I bought an SLR107 about 8 months ago and have been pleased with it so far except for one thing....  Its zeroed for 100 meters but the front sight drum is drifted SO far to the right that it really bothers me.  Its so far right that it impairs my sight picture.  Arsenal's manual states that if the rifle is able to be zeroed with iron sights that they will not warranty them for being canted.  I went ahead and sent it back to them anyway with a note detailing my issue.  Hopefully they correct the problem but for some reason I don't think they will.  Any of you guys have similar problems and had Arsenal actually fix them?  I will advise if they fixed it when I get the rifle back.

I received my SLR107 back from Arsenal today.  Total turn around time was approximately 1 month.  It appears that everything has been straightened out.  The rear sight is no longer crooked (it was bent to the right before) and the front sight drum is almost perfectly centered between the ears.  Arsenal included a test target that said it was sighted in at 25 meters.  The 3 round group on the test target was perfectly centered.  I will take it to the range and confirm zero at 100 meters and hopefully everything will be A OK.  So far I am pleased with Arsenal's customer service and happy that they made things right.  On a side note, it appears they cleaned my rifle before sending it back to me.

I hate that too......Good luck !

I know right?!?  This is my first "nice" AK and i really expected more from it.  The finish sucks, the trigger sucks, and the damn sights are canted.  My $500 WASR has better finish, trigger, and the sights are straight!  Kind of makes me feel foolish for spending $1000 on an AK.

Yeah, I never understood that whole "if you can possibly zero it, even if it's all the way to one side, it's okay" notion.  It doesn't have to be totally straight, but not all ammo shoots to the same point of impact.  If you're all the way drifted over already, you don't have any adjustment remaining for different ammo.  Plus, as you stated, it is harder to shoot with the side of the "poor man's EoTech" blocking half your field of view because the post is nearly against it.

If they don't fix it, I would get it fixed somewhere else and just bad-mouth Arsenal everywhere like some folks are already doing.  DDI and others are coming along to steal their customers, and one bad story about a company that won't help can really get around and do a lot of damage.

Arsenal seems to have this happening more often as they take on more military contracts alongside their civilian production.

Frankly it would be easier to learn how to knock out the factory pins, drift the sight block yourself, then ream up to 1/8" dowel pins using a .124" reamer.  The .124" reamer will clear the existing 3mm pin channel of material, true it, and enlarge it to the proper press fit size for 1/8" dowel pins.  The 1/8" dowel pins are available at most hardware stores (e.g. ACE Hardware). Most are available in premade 1/2" lengths, which is the perfect width for the AK sight block.

A .124" chucking reamer can be used with a hand drill but you will want to clamp the rifle to a good working surface, ensure that the drill chuck has minimal runout, use lots of cutting oil, and operate the reamer at a steady medium speed while plunging it slowly into the pin channel.

I appreciate the advice but I dont have the tool's needed nor am I a handyman.  I would be more inclined to pay someone else who is competent to do it.  Im sure someone else with the tools and ability could benefit from your advice however.

Did you call and get a return number first or just send it in?

I called and got a return number.  I really wanted to speak with a person about my issue to see if sending it in would be a waste of time but all I got was an email with a return number.

I understand the frustration, I really do, but this is such an easy fix to do at home.

+1

However, there are far more people who are just not comfortable with doing any work on a firearm than those that can competently do it. For example, I showed a customer exactly how to remove a few small burrs from an AR barrel extension, literally a few strokes of a file, and he still insisted on paying me my minimum to do it. It was just beyond his comfort level. It is easy for some of us to think everyone else sees it as simply and easily as we do. That's ok, they can pay someone to do it.

To add to that, there seems to be an unspoken requirement that a $1k+ AK should look reasonably good and straight and I agree with that, for the most part.

My 104 is a bit canted but not bad, the trigger was driving me nuts with that so called secound stage "bump". So on the advice of Nictra i removed it and filed it off. The hardest part was putting the dam shepherds hook back. (Thanks for the advice buddy) Its way better than a g2 now.

Eta, be ready for the anti slap pin to wear down and then you start haveing that issue down the road. But again, with a dremel and file its a easy fix.

