AWO M76 review *updated with pics* and Part 2

this will be a multi-part review

This whole process started back in 96 or 97 when I bought my 1st Jane's Guns Recognition Guide. Pg 418 in the 96 edition. I thought it was probably the sweetest looking rifle I had ever seen. A lot has happened in the gun world since then. As it is, I am finally financial and legally able to own one.

In my process of researching the availability and reliability of these US made clones, I learned a few things. First and foremost, Century seems to have done their typical wonderful job of building these rifles. I'm pretty sure everyone can sense the sarcasm here...So I was perusing some for sale forums and came across an M76 receiver by Wiselite . I thought about it for about 2 weeks ad went ahead and grabbed it. 1st impressions, not very accurate to the original, but looked well built(which ended up being stamped CAI on the bottom). Why don't these companies recreate them as close to original as possible?





While deliberating this purchase, I found some kits on GB from a company called Assault Weapons of Ohio. I decided to go ahead and buy one. They offer both a matching and an unmatching kit. I opted for matching. After buying the kit I was emailing the seller on forms of payment, shipping etc... and realized I needed a feed ramp for my receiver also. They happened to have one listed on GB, so I called them to add to my order.





A delightful lady who's name is Chris answered the phone. I want to take a little time to talk about Chris.

Chris is extremely customer oriented and a fantastic person to deal with! She was Johnny on the spot with all my emails and phone calls and was very pleasant to deal with. So after we had arranged everything, and I received my parts and GM barrel I noticed I didn't have any pins for the GB or FS. So I picked up the phone and called her about this. She informed me they don't usually come with the kit, but her builders have plenty and she would send me some for free....Builders? You build rifles too? We discussed their already built M76 rifles and she offered to take the kit back at full value towards one.

A little background info on their rifles and parts. According to Chris, they acquired a bunch of ORF's receivers and kits, and were selling them and also manufacturing rifles. The best news is that AOW is an SOT and a lot of these receivers were still un-serialized. This means they can match the receiver # to the kits.

Well today I received my rifle...I have no quality pictures, but I will post a few. The very 1st thing I noticed about the rifle was that in transit the rear site was bent and one ear was broken off. The second thing that caught my attention was that both the front site and gas block were canted.





I immediately sent Chris an email asking her to call me because there was a problem with the rifle. She called within 10 minutes and I explained the situation to her. She apologized and said they would make it right. The game plan right now is for me to send the rifle back. They will reimburse me the shipping and transfer fee, and send me out a new one. This is customer service! Will keep you updated with the progress of this in my next post.

On to fit and finish. I will be updating this with pictures tomorrow after I buy some bright white bulbs and get new batteries for the Camera.

For the purist, this rifle may not be your 1st choice. They refinish the wood, and Gunkote the entire rifle. To me the finish isn't a big deal, but the wood was kind of eh...The good news, the new rifle they are sending me will not have the wood refinished. If you look at the pictures of the kit above, the wood is in fantastic shape and looks awesome. The receiver is the latest generation ORF receiver is while not correct to the original either, it's a lot better than the Wiselite. The Gunkote finish is superb and very well done. The few rivets on the receiver look to be well formed also. I have no other rifle to compare it except some 74's in the safe.

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A pro and a con, the receiver does have the spot for the removable plate on the bottom for the rivet for the bullet guide. Bad news, the rifle doesn't ship with one.



I'm sure you noticed the lack of rivet in that picture. According to Chris, this receiver was designed to not need one, even though it is machined to take one. I hand cycled a mag through it without a problem. With the dust cover off, you can see that the bullets slide right into the chamber. My thinking is that even with a bullet guide, it would barely touch it if at all. After some thinking, I believe I will ask them to go ahead and put one in the next rifle.









The mags are also sand blasted and refinished in Gunkote. They fit really tight, so quick mag changes aren't an option until I get the rifle worn in a bit.





The rifle comes with all the accessories, 4 mags, cleaning kit and rod, and a mag pouch that holds it all. The scope is #'s matching also and is clear. It doesn't lite up anymore, so we will have to see if there is a solution to that down the road.



All in all, I think with out the cant, I believe this rifle would be near perfect. The only improvements I could think of would if I could get a kit with the night site front and rear sites and have it finished like the original. In 2 weeks I will be traveling down to Houston and TxZen and I will be putting the new rifle through its paces. I bought 680 rounds from AIM surplus, so I think we will be able to site and break this rifle in.

AAR in 2 weeks.

edit for spelling

nice review so far, thank you. also looking at their website.....Chris is Hot :)

I haven't checked their website to be honest, but now I will have to!

ETA: I have been to their website, how did I miss that picture?

First rifle is pretty underwhelming, hopefully rifle number two is better.

This looks sad:

uploading pics now liquid. Give me about 15 mins to get this thread updated.

I'm not a purist (far from it actually) and think that rifle looks pretty good overall.

