Sar3 questions

[Drreducto]

I recently received a sar-3 from my father and had some questions about it. First will most accessories such as hand guards, grips, and stocks fit this rifle. Also there is no cleaning rod. Is there anyplace to pick one of these up. Thanks for your help.

[Schuetzenman]

Welcome to Gunsnet. I have a SAR-3 and yes most AKM stock and handguard sets with pistol grips will fit them. The SAR-1 has a 1 mm thick receiver vs. Chinese Mak 90's and others that have 1.6 mm receivers. I hope you got mags with it as finding good mags is difficult and they are expensive. A standard AK74 cleaning rod should work in it. http://www.copesdistributing.com/polish-tantal-cleaning-p-4215.html You might be able to use one of these Tantal cleaning rods as they are 5.45x39 sized as would be a typical AK74 magazine. Here is another place that has a lot of parts but they are always high cost. http://www.k-var.com/shop/M-74N1.html

[imanaknut]

Welcome to the group !!! :welcome:

As Schuetzenman said, any European AKM (stamped receiver) stock sets will fit the SAR-3.

One thing to check, and granted the rifle is over 10 years old and probably shot a bit, but worth checking anyway, make sure the hammer is striking the bolt squarely. The reason I say this is the SAR-3 has a shorter bolt than the standard AKM and when Century installed their trigger group to meet the sporting purpose clause of the new ATF second amendment, not all the hammers were properly profiled and could hurt the bolt if they don't hit just right.

Also, the SAR-3 was designed by the Romanians for use as a NATO approved rifle when they wanted to join NATO, and to show commonality the designed it to use the mag from the STG-940 Wieger rifle system. The mag is known as the Wieger mag, a contraction of the town that made it Wiesa, Germany. While there are other mags that work, the Wiegers are the most reliable because of the rifle being designed from the onset to use them. Century shipped the rifle with a modified AK-74 mag, an orange "plastic" mag with the top painted black to show it as a modified mag, and a floorplate marked .223. Unfortunately the .223/5.56x45 feed at a different angle than the 5.45x39 of the AK-74 so you can run into feed problems. There was a fix, sold by Robinson Arms that was a modified follower that was angled correctly for the .223.

The SAR-3 was one of the more overlooked of the AK variants, which is a shame because with the proper shaped hammer and the right mag they were and are great shooters.

[l921428x]

welcome, enjoy!

[El Laton Caliente]

Welcome to the forum from another SAR3 owner.

Most any stock set will fit.

IIRC, you need an AK74 rod ('Nut, am I right here?). Try https://www.apexgunparts.com/ or http://www.gunpartscorp.com/

Mags are hard to come by... Apex had some but were $46 each when they ran out. I just lucked into 12 at $25 each on armslist.com

[imanaknut]

Welcome to the forum from another SAR3 owner.

Most any stock set will fit.

IIRC, you need an AK74 rod ('Nut, am I right here?). Try https://www.apexgunparts.com/ or http://www.gunpartscorp.com/

Mags are hard to come by... Apex had some but were $46 each when they ran out. I just lucked into 12 at $25 each on armslist.com

Schuetz said it first, the AK-74 rod will work. When looking at mags, it makes me sick to see how they are now priced. Way back when the first SAR-3s hit the shore, there was a company in New York (of all places) that listed the STG-940 mags in the pouch with cleaning kit and sling for $49.95. Back then I thought they were expensive as standard AK mags were going for under $10, with the AK-74 mags at $5 with discounts for quantity. Lucky I broke down and spent the money. How good some of those days now look!

[O.S.O.K.]

Here's a link to a gunbroker search: http://www.gunbroker.com/All/BI.aspx?Keywords=Wieger

Found three auctions for Wieger mags - these are the best for the SAR-3.

[imanaknut]

Also search for them but spell the contraction for Wiesa, Germany wrong. Many people spell them "weiger" which is wrong, but try to tell some people, and even telling them where the name came from they still don't get it.

On the other had there have been a few people/businesses that have paid attention and to them I tip my hat and give two thumbs up.

One reason that the Wiegers became scarce, according to Century who imported a huge number, a certain unnamed company bought them all up to convert them for use in the .223 Saigas.

[Drreducto]

Thanks for all the help guys. I have a couple 30rnd mags that are orange and a 10rnd mag, but have been looking for more.

[El Laton Caliente]

The "orange" mags are east German AK74 mags converted to .223.... not always reliable. The best has the followers replaced with Roberson followers, but CAI mostly just bent the existing followers. If you load them to 30 most rifles will jam...

[Schuetzenman]

The "orange" mags are east German AK74 mags converted to .223.... not always reliable. The best has the followers replaced with Roberson followers, but CAI mostly just bent the existing followers. If you load them to 30 most rifles will jam...

I second this post. The 5.45x39 round has more taper in the case, much more fat at the back and skinnier in the front than the .223 round. Because of that the curve to the AK74 mag is too much for .223 ammo. The more you shove in the mag the more ouit of alignment the .223 rounds create. I found maybe 12 to 15 rounds workable for the 30 round mags. Some have used metal filled epoxy to build up the back of the follower to lift the rear of the .223 cases. This is what the Robinson Armament followers did, changed the angle and lifted the rim end of the case up. I don't believe Robarms still makes those followers, but if they did they would be worth getting to convert an AK74 mag so that it would actually work.

[studmuffin]

You can still find weiger and SAR 3 mags on the market, over at gunbroker. But expect to pay.
$50 to $75 for them each now. Or you can go the robinson follower route with the ak74 mags. Either will work. They are fantastically accurate by the way.