Nice pretty excited to see.  Hopefully you can maybe get to the range this weekend and give some initial impressions.

+2

I was going to hold off on one of these but the AWB in the Senate doesn’t make me too comfy

Mine says on the truck at 930 this morning, but I'm not holding my breath

Ok fellas. Managed to get mine picked up.  Here are my initial impressions and pics:

It's a box.


Spartan interior.


What's in the bag.


Exterior.





Rail details:





Sights look straight:



As expected, none of the screws have any thread locker on them, so I put some blue on them:




Rivets look perfect.  Equally as good as my SLR106:





Let's crack it open:





Bolt details:








AC Unity mag clicked right w/ no issues. Polish Radom and ((10)) mags fit fine but they did take slightly more oomph to get the latch to click, but that's something that happened in my SLR as well until I had worked the mags in a few dozen times a piece.




Overall comments:
Initial impression is very positive.  The ALG AKT trigger is phenomenal. I'm not a huge fan of the QD sockets placement on the rail but that's just personal preference and, since it's MLOK, I can put one where I want it. The hinged top cover does have a small amount of lateral play.  Not a lot but it's there. You can easily shim it with some aluminum foil or something if it bothers you. I haven't Rocksett the hinged cover's screw yet.  Probably do that this weekend.  The actual side folding mechanism is stiff as all hell.  I had to "encourage" it with a gunsmithing hammer to get it to open. The hinge needs some lube as it doesn't pivot as freely as I would like.  Closing it and getting the latch to seat also required the gunsmith hammer.  My SLR took the same sort of thing when I first got it, but this one was still stiffer.  Not a negative or a positive in my mind, just a comment. Lastly, I'll be replacing the grip.  Magpul's is fine, but I prefer the Tango Down grip, so that'll be put on when I get one as well as an extended bolt handle (PSA, why don't you offer this yet?!).

I can't wait to get it to the range to get it zeroed (irons and the EXPS).  Hopefully I can try a few different, common loads and see how it does in the accuracy department.  Keep this thread updated when I can.

Looking good so far

Can you remove the muzzle device and take a look at the barrel crown?  How does that look?  Is the end of the barrel flush with the end of the gasblock/front site combo?

Ask and you shall receive:

Great pics and very detailed.  Kind of disappointing they didn't Loctite some of the screws.  Does the firing pin drop free?  Hope to see how the accuracy and reliability goes. And then maybe if you can take some internal pics afterwards to see about wear.  

Let us know how the ejection pattern is (Distance thrown and angle).

Much thanks good Sir!  Nothing wrong there

The lack of loctite hopefully doesn’t mean other QC items were missed, or maybe that’s just SOP to not do that (failure by design?)

I’m looking at the stock model and would add my own rails/covers after the fact

Edit: it does look test fired as well, so that’s good

Of course!  Any time.

I'm not going to flip out over the lack of a thread locker applied at the factory.  It's been a long time since I purchased a factory upper or rifle, but I don't recall there being any on the ones I did buy back in the day.  I'm sort of anal about that sort of shit, so I'm always checking and adding anyways.

A packet of blue like what comes with most aftermarket rails would be a nice addition to bag of stuff, though.

Well, first knock on QA/QC I've found.  I did a quick field strip and removed the gas tube.  I noticed that the lower hand guard had quite a bit of slop in it  It would move vertically and laterally maybe 1/16" and in/out of the receiver a similar amount.  I figured out that the two tension screws that are supposed to press the whole rig back into the receiver weren't tight. This is the exact same mounting set up RS Regulate uses on their handguards.  They are an absolute motherfucker to get to.  I had to use a ball end allen key to access them and it took a few tried to finally get them both tight and remove all the slop.  So, when you guys that have purchased one of these get yours, be sure to check these two sons-of-bitches:

As info, no where in the manual pictured above does it mention these tensioning screws. I have experience install RS Regulates hand guard so I happened to think to check for them.  Also not listed any where are torque figures for any of the screws in the rail or rear sight. "Hand tight" is what I'm always told but I prefer hard numbers.  Maybe that's just me, though.


Second thing.  This is probably my 12th or 15th AK over the past 20 years and I absolutely can not get this gas tube back in place with the upper rail section cover thing installed on the gas tube.  It spins on just like the plastic ones you see on most other AKs:


When the rail section is off, it sits pretty-as-you-please and I can lock down the lever no problem:


There's just barely enough clearance, which is good:


However, when I put the rail section on, there's probably 1/16" too much material on the locking lever half drum to finish rotating and locking the lever down:



As you can see, it's sitting as deep into the bottom hand guard as it can and I can't get it down enough to finish rotating the lever.  Either I'm an idiot (extremely possible) or there's some sort of interference I'm not seeing to rectify:


My usual answer to this sort of thing on an AK is to whip out the bastard file and start removing material.  However, I don't want to void the warranty by doing so.

@Jman_JJE @PalmettoStateArmory any help or suggestions?