Seen a few that you actually had to INDUCE some cant to get the post centered due to peculiarities in the barrel itself. Surest way to fix it that I know of is to press the FSB off, adjust position a bit and press it back on Take it to the range and try sighting it in, if all goes well then re-pin it. If not repeat the process until you're happy with the results.

I had the same issue and sent it back. Will never buy another Arsenal again.

I had to send back a SLR107CR once because the receiver was twisted in the front.

All true.

Sorry you had trouble, but good luck getting Arsenal to do anything about it, they're just gonna send your rifle back and charge you for shipping.

Nictra is right, you'd have been far better off just fixing it yourself, it's not terribly hard to do, lots of how-to's on the net about this. You can re-do the finish too, takes some time and effort but almost nothing for the paint.

For the same price you paid,  the new Vepr's at Atlantic are a FAR better rifle, sell yours when they send it back, put it on the EE, somebody that's willing to work on it will buy it. Gonna have to knock a few bucks off the price and chalk it off to a lesson learned.

I had a SLR 107F that had several major issues right out of the box.  Extremely canted FS, the pin that retained the muzzle brake retention pin was not riveted so it popped out, and the finish was beyond horrible.  I sent it back to the dealer and got a different rifle that also had a slightly canted FS.  I sold that rifle (full discloser to the buyer about the FS) and figured I was done with Arsenal.  A couple of years later I found a good deal on a SGL 21 at a gun show so I bought it.  I inspected the rifle closely, especially the sites, and thought it was GTG.  About my third outing with it I found out that the magazine lever pivot pin had not been riveted during the conversion on my rifle.  A local dude riveted it for me for $10.  I'm happy with this rifle, but I will NEVER, EVER, NVER buy an Arsenal product again.  Never purchase one of their rifles sight unseen.  There products should cost the same as WASRs!

I love how these threads always turn into a bash Arsenal thread.



You know, myself and a friend (active member here) probably have close to 20 Arsenal rifles between, and wanna guess how many have issues?



I've bought probably 10 over the years myself, never had the paint melt, never had canted sites, never had burs, or any of the other issues at hand. I think the people who bash had a bad experience and then go to the internet and complain.



That being said, I remember my gun shop got in 10 Romanian RPKs when they 1st came in. Only 1 had all the the front site pins, and only 1 wasn't canted. I've had Yugos, Egyptians, Chinese, Hungarians, just about every nation that imported AKs into this country, and the Romanians are the worst for QC issues. My approach, you can decide you aren't willing to do anything to fix it and send it back and get your $ returned, or you can tackle the problem and spend 10 minutes fixing a canted site. Yes, 10 minute fix. How long does it take to mail back to Arsenal? How much is that shipping?



I understand the frustration, it's expensive, especially for an AK. Let's take a look at the market now, not as expensive as it used to be. AKs have skyrocketed. You can't build an AK w/ the features Arsenal offers for the same price anymore (I'm sure there are exceptions and someone will tell me how they have done it).



I hope Arsenal gets you the rifle back in a condition you find acceptable. If you lived close to me I'd have offered to fix it for you for free and in 10 minutes. However, if you guys think Arsenals suck, sell them to me and my buddy (has to be heavily discounted due to their factory defects though) and we'll "fix" them and enjoy them.



Good luck OP!

The common sense is strong with this one.  Funny how a lot of the criticism usually comes from people that have never even owned one.

That's not true.

There's half a dozen people in this very thread including the OP who have had problems with their rifles and most are saying they'll never buy another one. Go check the archives, plenty of firsthand knowledge in the multiple threads you'll find there.

Every product made can and does have it's share of lemons, and it's true that you'll hear more about the bad ones than you do the good ones as most folks don't post a vanilla experience where things worked basically as they should. But to suggest that most who are posting don't even own one when it's plain they do is ridiculous and obviously incorrect.

I've owned an Arsenal, it was a good basic AK, the front sight only had some cant, the action was a little janky and loose and the paint was cheap, but that's all common to most AK's, at 500 bucks it's not that big of a deal, at $1000.00 I don't think it's unreasonable to expect something, ANYTHING, to be better about it to justify the price. And that's just not the case with a lot of Arsenals, and their customer service is abysmal.

