I just bought second hand a PSA AK-103. Overall looks and feels great, the action is smooth. The piston has a slight bend to the left. It seems strictly cosmetic but just want to make sure before I put it in the safe and stop worrying about it.

There is no binding anywhere in the action travel except when the bolt gets stuck on the hammer. The piston is firm with no wiggle. With the gas tube off the piston head is exactly centered. The black of the carrier is noticeably to the right of the front block. Not be much but you can see it.

I also have a PSA GF2 that everything is straight on. I was unable to swap the pistons. The straight GF2 went into the 103 but bound up pretty quick. I got the 103 into the GF2 but it never moved forward. Once they were back to the correct rifles everything was smooth. I don't ever plan to swap them but just did so for testing.

It seems like most issues came from other people came from changing parts to aftermarket accessories. The KNS Piston being the most common as well as the Ultimak rail having issues. The 103 is perfect the way it is for me. I will likely not shoot it suppressed and if I did it would be a DeadAir Wolverine that is made for the AK. Maybe a Sandman if I get it but that will be for my ARs. I prefer iron sights and would not ever use the Ultimak rail. Any optics would use the side rail.

So is the bent piston a symptom of a larger issue or just looks a little odd when it is out?

Seems like it would be a symptom of inferior steel?

My WASRs and SARs ugly as they are have been through thousands of round with no bent pistons.
Straight as can be.

My aks have a 2 piece rod that swivels as it goes into the carrier. Maybe someone replaced the original with this. Is the op rod jointed or solid?

Sounds like the gas block and tube are out of alignment.

I'm guessing this is an early build? Wasn't it PSA that said that they bent pistons to fit early on?

Eyeballing it with my 2ft square as my straight edge looks like everything is aligned externally.


I thought the AK-103 was only released in Sept 2020 so not that early.


I tried using a rubber band stretched around the piston to show the bend, hopefully my pictures work.
You can see the rubber band is centered on the piston head and the tail of the bolt but it has a dip in the middle.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/nqp5f5lcuvqj5m8/20210429_085426.jpg?dl=0 Attached File

Just a follow up for anyone curious. On Monday I received an email about my repair, below is what it said.


Today I received the rifle back and everything looks and feels great. It looks straight and the piston has a little wobble to it. The piston head lines up perfectly with the gas block every time. I was able to exchange the bolt carriers between 2 rifles and everything lined up on both.

I would say the whole process was a little over 3 weeks and at no cost to me. Every company has issues and that is what warranties are for. Honestly, PSAs warranty was a factor in my buying decision. I've had other manufacturers tell me sorry, have a nice life for thier own manufacturing issues. PSA took care of me and I couldn't be happier.