Opinions Needed Keep or Sell? Also a Plug for a 10/30 California AK Mag

[Makasaurus]

I bought a WASR 10 in 7.62, single stack, for $489 OTD a couple months ago. I like it even though it uses the weirdo 10 round magazines that only buymilsurp.com carries for $25. I refinished the furniture with stain and 8 coats of formby's tung oil, and alumahyded the gun. It looks so nice now and better then new i hate to part with it.



Problem, bitten by the AK bug and just decided i HAD to have a double stack. I live in the PRK and can only use 10 round mags in any event, or 10/30's. So why? Would i want a double stack knowing this? Because i am planning to move out of this toothache of a state when i retire in 7 years - and i really want to use 30 round clips once i am in a free state!

It is possible to convert a single stack to double, lots of people do it, there are several youtube videos of people that have done it succesfully - so why not do that? And if i didn't want to or couldn't do it, how much would a smith charge to do it anyway?

After looking at my situation (Orange county, Calif - not one gunsmith i talked to would touch it. Every single one said "WE DO NOT WORK ON AK'S." ) i decided to go with a new wasr double stack.

I thought long and hard about converting the single to double stack myself. After 30 plus years in automotive and diesel mechanics, i think i could do it. Problem - i have nowhere to work, live in an apt and a dremel gets mighty loud! I even thought to just buy a cordless dremel and do it away from the apt or something but they are just too weak to do the job i think. I work in an auto shop, for a major airport, where i could do the work but bringing in an AK there - even in pieces, and at off hours - is simply too much of a risk to my job as you never know "who is going to magically show up".

And so the double stack WASR 10 went on sale at Turner's last week for $500. I spent two solid days weighing all the options and decided to go buy the DS WASR. I pick it up on 8/16/11 (10 day waiting period).

The notable differences between the single and double: the furniture looks a lot better on the double. (Which is like saying shinola looks better then shit lol) unlike that on the single stack that looks like surplus pallete pieces laminated into a rough stock shape. Different muzzle brake (on the SS one there's just a round collar, spot welded on). So those are the differences. (If you have a milling machine or are very skilled with a dremel, and want a cheap but good ak, by all means buy the single stack and convert it yourself! PM me if you want more details because i spent a lot of time researching.)
And oh yeah a nice but superfluous touch, i get a genuine Romie bayonet (i asked would they swap it for another tapco 10 round mag they said no you get what is in the box.)

So back to the original question. WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH THE SINGLE STACK WHEN YOU HAVE A DOUBLE STACK AK ON THE WAY?
Options -
1 - Hang onto it, and just convert it to DS another day or leave as is.
2- Hang onto it, but sell it when the AK market is right
3 - Sell it now and take the loss ($100 - 200 or more).
4 - Take it on my next boating trip and overlube it (to slippery oops)

[binky59]

Hi, I think that I'd keep the single stack AK, you can load them pretty fast if you have your rounds on stripper clips. If you want high cap mags or drums for a good price, check out 44mag.com They sell mags as parts kits to evil states, not that I'm saying that you should break the law.....but they are there if you want to check them out.
A lot of vendors think that we can't have high cap mags in NY, just in certain districts like NYC and Nassau County. If you still want to convert the single stack to double, make a template from the double stack magwell ( assuming it has been ground out properly) and scribe the outline on to the single stack magwell, then carefully start grinding until you open it up evenly on both sides, front, rear, when you get close to your scribe line test using a mag. If you take your time and just remove a little at a time you should be ok. I've done one in a little more than two hours.
Good luck

[O.S.O.K.]

I didn't know you could even own an AK with detatchable mags of any kind in Cali... thought you had to have some kind of bullet button mod or similar to own them?

ETA - oh doh! I see it now - you do have a mod. Such stupid shit isn't it?

I think given your situation that I'd sell the single stacker and use the proceeds to buy ammo.

[stinker]

1 - Hang onto it, and just convert it to DS another day or leave as is.
Yes
2- Hang onto it, but sell it when the AK market is right
Yes
3 - Sell it now and take the loss ($100 - 200 or more).
No
4 - Take it on my next boating trip and overlube it (to slippery oops)
Not just no but HELL NO

Bonus, if you hang on to it until you flee commieville you can remove that stupid bullet key crap and put a real mag catch back on it too.
You get out of PRK and finding someone to do the work for you will be very very easy.

[Schuetzenman]

It can be conveted to take normal double stack magazines after you move out of state. You could also buy a normal AK in Nevada and leave it there in storage if just have to own one right now.

[kskyles]

keep it, and don't modify it.

then when you move, you can find a gunsmith to do it well.

come on down to arizona. we love guns here

[blade]

Some parts of Missery are livable.
Hope all is well!!!!!!!!!!!

[Makasaurus]

yeah i asked around, had one potential buyer that fell through. The gun shop said they'd have to take $100 fee to sell it on consignment. I decided to just keep it.

the gun laws in this state are only going to get worse, i have a feeling in 5 years it will be worth a lot more then i paid for it.