I had the same issue with my PSA AK 102. It was a “kit build” I just added the furniture. My first range trip with it started off beautifully. Gun was cycling perfectly and the gun felt well gased. I probably ran almost 200rds that day and towards the end I had the same malfunction of the case separating and getting stuck in the chamber. I took it home and removed the broken case from the chamber. From that point on the rifle never ran reliably. I kept getting light primer strikes. I couldn’t even get through 10rds loaded at a time. I also noticed a weird amount of what looked like metal shavings inside the receiver. No idea what it’s from but I assumed it was debris from that separated casing. I’ve tried a couple of remedies. The first being the ALG enhanced hammer spring. I saw a YT video of a guy having a similar issue with his 102 and it fixed the problem he was having with light primer strikes. Sadly this didn’t work for me. The second thing I tried was ordering a new firing pin. Once again there was someone in the review section saying they were having light primer issues with their 102 and this was the fix. Sadly this didn’t work either. ( sad noises ) 😢
@@Orangejuice864 oofta, sounds like a mess I’d send back to palmetto for. From everything I’ve heard from sources I trust the 100 series in every cartridge is a mess. Waiting on my gunsmith to get back to me with more info. Regardless it’s ridiculous that there are so many 556 100 series with issues. I’m trying to stay unbiased until I complete my 1k review but it’s not looking promising with everything involved. Would you mind if I screenshot your comment for the 1k review? I can blur your username if you’d like
@@conceptualconcepts6.9Do as you wish I don’t mind. I also have footage of the case separating and getting stuck in the chamber along with the light primer strikes. Before and after the attempted “quick fixes”.
I have two PSA AK's (gf5 and 103 also with the FN barrel). GF5 has been fine for about 1500 rounds of vetting so far, which I still consider low, but also I'm in no rush to run the count super high. I trust it to shoot since it has always done that as of now. The 103 has had a strange issue though. I initially shot about 500 rounds through it with no issues, then after a couple of hundred more the gas tube jumped out of the sight block. This stopped the rifle from cycling/chambering and chewed up one round pretty bad. I reset the gas tube, tightened the little latch a bit more, and took it back to the range but it did the same thing after about 150 rounds. I contacted PSA and they have sent me another gas tube because I thought it might be too short (compared with my gf5) but the one they sent me is the same size as the one I took off. I installed it but haven't tested it yet.
I’ve really enjoyed my GF5. But the 103’s seem to be pretty riddled with issues. 95% of 7.62 PSA guns I hear about with issues are the 103/104 which makes me wonder if there’s blueprint/material issues with the 100 series line. And yeah, at the price point it should just work.
I had a PSA AK 103 and I don't recommend. Same thing happened to me the gas lever came loose after only 300 rounds. I bought it back when they first came out so I guess they never fixed the issue.
@@loganwykstra7922 yeah, the 100 series seems to have some serious QC and possibly blueprint issues. My 102 has the same issue with the gas tube lever, an out of spec handguard cut, out of spec 4.5mm rear trunnion. All of this will be in the full review. But I’m not going to delve too in depth until then. On the other hand my GF5 is right and in spec on most everything, is showing no bolt wear at ~900rds (I know that’s not a lot but the 556 100 series are seeming to show wear well before then) the rear sight block actually has a different profile and is machined differently than the 100 series and the gas tube lever is solid. So I think there are multiple issues with the 100 series. I’m not going to give a full opinion until the full review on the 102. But at this point i would say if you’re going to buy a PSA don’t buy a 100 series. And for something you’d completely depend your life on then buy an import.
@@conceptualconcepts6.9 ahh.. gotcha I've come to find that, regardless of the firearm, ammo etc. if it can happen it will. I try to keep all the tools to keep my stuff running, I assumed that was the norm? 🤷
@@Strelok762 palmetto has a bunch of QC issues. I want my gunsmith to have a look over to make sure it’s safe to continue testing. AR’s rarely have headspace issues. Benefits of having a barrel extension. Never really found the need to have a 5.56 no go gauge in the toolbox because of this.
