My buddy bought an AK-105 and it came with an out of spec firing pin from factory. PSA wouldnt ship him just the pin and insisted he had to ship off the rifle. So he bought a pin online and it worked great after. Buying a gun and then having to ship it off for 2-4 weeks is bullsh*t. I dont care how good the customer service is lol
I made that argument on a forum when the ‘but muh lifetime warranty!’ argument was made. It’s great they offer a lifetime warranty but; 1. You shouldn’t have to rely on it as a replacement for a QC program and 2. What if my rifle breaks while I’m on a trip or a hunt or something out in the middle of nowhere? I hope UPS has a drop off location in the middle of nowhere, and I guess you’ll have to bring a backup rifle in case your PSA AK breaks…
where did he get the pin. i have a ak 105 and had the same issue and didnt wanna ship it back tbh. Its pisses me off so much that they dont sell surplus pins.. If you see this please let me know where he bought it. thanks
@@B2k4Ewas the forum reddit? 😂 on akfiles people usually don't come up with this type of copium but on yt and reddit it's all the rage. Muh cheap guns. You get what you pay for, what you dont pay in cash you pay in time and frustration
Yeah I'm using a 100% standard Romanian FCG. I saw your reviews too and I thought it was weird PSA was honing in so much on the ramp cut/lack thereof on your hammer since I haven't been having any of those issues on mine.
PSA needs to nail down the internal bolt geometry of the firing pin channel and machining processes to obtain that geometry on a repeatable production basis. Heat treat and metallurgy also play a part.
Fellow PSA AK enjoyer here - my PSA Gf3E face the exact same issues around the same round count. Thankfully, PSA has been pretty good with their customer service and was able to send me replacement parts as well as detailed instructions on what to do to replace the necessary parts.
I got rid of my psa ak 101 as soon as I saw Arms of America started offer 90 degree gas blocks and 24mm fsb’s. Just swapped the furniture rear sight and optics over.
You got one of the higher quality ones. The RUclipsr M26 Lemon Grenade was at a field day and one of the other shooters with a new PSA AK101 got to only 420 rounds before the firing pin snapped.
Well delivered and good info like others have said. I hope your audience continues to grow...I found you because I too was searching for info on these PSA 101 rifles. On the fence about a purchase. I'd like to get a 556 AKM of some sort someday. Been searching around on WBP, Pioneer, Beryl, and this PSA offering. Thanks for the detailed infos man!
I was having light strike issues with my 101, even after sending it back to PSA. Replaced the firing pin with a CSS AK74 replacement firing pin and it seemed to help cure it.
RH10 if it doesn’t have the thin barrel is excellent. I got an older one with a thin profile and when it’s hot those groups get HUGE. I heard they now have regular barrels but don’t know anybody to confirm
@dougshelton69 yea, I think the American ak thing will only exist for new shooters that don't care about longevity and only want an occasional rangetoy... or people that just don't know better, lol. For the price that Riley, PSA, and others sell for, I suggest anyone who asks me to just up it by $200 and get the romanian. They will last most of us a lifetime and still have life left in em to be passed down.
My PSA AK-103 (7.62x39) has been solid . 2700 rounds so far zero malfunctions zero part breakages. I haven’t been able to shoot it as often because of the increase in ammo price but I hope to get it past 10,000 rounds one day. 🤞
It’s sad that the little important things still fall through the cracks with PSA. I was hoping they fixed a lot of the Issues. Looks like I’m going to have to wait even longer before I get an AK101 from them
Now that WBP is being offered with 90 degree gas blocks and a 74 style FSB idk how much sense risking a PSA QC issue makes anymore. Not saying the 5.56 jack is perfect, but until another 5.56 import comes in it’s probably the best bet right now.
@@n_p03 One day KUSA will put out that AK-101...someday... Full disclosure, I have a WBP Jack 5.56 and its been totally fine. Its overgassed and accuracy is a bit meh, but I'm hoping once I barrel chop it to 14.5 and get it recrowned it should tighten up with the right ammo choice, and I know the adjustable gas block I picked up will fix the other issue.
@@rawdawgg_ its these mixed reviews that keep me going back and forth on picking one up, keep your postive reviews to yourself, guy. I think the OP was more of a qc gripe. Not that there are no good ones, just the possibility of a lemon.
@@swampdaddy6425 I have 3. Wouldn’t buy one as a trusted carry until it either cycles 500 rounds or it’s malfunctioned and palmetto fixes it with the lifetime warrant then I re test myself. Love them as range toys / extra guns. Buying psa goes one of three ways from what I’ve seen. 1: It works fine never have any issues (usually higher serial numbered units) 2/3 cases for me. 2: it fails really early (under or just over 500 rounds) psa fixes it. It works well once it’s sorted. 1/3 cases for me. 3. Malfunctions out of the box. Psa again fixes it. Works fine when it gets back. Never happened to me but I’ve seen it happen within my buddy group more than a few times.
Interesting! I also have an AK-101 from PSA, mine is the one with the Toolcraft trunnion, bolt, and carrier but I'm well over 4k rounds. I never shot anything fancy through it, just a bunch of Winchester target FMJ 55gr. My biggest complaint so far is my wooden stock is starting to loosen and I don't think I can save it. More than likely I just got lucky, sorry to hear about your troubles. I hope PSA can work it out for you!
Thanks for recommending that video! I checked it out, I do wish he would have done a proper group with an MOA measurement but regardless it's interesting to see his rifle was able to make hits that far. Makes me lean more towards it probably being a trunnion riveting issue with the one I have.
