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Posted: 10/19/2025 3:52:14 PM EDT
We'll see how well these are received by the AK market. Being that Meridian is more of a boutique maker, they should have better luck with these than KUSA did with their version of the 100 Series. Meridian Defense 101 / 103 at Shenanigunz! People getting their hands on the rifles! |
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Originally Posted By JamesJones: I assume this is a kusa built by good builders? Maybe? One difference appears to be that Meridian is using a forged bolt. KUSA bolts were billet IIRC. There's a thread on akfiles.hate going on now. The thread creator (Guardian1fox2) says the parts are not what was previously used by KUSA but he doesn't disclose what's being used or where the parts are being sourced from. Guns shown so far are test mule / pre-production so parts sources or dimensions may change anyway as things develop. |
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The Youtube videos I’ve seen claim (in the comments section) claim Meridian Defense is doing all of this themselves. Time will tell of course. Meridian Defense 101 / 103 at Shenanigunz! People getting their hands on the rifles! I would be shocked if it costs less than $2000 given the prices of raw materials and components these days. I am all for a well made stamped AK-100 series. It would be a great started for building a Gucci AK with a suppressor. |
Elite Soviet Democrat
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Originally Posted By themao: The Youtube videos I’ve seen claim (in the comments section) claim Meridian Defense is doing all of this themselves. I would be shocked if it costs less than $2000 given the prices of raw materials and components these days. I am all for a well made stamped AK-100 series. It would be a great started for building a Gucci AK with a suppressor. I don't really know anything about Meridian but would say it is about impossible that they're making rifles 100% in house. Few companies nowadays make entirely their own stuff let alone a small boutique manufacturer. My guess is they've found someone to make the bolts, trunnions, etc and then someone else for barrels. Or maybe the same shop. And then if they aren't using Indian MIM they're using AK100 parts from Armenia or something like that. I personally don't really care where the parts come from as long as everything works. These are listed on the MD website for $1849. Will prices change as these get closer to full production? |
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happy to see another US company coming to the table, but I agree, these probably won't be cheap. I am hopeful that with the barrel ban gone that we will start seeing kits coming in again, so I question if now is the time for another US made AK. I say that, but I have yet to see any new kits with barrels either so..... |
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Originally Posted By Melvin_Johnson: I don't really know anything about Meridian but would say it is about impossible that they're making rifles 100% in house. Few companies nowadays make entirely their own stuff let alone a small boutique manufacturer. My guess is they've found someone to make the bolts, trunnions, etc and then someone else for barrels. Or maybe the same shop. And then if they aren't using Indian MIM they're using AK100 parts from Armenia or something like that. I personally don't really care where the parts come from as long as everything works. These are listed on the MD website for $1849. Will prices change as these get closer to full production? Originally Posted By Melvin_Johnson: Originally Posted By themao: The Youtube videos I’ve seen claim (in the comments section) claim Meridian Defense is doing all of this themselves. I would be shocked if it costs less than $2000 given the prices of raw materials and components these days. I am all for a well made stamped AK-100 series. It would be a great started for building a Gucci AK with a suppressor. I don't really know anything about Meridian but would say it is about impossible that they're making rifles 100% in house. Few companies nowadays make entirely their own stuff let alone a small boutique manufacturer. My guess is they've found someone to make the bolts, trunnions, etc and then someone else for barrels. Or maybe the same shop. And then if they aren't using Indian MIM they're using AK100 parts from Armenia or something like that. I personally don't really care where the parts come from as long as everything works. These are listed on the MD website for $1849. Will prices change as these get closer to full production? Nobody is paying that price when you can get a PSA clone for 1/3 of that, even if it's not totally 100 series autism level correct That being said, I was curious and started looking up what it would cost to get a production forge running for core parts. There are some outfits out there claiming they can get you started with a single die forging production machine for under $10k. I wonder how realistic that is. Doesn't cover the barrel manufacturing though. If they don't make a big deal about producing all of the parts in house, it's probably not. |
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Originally Posted By nictra: happy to see another US company coming to the table, but I agree, these probably won't be cheap. I am hopeful that with the barrel ban gone that we will start seeing kits coming in again, so I question if now is the time for another US made AK. I say that, but I have yet to see any new kits with barrels either so..... Flame suit on.... at this point I believe most US barrel manufacturers can produce a higher quality AK barrel than most foreign manufacturers |
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Originally Posted By mancat: Flame suit on.... at this point I believe most US barrel manufacturers can produce a higher quality AK barrel than most foreign manufacturers Quality wasn't really my point though. Cheap kits with barrels was. I agree with you btw, however I also have my doubts the market will ever go back to how it was, not unless they flood the market with kits, but I have a feeling they won't do that. |