If you're gonna buy an Arsenal, do yourself a favor and buy from Atlantic or AIM surplus, at least they'll take care of you, and they inspect the rifles to weed out obvious defects.

Yes, I believe that to be the case in all sales where the item wasn't what the buyer expected, right?  The real problem is when one person recounts his story, and a million other people say, "I hear they all have this problem" when it was actually a sample of one that was bad, and that one story won't die.  The internet echo chamber is real.

I have two Arsenal AKs, and both are fine.  Not canted, not mechanically defective at all, as far as I can tell.  But I can tell you that the recently-purchased SLR104 sort of looks like the finish came from a rattle can.  The SGL31 from about 7 years ago is way, way smoother and looks professionally finished like my DDI looks.  Oddly enough, I bought a used AK74 gas tube from the Russian Federation on eBay, and it has that same spray-painted-look finish.  So I assume that's the way they are supposed to do them?

Count me in the list that won't buy another Arsenal.  I've owned several, still own 4.  Most of them I've owned had problems of various types, not just cosmetic stuff either.  Maybe it's just my luck, but my experience with Arsenal has been horrible.

How many SLR-107's have you owned?

What I don’t get is why do people expect a SLR-107 to have better quality than a WASR or PAP?  They  don’t  - Quality is about the same.  What people can’t seem to figure out the reason the 107 costs more is because of the extra features you get.  Not quality.  You don’t want the extras, buy the WASR. They when you get a canted sight or twisted receiver you will feel justified because you paid less.

Look at it this way.  You buy a car.  The AC and navigation options make the car cost more.  Is the quality of the car suddenly better because it cost more than the base model?  No.  It cost more because it has more features.


Sounds like you have actual experience with a SLR-107 and have a reason not to want another.  I've been lucky and all I have are issue free.


All of the original paint finishes I have seen on Russian and Bulgarian parts have a texture to the paint (not smooth), similar to current textured finish on the SLR series rifles and the FIME SGL rifle I have.  The finish is smoother on the older SGL rifles, which may not be a mil spec finish.

I handpicked my SLR107FR and it has been good to go with straight sights and proper rivets. My only issue with it is the paint, yes it bubbles when the gun gets hot. However its not a big deal to me as I will eventually camo it anyway.

When it comes to price, everything firearms related has gone up in price especially considering all the BS laws in place. I don't get the "AKs have to be $300!" mentality that still prevails. When I see $500 IOs with fucked up rivets, noticeably canted sights and bolts that get stuck at the rear, I will pay $500 more for an Arsenal all day everyday.

I don't begrudge Arsenal, no company is perfect. Their customer service doesn't sound great but at least for me I haven't had to call them.

I agree 100% with everything you're saying. The problem is that so many people DO place Arsenal on this pedestal as the best-of-the-best. The forums are rife with people telling you that Arsenals are the best, "buy once, cry once", and all that other mindless horseshit. To Nictra's point, I think people crop out of the woodwork to bash Arsenal in these threads because they've had bad experiences and they want to provide a counterpoint to the never-ending din of voices crying out in ecstasy over how much better Arsenals are than everything else.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: a turnip-eating, Eastern-European, wage-slave living in Bulgaria isn't any more or less into his job than a turnip-eating, eastern-European, wage-slave in Russia or Serbia or Romania. None of them is cranking out rifles that are consistently better than the others. Any difference in price is due to features, supply, or simply the perception of the buyer.

I love how fanboys make excuses for crap products put out by their manufacturer of choice.  I had a SLR 106 and it was fine with no issues.  The two rifles I mentioned above were purchased after I had owned the 106 and the QC, at least to me, seemed to have taken a dive.  My SGL is a fine rifle and I have no intentions on ever parting with it.  When people pay a premium over a basic, bottom of the barrel AK they should at least be able to expect the sights to be straight.

So if you have not had bad experiences with Arsenal you are a fanboy? Nice.


