Anybody have a pioneer arms Polish AK? - Page 1

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Anybody have a pioneer arms Polish AK?

Posted: 6/8/2014 4:58:22 PM EDT

Can't find much info on these. The price at AIM for these is pretty decent for the times $ 479.95.

Link to AIM AK

If you have one, I would like to know your experience.

TIA

Posted: 6/8/2014 6:14:22 PM EDT

[#1]

This is of interest to me as well
I'm shopping for my first ak

Posted: 6/10/2014 10:41:00 PM EDT

[#2]

I came here looking for some info about these models.

Posted: 6/11/2014 3:31:03 PM EDT

[#3]

Someone needs to take one for the team and buy one.

Posted: 6/12/2014 3:16:19 PM EDT

[#4]

I just picked one up today. I will not get a chance to shoot it for a week or two. Gun has a great trigger pull. Wood is all polish. Trunion is a little weird. No canted sites on this one. The muzzle brake is an IO one and they jacked up the threads on the polish barrel. Bolt carrier is a cast part and the gun came equipped with an IO marked buffer. I am gong to leave the buffer on since the it has a cast part. Magazine fits tight and there is no wobble. Good buy for the money and I am tempted to buy more.

Posted: 6/12/2014 3:41:21 PM EDT

[#5]

Quote History

Quoted:
I just picked one up today. I will not get a chance to shoot it for a week or two. Gun has a great trigger pull. Wood is all polish. Trunion is a little weird. No canted sites on this one. The muzzle brake is an IO one and they jacked up the threads on the polish barrel. Bolt carrier is a cast part and the gun came equipped with an IO marked buffer. I am gong to leave the buffer on since the it has a cast part. Magazine fits tight and there is no wobble. Good buy for the money and I am tempted to buy more.

View Quote

Thanks for the update. Would you elaborate about the trunion?

I really need another AK and this seems like a good deal for the money.

Posted: 6/12/2014 4:02:08 PM EDT

[#6]

The trunion just looks a little bulky. The finish on the trunion looks like it is covering something that was scrubbed off. I can't really put a finger on it, it just is a little different. LOL! The gas tube is also REALLY tight. I had to file it down a little to get it back together, No bayonet lug on mine and the MAGS are IO aftermarket. Comes with a little cleaning kit.

Posted: 6/12/2014 4:07:16 PM EDT

[#7]

Quote History

Quoted:
The trunion just looks a little bulky. The finish on the trunion looks like it is covering something that was scrubbed off. I can't really put a finger on it, it just is a little different. LOL! The gas tube is also REALLY tight. I had to file it down a little to get it back together, No bayonet lug on mine and the MAGS are IO aftermarket. Comes with a little cleaning kit.

View Quote

Ranger1bob, I suspect they use a Factory 11 trunion and scrub off the original markings. What I am really interested in is are you sure that the bolt carrier is cast, and not a surplus part? Any possibility of some detail pics?

Posted: 6/12/2014 7:33:09 PM EDT

[#8]

99.9% sure it is a cast part. You can see the mold marks and no grind marks. Will try and get some pics up when the better half gets home...no promises and no pics of the wife either.

The barrel is nice...4 number 2 markings on the top of it and I don't think my camera is good enough to get a good image but I will try. Bottom line is this, it initially appears alot better than a WASR and at a lower price.

Posted: 6/13/2014 12:18:34 AM EDT

[#9]

The side folder came home with me today.
It was packaged in a IO box, included 2 plastic mags and a roll-up cleaning kit

Things I note on mine......
First the good:
•Straight sights
•Excellent trigger
•nice barrel, good looking chromed crown
•finish looks nice to me
•trigger pin retaining plate included

Bad:
•Cleaning rod has a curve and a poor finish
•Screws securing folding mechanism were stripped. May be due to loose dimensions between the screw holes on the rear trunnion and the threaded holes on the stock body.
•Rear trunnion rivets aren't perfectly aligned w/ receiver, top cover touches one rear rivet.
•The gas tube looks saw cut, it was also out of round... Oval shaped

One thing I am curious about is the bolt carrier, it's manufactured differently than my WASR and Arsenal. The carrier in the polish rifle looks like a casting.... It's not as smooth as the others. There's evidence of tool marks on the WASR and Arsenal carriers that aren't on the polish carrier.