@@grayman7208 yeah, I’ve never had that issue with M193. Which is why I’m waiting to hear what my gunsmith has to say. So I’m curious if it’s ammo related or the headspace is off. I’ll do a post on it when I hear from him
From what I’ve seen recently from another AK professional, is that the trunnion is a AK74 and a AKM bolt is what they use. There’s roughly a 1mm size difference which is very concerning. PSA especially owning my own 103 and examining it after being told of issues notice those, being personally honest I feel for some of these rifles from them at least for their premium lines should have better QC because an AK (correct me if I’m wrong) costing 1-1.1k is not a cheap price for that platform
Lemon grenade has a lot of insight on this. The 5.56 guns are definitely a hybrid that could be concerning. Which I’m trying not to jump to conclusions on my AK-102. But this is likely why this had a major failure. Want to wait for my gunsmith to take a look before I post anything about it though. As for the 103’s. It seems to be the 7.62 model with the most failures from PSA. Which makes me wonder if there’s something off with the entire 100 series line.
@@conceptualconcepts6.9 yea I’m concerned. Personally I should do some research what the dimensions should be for the components and probably use some calipers and what not to see. I definitely don’t want my AK to explode
I don't usually comment but I think your issue lies with the fact you bought a builders kit. The builders kits appear to have a higher defective rate than the complete guns. Not saying that justifies the issue you ran into, I originally wanted to grab a kit build too but Im going to avoid it after seeing these issues crop up. Im also inspired by ak operators union to grab a 102 and the key difference is that I think his rifle came complete. What really blows is that PSA is the only way to buy a complete 102. KUSA is gone with no buy out and 12.5 5.56 AK barrels are not available so you're looking at needing an ak builder to modify a preexisting barrel. WBP imports are drying up on-top of that. Arsenal of all companies may soon be the only imported "high end" ak on the market. Im considering just saying fuck it and waiting to see what jim fullers last ak will be or going to europe to buy a genuine russian 102 than risk dealing with a game of RMA pinball.
It might be that, but if you roll through the comments on a couple of my PSA videos and posts there does seem to be a lot of people with PSA 100 series that are riddled with issues and not all of them are builders kits I’m sure. One interesting thing about a lot of them is that they’re similar issues to ones I have on my example that I haven’t mentioned yet. I think it’s not just a QC issue, it’s also a blueprint issue with the 100 series. All that being said my GF5 actually is running like a top. Currently I don’t have anything bad to say about it. I’ll go over it in depth on my next video on the gun. I do think ak operators union is a very honest source though.
I would love to see if there is any evidence of longevity from AK receivers without dimpling beneath the rivets versus those that have dimpling beneath rivets. We all know that AKs were meant to take a beating with very low maintenance, and that's the value they bring to the table, but what requirements should the shooter have for a rifle he or she will place long term reliance on? My GF3 has 2.5 years of constant use and my Pioneer Arms Forged Sporter in 5.56 about half a year of use. I am not 100% in my dependance that these will last beyond five years of use, but they're both going to be used in competitions, so we'll see.
Yknow I’m honestly not completely convinced on the seriousness of dimpled trunnion/recievers. As far as I know Norinco is the only quality import that has not. But there are Norinco’s well into the 30-40k RDS and multiple barrels in. The bolt issue with the 5.56 is much more a concern to me.
@@conceptualconcepts6.9 The only known reported issue with the recent Pioneers I've heard of is the firing pin going every 1k rounds. There's another RUclipsr who mentioned they switched their BC and bolt out with a WBP. I'm curious if the Beryl bc and bolt would work. I might have to do some expensive experimentations in the future.
Nothing wrong with that, I have a GF5 that’s been completely solid. The big thing with any firearm is to put rounds down range and make sure they run. Even Glock has lemons.