I've had over 12 Arsenal and SGL rifles of my own and converted 3 or 4 Saiga's and S12's for friends. Guess I'm the luckiest guy on the planet because I have had exactly zero issues with any of them. Every single one had straight sights. but yes, (gasp) some of them had to be drifted a bit to zero. No bubbling finishes, so far at least. No cosmetic issues. No QC issues in nearly 12 years of buying them over many eras from when Arsenal was the best of the best til now when everyone and their brother is claiming they are the worst of the worst. SLR105, SLR107UR, SGL31-44s, SGL31-61s, FIME SGLs, Saigas, SLR104FRs and SLR104URs to name a few.



I don't doubt there are Arsenals coming off the line that are substandard. I don't doubt the stories of their customer service, it was legendarily bad even in the old days, but whenever one guy comes on and swears they are overpriced and crappy I look at my collection and wonder why none of my mine have these issues. Am I really that lucky, or are the number of problem guns overstated and then amplified in the echo chamber? Maybe because of the forum I feel like these days I am rolling the dice every time I buy a new Arsenal, but then every time there are still no issues. I take most complaints at face value, especially AKOU for example, but I am not personally seeing any of it FWIW.

To me Arsenals have always been my first choice because they are about collectibility and features, not because they are necessarily the best. I agree that many blindly spout 'buy once cry once' toward a manufacturer that is not inherently better than everyone else but they do fill a collectors niche that most AKs can't...namely being accurate replicas of older Soviet and modern Russian AK pattern rifles, which are assembled in the appropriate factory on proper tooling.

Do they turn out lemons? Sure, no question about it. But are they really as bad as the forum complaints make them out to be? I dunno. Almost 20 rifles in and I'm still waiting on my lemon.







Z

As I said above, the premium is based on the features you get, not necessarily quality.  It's not a hard concept to understand.

The price of a WASR has risen over $200 in the past year or two, do you expect it to have better quality and straighter sights because it now costs more?  No.

Percentage wise the price of a WASR has increased more than a SLR-107.  WASR $500 to $700 - 40% increase, SLR-107 $960 to $1150 - 20% increase.  So really you're getting less value with your "bottom of the barrel" rifle than the more expensive ones.

And when people say "Arsenal" we really need to be stating the model, not just a blanket Arsenal.  If someone is talking about a O-pap, you don't just say Century.  

This is exactly as I see it.

When I first got into AKs back in 2008, it was probably safe to say that Arsenal guns in general were overpriced, particularly their stamped guns. Back then, you could get an unconverted Saiga for $299 and as recent as 2010, K-Var was selling SGL-21s for like $599. At the same time, Bulgarian AK-74 kits were plentiful and builds based on these kits could be snagged for $600 or less. Those days are over.

Since then and despite significant changes to the market, Arsenal's offerings really haven't increased in price by all that much. I just picked up an SLR-104FR from Tombstone Tactical for around $1,040 shipped and an SLR-104UR from the same place for around $1,150 shipped. That's actually a smoking deal for a Krink when you take into account that before the URs hit the market, most AKS-74U builds topped $1,500. The FR is pretty damn reasonable too considering the limited alternatives these days.

Quality-wise, the Arsenal stamped guns are right there with the Izhmash Saigas. They're absolutely equals in my eyes. The fit, finish, everything is comparable between the two.

For me, the collectibility is every bit as appealing as the quality. I can grab an SLR-104 or 105 and have a very good representative example of an early Soviet AK-74 with little to no modification. That's significant added value in my eyes and it's enhanced by the fact that the rifles are made in the same factory that the Soviets furnished back in the early 80s.

Bump with update in original post.

Awesome, I had no doubt they'd back up their guns. Keep us posted to your range report.

I'm glad it seems to be resolved in your favor. 3 Arsenal s here.

Awesome - I am very happy for you, OP, on the positive experience!  Sounds like they did what was right and served their customer like a good company should.

I'm glad the OP got sorted but actually kind of surprised that Arsenal went the extra mile for him. They have a long track record of spotty service and some downright unpleasant incidents, though to be fair it seems like the worst ones were many years ago.



Glad it worked out OP