Originally Posted by cma g21

IMHO, the main difference is the odds of getting a really good AK.

With Red Jacket, it's practically a sure thing (and if you somehow get a bad one, they'll fix or replace it).

With the cheaper AK's (most made or assembled by Century) it's much more of a crap shoot.

You could end up with an AK that shoots every bit as well as a Red Jacket. Or, just could get a disaster (canted sights, worn out barrel, unreliable, ...). Or (most likely), you could get something in between.

It really depends on how much money you're willing to spend to insure you get a good AK from the start vs. how much time/effort/money you might be willing to spend to fix an AK that isn't that good.