In my humble opinion anyone who is serious about making the AK their go-to gun should completely discount PSA and KUSA. Get an import or get a kit built from a reputable gunsmith, spend a little extra. Youre more likely to have a reliable gun, and they’ll hold their resale value much better than anything American made.
That’s more than fair, especially with WBP, zastava and WASR’s still being imported. My genuine hope though is that one of these US manufacturers will get it right and that’s why I want to test them. Because if mass sanctions hit them there will only be domestic guns. And I’d like some of them to be decent. So no matter the manufacturer I’m rooting for them and hoping they can progress to making quality AK’s.
@@conceptualconcepts6.9 You don't even have to test them. Until they assemble them to the TDP they're not going to work correctly. PSA will never stop doing what they're doing(which is cutting corners) until the community stops sucking them off and calls them out on it. Everyone wants PSA to succeed but they are absolutely fucking their customers who genuinely don't know any better. They're using the wrong type of rivets. They don't dimple the receiver into the trunnion which will cause headspace to wander over large round counts. PSA also clearly knows that they should dimple the receiver because the trunnion is machined as if the dimples would be added. There is also something off with the metallurgy of their bolts. Everyone says PSA has bad QC which is true but QC isn't really the problem. The problem is they are deliberately cutting corners to cut costs because they know most of their customers will shoot 100-200 rounds a year and probably won't encounter issues and will go tell their friends and family to buy PSA. Make no mistake, PSA is by far the most profitable gun company in the entire industry right now. They could easily fix the issues they have. They continue to choose NOT to fix those issues. If you really think PSA is a good company I'd encourage you to read reviews of the company itself written by former employee's on websites like indeed, glassdoor, etc. They're generally pretty negative and reflect what I've said here. They are a low margin, high volume business like McDonalds and like McDonalds they probably got your order wrong.
@@armorers_wrench I never said they’re a good company, I said I want good domestically made AK’s. I also don’t think most imported AK companies are “good” at their core. Many have borderline human rights violations but I guess we don’t care because that only matters if it happens here in the US as I type on my iPhone (don’t get me started on apple plants in China lol) As for the rivet thing. I’ve already mentioned that stamped norincos don’t. And there are several examples in the 30-40k rd range. I’m not convinced it’s as big of a thing as a lot of people represent. Also battlefield Las Vegas ran a palmetto AK over 17k full auto and the barrel gave out before anything else. Again, reinforcing my belief that the rivets aren’t a huge concern. www.reddit.com/r/ak47/s/q02izUhgEL The bolts are hands down my main concern, especially with the 5.56 models. All that being said, I’m going to show all of the results and not sugar coat my review. But there’s a lot of bias on both palmetto lovers and haters. I’m just testing for myself and plan to post an unbiased review. Because I honestly don’t have a dog in this fight.
@@conceptualconcepts6.9 It could also come down to ideology issues. The AK takes a lot of machinery to produce a huge amount of rifles and here we cut corners to make more money. Over in other areas of the world they already have factory's that have been making Kalashnikovs for decades and are less concerned with keeping up with the joneses. In other words I should have never sold my shit stick wasr.
Finally the day has arrived
:)
I had the same issue with my PSA AK 102. It was a “kit build” I just added the furniture. My first range trip with it started off beautifully. Gun was cycling perfectly and the gun felt well gased. I probably ran almost 200rds that day and towards the end I had the same malfunction of the case separating and getting stuck in the chamber.
I took it home and removed the broken case from the chamber. From that point on the rifle never ran reliably. I kept getting light primer strikes. I couldn’t even get through 10rds loaded at a time. I also noticed a weird amount of what looked like metal shavings inside the receiver. No idea what it’s from but I assumed it was debris from that separated casing.