@@Feldmutze I’m on the fence, man. I’m an AK platform guy, myself. My reasoning for wanting the 101 is the readily available 5.56 NATO in this country. If shit hits the fan, I’ll be able to swap ammo or get ammo off of the fallen AR guys. The whole reason for getting an AK is for reliability. If I can’t get that I may as well get a 7.62 version or an AR15.
@@10mmenjoyer Yeah, I’ve thought about PSA’s PA15 but then I have to get the Radian Raptor charging handle, Geissele trigger, GL Core CP butt stock, Sure Fire light, Magpul foregrip. The list goes on. With an AK I can just get the ammo, a snap on Pic mount for an optic and light that fixes to the barrel.
I’m at just a little over 700rds on my Psa ak102 that being said the last 200rds for sure were suppressed and no problems yet. I have used 55gr Winchester white box and Winchester 62gr
I had the exact same issue with the firing pin tip shearing off like that and had issues with FTF and FTE. Sent it in and its been reliable and flawless so far. Would recommend sending it back to PSA to get looked at as the barrel and trunnion may be cause for the accuracy issues
My gf5e failed to fire between 250/300 rounds, I took the bolt out to inspect and the firing pin had slid back past the retainer pin, there was a small bent circle of metal in the bolt, like either the firing pin or retainer had a piece sheared off, it was not a popped primer i have seen that issue before with an SKS, I had a bolt kit from the AKOU that I compared to the psa parts, the psa retainer pin was considerably shorter the the one in the kit, I put the replacement retainer pin and firing pin in the bolt but have not tried to shoot it yet, I still need to contact psa about the issue, I have comparison pics of the parts of anyone wants to see them.
Hmm. I'm at around 800-1000 I believe, and I haven't had any issues minus 2/3 failures to fire. I blamed them on the AAC ammo I was using, as that's the only stuff I've had that failure with. Just inspected the action for wear, and while I definitely see a small amount of bare metal, it doesn't seem gouged or excessively worn. Then again, I'm no expert gunsmith. I will say that I ordered the version with the Soviet Arms full length aluminum rail, and the screws were not secured with Loctite. As such, I lost one before I even noticed (Always check over your stuff when you get it new, I guess...). Thankfully, PSA's customer service sent out a new screw quickly, and I was able to Loctite everything in place. Was also a good chance to try and remove the slight amount of slop that existed. Still, it's frustrating that it wasn't taken care of from the factory, especially given the price tag. I might've just gotten lucky, or maybe it just hasn't broken yet. Time will tell.
I noticed my AAC 762 FMJ rounds are way out of spec! The bullet isn’t seated to spec and they’re all over the place as far bullet depth. I shot them had no issues but what a joke. Their blade 762 are great but them FMJ are wayyyy out of spec
I bought a KUSA ak104 to supplement my Russian and Chinese 7.62s and absolutely love it. I considered a psa 101 but ultimately found a sporter saiga and am currently converting it instead. I don’t trust anything psa puts out at this point.
Noticing you have the same issue with your rear sling swivel as I had, very annoying. I swapped mine out with the swivel from a gf3 I had laying around, no issues after that.
The production issues with PSA are similar to those from PTR. I would suggest that the difference is the number of AK builds to compare the PSA guns to vs the VERY limited number of roller-delayed weapons to compare the PTR guns to.
@@cxerphax1 This way a somewhat-spare parts build, so I wanted something that would take 4.5mm folding stocks as I had one lying around. I also wanted 24mm barrel threads though it looks like that's offered on the WBP now as well from Arms of America.
@meh_tr0 Hard to say, there's videos of people's firing pins breaking within the first few mags. Some people get a few hundred rounds through their pistol before seeing issues. This is why I put at least 500 rounds through any gun I trust my life to, and even that is low for a lot of people. There's definitely some kinks they need to work out over there at PSA.
@@MI2APatriot I have just under 1k rounds through mine, and only have had ammo issues. Im still fully expecting to have some sort of issue and have to replace parts. eventually im going to gut the thing and the only thing PSA on it will be the frame.
My GF3 must be a PSA white elephant.... Piston replaced before i even fired a round. Never had a malfunction due to the gun. Mags have been pretty okay. Ive abused her over 1k now.
I’ve actually started to get light primer strikes after 800ish rounds. I ended up ordering a surplus ak74 firing pin, but I haven’t gone to the range to test it out. Will update by the end of this week
@11:23 I noticed how much brass flakes you had...same on mine. My other 5.56 AKs (Zastavas) do not do anything close to this, and they eat literally everything and don't care what ammo you give it....I deeply recommend folks for the best quality you can buy off the shelf look at the Zastava 5.56 AK line up (I'm not paid by them, I just find their quality superior to almost all the other AKs out there, minus Arsenal or hard to get Russian, custom AKs) #Zastava #PSA. (Zastava PLEASE make a AK100 series!!)
@LoL-pw9ox ".... even with hot 5.56" ....... his issue is under-gassing. A KNS piston allows the existing gas levels to be reduced incrementally, helping alleviate over-gassing. But it won't drill a bigger gas port.
Actually interested in their 300 blk attempt, may actually just get the parts and see if it can be done better than from factory, could make a fun experiment
I have a green gf3 and the firing pin mushroomed and froze in place. Placed a new firing pin in it and used every brand ammo but tula. Ive stopped using it. Wont send it to PSA because they wont do anything. I'm looking for a gunsmith in my area to dimple the receiver and install a properly made bolt ( wasr 10). I don't think PSA gauge their AKs.
I wonder if 556 Krinks from PSA will have the same firing pin issue. Haven’t seen a single one but it is a new product. Seems like the bolt and firing pin design would be the exact same.
