On 6/3/15 PSA released the much anticipated AK-47.  The Ak was initially introduced at the "SHOT SHOW 2015" and was stated to be released around a 600.00 Price point.  Within a few days, PSA then released a ton of accessories, a Zhukov edition, and barreled receivers for both standard and Zhukovs. We wont go into all of the accessories, but in this thread we will cover all PSA Models, as well as all Barrelled receivers.  PSA is releasing these as their production comes up online for each model.  We have not seen all models yet.


PSAK-47's

the first release was the PSAK-47 MOE Edition.  

The PSAK-47 MOE Edition's stats from their site are as follows :

Palmetto State Armory is proud to announce the introduction of our PSAK-47.
You have heard of Russian, Chinese, Bulgarian and Egyptian standard AK rifles.  Finally a quality American standard AK built in America, with all new manufactured parts and with a premium standard of fit, finish and workmanship.   The PSAK-47 was designed from the ground up to be a new standard in AK rifles, and was tortured tested to 10,000 rounds in development to ensure a quality product.  
This iconic rifle accepts standard AK47 magazines, and features:
Melonite 4150 steel treated barrel
Stamped steel receiver
7.62x39 Caliber
1 in 9.5" Twist
35.25" length
Std. 800 yard rear sight leaf
Magpul MOE Furniture
Magpul 30 round magazine (1)
Accepts standard AK47 magazines

It was introduced at a $749.99 Price point.

The PSAK-47 MOE Edition looks like this :






PSA AK-47 Zhukov  Edition :

The PSA Zhukov Edition's stats are as follows from their site.  

Finally a quality AK47 built to an American standard of fit, finish and workmanship.  
Melonite treated barrel
Stamped steel receiver
Magpul MOE Grip
Magpul Zhukov Folding Stock
Magpul Zhukov  Extended Hand Guard
*it is assumed to take standard AK magazines*

They were introduced at the $849.99 price point.

The PSAK-47 Zhukov edition looks like this :








Barreled AK-47 Receivers :


PSAK47 AK BARRELED RECEIVER 7.62X39

The PSAK47 AK barreled receiver's in 7.62x39's stats are as follows from their web site:

Stamped 1mm Steel Receiver
Installed and Riveted Breech Block and Rear Trunion
Installed and Pinned Barrel
4150 Steel Barrel, Melonite treated
Pinned Gas port with Bayonet lug
Pinned Front Sight Base
Bushing pin installed
7.62x39 Caliber
1 in 9.5" Twist Rate
Includes Headspaced Bolt, serialized to the receiver.
This is what you need to complete a PSAK-47 Intro Build Kit.

they were released at a $249.99 price point.






PSAK47 AK ZHUKOV BARRELED RECEIVER 7.62X39

The PSAK47 AK Zhukov Barreled Receiver in 7.62x39's stats are follows from their web site :

Stamped 1mm Steel Receiver
Installed and Riveted Breech Block and Rear Trunion
Installed and Pinned Barrel
4150 Steel Barrel, Melonite treated
Pinned Gas port with Bayonet lug
Pinned Front Sight Base
Bushing pin installed
7.62x39 Caliber
1 in 9.5" Twist Rate
Includes Headspaced Bolt, serialized to the receiver.
No Lower handguard cap to allow for Magpul Zhukov handguard installation
This is what you need to complete a PSAK-47 Zhukov Intro Build Kit.  Not compatible for use with other PSAK-47 Build Kits.

they were released at a price point of $249.99

And the PSAK47 AK Zhukov Barreled Receiver in 7.62x39 Look like this :




PSA AK Build Kits.

PSA introduced three initial build kits, and as they release more I'll add them to this thread.