I’ve tried a couple of remedies. The first being the ALG enhanced hammer spring. I saw a YT video of a guy having a similar issue with his 102 and it fixed the problem he was having with light primer strikes. Sadly this didn’t work for me. The second thing I tried was ordering a new firing pin. Once again there was someone in the review section saying they were having light primer issues with their 102 and this was the fix. Sadly this didn’t work either. ( sad noises ) 😢
@@Orangejuice864 oofta, sounds like a mess I’d send back to palmetto for. From everything I’ve heard from sources I trust the 100 series in every cartridge is a mess.
Waiting on my gunsmith to get back to me with more info.
Regardless it’s ridiculous that there are so many 556 100 series with issues. I’m trying to stay unbiased until I complete my 1k review but it’s not looking promising with everything involved.
Would you mind if I screenshot your comment for the 1k review? I can blur your username if you’d like
@@conceptualconcepts6.9Do as you wish I don’t mind. I also have footage of the case separating and getting stuck in the chamber along with the light primer strikes. Before and after the attempted “quick fixes”.
@@Orangejuice864 can you send those via Instagram. I would love to have more than one example
@@conceptualconcepts6.9 I just followed and I’ll send them in a sec stand by.
I have two PSA AK's (gf5 and 103 also with the FN barrel). GF5 has been fine for about 1500 rounds of vetting so far, which I still consider low, but also I'm in no rush to run the count super high. I trust it to shoot since it has always done that as of now.
The 103 has had a strange issue though. I initially shot about 500 rounds through it with no issues, then after a couple of hundred more the gas tube jumped out of the sight block. This stopped the rifle from cycling/chambering and chewed up one round pretty bad.
I reset the gas tube, tightened the little latch a bit more, and took it back to the range but it did the same thing after about 150 rounds.
I contacted PSA and they have sent me another gas tube because I thought it might be too short (compared with my gf5) but the one they sent me is the same size as the one I took off. I installed it but haven't tested it yet.
I’ve really enjoyed my GF5. But the 103’s seem to be pretty riddled with issues. 95% of 7.62 PSA guns I hear about with issues are the 103/104 which makes me wonder if there’s blueprint/material issues with the 100 series line.
And yeah, at the price point it should just work.
I had a PSA AK 103 and I don't recommend. Same thing happened to me the gas lever came loose after only 300 rounds. I bought it back when they first came out so I guess they never fixed the issue.
@@loganwykstra7922 oofta, not surprised but oofta
@@conceptualconcepts6.9 ya that gun was a disappointment... Especially at 1000 dollars like wtf
@@loganwykstra7922 yeah, the 100 series seems to have some serious QC and possibly blueprint issues. My 102 has the same issue with the gas tube lever, an out of spec handguard cut, out of spec 4.5mm rear trunnion. All of this will be in the full review. But I’m not going to delve too in depth until then.
On the other hand my GF5 is right and in spec on most everything, is showing no bolt wear at ~900rds (I know that’s not a lot but the 556 100 series are seeming to show wear well before then) the rear sight block actually has a different profile and is machined differently than the 100 series and the gas tube lever is solid. So I think there are multiple issues with the 100 series.
I’m not going to give a full opinion until the full review on the 102. But at this point i would say if you’re going to buy a PSA don’t buy a 100 series. And for something you’d completely depend your life on then buy an import.
Why bring a rifle to a smith for a cass head separation?
Just use a case extractor and check headspace with a go/no-go/field set if you're worried
@@Strelok762 because I don’t have a no go gauge and I want the smith to have a look over.
@@conceptualconcepts6.9 ahh.. gotcha
I've come to find that, regardless of the firearm, ammo etc. if it can happen it will. I try to keep all the tools to keep my stuff running, I assumed that was the norm? 🤷
@@Strelok762 palmetto has a bunch of QC issues. I want my gunsmith to have a look over to make sure it’s safe to continue testing. AR’s rarely have headspace issues. Benefits of having a barrel extension. Never really found the need to have a 5.56 no go gauge in the toolbox because of this.
2:30
the only times i have had ammo problems like that (2 times) it was factory ammo.