I had a broken firing pin on my Slr106f after maybe 3000 rounds and a lot of dry fire. It’s a spring loaded firing pin too. Sold it when I couldn’t get replacement parts for it and I regret it cause now they’re in stock :/
Can you please provide me with the warranty claim number associated with your contact with Customer Service? We would like to get this resolved asap. Thank you
Thanks! I appreciate the concern. It's all good now as I actually have since received the replacement firing pins. It seems they were shipped around the same time that I received the initial response asking to confirm my shipping address, it's just the tracking number wasn't sent originally and the package took a bit longer to arrive due to some carrier delays.
after getting my m70 (zastava) and a mak 90 the other day at a pawn shop, never fired in 30 years basically for 1200, i dont get why anyone would ever give PSA a cent. it's like....if im gonna spend 7-800$ I might as well just spend 12 or 1300 dollars and not deal with crap like this. it's not like they're 300 bucks or something. if they were maybe, but you're already spending a bunch of money for something that anyone educated in AKs knows is gonna break.
If all their was to have are old mak90s etc and he price would sky rocket . U should be thankful psa is holding the prices down whether u like em or not.
I have a PSA AK 556 (the one with a AR lower) and it is pure dumpster fire. it had many issues but chief among them was consistent failure to eject and light primer strikes. Sent it in to PSA and it turns out that the AK was not properly headspaced and they had to rebuild the AK (ship of thesus moment). Kinda scared to shoot it, it just chills in my safe now. Other issues i had were loose gas tube lever, safety selector not catching on the latch, and missing pins. for a rifle that costs 1.2k, i expect much more quality. I will never give PSA my business again.
My firing pin broke at 420 rounds. I also had severe deformation on my bolt and carrier. Mine shot about 10 MOA with PMC M193. I was eventually able to get it RMA'ed and PSA refunded me for the gun.
I have light primer strike issue with my AK-102. And get this I was shooting PMC brass...it's freaking unreal how they can push out an ak that can't even run brass. Insanely shameless. It's not even cheap, it was $1200
Had the same issue with my PSA AKV9mm, after they sent the firing pin I install it and fired it again all well done, but I lost the confidence in firing the gun again. So I will stick with my M4, sorry PSA please get your shit together and save your company and name.
I remembered your comment regarding yours breaking that you posted on the original review I made, and then pretty much the exact same thing happened to me lol.
@@Feldmutze I will say - adding a surplus Soviet 5.45 firing pin and replacing all of the springs (trigger, recoil) with ALG high energy springs seems to have brought the Krink back from the dead. Could be an easy fix for you rather than rely on PSA to put a band aid on it
I learned an expensive lesson with PSA made firearms - don’t buy them as self defense ONLY range guns. I’ve owned 3 PSA made AKs and all broke. 2 ak105s and an AKV. All broke needing major repairs and one needed tj he sent back twice in a row. One needed tj he completely rebuilt after the receiver cracked. Like what Garand Thumb stated they’re range fins and not to depend on them for self defense. He made that comment after PSA rebuilt his ak74. I got rid of them all. Will only buy from PSA nonPSA made firearms and accessories
@@ThePlatinumsquirrel when you want 5.45 you don’t have much of a choice. But the more I learn about their staff and the hiring standards the more I regret buying PSA made firearms. I’ll buy from them but that’s for great prices nonPSA items
Was the Russian firing pin you picked up able to fit just fine? When I was comparing the broken firing pin to the Russian one I showed in the video, the Russian firing pin would not fit at all.
That was just weird lighting as I recorded that portion right at sundown. Thankfully there's no rust so far anywhere on the rifle from what I'm able to see.
My thinking/hope is that they will be eventually. PSA is taking a while to iron out some kinks with their AKs, a bit longer than I would like honestly.
@@Feldmutze I have a PSA AKP, it pops primers usually a few times on every mag, those fragments sometimes get back into the channel where the firing pin fits and eventually will cause the pin to become impinged, you also get a face full of gas when it happens. I don’t shoot it anymore because getting the little pieces of primer out is time consuming. I imagine that after enough rounds the firing pin would snap maybe the Tula primers are softer so they give way first? I have a Chinese AK that functions much better and has no issues.
Seems to be an issue with the metallurgy on the firing pin itself as the channel looks fine along with the rest of the bolt. Time will test once I am able to test the replacement firing pin.
Likely both. Heat treat plays a huge part too. Firing pin channel geo being wrong is the primary root cause tho. Any place where the two parts(bolt and finring pin) can have interference(trying to take up the same space) will cause shock load and will create material displacement.
PSA took my 22lr ar upper back for warranty, it was discontinued, so i opted for a refund, over a whole year later they still havent refunded me, I tried calling and emailing and they just ignore me. So.. I wont do business with them again
PSA is attempting to make a domestic AK rifle, in a country with the highest cost of labor on earth, for $600-1,000. They are taking on an impossible challenge. They are great for the 2A. 90% of their customers have great results.
I'm hoping they get it right because I absolutely want a viable US-made AK, but at the same time they need to correct the issues they're having. And let's be real, even if "90% of their customers have great results" is a true number, 10% is a completely unacceptable failure rate given the number of firearms they produce. Imo, pumping out a huge number of lemons is worse for the 2A than anything, because in the event you actually need to use said rifle for 2A purposes, that lifetime warranty isn't doing you much good then at all.
I don't think it needs a new bolt, at least not yet. I inspected the firing pin channel and it's totally clean on mine + the bolt face is in good condition so it should be fine with just a firing pin swap.
@Feldmutze if you think that you were sent a firing pin that wasn't heat treated then I suppose a new one will suffice. I've never broke a firing pin on any of my psa aks. I have a 105, GF5, GF4 14.5 pin and weld and a psa AK74. Lots of rounds on them. Lots of issues with my 105 until it's 4th trip in for warranty. No firing pin issues ever thou.