The lack of a bullet guide is a curiosity (first M76 I have ever seen without one) and the lack of a receiver cover plate is a disappointment of sorts. The ORF oval lightening cuts always make me cringe a little, but I could live with them. I like the Gunkote and the wood looks pretty good to me.

It seems AWO has a lot of potential, they just need to iron out some QC and rifle detail issues. Being a very new player on the scene, they really should pay more attention to this stuff since you only get one chance to make a first impression. It's great that they are willing to take the rifle back, even better if it never left their possession looking like that in the first place.

Still, a pretty nice rifle that should make a great shooter, which is what really matters. Safe queens and the purists who own them are very boring.

M76s are great rifles, you should get a lot of enjoyment out of it. Enjoy.

Very nice write up N


I have no interest in the M76 myself but have been really excited to hear about yours. They are fine rifles based on what I've read about the military versions and I was really hoping that this one wouldn't be like the Century monkey guns...sad to say I'm disappointed myself and feel bad you got one in this condition right off the bat. Hopefully Chris/AWO will make it right, I just wish they would have gotten off to a better start.


And you should post a link to this under AK discussion too, I think people would be interested that might otherwise not come over to the Yugo forum. (In fact if you hadn't called me I never would have known there was a Yugo forum )

http://www.assaultweaponsofohiollc.com/



Z

Great review.

picked up new rifle today. 100% better. They included the receiver cover on the lower front and didn't refinish the wood. Unfortunately, the wood is no where as nice as what came with the kit. I will be updating with pics and a range report after Zen and I put this rifle through the paces.

Look forward to the review. As far as the wood nothing a little motor oil or tung oil won't solve.
Most of the dark wood I've come across was from either the packing grease or motor oil.

yea, it's pretty dark. Hopefully I will be able to bleach it and clean it. Will have to start researching that. Also, would it be so bad to put a Tabuk rear stock on it?

Your rifle, do whatever you want. Surely you don't need Arfcom's permission to do it.

some quick teaser pics of the new rifle.

the damn things so big I can't get it all at once!













everything about this rifle is a lot better than the 1st, minus the wood and the scope. The mags seat easier, there's no vertical movement in the mags, receiver cover isn't so tight it's impossible to get off, the action is smoother...I asked them to send me the new rifle with unmolested wood. What I was expecting was the beautiful wood like in the kit I had....



it's hard to tell in these pics, but it's really grungy and has some deep pits and nicks in it. The scope is good, just a lot more worn than the 1st one. There's also some fish eyes in the finish on the receiver and some bubbles on the safety. Not huge deals to me, but still.....

Leaving tomorrow afternoon to go see Zen and put this baby along with my new 31-94 through it's paces. I will have a complete write up and a ton more pics when I get back Sunday.

Great rifle and a major tactical advantage when depolying a system like this ask the US Military about how they like the MK14. A true DMR; reliable, decently accurate, large caliber rifle with a fast follow up shot.

I will have to contact these guys in Ohio I have a DMR idea I've been floating around.

PART 2:

Sorry, not a lot of pics....

The day started out good. Zen and I met up with ninerider and headed out to Impact Zone in Katy. We quickly got set up at 50yrds and loaded up the 4 mags I have. Our initial goal was to pump 100rnds through it just to "break" it in and test for function.



We quickly found that 2 of the mags have weak springs, or this rifle really could use a bullet guide. I'm leaning more towards weak springs, seems most of the FTF's were due to the bolt skipping over the round.



1 of the mags would do okay if I used a mag hold and pulled back on it.

Next we tried to site it in. This is where things started to get frustrating. We would find where it was hitting and adjust, then it would be off in the other direction. This thing was shooting all over the place! Then there were times when it was dead on....(both hot and cool). I walked it out and benched it at 100yrds and was able to hit all the targets. Zen and I talked long and hard about this and came to 3 conclusions:

1) bad barrel
2) bad shooter (very likely) needing more time behind trigger to get use to the weapon
3) scope is bad...scope wandering even though it feels tight.

Unfortunately, we were not able to finish testing out these theories. Some big wig (not gonna mention names) showed up and bogarted our range. So I let my son shoot the AKSU some more and we left.

I will be going out next weekend to my local range and will try to shoot for groups at 25yrds with irons and see where we are at. I'm hoping the barrel is good, all the reviews I have read on the Green Mountain 8mm barrels were good. My gut feeling is that the scope is either bad, or the scope mount isn't good. I initially thought there was a gap between the rail and the mount, but looking at the pictures it doesn't seem like that is so.





I have cleaned the rifle up and will try ti tighten the scope mount before the next trip to the range.

Conclusion:

While the rifle functioned well, and feel that until I can site this rifle in and decide which of the 3 above is the correct reason for not being able to get it on paper, I cannot recommend this rifle just yet. I will submit a Part 3 after next weekend.

-T

Yeah this was really frustrating I agree. After the first hundred rounds and feeling good that we diagnosed the FTF's as poor magazines and not an issue with the rifle itself, I was ready to see the M76 rock. Considering the first rifle had been returned already due to canted FSB and gas block I really wanted this one to run well.





