work.

Unfortunately my second came soon after when I picked up a Sterling paperweight, but that's another story.