@@Feldmutze My Bulgarian 106fr with a pso 4x24 makes 2 inch group with ppu 55gr and 2.5 moa with m855 at 100 yards. That barrel of the psa is screwed up big time.
I need a source on who said a "true" grouping is 5 rounds, because that's simply not true, unless you're doing numerous 5 round groups and averaging them it leaves way too much room for error. Regardless, good to know that MOA is with 5s.
Mine doesn't have a shield in it, and also doesn't have the slot to fit a shield into either. Apparently there's some versions of the AK9 handguard that do have a shield, but most the ones I see for sale do not.
I haven't noticed much difference. The lower handguard maybe gets hotter to the touch a little quicker than if it had a heat shield, but at that point everything else on the rifle is so hot anyway that I'm having to change how I grip regardless.
And the saga continues
@@KLAYCO47 sample sizes are growing
@@m26_lemon_grenade55 I have a single digit serial number PSA 105 so they really aren't making any headway on QUALITY.
*saiga
@@m26_lemon_grenade55 you're all here 🤔
@ojsimpsonofficial You are serious huh?
Thanks for the video. I'm trying to decide between the Psa AK101 and Zastava M90. Your video is a big help.
Go m90 all the way. PSA AKs are GARBAGE!!!
I'm glad videos like this are surfacing. Unfortunately for us, a lifetime warranty is meaningless in the event of a break in another SHTF scenario.
Always buy spare parts just in case
another?
Get a zastava
My buddy bought an AK-105 and it came with an out of spec firing pin from factory. PSA wouldnt ship him just the pin and insisted he had to ship off the rifle. So he bought a pin online and it worked great after. Buying a gun and then having to ship it off for 2-4 weeks is bullsh*t. I dont care how good the customer service is lol
I made that argument on a forum when the ‘but muh lifetime warranty!’ argument was made. It’s great they offer a lifetime warranty but; 1. You shouldn’t have to rely on it as a replacement for a QC program and 2. What if my rifle breaks while I’m on a trip or a hunt or something out in the middle of nowhere? I hope UPS has a drop off location in the middle of nowhere, and I guess you’ll have to bring a backup rifle in case your PSA AK breaks…
where did he get the pin. i have a ak 105 and had the same issue and didnt wanna ship it back tbh. Its pisses me off so much that they dont sell surplus pins.. If you see this please let me know where he bought it. thanks
@@B2k4Ewas the forum reddit? 😂 on akfiles people usually don't come up with this type of copium but on yt and reddit it's all the rage. Muh cheap guns. You get what you pay for, what you dont pay in cash you pay in time and frustration
@@GanjaBabyy It was an American made one. Cant remember exactly its been years probably the carolina shooting supply one.
@@GanjaBabyy i picked up an extra firing pin for my 105 from russiansurplus
11:29 your Trigger does not have a "ramp cut" ...... $10 they somehow blame that
Yeah I'm using a 100% standard Romanian FCG. I saw your reviews too and I thought it was weird PSA was honing in so much on the ramp cut/lack thereof on your hammer since I haven't been having any of those issues on mine.
@@Feldmutze that's how they do ..... Gotha find something to blame
Need more people to call them out on bolt and trunnion timing issues
PSA is such a joke... nobody at that company cares !!!
@@WilliamSaverino that's not correct. You will find good people in that company. It's a Management issue.
PSA needs to nail down the internal bolt geometry of the firing pin channel and machining processes to obtain that geometry on a repeatable production basis. Heat treat and metallurgy also play a part.
Keep us posted on how everything goes. Thanks for making the video and teaching.
Fellow PSA AK enjoyer here - my PSA Gf3E face the exact same issues around the same round count. Thankfully, PSA has been pretty good with their customer service and was able to send me replacement parts as well as detailed instructions on what to do to replace the necessary parts.
how did you get them to send them to you? they want me to send it in
@@madvillian7133 I guess it depends on the extent of the damage
SUPER glad i chose the WBP Jack 556 over this.
I got rid of my psa ak 101 as soon as I saw Arms of America started offer 90 degree gas blocks and 24mm fsb’s. Just swapped the furniture rear sight and optics over.
I’ve never seen someone comprehend the firing pins. Thank you for sharing, can’t believe they are still having issues with the design after years.
You got one of the higher quality ones. The RUclipsr M26 Lemon Grenade was at a field day and one of the other shooters with a new PSA AK101 got to only 420 rounds before the firing pin snapped.
Well delivered and good info like others have said. I hope your audience continues to grow...I found you because I too was searching for info on these PSA 101 rifles. On the fence about a purchase. I'd like to get a 556 AKM of some sort someday. Been searching around on WBP, Pioneer, Beryl, and this PSA offering. Thanks for the detailed infos man!
Pioneer is no more, beryl is discontinued. Psa is junk. Wbp ftw
Yep, I would go with WBP or Zastava.
I was having light strike issues with my 101, even after sending it back to PSA. Replaced the firing pin with a CSS AK74 replacement firing pin and it seemed to help cure it.
My 105 made it to three rounds before the pin broke.
Yea, i sold my gf3 and akp. Go romanian, and these issues are nonexistent. Rh10, draco and wasr are undefeated
RH10 if it doesn’t have the thin barrel is excellent. I got an older one with a thin profile and when it’s hot those groups get HUGE. I heard they now have regular barrels but don’t know anybody to confirm
@@hailtothe_rooster1572 how old is yours? mine gets sub par groups sometimes
4@@hailtothe_rooster1572
I really dig my rh10
No issues and keeps firing
@dougshelton69 yea, I think the American ak thing will only exist for new shooters that don't care about longevity and only want an occasional rangetoy... or people that just don't know better, lol. For the price that Riley, PSA, and others sell for, I suggest anyone who asks me to just up it by $200 and get the romanian. They will last most of us a lifetime and still have life left in em to be passed down.
