I suggest going AK. I have a WASR and enjoy it very much. There are a lot of AK variants out there, so just do some research and pick one you like.
Besides, when you go through the quality ammo just buy the steel case stuff and enjoy it for what it is
saiga, makes a gun in that round. watch the mini 30. is's bore is for a for a .308 bullet. most com bloc 7.62 is .312. heats the hell ot of tge barrel. the yogo sks's are pretty good
and tou can pickup an acton pretty cheap abd the granade lancher p.o's off the anti's
I also have a stamped receiver Norinco MAK 90. . . they are well made Chinese AK variants with good stock triggers (for an AK) and have heavier barrels . . . and fun too.
However they (most) have been castrated but they are still fun