I’m at my son’s football game right now and trying to take a quick look for you. It’s hard to tell from the pics I’m looking at on my phone, It went together when we assembled it at the factory. If you want to use your “usual answer” it’s not problem and would not void the warranty you have my word.

No worries at all!  Thanks for the quick reply.  I'm sure it's something I'm doing because it looked fine when I received it. Just not seeing what the interference is.  I'll keep fiddling with it and see if I can figure it out.

ETA: Got it!  Had to loosen those tensioner screws and force the lower hand guard down just enough for the gas tube to sit just that little bit further down.

Did they ever release the 101?

Soon…

Appears to be a small stem bolt?

Jman can you confirm? Is it the same diameter as the 74 bolt stem?

I had this exact same issue, which screws did you loosen? I kinda wondered if the lower HG was installed after the upper handguard was already on

Curious as well

It is a thin stem bolt and the same diameter as the 74.

Hoping that spares will be available at some point.

They will

Thank you, Sir.

There's a collar that goes just behind the front hand guard retainer that the lower hand guard screw into.  One screw on each side and one on the bottom.  In that collar are the two pictured set screws that you have to tighten to force the lower hand guard to the rear to remove the slop.  They're pictured in the top picture in that post above.  You can see two small set screws inside the rail.  I had to loosen those so that the lower hand guard could be shifted down enough to give the upper hand guard enough room.

Your thought is an interesting one.  @Jman_JJE, do you all normally install the gas tube w/ rail first or the lower hand guard? Are those two set screws supposed to be tight or should there be some play w/ the gas tube and rail removed?

I don’t know the answer to that, if you email me [email protected] I will forward your question on to someone who does.

Done.  Thanks for your time!

Anyone else receive theirs yet?  Sample size 1 internally seems good other than the rails not being fully loctited/tightened down

Verrrryyy interested in range time results

Awesome thank you.

What about the AK-556? Is that the same carrier, bolt, and firing pin combo as well? I know the trunnion is bulged.

Well, now you know why those 2 screws you tightened on the lower handguard where loose.  When you add the upper handguard, it pushes down on the the lower.  If there's no give on the lower, you won't get your upper HG lever to close.

You have to find the sweet spot on these screws.  I ran into this when I installed that rail on my 105.

Edit to add, I see you figured it out.

Hopefully I'll have my 102 some time next week and will add a range report.

At the range putting this thing through a few paces. Nothing crazy though. Just zeroing, a few mag dumps, and stretching out to 200 and 300 yds. Pics when I get back home.

Ups says I'll have mine Monday.

Got the SBA3 and railed top cover version. Was slightly disappointed to see they have a Soviet arms gas tube/rail version available now. I like the look of their rail more than the JL.

Such is life. That's what I get for ordering 4 min after they were available the first day, lol

I hear ya, Metal, but if you have multiple rifles, you basically get a railed top cover, rear pic peep sight, long forend rail, a JMAC rear trunnion adapter and arm bar, an SB3 brace, and Magpul grip for the extra $200. That's why I went with the full kitted versions despite having Zenitka stuff ready for them when they arrive.

Ok boyos.  Range report. Got some good and some bad.

Started off on the 50 yard range. Went up to the 25 yard line and started zeroing the irons.

First round had a failure.  Looked like it extracted and ejected just fine, just didn't pick up the next round out of the AC Unity mag:


Third round had a similar issue:


I lost track of where these failures occured:




After dealing with all those, I was able to get the elevation zeroed no problem with my Magnamatic tool:


Last group was fantastic.  Granted this is at 25 yards, but that's w/ bullshit Wolf steel case 55 gr.

I couldn't get the tool to push the front sight drum to the left to zero the windage.  It appears to be hitting a little high on the front sight. It might be something I'm doing wrong.  Any one have any suggestions on how to get this pushed over?


I then zeroed my EXPS 2.0.  I hate it by the way.  Way too damn high for my liking.  I'm barely able to do a pseudo-chin weld with it.  I'll be taking it off and selling/trading it for something with far lower height-over-bore. Again, I thought the last grouping was pretty good for 25 yards (I zero w/ 3 round groups so the group three below the yellow dot is the final group).  Certainly well within what I experience with my issue rifles in the Army.


Someone asked about distance and direction of brass ejection.  The steel case were going about 4 paces at 3:30-4 o'clock.  The white rattle can top is in the center of the group:


After I got it zeroed, I ran a couple of mags through it just doing target transition drills and trying to get it hot.  Rail got super hot.  It shot amazingly flat and soft.  Very impressed with that for sure.

Once I had a decent 50 yard zero in, I took it over the 500 yard range.  I confirmed my 100 yard zero and then started slapping steel at 200 and 300 yards. I swapped between the Bulgarian Circle 10 mag, the Polish Radom, and the AC Unity mag as well as the aforementioned Wolf Steel case 55 gr as well as some Wolf Gold 55 gr. (I think this is the Taiwanese over run stuff from a few years back) that I had in a random AR mag in kit.