Just watched one break at 420 rounds a couple weekends ago. It’s in M26 Lemon Grenade’s most recent PSA 101 video
Love those Harbor Freight tools 😆👍
My PSA AK-103 (7.62x39) has been solid . 2700 rounds so far zero malfunctions zero part breakages. I haven’t been able to shoot it as often because of the increase in ammo price but I hope to get it past 10,000 rounds one day. 🤞
Maybe cause they just copied something that didn’t need fixing… everyone wants a heavier thing that shoots a lighter pop and here we are.
It’s sad that the little important things still fall through the cracks with PSA. I was hoping they fixed a lot of the Issues. Looks like I’m going to have to wait even longer before I get an AK101 from them
Now that WBP is being offered with 90 degree gas blocks and a 74 style FSB idk how much sense risking a PSA QC issue makes anymore. Not saying the 5.56 jack is perfect, but until another 5.56 import comes in it’s probably the best bet right now.
@@n_p03 One day KUSA will put out that AK-101...someday...
Full disclosure, I have a WBP Jack 5.56 and its been totally fine. Its overgassed and accuracy is a bit meh, but I'm hoping once I barrel chop it to 14.5 and get it recrowned it should tighten up with the right ammo choice, and I know the adjustable gas block I picked up will fix the other issue.
@@JackTagar buy some firing pin as back. The small caliber ones are known to break after a couple thousand rounds
Or...just buy a WBP and forget PSA ??? Lol lol
@@m26_lemon_grenade55 Oh trust me, I'm aware. Bought a few WBP ones and a Beryl one if it snaps those.
Good video amigo - thanks!
I have a PSA AK in 7.62x39 - lost a rivet off the rear trunnion at ~200 rounds. I wanted to like them, but I can't recommend them after that.
much respect at least you have the decency to allow comments .
I can’t believe people keep buying this PSA stuff
Funny I have the same exact setup and haven't had any issues with around 600 rds
@@rawdawgg_ its these mixed reviews that keep me going back and forth on picking one up, keep your postive reviews to yourself, guy. I think the OP was more of a qc gripe. Not that there are no good ones, just the possibility of a lemon.
@@rawdawgg_yeah but 600rds is nothing.
@@rawdawgg_ wow barely two range trips! what a round count!
@@swampdaddy6425 I have 3. Wouldn’t buy one as a trusted carry until it either cycles 500 rounds or it’s malfunctioned and palmetto fixes it with the lifetime warrant then I re test myself.
Love them as range toys / extra guns.
Buying psa goes one of three ways from what I’ve seen.
1: It works fine never have any issues (usually higher serial numbered units) 2/3 cases for me.
2: it fails really early (under or just over 500 rounds) psa fixes it. It works well once it’s sorted. 1/3 cases for me.
3. Malfunctions out of the box. Psa again fixes it. Works fine when it gets back. Never happened to me but I’ve seen it happen within my buddy group more than a few times.
Interesting! I also have an AK-101 from PSA, mine is the one with the Toolcraft trunnion, bolt, and carrier but I'm well over 4k rounds. I never shot anything fancy through it, just a bunch of Winchester target FMJ 55gr. My biggest complaint so far is my wooden stock is starting to loosen and I don't think I can save it. More than likely I just got lucky, sorry to hear about your troubles. I hope PSA can work it out for you!
Beyond Seclusion was pinging steel silhouette targets at 500 yards no problem. For those who are curious, go check it out.
Thanks for recommending that video! I checked it out, I do wish he would have done a proper group with an MOA measurement but regardless it's interesting to see his rifle was able to make hits that far. Makes me lean more towards it probably being a trunnion riveting issue with the one I have.
@@Feldmutze I’m on the fence, man. I’m an AK platform guy, myself. My reasoning for wanting the 101 is the readily available 5.56 NATO in this country. If shit hits the fan, I’ll be able to swap ammo or get ammo off of the fallen AR guys. The whole reason for getting an AK is for reliability. If I can’t get that I may as well get a 7.62 version or an AR15.
@@RaginFlankerthey’re going to be similar if you maintain the AR
@@10mmenjoyer Yeah, I’ve thought about PSA’s PA15 but then I have to get the Radian Raptor charging handle, Geissele trigger, GL Core CP butt stock, Sure Fire light, Magpul foregrip. The list goes on. With an AK I can just get the ammo, a snap on Pic mount for an optic and light that fixes to the barrel.
I’m at just a little over 700rds on my Psa ak102 that being said the last 200rds for sure were suppressed and no problems yet. I have used 55gr Winchester white box and Winchester 62gr
I had the exact same issue with the firing pin tip shearing off like that and had issues with FTF and FTE. Sent it in and its been reliable and flawless so far. Would recommend sending it back to PSA to get looked at as the barrel and trunnion may be cause for the accuracy issues
What is the point of an AK that kills itself in 500 rounds?
I love your reviews and work man, your channel deserves more recognition keep it up
My psa ak 101 broke a firing pin around 1500 rounds. I put a polish 5.56 Beryl firing pin in and it’s been great.
My PSA gf5e had a bolt and firing pin issue after 200 rounds. Was warrantied and serviced now rifle is at +1k no issues.
@@ChocolateStranger it's a shame you paid a grand to use the lifetime warranty in 200 rounds
My gf5e failed to fire between 250/300 rounds, I took the bolt out to inspect and the firing pin had slid back past the retainer pin, there was a small bent circle of metal in the bolt, like either the firing pin or retainer had a piece sheared off, it was not a popped primer i have seen that issue before with an SKS, I had a bolt kit from the AKOU that I compared to the psa parts, the psa retainer pin was considerably shorter the the one in the kit, I put the replacement retainer pin and firing pin in the bolt but have not tried to shoot it yet, I still need to contact psa about the issue, I have comparison pics of the parts of anyone wants to see them.