@@grayman7208 yeah, I’ve never had that issue with M193. Which is why I’m waiting to hear what my gunsmith has to say. So I’m curious if it’s ammo related or the headspace is off. I’ll do a post on it when I hear from him
A PSA review where something goes wrong?? Haven't seen one of those before
Lmao, definitely never happened in the history of ever
Dang gotta wait 3 whole days
See you all over RUclips, have for years
From what I’ve seen recently from another AK professional, is that the trunnion is a AK74 and a AKM bolt is what they use. There’s roughly a 1mm size difference which is very concerning.
PSA especially owning my own 103 and examining it after being told of issues notice those, being personally honest I feel for some of these rifles from them at least for their premium lines should have better QC because an AK (correct me if I’m wrong) costing 1-1.1k is not a cheap price for that platform
Lemon grenade has a lot of insight on this. The 5.56 guns are definitely a hybrid that could be concerning. Which I’m trying not to jump to conclusions on my AK-102. But this is likely why this had a major failure. Want to wait for my gunsmith to take a look before I post anything about it though.
As for the 103’s. It seems to be the 7.62 model with the most failures from PSA. Which makes me wonder if there’s something off with the entire 100 series line.
@@conceptualconcepts6.9 yea I’m concerned. Personally I should do some research what the dimensions should be for the components and probably use some calipers and what not to see. I definitely don’t want my AK to explode
@@pyrowolf681 getting a no go gauge to check headspace wouldn’t be a bad idea.
@@conceptualconcepts6.9 thankfully I already got one on hand
@@conceptualconcepts6.9 I just ran them through my AK, note this is their PSA 103 premium, Model 6005. It did not close on it.
Awesome video! I would get your fitness levels up though so you can move with more violence speed.
Agreed
I don't usually comment but I think your issue lies with the fact you bought a builders kit. The builders kits appear to have a higher defective rate than the complete guns. Not saying that justifies the issue you ran into, I originally wanted to grab a kit build too but Im going to avoid it after seeing these issues crop up. Im also inspired by ak operators union to grab a 102 and the key difference is that I think his rifle came complete. What really blows is that PSA is the only way to buy a complete 102. KUSA is gone with no buy out and 12.5 5.56 AK barrels are not available so you're looking at needing an ak builder to modify a preexisting barrel. WBP imports are drying up on-top of that. Arsenal of all companies may soon be the only imported "high end" ak on the market. Im considering just saying fuck it and waiting to see what jim fullers last ak will be or going to europe to buy a genuine russian 102 than risk dealing with a game of RMA pinball.
It might be that, but if you roll through the comments on a couple of my PSA videos and posts there does seem to be a lot of people with PSA 100 series that are riddled with issues and not all of them are builders kits I’m sure. One interesting thing about a lot of them is that they’re similar issues to ones I have on my example that I haven’t mentioned yet. I think it’s not just a QC issue, it’s also a blueprint issue with the 100 series. All that being said my GF5 actually is running like a top. Currently I don’t have anything bad to say about it. I’ll go over it in depth on my next video on the gun. I do think ak operators union is a very honest source though.
I would love to see if there is any evidence of longevity from AK receivers without dimpling beneath the rivets versus those that have dimpling beneath rivets. We all know that AKs were meant to take a beating with very low maintenance, and that's the value they bring to the table, but what requirements should the shooter have for a rifle he or she will place long term reliance on? My GF3 has 2.5 years of constant use and my Pioneer Arms Forged Sporter in 5.56 about half a year of use. I am not 100% in my dependance that these will last beyond five years of use, but they're both going to be used in competitions, so we'll see.
Yknow I’m honestly not completely convinced on the seriousness of dimpled trunnion/recievers. As far as I know Norinco is the only quality import that has not. But there are Norinco’s well into the 30-40k RDS and multiple barrels in. The bolt issue with the 5.56 is much more a concern to me.