PSAK-47 INTRO BUILD KIT NO FURNITURE

The stats from PSA's site are :
PSAK-47 MOE Intro Build Kit
Palmetto State Armory is proud to announce the American Standard AK Build Kit.  All the parts you need to turn your PSAK-47 barreled receiver to a  PSAK-47 rifle, less the furniture.  Using the PSAK-47 barreled receiver (not included), no welding, drilling or riveting is required to build your AK.  
No Bolt is included in this kit.   The bolt is headspaced on, and included in, the PSAK-47 barreled receiver
Kit includes:
TriggerBarrel Bushing/Slant brake
Trigger/Hammer PinFront Sight
HammerFront Sight Adjusting block
Hammer/Trigger SpringRear Sight Elivating Slide
Receiver Pin Keeper Phosphate Rear sight Elevating slide catch
Safety lever assemblyRear sight Slide catch spring
DisconnectorRear Sight Leaf
Disconnector SpringRear Sight spring
Pistol Grip ScrewGas Tube Assembly
Pistol Grip baseBolt carrier assembly
Firing PinFront Recoil Spring Guide
Firing Pin Retaining PinRear Recoil spring Guide
ExtractorFront Recoil Spring Guide Retainer
Extractor pinRecoil Spring
Extractor SpringReceiver Cover
Some assembly required.

they were released at a $219.99 price point.  

The PSAK-47 Intro Build Kit's look like this :





PSAK-47 MOE Intro Build Kit

PSA's stats from their web site are as follows :

Palmetto State Armory is proud to announce the American Standard AK Build Kit.  All the parts you need to turn your PSAK-47 barreled receiver to a  PSAK-47 MOE Edition Rifle.  Using the PSAK-47 barreled receiver (not included), no welding, drilling or riveting is required to build your AK.  
No Bolt is included in this kit.   The bolt is headspaced on, and included in, the PSAK-47 barreled receiver
Kit includes:
TriggerBarrel Bushing/Slant brake
Trigger/Hammer PinFront Sight
HammerFront Sight Adjusting block
Hammer/Trigger SpringRear Sight Elevating Slide
Receiver Pin Keeper Phosphate Rear sight Elevating slide catch
Safety lever assemblyRear sight Slide catch spring
DisconnectorRear Sight Leaf
Disconnector SpringRear Sight spring
Pistol Grip ScrewGas Tube Assembly
Pistol Grip baseBolt carrier assembly
Firing PinFront Recoil Spring Guide
Firing Pin Retaining PinRear Recoil spring Guide
ExtractorFront Recoil Spring Guide Retainer
Extractor pinRecoil Spring
Extractor SpringReceiver Cover
Magpul Pistol Grip MOE BLK
Magpul Buttstock MOE BLK
Magpul Handguard Set M-LOK
Some assembly required.

The PSAK-47 MOE Edition Build kit was released at a 349.99 Price point.

The PSAK-47 MOE Intro Build Kits look like this:




PSAK-47 ZHUKOV INTRO BUILD KIT

From PSA's site their description is as follows :

PSAK-47 MOE Intro Build Kit
Palmetto State Armory is proud to announce the American Standard AK Build Kit.  All the parts you need to turn your PSAK-47 Zhukov barreled receiver to a  PSAK-47 Zhukov Edition Rifle.  Using the PSAK-47 Zhukov barreled receiver (not included), no welding, drilling or riveting is required to build your AK.  
No Bolt is included in this kit.   The bolt is headspaced on, and included in, the PSAK-47 Zhukuv barreled receiver.
Kit includes:
TriggerBarrel Bushing/Slant brake
Trigger/Hammer PinFront Sight
HammerFront Sight Adjusting block
Hammer/Trigger SpringRear Sight Elevating Slide
Receiver Pin Keeper Phosphate Rear sight Elevating slide catch
Safety lever assemblyRear sight Slide catch spring
DisconnectorRear Sight Leaf
Disconnector SpringRear Sight spring
Pistol Grip ScrewGas Tube Assembly
Pistol Grip baseBolt carrier assembly
Firing PinFront Recoil Spring Guide
Firing Pin Retaining PinRear Recoil spring Guide
ExtractorFront Recoil Spring Guide Retainer
Extractor pinRecoil Spring
Extractor SpringReceiver Cover
Magpul Pistol Grip MOE BLK Magpul Zhukov Extended Handguard Set
Magpul Zhukov Folding Buttstock BLK
 
Some assembly required.  For best results, only use the PSAK-47 Zhukov barreled receiver for this kit.

The PSAK-47 MOE Intro Build Kit was released at a $449.99 price point.