Overall I'm pleased with the rife. I removed all the factory furniture already and my replacement lower handguard and Vltor stock fit perfectly with no slop, tomorrow I'll see how a ulitmak gas tube fits.

Posted: 6/13/2014 9:07:33 AM EDT

[#10]

Looks like there might be several cast parts on these rifles:

http://www.pioneer-pac.com/sporter-akm-47-style-rifle,prpg1,1,2

Posted: 6/13/2014 4:03:52 PM EDT

[#11]

Just picked up mine. I have yet to open the box. I can post picks when I do.

Posted: 6/13/2014 7:31:12 PM EDT

[#12]

I got to hold mine for a few minutes today (since AIM didn't include an invoice I couldn't take it home). I see what Ranger1bob means about the carrier looking cast. The manufacturer and importer stampings on the receiver look nice and clean. It does not have a bayonet lug but I'll swap out the gas block for a spare that I have with a lug. The only complaint I have is the gas tube is on the loose side. That may be corrected when I swap gas blocks. I'll be installing a Polish pistol grip and slant comp as well.

Posted: 6/13/2014 9:50:38 PM EDT

[#13]

WTF mine didn't come with the cleaning rod

Posted: 6/17/2014 9:12:19 PM EDT

[#14]

A bit more info...

I've noticed pics of wooden stock rifles having IO inc, Monroe NC on their receivers, the side folder I received is marked IO inc, Palm Bay FL.

Trigger is marked IO inc, regardless of its reputation, it is the best trigger I have felt on any AK including tapco, Arsenal and RSA triggers.... Time will tell if it holds up, don't see why it wouldn't though.

Trigger pin retaining plate is also IO inc. as well as the included slant brake.

The bolt carrier retained it's casting finish on most surfaces with minimal secondary machining operations to complete the part. I assume that with advances in mold making and casting technology that modern castings are able to hold the tolerances required on most AK parts, as long as the part was correctly heat treated it shouldn't make a bit of difference functionally, but it does have a dramatically different surface finish than a machined surface. I assume both trunnions are cast and manufactured in a similar fashion.

Someone above posted about jacked up muzzle threads, the rifle I received had good threads.

Posted: 6/18/2014 12:02:23 AM EDT

[#15]

Quote History

Quoted:
A bit more info...

I've noticed pics of wooden stock rifles having IO inc, Monroe NC on their receivers, the side folder I received is marked IO inc, Palm Bay FL.

Trigger is marked IO inc, regardless of its reputation, it is the best trigger I have felt on any AK including tapco, Arsenal and RSA triggers.... Time will tell if it holds up, don't see why it wouldn't though.

Trigger pin retaining plate is also IO inc. as well as the included slant brake.

The bolt carrier retained it's casting finish on most surfaces with minimal secondary machining operations to complete the part. I assume that with advances in mold making and casting technology that modern castings are able to hold the tolerances required on most AK parts, as long as the part was correctly heat treated it shouldn't make a bit of difference functionally, but it does have a dramatically different surface finish than a machined surface. I assume both trunnions are cast and manufactured in a similar fashion.

Someone above posted about jacked up muzzle threads, the rifle I received had good threads.

View Quote

IO moved from NC to FL this year. FWIW, IO got the contract for the Beryl clones and messed that up. Won't buy from them on principle.

Posted: 6/18/2014 2:39:41 AM EDT

[#16]

I was just looking at some of their Gunbroker auctions. One ad described the Polish AK blueprints were followed to make their AKs. Lifetime warranty. The other is the imported Polish AK with a 2 year warranty. I'd go with the latter but that's just me.

