Many AK enthusiasts in USA are often asking me why there are no “dimples” on AK rifles imported from Romania, like WASR10, Paratrooper and so on. In order to have official answer to this question, I decided to reach out to my friends working directly at Romanian Cugir factory, which is producing those rifles. Their answer was simple:
Picture before modification of magazine well
“We don’t put dimples on WASR/RH10/Paratrooper, because the after export from Romania, Americans have to literally “shave off” material from tabs inside the receiver magazine well (see picture on the left, note how narrow magazine well is – circled in red is one of of 2 tabs installed inside which has to be trimmed).
It’s just easier for Century workers to file material from those tabs the way we put here in the Cugir factory than to deal with an already made dimple. This
Picture of magazine well after material removal
is all because of US import laws, which require that rifle has to work with that shitty single stack, 10 bullets magazine (until Century makes conversion so our rifles can work with standard AK mags)”.
On right is picture of modified for US market magazine well.
So, there you have it folks, straight from Romanian Cugir, best explanation for “missing dimples”. Below is picture of Romanian Paratrooper rifle. As you can see, no dimples…
No dimples on this Cugir Paratrooper
Rifle with dimples
The cutout on my WASR 10/63 was so bad, I had to file more metal off to get my surplus mags to fit. TAPCO mags fit fine, but the surplus mags were hung up by a little bit of metal from an uneven cutout, lol.
Hi Rob,
Now that Atlantic and Century are charging around $700 for a new WASR, do you still think it holds the top spot for best “bang-for-buck” AK? Do you think that this makes the PSAK GB2 worth extra consideration? I’ve noticed that decent AKs are becoming harder and harder to find at good prices. Just hoping to hear your thoughts on this.
Thanks for everything you do!
Get imports first, while you still can…PSAK will be always here.
Very true. Good point. They might all be disappering soon for me though. Have you heard about the new gun control legislation that has been proposed in Minnesota? MN HF 3022. Its absolotuely atrocious. Worse than IL and CA combined. Outlaws the sale and possession of all semi auto rifles, ban on all magazines/firearm types that hold more than 7 rounds. All must be either turned in for destruction or re-registered annually and it allows for WARRANTLESS “safety inspection” of gun owners homes. To make it worse, all of your personal information, your address, number and types of guns you own, will be made PUBLIC RECORD. You will also have to share personal medical records with police/authorities by law. If this passes, owners of semiautos will have no 4th Amendment rights.
I advise all Minnesotans who may read this to pay very close attention to this bill and to make your opinions known before its too late!
Thanks for your input Rob,
I’m going to be sure to get my hands on the first decent import I find.
*Under this new bill, you would also need to report all ammunition sales.
*It eliminates all private party sales
*Possession of semi auto firearms without proper registration is a felony.
*Possession of any hi-cap magazine is a felony.
*And more. Its truly terrible.