PSAK-47 MOE Intro Build Kit look like this:







*Additional models, build kits, and barreled receivers will be added as they become available.

*Initial post 6/6/15

*Hopefully we can also get this thread stickied for reference Purposes.

Trust me! I want to shoot the piss out of it. Just want an explanation from PSA......

I got the same lady.  She kept putting me on hold and telling me to calm down.  And this was after being on hold for over an hour.  She was very testy and gave me several sarcastic replies but I am a big boy and can handle it.  I just want my rifle to be correct.

I have been told I will be happy "soon" by the CS mgr. But they don't know actually when "soon" will be.  She said she monitors this page in her office and that PSA is in the process of addressing several issues from CS to shipping to manufacturing QC.  All sounds good.  We shall see...

I apologize if this has already been answered, but I've seen side by side pics showing that the part of the recoil spring guide that interfaces with the rear trunion is slightly different on the PSA guns compared to some surplus guns and as a result some surplus guides don't fit. If that is the case, why isn't that part included with the bbl'd receiver kits? I'm trying to use as many surplus parts as possible on my build along with an ALG FCG. The only non-compatible part seems to be the guide. Could the guide, sans spring, be an included part in these bbl's receiver kits at some point?

It'd be nice if someone from PSA would come to HERE and the threads on akfiles and start answering questions. Mainly, I want to know why the dude from PSA in Rob Ski's SHOT show video said these kits are exactly like the rifle Rob got to test, when clearly they are not. PSA, what's the deal?

Hmmm leaves me with more questions. While I like the be happy part, should I assemble my gun and shoot away? Or wait and send it back in? Hopefully I hear the same thing tomorrow. Will definitely report back.

I posted this over in the AK section also, but here's a link to PSA's response over on akfiles if anyone is interested.

PSA Response

Just sent my email with serial number and order number- Its very obvious someone was not given proper information as it was stated over and over again in interviews from SHOT that it was all cast....now we are supposed to be thankful for their good grace in sending out forged carriers.....Head spacing issues?

Edit: no cast

I also assume we send in the whole carrier with gas piston??

edit: they said on akfiles that the piston will be riveted, not pinned- good news. glad they are fixing this for us

I ordered the barreled receiver blem kit.  The only blem I can find is a little scuff mark on the upper rear handguard retainer.  However, I did not receive the upper handguard retainer spring or the buttstock  screws with the red wood build kit.   After multiple emails, two phone conversations promising the shipment of the missing parts that went nowhere, and a PSA rep on this website saying he forwarded my info to Customer Service, I have received nothing.  I ended up buying the parts from another vendor to finish the gun.  This is my first AK, so not really sure what is to be expected with fit and finish.  The finish on all parts is good, but the fit is lacking.  The stock tang slides easily into the rear trunion with no friction, so I had to really torque down on the screws to stop the stock from wobbling.  Also, the buttstock plate is about a 1/16" smaller that the buttstock, so there is exposed wood all along the butt plate.  As far as shooting goes, I shot about a 100 rounds through it with 0 malfunctions.  However, at about 15 yards, it shot  about 6" to the left.  I'm waiting on a sight adjustment tool and hopefully it is adjustable within reason.

if my math is correct, 6" left at 15 yards would put you over 3 feet left at 100 yards. if your front sight post is centered now, you may not have enough room to move the post in order to get the rifle to shoot POA.

Yep, that's what I'm afraid of, but it looks like the front sight is off center to the right.  Hopefully there is enough room to adjust it left.

Now it is showing it is supposed to be delivered tomorrow :(

Well just called CS, my call tag should be emailed in the next 24 - 48 hours to send my carrier back. Sadly- my parts kit arrived today..  - I'll be sure to update everyone on the status and when the new FORGED carrier comes in. Probably will go ahead and piece everything together tonight or tomorrow

i emailed my info 5 hrs ago, standing by.

Can someone clarify, should the complete guns have a cast carrier?

It depends on who we are supposed to believe? The dude who represents PSA from SHOT show when he was interviewed by Rob Ski from AKOU and said there no cast parts, all forged or the PSA account on AKFiles who say that they are supposed to be cast for their low end rifles and that they now have a 3 tier system.