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I'd assume if they were sourcing these core parts from overseas they would be putting that out there unless it was something like wbp. I'm confident in Meridian to build a solid rifle but what core parts? Who has the capability to forge that stuff in the states? Got to be only a few but I could be wrong. I hear $1800 is going to be around the price. I trust Meridian but I'd still rather go for a true import if I'm spending that kind of money for something not tricked out. Edit- I do like that we have so many American AK options now. |
 More talk, Or the AK-101 we were promised? Meridian Defense: MDC-101 first look. |
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Originally Posted By mancat: Nobody is paying that price when you can get a PSA clone for 1/3 of that, even if it's not totally 100 series autism level correct That being said, I was curious and started looking up what it would cost to get a production forge running for core parts. There are some outfits out there claiming they can get you started with a single die forging production machine for under $10k. I wonder how realistic that is. Doesn't cover the barrel manufacturing though. If they don't make a big deal about producing all of the parts in house, it's probably not. The problem with my PSAK-101 wasn't any autistic level of detail, it was the bolt constantly losing headspace due to being softer than a Palmetto tree. |
Did 4 tours of the Cola Wars
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Originally Posted By Willisinnawoods: The problem with my PSAK-101 wasn't any autistic level of detail, it was the bolt constantly losing headspace due to being softer than a Palmetto tree. Dont forget about how out of spec the bolts and carriers are that they have NEVER fixed. Meridian has a much better reputation at building AK's than PSA ever will. |
 Everything you need to know about Meridian Defense 100 series AKs |
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Originally Posted By Sparks556: This was a great interview, the stories about Kusa are wild. I really hope meridian crushes this and makes us some solid American built aks and parts. I really do not need any more aks but will be picking up one of these if not both as soon as possible. I guess I need to watch the video. Hopefully it answers most of my questions I'm curious about. I don't think I want to spend almost 2k on a plane or non Gucci'd out AK at the moment but I do want one. I missed out on the arsenal 106s when they were cheap mainly because $50 magazines turned me off. Magazines for 556 aren't a problem these days. |
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I had a SLR106 and several Arsenals. By the looks of it these will be nicer. 1.2mm receivers and thin stem bolts. The 101 looks like it’s tuned really well out of the box and the triggers are much nicer than anything Arsenal ever used. I’ll likely get a few of each because I only have a few AKs now and everything else available is lacking. I’ll need to try a Sureshot rail on the 101 and dust off my old 24mm SOCOM Surefire mount. |
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I hope Meridian hits a grand slam with these rifles. It will be difficult. The one thing about the interview with Meridian’s boss that struck me was his comment about making these rifles easy to work on? I mean, putting dimples on the receiver for instance prevents the front trunnion from shaking loose away from the receiver. Hopefully, they are riveting or doing something to prevent that after 5000-10000 rounds. It is nice to know they are using 1.2 mm thick stamped receivers like the original AK-100 series. I look forward to kits of these rifles so we can customize them. |
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Originally Posted By themao: I hope Meridian hits a grand slam with these rifles. It will be difficult. The one thing about the interview with Meridian’s boss that struck me was his comment about making these rifles easy to work on? I mean, putting dimples on the receiver for instance prevents the front trunnion from shaking loose away from the receiver. Hopefully, they are riveting or doing something to prevent that after 5000-10000 rounds. It is nice to know they are using 1.2 mm thick stamped receivers like the original AK-100 series. I look forward to kits of these rifles so we can customize them. Supposedly he meant dimpling the barrel components vs pinning them. They're not going to dimple the barrel components and know people won't like that because it's not clone correct. |
AK building addict in recovery. Fell off the wagon.
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Originally Posted By AEnemaBay: Supposedly he meant dimpling the barrel components vs pinning them. They're not going to dimple the barrel components and know people won't like that because it's not clone correct. Originally Posted By AEnemaBay: Originally Posted By themao: I hope Meridian hits a grand slam with these rifles. It will be difficult. The one thing about the interview with Meridian’s boss that struck me was his comment about making these rifles easy to work on? I mean, putting dimples on the receiver for instance prevents the front trunnion from shaking loose away from the receiver. Hopefully, they are riveting or doing something to prevent that after 5000-10000 rounds. It is nice to know they are using 1.2 mm thick stamped receivers like the original AK-100 series. I look forward to kits of these rifles so we can customize them. Supposedly he meant dimpling the barrel components vs pinning them. They're not going to dimple the barrel components and know people won't like that because it's not clone correct. Yeah and it’s a good call because it would basically be something only a few people would even want and make modifying them later a pain. I’ll probably chop one of each down and make a kind of 102/104 but with an Occam front sight/gas block. It’s nice of them to consider this. I’m sure they dimple the receiver for the trunnion… Only PSA doesn’t and everyone talks trash about it. I’ve never actually seen anyone post pics of a failure from sheared rivets though. |
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