Posted: 6/19/2014 9:09:01 AM EDT

[#17]

The reason to get one of these is to have a foreign made barrel / receiver that may be better than US made at a good price. From what I am hearing it looks like the only thing that is good is the price.

Posted: 6/19/2014 6:09:51 PM EDT

[#18]

I got mine today. After taking it apart and looking it over good I'd say the only thing I don't like is the pistol grip. The rivets look good, the sights are straight, and the finish is nice. Two things I wasn't expecting were the AK-47 type telescoping recoil guide rod and a black recoil buffer. I tried two comm bloc steel mags and they fit a little tight at the front but really didn't require a lot of force to get fully seated. The two IO polymer mags were hard to get in and one required a few good smacks with my palm to get in fully. Black plastic shavings from the mags fell on the floor afterwards.

I got a new WASR from Classic about a month ago and while it's nicer than the WASRs I've seen in the past, the Polish Sporter is a great alternative at the price AIM is charging for them.

ETA- put 100 rounds through it today without a problem. Tried five different steel mags. One was very tight but went in and the other four fit normally.

Now with glossy black Kvar pistol grip.

Posted: 6/22/2014 11:48:28 PM EDT

[#19]

I have had one for over a year now and bought it directly from I.O. The first week they made them available. It has run beautifully since the first time I took it out. Trigger is excellent, fit and finish is great. Sights have been dead on @ 100 yards without any adjustments since taking it out of the box. The only real negatives are the same everyone else has said, crappy grip, and tight magwell. I've put about 1000 +/- rounds through it since I got it and have not experienced a single hiccup. With that being said, the only AK I've ever had problems with was a PAC polish Hellpup pistol. But with all the mud that gets thrown at I.O. they took care of my issue pretty quickly...

Posted: 6/23/2014 12:40:02 AM EDT

[#20]

So these are Polish receivers and barrels? What configuration are they when they're imported and what is IO doing to modify them? I'm assuming they're not being imported in standard configuration like this unless I missed some changes in the law. Single stack opened up? Barreled receivers and IO adds the rest using unknown parts? Saiga sporter type conversions?

Posted: 6/23/2014 8:35:57 AM EDT

[#21]

Maybe I.O. uses same way as they used with Archers (Beryls) from FB Radom: complete rifle in single shot configuration with no magazine well, then cut out magazine well and replace "placeholder" parts with required number of US made parts.

Posted: 7/1/2014 12:59:15 PM EDT

[#22]

Are these FB random receivers and barrels? Or are they just built in a commercial factory un-related to FB? It kind of kills it for me if there is no affiliation.

Posted: 7/2/2014 6:19:52 AM EDT

[#23]

Quote History

Quoted:
Are these FB random receivers and barrels? Or are they just built in a commercial factory un-related to FB? It kind of kills it for me if there is no affiliation.

View Quote

No FB connection from what I've read so far. Would be nice but it isn't going to stop me from buying 2. Which I've already done.

Posted: 7/8/2014 1:07:17 AM EDT

[#24]

Looks to be a nice alternative to the WASR, crappy grip aside.(Add another $20 to the price) Anyone know what length stock is on the Sporter version AIM sells?(If it's NATO-length, add another $50

Curse these stubby arms of mine!)

Has anyone had any issues with canted barrel trunnions on these? A few people have voiced concerns on the way Pioneer rivets the receivers.(Though I'm pretty sure AIM inspects these rifles for such problems)

Secondly, does anyone know exactly what IO does to these rifles when they're brought into the country? I know they open up the magwell for regular AK mags,(And have done the smart thing by going on the tighter side of the spectrum. Easier to fix when they screw up) but do they dick around with anything else?

I'm a little leery of anything hammered, pinned, screwed, bolted, welded or riveted by IO. Just another opportunity for them to turn a perfectly good rifle into a boat anchor.