PSA at SHOT Show 2017. Skip to about the 2:20 mark


PSA at BIG 3 East 2016 Skip to around 2:15
Youtube Link

From PSA on AKFiles:

Good Morning,

We saw the complaints Monday morning about the proper carrier being in the AK receiver and QC complaints. We spent Monday afternoon and Tuesday investigating the issues and coming up with solutions to the problems. We want everyone to know that as we stated earlier, we are a “satisfaction guaranteed or your money back company”.

Carrier in the AK receiver- So far we have sold approx. 350 AK kits. We looked at our receiving reports vs on hand inventory and believe that of the 350 sold, up to about 120 had cast carriers in them. The rest had a forged carrier. This is why some customers are saying their carrier looks great and others are complaining. If you believe that you have a cast carrier please e-mail your order number and serial number to [email protected] and we will send you a call tag for your cast one and a forged carrier to replace the one you have now. This is simply a sign of good faith to everyone who has already put their faith and business with us. It will take us about a week to ship your new carrier out as our next shipment comes back from the coater the middle of next week. We hope you enjoy the complimentary upgrade.

New AK Receiver Models- This week we are revamping our AK receiver line to line up to have similar pricing levels as our AR line. The 3 tiered method has done well in the AR15 market for us and we are going to use it on the AK side as well.
1. Freedom AK receiver- Retail $399.99 ($379.99 Blem)
a. Billet Bolt
b. Billet Trunnion
c. Cast Carrier
d. 4150 Nitrided Barrel
2. Premium AK Reciever- Retail $469.99 (449.99 Blem)
a. Hammer Forged Bolt
b. Hammer Forged Trunnion
c. Hammer Forged Carrier
d. 4150 Nitrided Barrel
3. CHF Barreled AK Reciever- Retail $549.99 (529.99 Blem)
a. Hammer Forged Bolt
b. Hammer Forged Trunnion
c. Hammer Forged Carrier
d. Hammer Forged Barrel

The new 3 tiered structure will be posted today. The Freedom and Premium will be in production ASAP. The CHF will follow shortly.

QC Issues- We had some customers that have complained about various issues. From what we can tell most of the issues come from a series of older recievers that were assembled on prior tooling. Our current tooling has QC checks built in. These older ones are the genesis of the problems. Each one of these issues was looked at in detail and a fix put in place. If you have experienced one of these issue please e-mail us at [email protected] and we will send you a call tag. We guarantee your satisfaction or you money back. Please keep in mind that small cosmetic blemishes may be visible on "blem sales" but this will in no way effect the functionality of the firearm.

As a general note I would like to explain PSA as a company and what we are doing. The AK value chain is spread over a number of departments and hundreds of people and machines. If we are going to give you an accurate answer it will take us some time to do research across the value chain and determine the cause not just the symptom. If there is an issue, IM or e-mail us and we will take care of it.

Please understand that we will always take care of you. We are the biggest advocates for the AK consumer in the country, we are your advocates as well! One of our biggest goals was to make the AR affordable for the hard working American citizen. We could charge higher margins, but that would take the platform out of the financial reach of some individuals and we wanted it to be affordable to all. The more freedom owned by our citizens, the better off we all are. We are applying the same model to the AK. Everyone should be able to afford to build a quality AK and our hope is that you choose a PSA because you believe in us as much as we believe in you!

We appreciate your business,
Jamin"

Is this link working for anybody or did that thread get locked?

I was subscribed to that thread and now it's gone. Not on my list. Must've nuked it.

Well I got the rifle all put together- looks great (other than that ugly carrier). Only issue I have run into is my two yugo surplus mags take a lot of force to sit. My polish mag is super tight, and had no chance of going in. I will be doing a little filing tonight to see if I can get them in. My only ak mags so unfortunately shooting is a no go right now- I'll get some pictures up tonight when I get home

I IM'd one of the moderators that was posting in the thread.  He said it was moved to a different forum "Dumping Brass" forum that you have to have "X" number of posts to visit or maybe even be a paying member?

Kinda pissed, there was some good info and commentary in that thread about the F'd up situation we have all found ourselves in with PSA.  Odd that PSA wouldn't take the time to post their responses here as well???  Maybe they were testing the waters in a smaller site to see how well their "Story" was received before posting it over here??