Here's my set up:


I wasn't able to do any group sizes at 100 yards.  My eyes are terrible and using the Eotech, the red dot just bloomed on me. I was able to get hits at both 200 (right hand white silhouette is at 200) and 300 with no issues. However, I don't think I could do the setup justice without either a magnified optic or a prism sight of sort.

However, the issues I did have were these:








So.....yea. Not great. Actually, really fucking shitty all things considered. It has such potential. The fit and finish are great from the outside. It's so soft and flat shooting. It's really enjoyable. It is probably accurate enough. I just want it to be 3 or 4 moa. I'm not expecting sub-moa or even sub-2 moa. I do, however, want to be able to run a mag through it without it eating the brass and sucking it into the front of the hammer.

@Jman_JJE @PalmettoStateArmory, any suggestions on what I should do here? It doesn't appear the ammo type or magazine has any effect. I haven't changed anything that came from the factory.  Might be a weak extractor? I'm not great at diagnosing these. Something is definitely not right though.  Really unfortunate.

Hopefully someone else that gets theirs this week can do a range test and see if I have a lemon or if there's something systemic with these.

Paulie771: Do you have any bulgarian or polish mags you can try? Not a great start, I agree.

Yes. I specifically mention using a circle 10 and a Polish Radom in the paragraph above the pic of my set up in the post above.

Email me [email protected]

That’s not something we have seen and we tested these for two years. I’m thinking it might be extractor tension.

I hate the retainer system on those HG honestly.

JL Billet Wedgelok upper HG is a PITA to put back on, but you dont need to file it. Its tight so it can hold zero.

You need a Rubber Mallet
Cleaning Kit Tool/Wrench for the gas retainer lever

-Sit down with the gun.
-Place your dominant hand/thumb on the gas tube locking lever, keep putting pressure to push it downward.
-While you are doing this gently strike the gas tube/upper handguard with a rubber mallet. Do it closest to the receiver/rear sight block.
You'll be able to get just enough flex to get the lever to lock the gas tube down.
-Use a wrench or cleaning kit tool to put the locking lever into place.
Do not force it. Only do this after the gas tube/lever clears the initial lip.
Do not smack the gas tube hard. Just enough to be able to move the gas tube lever. Light Taps. I've done with to get a few gas tubes seated. Mainly with Magpul Upper Handguards.

Sent. Thanks!

Thanks for the testing Paulie.  That really is pretty disconcerting.  I'm going to hold off for a bit and see if more users have similar issues.

PSA is already in contact with me. I have no doubt we’ll get this thing running.

That looks a lot like the same issues I had with a Century GP-1975 rifle several years ago (US receiver and barrel with Romanian parts kit build by Century). Found out the ejector was sitting too low and not making adequate contact with the base of the spent cases, so occasionally they'd just fall or bounce right back into the receiver. The case mouth and neck would get smashed between the trunnion and bolt just like in your pics, as well as stovepiping.

My SLR-106CR also had some similar failures before I SBR'd it. In its original 16" configuration it was overgassed to Hell, so the action was moving way too fast for spent cases to clear the receiver. However, the issues went away after cutting the barrel to the appropriate 12.4" length. I don't think that's the case here, though. 'Smooth' and 'flat shooting' are not the adjectives I'd use to describe my 106CR despite it being a 5.56 AK.

Oh well, not your problem to deal with since PSA looks like they'll fix it up.

Thanks as well.

Yeah, that sucks.

Shoot so its not the magazine then. Keep us posted.

I think the AC unity may have been sluggish on the first couple of failures to feed.  It seem to do fine with feeding after the first couple of rounds were out of the mag.  The 10 and Radom ran ok.  I really think it's just an extractor issue but we'll see.

We think it is the tension in the extractor spring, we will be taking care of it asap.

Frankly, seeing the issues with the handguards as an indicator of what was to come, then that sub optimal range performance, how did it even leave the factory?

This is keeping me from even trying a PSA AK

The handguard issue was me messing it up, not them in my opinion. If I hadn't tightened the set screws incorrectly (the rail was too high) I would've been able to get the gas tube back in place no problem. It is rock solid when installed.

The other issue is valid if it's across multiple examples. If it's just mine, that's just bad luck on their part that I happen to have posted here so much about these things. You can tell from my initial pics that this example was test-fired before it shipped. I wasn't getting FTE every round.  If they're not dumping three or four mags through it before shipping, it's very possible they never had it happen when they tested it.  Sub-optimal for sure, but not unthinkable.

I’ll be waiting to see results from other examples, flashbacks to AK-74 and AK-105 issues

That’s fair and completely understandable.

I don’t buy it’s an issue never before seen.

That being said, I pray it is a one off. I am not interested in waiting a year for the wrinkles to get fixed.

The thing that bothers me from your photos is the nick the FTE did the metal on the upper part of the chamber.  How soft is the metal PSA is using?  I know the new bolts are toolcraft, but they make a tinging sound when I field strip my AK74 and remove the bolt and touch metal.  My Bulgarian 74 (before it blew up--Waffen Werks if that makes since) doesn't sound anything like what the toolcraft bolt and bolt carrier make when they metal comes into contact.