This is a tough call for me because it could actually be any of the three. I know it took me a few months to get used to shooting PSL's and NDM's so that could be a factor, but also I've had enough experience with PSO type scopes to know that it's possible the optic is at fault even though it seems securely mounted.

I think the best way to determine the problem is to put it on paper at 25 yards with irons first and check the groups, then slowly move further out to see if anything strange is happening. If irons are looking good then put the scope on and start again at 25 yards. Because of how much trouble we had at 50 and the large changes in POI vs POA I think squeezing in as close as possible to start is going to be the only way to be sure to see the groupings in action.


I'm disappointed in this rifle so far but I'm still hopeful we can get it where it should be.




Z

a quick update, I was able to tighten the mount a bit. I'm hoping this will fix our wandering...

got the bullet guide fitted today. Took some trimming to get it fit, then noticed the cam lug was way too long. I had to remove about 50% of it to allow the bolt to cam. No in the receiver pics, my camera isn't that great and the sun was already too low, but here are some pics of the mods I had to do.





Should have taken a before pic....

Now I just need to dig through my rivets and find one for a bullet guide. Anyone have a pic of a bullet guide rivet so I know what to look for?

Has AWO ever offered a reason why they (and they alone) do not install a bullet guide on these rifles? Every other M76 builder installs a bullet guide.

they told me these receivers were designed to not use them, even though they are cut for one. I will add pics tonight, but even with the guide installed, the mags sit high enough to clear the guide and go straight into the barrel.

well, it a'int pretty, but it's functional....







I need to get a flex shaft for my dremel and a polishing wheel to clean it up.

That's all that really matters. How often do actually look at a bullet guide? As long as it works it's all good IMO.

you guys might do yourselves a favor and not mention this thread to AWO, apparently I bad mouthed them and they refuse to do business with me now....

I don't get that, how have you bad mouthed them? IMO, you have been very honest and fair (not to mention patient) in describing their product and your dealings with them.

Seems rather childish on their part...

Here's what I don't get about them saying you are bad mouthing them...AWO is brand new company trying to make a name for themselves, they don't have a lot of history built up and things could easily turn against them reputationwise. You'd think they would take more care in establishing customer raport from the get go seeing as how they are new in the market.

First rifle has to be returned for canted gas block and FSB, when they find this thread on the second rifle they get crappy and refuse to do business with you because they think you are bad mouthing them...even after you put with up having to return the first which was their fault not yours.

Can't help it if they can't build a rifle right the first time and then the second rifle has a broken adjustable gas setting, plus for whatever reason can't get zeroed. I'd have probably already lost my patience with them if it were me going through this.

As far as the supposed bad mouthing, if I were in the market for a rifle these are exactly the kinds of things I would want to hear about if I were a buyer, but if I was AWO this is ESPECIALLY the kind of thing I would want my customers to say on forums. It's members who do these kinds of reviews that can really help sell rifles. In the case of getting a lemon like the first rifle, an honest review of the customer service goes a long way to showing what happens when the inevitable problem crops up. If they handle it right it can actually help their reputation by showing how they take care of their customers.

OTOH, how can you get a good reputation as a start up company by putting out work like this and then choosing to get pissed at your customer when they point out the obvious defects in workmanship?


Like I said if they are going to cop an attitude about this thread, then wish them good luck and when anyone asks tell them the honest facts about how AWO refuses to stand behind their work.



Z

All I will add here T after talking with you earlier and I already said it . If this is how a new company reacts to something that didn't happen they will not stay open very long. What I see is a very honest review. If it was a cherry the review would say it was....If it's a lemon it will say that.

And Ill close with

I see someone else is having feed issues with their AWO M76 over on the AK Forum. He's sending his rifle back to AWO to have the bullet guide installed.

That's shitty.

I believe I will be taking my tax return somewhere else.

received my prvi partizan ammo today. Range time soon. Unfortunately, drill this weekend so it will have to wait until the next.

Thanks for the review. Just for the fact they think you're badmouthing AWO, while I can read an honest review, I would not do any business with them.

I would still like an M76 down the road, so hopefully someone will step up with a good produce. I'd be OK with bad finish or even canted FSB and GB if it's a $500 rifle, but definitely not for a $1300 rifle. For that, I'd expect much more attention to the build quality.

So what's the latest news?




Z

latest is I'm either too busy or too lazy to go back out and shoot it. Was really hoping to go this weekend, but there's a birthday party for a family member and then Mothers Day. I could probably go Mothers Day, but that will take awhile to live down...I did order a new scope for it, an 1P21 3x9. It's f'ing huge! Plus ordered an 8mm laser bore site for it. Will post when I get down range.

pic of all the kiddos, but has the new scope on it:

How much does that M76 weigh with a full mag and that 1P21? Gotta be a heavy mother...

I don't own a scale, but it ain't light

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