Dang. That irks me. They still haven't approved my membership over there yet, so I can't see it either. I saved PSA's first post in that thread, so I can post it here if anyone wants it, but I don't have any other posts from that thread.

I guess there is some variance in mag fit like every other AK. I have 1 Magpul and 1 new Polish surplus mag that both fit very well with no wobble whatsoever. I have 2 more new Polish mags from the same source (ak-builder.com) coming, so I'll see how well they fit. My carrier appears to be cast - at least compared to the pics of Rob Ski's carrier. I sent an email to PSA as suggested in their response on akfiles. I don't know if a range of kits had the cast carrier, or if it was random.

I called CS yesterday and told them I wanted a call tag for my cast carrier and the lady said it would be in my email 24-48 hours. I would not wait on an email from them. I have a feeling it was moved (on akfiles) so the general public couldn't see it...I also requested to be a member and have not heard back yet. Maybe they did not want NON-members learning about the PSA information....

Interesting. I wonder who moved it?! Psa or the mods?

I believe a moderator moved it but at this point who knows.  There has been so much mis-information (From PSA) that it is hard to keep straight.

I feel like everyone that purchased one of these kits wants so badly for this to work out good that we are grasping at straws of desperation and hanging on every post from PSA.  At the same time, PSA is trying desperately, and rather unsuccessfully I might add, to shift the blame here to the buyers as a simple misunderstanding.  They are pretending that we didn't hear what we heard and see what we saw in multiple videos and posts.  PSA wants us to be grateful for their generous offer of a "Free Upgrade" to what we were told we were getting in the first place.  How is that a free upgrade?

We are sorry Mr customer, your ordered X and received Y.  Since you caught us sending out the much cheaper Y, we are going to fabricate an elaborate story about how you Mr customer misunderstood, but at the same time offer to "Upgrade" your order to X as a gesture of good faith...

OH, and if you call customer service and stay on hold long enough, we will tell you that we are not aware of the situation, put you back on hold and return later and tell you a different department is handling that "Misunderstanding" and you have to wait to be contacted.

I just got the email from PSA at 9:19 CST that a call tag will be sent out shortly for the return of the cast carrier.  I emailed them yesterday right after they announced they will be replacing the cast carriers.

sounds like some "Good Faith" right there...  standing by for mine

ETA:  just received an email that says I will receive another email with a return label and bla bla bla...

Now I need to know if since I already have a return label for the other problems with my barreled receiver, should I ship them separate or together?  Not about to wait another hour on hold to find out..

I am just surprised that PSA is being so quiet over here.

Got the same email from Joe Weir. I responded asking when the call tags should be sent. He just replied that I should have it by the end of the day and to let him know if I don't.

Just received my return label and request information. Going to be shipping it out today-

I received an email from Joe Weir as well. I emailed them last night, so wasn't expecting a response before today anyway.

My complete rifle is at my FFL. About to head over and pick it up. Wish me luck!

Interested to see what you find! Post some pics of the carrier if you can-

Absolutely

go over that biotch with a fine toothed comb!

Got the rifle and took some quick pics. I have the PSAK-47 GB2 Blem with Poly furniture. Overall, it seems to be pretty good. Front sites are straight and I can't really see the blem here. However, I am going to confirm with PSA if I am supposed to have a cast or forged carrier considering SHOT Show 2017 videos show the PSA dude saying no cast parts are used in PSA builds. I am going to try and get out Saturday to shoot it.

Complete rifle with poly furniture.


Took a closeup of the gas tube.


Have a roll pin not a rivet


Pretty sure this is a cast carrier. Anyone confirm?

It's cast. The one you have has the same texture as mine.  I email PSA last night and now am waiting on a call number. At least you were able to put you lower hand gaud on I could not get mine to lock up

Looks to be cast sir- Just like mine. I understand the roll pin/ rivet doesn't really matter. But I am getting the feeling the forged carriers have the rivet and cast has roll pin. From pictures on here and AKFILES its been pretty across the board with roll pin-cast carrier, rivet-forged. Rifle looks good though! Ill get pics up of mine when I get home- FYI: Just shipped carrier off so now the wait begins....

