Hi Mr. B
The AK market right now is a bit limited. There is not a lot to choose from if you are not willing to spend in excess of $500 but for around that there are a few guns available. There are a some questions you need to consider first though. What caliber do you want, 7.62x39 or 5.45x39? Both are available and either one is a good round. What style are you set on? Tradidtional laminated wood and stamped steel or one of the more sporterized guns? A quick check of the ususal sorces on line shows the low end Romanian WASR rifles right around $500, these are traditional style and build quality is servicable but you need to see before you buy as they can have canted sights,poor riveting and very rough wood at times. Dont get me wrong, they shoot but are not pretty. If you are not married to the old school style you can still get Saiga rifles for around $400 and they are made in Russia in the same factory as the real deal and are of excellent quality but do not share mags with standard AK,s and are sporterized. Of course you can build your own from kits, convert Saiga,s to look traditional but all of that is another stroy all together.
I dont know about the Omaha gun stores as I live in Lincoln. If you want to make the drive here check out Neberaska Gun. The owner Jeff ususally has examples of most of the guns available to look at and will gladly let you know what is available in the market these days.