Hmm. I'm at around 800-1000 I believe, and I haven't had any issues minus 2/3 failures to fire. I blamed them on the AAC ammo I was using, as that's the only stuff I've had that failure with. Just inspected the action for wear, and while I definitely see a small amount of bare metal, it doesn't seem gouged or excessively worn. Then again, I'm no expert gunsmith.
I will say that I ordered the version with the Soviet Arms full length aluminum rail, and the screws were not secured with Loctite. As such, I lost one before I even noticed (Always check over your stuff when you get it new, I guess...). Thankfully, PSA's customer service sent out a new screw quickly, and I was able to Loctite everything in place. Was also a good chance to try and remove the slight amount of slop that existed. Still, it's frustrating that it wasn't taken care of from the factory, especially given the price tag.
I might've just gotten lucky, or maybe it just hasn't broken yet. Time will tell.
I noticed my AAC 762 FMJ rounds are way out of spec! The bullet isn’t seated to spec and they’re all over the place as far bullet depth. I shot them had no issues but what a joke. Their blade 762 are great but them FMJ are wayyyy out of spec
PSA should never have attempted to make a small caliber Ak they should have focused on making one version of a ak 47 and got that right first .
The issues will continue, so many issues with PSA AKs.
Based on your data & Lemon Grenade’s data, I’ve opted not to buy a PSA AK 101.
I bought a KUSA ak104 to supplement my Russian and Chinese 7.62s and absolutely love it. I considered a psa 101 but ultimately found a sporter saiga and am currently converting it instead. I don’t trust anything psa puts out at this point.
Noticing you have the same issue with your rear sling swivel as I had, very annoying. I swapped mine out with the swivel from a gf3 I had laying around, no issues after that.
The production issues with PSA are similar to those from PTR. I would suggest that the difference is the number of AK builds to compare the PSA guns to vs the VERY limited number of roller-delayed weapons to compare the PTR guns to.
AK firing pins do break. But I've never had one break under 10k rounds. I keep a few Bulgarian firing pins on hand for spares.
@@donwyoming1936 I'm sorry.....they do not break
Damn shame we never got the KR-101. That setup looks amazing and would be better suited to on a high quality rifle.
Agreed. I was actually waiting for the KR-101 myself but after hearing about their bankruptcy I opted for this instead.
Why not a WBP Jack 556?
@@cxerphax1 This way a somewhat-spare parts build, so I wanted something that would take 4.5mm folding stocks as I had one lying around. I also wanted 24mm barrel threads though it looks like that's offered on the WBP now as well from Arms of America.
@@cxerphax1 nitride barrel, not AK-100 spec, lukewarm about WBP in general. I own one and they’re fine but I don’t really want another one.
@@glautreu8431 Arent these all nitrite barrels from the ones mentioned?
The PSA dagger has crap firing pins too. Idk how many I've seen break already.
do you know a general round count that happens at? i have one and would just like to know when to expect it! ill have to keep my eye on it
@@meh_tr0Depends on the batch, I had one last 3k rounds and one last 700rds.
@@SuspiciousGanymede ill just buy some OEM firing pins then
@meh_tr0 Hard to say, there's videos of people's firing pins breaking within the first few mags. Some people get a few hundred rounds through their pistol before seeing issues. This is why I put at least 500 rounds through any gun I trust my life to, and even that is low for a lot of people. There's definitely some kinks they need to work out over there at PSA.
@@MI2APatriot I have just under 1k rounds through mine, and only have had ammo issues. Im still fully expecting to have some sort of issue and have to replace parts. eventually im going to gut the thing and the only thing PSA on it will be the frame.
Standard American made AK
My GF3 must be a PSA white elephant.... Piston replaced before i even fired a round. Never had a malfunction due to the gun. Mags have been pretty okay. Ive abused her over 1k now.
I’ve actually started to get light primer strikes after 800ish rounds. I ended up ordering a surplus ak74 firing pin, but I haven’t gone to the range to test it out. Will update by the end of this week
Any updates?
@ I completely forgot to update sorry! lol but yeah it ran like a champ, I added another thousand rounds through it and it hasn’t failed me yet
@11:23 I noticed how much brass flakes you had...same on mine. My other 5.56 AKs (Zastavas) do not do anything close to this, and they eat literally everything and don't care what ammo you give it....I deeply recommend folks for the best quality you can buy off the shelf look at the Zastava 5.56 AK line up (I'm not paid by them, I just find their quality superior to almost all the other AKs out there, minus Arsenal or hard to get Russian, custom AKs) #Zastava #PSA. (Zastava PLEASE make a AK100 series!!)
Zastava won’t ever make a 100 series. They don’t have the tooling or technical data. We may get the M21 one day though.
My 101 has severe gassing issues. I can’t get through 10 consecutive rounds, even with hot 5.56.
Kns piston
@LoL-pw9ox ".... even with hot 5.56" ....... his issue is under-gassing. A KNS piston allows the existing gas levels to be reduced incrementally, helping alleviate over-gassing. But it won't drill a bigger gas port.
There’s certainly room for a value driven manufacturer but you have to optimize quality with value to have a winner.
Actually interested in their 300 blk attempt, may actually just get the parts and see if it can be done better than from factory, could make a fun experiment
I have a green gf3 and the firing pin mushroomed and froze in place. Placed a new firing pin in it and used every brand ammo but tula. Ive stopped using it. Wont send it to PSA because they wont do anything. I'm looking for a gunsmith in my area to dimple the receiver and install a properly made bolt ( wasr 10). I don't think PSA gauge their AKs.
