The Century Int’l
Arms, Inc., GP WASR-10 is a semi-automatic-only
rendition of the famous 7.62x39 mm AKM rifle
configured with a fixed laminated stock and
a laminated fore-end.
Manufactured in Rumania,
the 7.62x39 mm GP WASR-10 is imported as a
“single-stack” rifle that accepts
single-column 10-round magazines. After arriving
in the U.S., the rifles are disassembled, the
magazine wells machined out to accept double-stack
magazines, and the requisite number of U.S.-made
parts are installed for BATFE compliance.
In the case of this
particular variant, the U.S.-made parts are
as follows: trigger, hammer, disconnector,
compensator, gas piston and pistol grip. The
trigger, hammer and disconnector are investment
cast from 4140 steel for Century by Thompson
Investment Castings, while the compensator
and stainless steel gas piston are manufactured
by a local firm. The synthetic pistol grip
is manufactured by Century.
With the sunsetting
of the so-called “assault-weapons ban”
in September of 2004, semi-automatic rifles
are now allowed to have features such as threaded
muzzles, folding/collapsing stocks and bayonet
lugs. Consequently, this particular GP WASR-10
features a threaded muzzle (with a removable,
slant brake) and a bayonet lug. Currently the
rifles are imported without these features,
requiring Century to thread the muzzles and
weld on and machine new bayonet lugs. The rifle
came with a batch of accessories, including
a canvas double magazine pouch, two 30-round
magazines, a cleaning kit designed to fit in
the buttstock storage compartment, and an early-style
Model 59 bayonet.
Fit and finish clearly
reflected the philosophy behind the design—utilitarian
and nothing more. The magazine well was evenly
cut with no sharp edges, and magazines locked
easily into place. The barrel exhibited exterior
tool marks, and parts such as the front and
rear sight bases and the gas port block had
rough shaping marks.The U.S.-made trigger and
hammer appeared to be well-made. The compensator,
although well-shaped, had very evident machining
marks, and the bayonet lug was a bit oversized.
Attaching and detaching the bayonet several
times seemed to wear it in, with it easily
locking into place and releasing after that.
As a side note, actual
AKM rifles originally manufactured to accept
double-stack magazines have “dimples”
on both sides of the lower receiver above the
magazine well. The GP WASR-10 rifles are manufactured
as single-stacks and, therefore, are devoid
of such dimples.
The GP WASR-10 does
a good job of mimicking the appearance of a
true AKM rifle and all its requisite updates
from the original AK-47. Like the AKM rifle,
it has a stamped receiver, ribbed top cover
and a gas tube void of vent holes. The fixed
stock was also reminiscent of an AKM as it
was made from laminated wood, and the fore-end
matched quite well. The lower fore-end, however,
lacked the raised “swells” of the
AKM.
|
For
accuracy testing, we fitted the GP
WASR-10 with K-Var Corp.’s
KV-04 scope mount (A.) and a Leupold
scope. Since the GP WASR-10 was originally
manufactured as a single-stack magazine
rifle, it does not have the familiar
“dimples” in the lower
area of the receiver above the magazine
well (B.). With the sunsetting of
the so-called “assault weapons
ban,” semi-automatic rifles
can now have features such as threaded
muzzles and bayonet lugs (C.). |
Although the fit and finish of the rifle was
a bit rough around the edges, it is important
to remember that, as the saying goes, handsome
is as handsome does.
Handling revealed
a compact and handy rifle. Controls were easy
to manipulate, but there was a bit of “stickiness”
to the operation of the safety lever when in
the “on” position. Removing the
safety lever and giving it a slight tug outward
seemed to solve the problem. As stated earlier,
magazines were easily inserted and removed
and locked up solidly. The trigger pull was
surprisingly good, breaking cleanly at 7 1/4
lbs.
Firing the rifle produced almost monotonous
reliability. The rifle simply would not malfunction.
We did, however, notice an unpleasant tendency
for the trigger to “slap” the shooter’s
finger during firing.
For accuracy testing,
we fitted a K-Var KV-04 scope mount (www.k-var.com)
on the side-mount scope rail. Unlike Soviet
scopes and mounts, the K-Var unit centers the
scope over the bore line—a welcome feature
for our southpaw testers. Accuracy was on par
with what is common for these rifles, printing
average groups in the 3" range.
The GP WASR-10 was
easy to shoot and handily sized, although several
testers complained that the short length of
pull was distracting. The slant brake seemed
to be mostly an affectation, albeit a rather
interesting one.
The GP WASR-10 represents
an exceptional deal to those in the market
for a short- to mid-range semi-automatic rifle
that is both extremely reliable and highly
affordable.
|