I've been watching WASRs for several years now. A couple of months ago, I stopped by Cabela's on the way home from a long work trip, and there she was. I finally found the tightest, straightest WASR I've ever seen, so I bought it on the spot. All numbers matching except for dust cover, 1978 Cugir build, rifle passed through Century on January 2011 - I must have bought it right after it shipped. Not a single piece on this rifle rattles or shakes, mag wobble is virtually nonexistant with both included mags. It shot straight right out of the box, though I have not benched it yet, so the sights may require fine adjustment to shoot out past 100yds.
If this is how WASRs are made these days, Century must have stepped up their game. I'm glad I waited.
My only complaints was that it had a welded muzzle nut (removed, now has Tapco slant), and the finish is thin around the magwell. Bayo lugs are also ground, but I don't care; I have plenty of rifles to attach bayonets to. I bought this WASR as an introduction to AKs and as a project gun. If I have to duracoat it later on, that's part of the fun, or I can just let the finish wear away like most authentic Romanians have.
The wood was also standard WASR fare - prime for a refinish, but I didn't care for the laminated LHG with no palmswell. I bought two sets of Bulgarian AK-74 wood from APEX, stripped and refinished the better set in BLO, hand rubbed without buffing to keep the gloss down. Wood is very smooth yet grippy in this way.
The Bulgarian wood from APEX is excellent quality, I would recommend that you guys get a set while they're still around. I wouldn't have known that it was used if it weren't for the flaking poly finish that they came with. Compared to the Romanian wood, this set is much meatier, giving the rifle some extra weight in the buttstock and extra cheekweld material. The ribbed buttplate is also much more comfortable.
The sling is Polish nylon. Adjusts very smoothly, and the leather loop strap matches the Bulgarian pistol grip.
I'm very happy with this WASR. The only thing I really want to add to it now is a 4x POSP.
Last but not least, my little helper. Each time a new coat of BLO had to be rubbed in, she followed me to the basement and would watch for the entire half hour it took to rub in and wipe a fresh coat.