I wonder if 556 Krinks from PSA will have the same firing pin issue. Haven’t seen a single one but it is a new product. Seems like the bolt and firing pin design would be the exact same.
Glad I saw this was thinking about getting one I heard there 762 aks hold up better
I had a broken firing pin on my Slr106f after maybe 3000 rounds and a lot of dry fire. It’s a spring loaded firing pin too. Sold it when I couldn’t get replacement parts for it and I regret it cause now they’re in stock :/
Disappointing but not really unexpected. Hopefully the firing pin channel is in spec and it’s just a bad firing pin.
Can you please provide me with the warranty claim number associated with your contact with Customer Service? We would like to get this resolved asap. Thank you
Thanks! I appreciate the concern. It's all good now as I actually have since received the replacement firing pins. It seems they were shipped around the same time that I received the initial response asking to confirm my shipping address, it's just the tracking number wasn't sent originally and the package took a bit longer to arrive due to some carrier delays.
after getting my m70 (zastava) and a mak 90 the other day at a pawn shop, never fired in 30 years basically for 1200, i dont get why anyone would ever give PSA a cent. it's like....if im gonna spend 7-800$ I might as well just spend 12 or 1300 dollars and not deal with crap like this. it's not like they're 300 bucks or something. if they were maybe, but you're already spending a bunch of money for something that anyone educated in AKs knows is gonna break.
If all their was to have are old mak90s etc and he price would sky rocket . U should be thankful psa is holding the prices down whether u like em or not.
I have a Bulgarian AK I picked up almost 30 years ago. Thousands and thousands of rounds through it. Never had a problem with it.
PSA are trash.
Zastava rocks! I love my M70 Serbian Red
I have a PSA AK 556 (the one with a AR lower) and it is pure dumpster fire. it had many issues but chief among them was consistent failure to eject and light primer strikes. Sent it in to PSA and it turns out that the AK was not properly headspaced and they had to rebuild the AK (ship of thesus moment). Kinda scared to shoot it, it just chills in my safe now. Other issues i had were loose gas tube lever, safety selector not catching on the latch, and missing pins. for a rifle that costs 1.2k, i expect much more quality. I will never give PSA my business again.
My firing pin broke at 420 rounds. I also had severe deformation on my bolt and carrier. Mine shot about 10 MOA with PMC M193. I was eventually able to get it RMA'ed and PSA refunded me for the gun.
Hopefully they fix the issues. I been wanting one of their 5.56 AKs.
They will
I have light primer strike issue with my AK-102. And get this I was shooting PMC brass...it's freaking unreal how they can push out an ak that can't even run brass. Insanely shameless. It's not even cheap, it was $1200
Having light primer strikes on mine and some deformation after 100 rounds
I saw another guy that put skateboard tape on the ledge of the safety and it made it nice and grippy so try that, it seems to be a good fix.
That's a good idea, thanks! I'll try doing that.
Had the same issue with my PSA AKV9mm, after they sent the firing pin I install it and fired it again all well done, but I lost the confidence in firing the gun again. So I will stick with my M4, sorry PSA please get your shit together and save your company and name.
Same thing happened to my PSA Krink
I remembered your comment regarding yours breaking that you posted on the original review I made, and then pretty much the exact same thing happened to me lol.
@@Feldmutze I will say - adding a surplus Soviet 5.45 firing pin and replacing all of the springs (trigger, recoil) with ALG high energy springs seems to have brought the Krink back from the dead. Could be an easy fix for you rather than rely on PSA to put a band aid on it
I learned an expensive lesson with PSA made firearms - don’t buy them as self defense ONLY range guns. I’ve owned 3 PSA made AKs and all broke. 2 ak105s and an AKV. All broke needing major repairs and one needed tj he sent back twice in a row. One needed tj he completely rebuilt after the receiver cracked. Like what Garand Thumb stated they’re range fins and not to depend on them for self defense. He made that comment after PSA rebuilt his ak74. I got rid of them all. Will only buy from PSA nonPSA made firearms and accessories
PSA's AR15s are okay, it's the AKs that suck from them
@@ThePlatinumsquirrel I got out of AKs. I have PWS rifles so if I want a 5.56 full piston rifle then no need for an AK. Suppresses great too
@@ThePlatinumsquirrel when you want 5.45 you don’t have much of a choice. But the more I learn about their staff and the hiring standards the more I regret buying PSA made firearms. I’ll buy from them but that’s for great prices nonPSA items
You need to keep a spare firing pin on the rifle, possibly inside the grip if it fits or taped to the stock.
I don't know to much about psa 556 aks, you can't use 5.45 or akm pin?
I immediately switched firing pins to a Russian one, and swapped the hammer spring on my PSA 105 the moment I unboxed it 😂
Was the Russian firing pin you picked up able to fit just fine? When I was comparing the broken firing pin to the Russian one I showed in the video, the Russian firing pin would not fit at all.
What's going on with the rear sight there at about 11:20? It's looking a little bit red. I certainly hope that's not rust.
That was just weird lighting as I recorded that portion right at sundown. Thankfully there's no rust so far anywhere on the rifle from what I'm able to see.
i've seen these everywhere how hard is it to make a firing pin jesus christ
It’s a joke for sure! I got a Zastava M70 and I’ve had no issues
I got a WBP in .223.. and it does like 6 MOA on 100m.. and they told me its normal . tried everything u did but ddnt increase :>
Don't know why PSA firing pins are breaking in every platform, it's like they don't think the part is important enough to treat correctly
I looked at PSA but went with zastava instead.
M90? Doesnt it weight 2 pounds more?