Is a cast carrier something I should be concerned about? The only AK I have  owned prior to this was a Tantal. So I have very little AK experience.

I am going to try and explain this as best as I can.  I am not an engineer but my brother who is and works in the forging industry has explained it to me.

First off Cast parts are simply liquid metal poured into a mold or casting and then thrown into a bin for cooling. After they are cooled, a grinding tool of some sort is taken to the edges and then the part is done.  This is used for cheap parts that will not need to be very strong.  The finished metal has larger pores in it and air pockets form as it cools and this contributes to it being weak.  Usually the edges are rounded off more when compared to a forged part (i.e. in the video) Seams from the two part cast can sometimes be seen but not always.  Also when a cast part breaks you will see the dimples of the air pockets.

A forged part starts out similar way but typically the metal is more pure to begin with. it is poured into a forge casting and allowed to take initial shape. Then it is hammered into final shape with large presses. And finished in a milling machine of some type. The part is heated and cooled in a controlled environment to remove the air pockets and to allow the metal to be uniform in strength. (this is called heat treated) When a forged part breaks, you will usually get two smooth surfaces where the piece shears apart.

A billet part starts out as a solid block of material and is machined down in a mill or lathe into its final shape  (most expensive usually)

That all being said, I would say your carrier (and mine) look to be cast.  The bolt groove has been milled out to clean it up for proper function.  We have seen examples of the groove being cut too deep in this thread and others.

cast is not going to be a strong as forged and it is not what you paid for according to PSA advertising at the SHOT show and on the web.
That being said, it may never fail you

I have emailed their customer service.

I agree with most of this, but it's not always so apparent that something is cast. Lots of aluminum wheels on cars, for example, are cast and yet they have very smooth / refined finishes....like a mirror sometimes.

You are correct.  Sometimes a special cast could be used to make one side very smooth. Sometimes polishing and / or a coating can be added at the final stage.  Many aluminum rims will have a coating applied to the outside wall that over time wheel flake and peel off. And it is difficult at times on the surface to tell between cast and forged.  But what is inside is why we all have concern here.
I think you would agree that Cast is weaker than Forged due to the process used in making the final product.

Cast is definitely inferior, I was mainly making the comment to help guard against a person, who wasn't really sure of the difference, looking at a piece from PSA and, not seeing any blatant signs of casting, deciding that their parts must not be cast. If it's done right and finished right, a cast part can look very similar to a forged one especially to the untrained eye.

Welp, it's officially the  freedom barreled receiver on PSA. Cast carrier listed- haha. Idk if I'd get another one unless the CHF was a daily deal- and priced extremely right. Wonder when we'll see those pop up?

I saw that as well, and they quickly sold out.  Was that so hard. Be truthful and sell your product.  Everybody happy.  Make a mistake and tell the truth about it and fix it, everybody happy.  Make a mistake and then lie and fabricate stories as to why the customer is wrong, everybody mad...

Mysteriously the other two lines have yet to appear. And carrier is not mentioned in the complete rifles.  PSA is going to stick to their lie to the end.

Got her put together. I think it looks pretty good- minus not having a carrier at the moment.. bought a couple yugo surplus mags and a polish mag. Had to file the mag catch slightly to get the Yugos to sit, polish will go on but you gotta put some ass behind it. I'm sure it will break in over time. Just want to shoot it now!

That looks good. I've been thinking about getting that Magpul furniture for mine since my stock wobbles (I'll try fixing that first and then decide). I just dropped my receiver off at UPS for shipment back to PSA. I just want it back already so I can put a few hundred rounds through the gun and see what it can really do (and see if there's anything more serious wrong with it).

Thanks man. I've always liked magpul equipment for my ar's and I really wanted a folding stock so it fit the bill exactly. Rock solid stock, and the hg provides a good grip. I'll eventually get a red dot for it and an enforce light. Going to keep it very simple. I'm right there with you about shooting. Got this specifically to shoot cheap ammo and a lot of it. I think once we all get our carriers back we should update the thread w/ round count and pictures after range sessions.