@@conceptualconcepts6.9 The only known reported issue with the recent Pioneers I've heard of is the firing pin going every 1k rounds. There's another RUclipsr who mentioned they switched their BC and bolt out with a WBP. I'm curious if the Beryl bc and bolt would work. I might have to do some expensive experimentations in the future.
@@conceptualconcepts6.9 Norinco is milled, no? Its different.
@@armorers_wrench they do both, I’m specifically referring to the MAK-90. It’s a stamped gun
I like PSA
Nothing wrong with that, I have a GF5 that’s been completely solid. The big thing with any firearm is to put rounds down range and make sure they run. Even Glock has lemons.
In my humble opinion anyone who is serious about making the AK their go-to gun should completely discount PSA and KUSA. Get an import or get a kit built from a reputable gunsmith, spend a little extra. Youre more likely to have a reliable gun, and they’ll hold their resale value much better than anything American made.
That’s more than fair, especially with WBP, zastava and WASR’s still being imported. My genuine hope though is that one of these US manufacturers will get it right and that’s why I want to test them. Because if mass sanctions hit them there will only be domestic guns. And I’d like some of them to be decent. So no matter the manufacturer I’m rooting for them and hoping they can progress to making quality AK’s.
@@conceptualconcepts6.9 You don't even have to test them. Until they assemble them to the TDP they're not going to work correctly. PSA will never stop doing what they're doing(which is cutting corners) until the community stops sucking them off and calls them out on it. Everyone wants PSA to succeed but they are absolutely fucking their customers who genuinely don't know any better.
They're using the wrong type of rivets. They don't dimple the receiver into the trunnion which will cause headspace to wander over large round counts. PSA also clearly knows that they should dimple the receiver because the trunnion is machined as if the dimples would be added. There is also something off with the metallurgy of their bolts.
Everyone says PSA has bad QC which is true but QC isn't really the problem. The problem is they are deliberately cutting corners to cut costs because they know most of their customers will shoot 100-200 rounds a year and probably won't encounter issues and will go tell their friends and family to buy PSA. Make no mistake, PSA is by far the most profitable gun company in the entire industry right now. They could easily fix the issues they have. They continue to choose NOT to fix those issues. If you really think PSA is a good company I'd encourage you to read reviews of the company itself written by former employee's on websites like indeed, glassdoor, etc. They're generally pretty negative and reflect what I've said here. They are a low margin, high volume business like McDonalds and like McDonalds they probably got your order wrong.
@@armorers_wrench I never said they’re a good company, I said I want good domestically made AK’s. I also don’t think most imported AK companies are “good” at their core. Many have borderline human rights violations but I guess we don’t care because that only matters if it happens here in the US as I type on my iPhone (don’t get me started on apple plants in China lol)
As for the rivet thing. I’ve already mentioned that stamped norincos don’t. And there are several examples in the 30-40k rd range. I’m not convinced it’s as big of a thing as a lot of people represent. Also battlefield Las Vegas ran a palmetto AK over 17k full auto and the barrel gave out before anything else. Again, reinforcing my belief that the rivets aren’t a huge concern.
www.reddit.com/r/ak47/s/q02izUhgEL
The bolts are hands down my main concern, especially with the 5.56 models.
All that being said, I’m going to show all of the results and not sugar coat my review. But there’s a lot of bias on both palmetto lovers and haters. I’m just testing for myself and plan to post an unbiased review. Because I honestly don’t have a dog in this fight.
@@conceptualconcepts6.9 It could also come down to ideology issues. The AK takes a lot of machinery to produce a huge amount of rifles and here we cut corners to make more money. Over in other areas of the world they already have factory's that have been making Kalashnikovs for decades and are less concerned with keeping up with the joneses. In other words I should have never sold my shit stick wasr.
@@loganwykstra7922 the WASR has been a slept on rifle for decades. And I never want to imply that PSA is even on the same level.
How dare you suggest people train and perform physical activities!!
An absolutely wild concept I know