@@cxerphax1yeah m90 is heavier from the bulged trunnion
@@cxerphax1 yes the m90 is a chonk but the added weight eats up the recoil
This hurts so much, with kusa going out of business, imports could be banned at any moment. This is the worst time to be intrested in AKs.
Were you using your comtacs as a mic in that clip? How do you rig that up
I was just using the onboard microphone on my phone's camera. I had my Comtac boom mic deployed as I was testing some other stuff with my comms setup.
mine broke after 400 something rounds, psak74, it was supposed to be a new gen gun which was supposed to fix the issue- it didn't.
Man that sucks. I was really hoping these would be nice.
My thinking/hope is that they will be eventually. PSA is taking a while to iron out some kinks with their AKs, a bit longer than I would like honestly.
It's PSA. You have to give them at least five gens. Tons and tons of people will have to be guinea pigs to find out what the problems are.
Did it pop holes in the primers prior to breaking? Maybe the channel is too wide?
I didn't have any popped primers. It was functioning perfectly until the firing pin snapped.
@@Feldmutze I have a PSA AKP, it pops primers usually a few times on every mag, those fragments sometimes get back into the channel where the firing pin fits and eventually will cause the pin to become impinged, you also get a face full of gas when it happens. I don’t shoot it anymore because getting the little pieces of primer out is time consuming. I imagine that after enough rounds the firing pin would snap maybe the Tula primers are softer so they give way first? I have a Chinese AK that functions much better and has no issues.
Is this new Ak flash hider better than the 74 brake?
I like it a lot better personally. The original PSA brake was quite blasty so I wanted to change that out more than anything.
Tasteful mods!
Result of improper firepin channel or metallurgy of the bolt or firepin?
Seems to be an issue with the metallurgy on the firing pin itself as the channel looks fine along with the rest of the bolt. Time will test once I am able to test the replacement firing pin.
Likely both. Heat treat plays a huge part too. Firing pin channel geo being wrong is the primary root cause tho. Any place where the two parts(bolt and finring pin) can have interference(trying to take up the same space) will cause shock load and will create material displacement.
Guns are like musical instruments. You pay for what you get, not vice-versa.
oofta, my 102 had a case seperation at 215rds
Oh dang. Do you know what caused the issue on yours? i.e. headspace failing or something?
@@Feldmutze waiting on my gunsmith to look it over. Had a light primer strike the round before so it’s likely.
PSA took my 22lr ar upper back for warranty, it was discontinued, so i opted for a refund, over a whole year later they still havent refunded me, I tried calling and emailing and they just ignore me. So.. I wont do business with them again
You look like a young David Carradine. From now on I will call you Grasshopper.
I haven't heard that comparison before but I'll take it lol
That is absolutely hilarious 😂😂😂
Psa doing the lords work by lords work I mean the rapture .
PSA is attempting to make a domestic AK rifle, in a country with the highest cost of labor on earth, for $600-1,000. They are taking on an impossible challenge. They are great for the 2A. 90% of their customers have great results.
I'm hoping they get it right because I absolutely want a viable US-made AK, but at the same time they need to correct the issues they're having. And let's be real, even if "90% of their customers have great results" is a true number, 10% is a completely unacceptable failure rate given the number of firearms they produce.
Imo, pumping out a huge number of lemons is worse for the 2A than anything, because in the event you actually need to use said rifle for 2A purposes, that lifetime warranty isn't doing you much good then at all.
I personally don't understand the upside to a 5.56 AK anyway. That doesn't excuse the fact that you should get a better quality product.
Same here
Good luck. I'd send it in. New bolt and carrier minimum.
I don't think it needs a new bolt, at least not yet. I inspected the firing pin channel and it's totally clean on mine + the bolt face is in good condition so it should be fine with just a firing pin swap.
@Feldmutze if you think that you were sent a firing pin that wasn't heat treated then I suppose a new one will suffice. I've never broke a firing pin on any of my psa aks. I have a 105, GF5, GF4 14.5 pin and weld and a psa AK74. Lots of rounds on them. Lots of issues with my 105 until it's 4th trip in for warranty. No firing pin issues ever thou.
I have a 101 haven’t had any issues yet fingers crossed over 800 round so far
Compared to I.O. AKs how good is that PSA? loool
Never buy PSA anything lol straight junk. Youre gonna go through this A LOT
Ah sheeet, here we go again...
Friends don't let friends buy PSA
what distance were your groups that bad at?
100 yards. I re-tested the 55 gr. at 50 yards as well and had the same results.
@@Feldmutze My Bulgarian 106fr with a pso 4x24 makes 2 inch group with ppu 55gr and 2.5 moa with m855 at 100 yards. That barrel of the psa is screwed up big time.
How many shots are in those groups where you got 2.5 MOA? I always fire 10 round groups which usually end up a bit larger.
@@Feldmutze A true grouping is 5 rounds
I need a source on who said a "true" grouping is 5 rounds, because that's simply not true, unless you're doing numerous 5 round groups and averaging them it leaves way too much room for error. Regardless, good to know that MOA is with 5s.
Does that AK9 handguard have a shield in it?
Mine doesn't have a shield in it, and also doesn't have the slot to fit a shield into either. Apparently there's some versions of the AK9 handguard that do have a shield, but most the ones I see for sale do not.
@@Feldmutze Interesting. Have you noticed any noticable difference shooting with this handguard vs others that have a heat shield?
I haven't noticed much difference. The lower handguard maybe gets hotter to the touch a little quicker than if it had a heat shield, but at that point everything else on the rifle is so hot anyway that I'm having to change how I grip regardless.
@@Feldmutzethat's been my experience as well
Laughs in FocusTripp
What handguard is that?
I'm using an AK-9 handguard.
Psa probably treats their workers like amazon