215th round of the day (give or take) Trigger pulled, round fired, bolt locked back hard.  First failure of any kind.  I have not previously disassembled the bolt.

I look at the receiver cover and the back end of my firing pin is protruding from the side of the cover, nearly perpendicular with the side of the cover and the receiver rail

I remove receiver cover, and disassemble the bolt, which contains both the extractor pin and the firing  pin retaining pin. The firing pin retaining pin is so loose that it falls out into my hand.

Once I got home from the range, I watched this video and I have all the parts the guy in the video has, and I was able to put everything back together properly, and it seems to go together as intended.  I note that some online parts diagrams show a firing pin spring.  I don't see one of these...

Assuming the guy in the video knows what he is doing and has all the parts, I was able to correctly and completely reassemble the bolt.

I don't even know where to begin asking questions.  I don't know enough about AKs to know what could have happened.   Anyone have any ideas?

AK is an American made DDI.  Extractor looks fine.  I was able to get a backup extractor when the review came out suggesting bad extractors.

Thanks for any suggestions

09/12/2017 PICS:

disassembled the DDI after the 2nd range visit.

Firing pin retainer pin fell out again....

Here's the firing pin retainer pin on the DDI- notice the groove?

Pic 1

another shot of the groove:

Pic 2

Upon closer inspection of the bolt, it appears that I have a small problem-

Pic 3

that's a hole in the bolt... near the firing pin retainer pin channel.  Not good.

Pic 4

WHY CANT I GET IMJUR IIMAGES TO POST IN THE POST???

Here's a link to all the pics

ALL PICS

10/03/2017 UPDATE

RIGHT HERE, PSA has apparently told me to pound sand....  ...we'll see what PSA says

WAAAY Late Update:

I spoke with DDI president, who said, if he were repairing, he'd replace the pin with a better fitting pin, and that the bolt would be fine.

PSA, after offering to exchange my rifle for a brand new rifle, and/or giving me store credit, repaired the bolt as suggested above.

Thanks to PSA.

Hi OP,

What is the make and model of your rifle(now see DDI, unsure if those came spring loaded)?  As originally designed the AK didn't have a spring loaded firing pin. Some models have this added as an upgrade/safety feature. Kind of added insurance when shooting commercial ammo with more sensitive primers.

After reassembling your bolt, will it retain the FP? Can you see any damage to the firing pin itself or the retainer?

Post pics of the bolt and FP if possible. I'd like to see the shelf/shoulder area on the firing pin where the retainer bears against it.

ETA- I'd first call DDI and see what they have to say. Worst case scenario, you might want to grab a clean surplus bolt if you can't get satisfaction from the maker.

Thx.

sounds like the firing pin or the retaining pin are under size or the od of the firing pin hole is too big.

I bet if you push on the pin it will pop out again so I wouldnt shoot it until fixed.

Didn't PSA buy DDI? PSA Buys DDI

I agree that it could be a safety issue. The fact that it happened in the first place indicates it could happen again, with worse consequences. It definitely sounds like something wasn't right from the factory and it took over 200 rounds to reveal itself. 

Sounds like you've gotten some good advice here...

ETA: I watched that video and was surprised how easy the firing pin retainer pin and extractor pin came out. I would have thought they'd have a bit more friction or be a bit tighter than that. Of course, I've never disassembled any of my AK bolts either. So this is something I need to be familiar with also... 

Good luck.

You could have a short firing pin retaining pin, it could be in place and still allow the firing pin to be ejected.

Another possibility is that the firing pin is damaged (or badly made) in such a way that it isn't locked in by the FPRP.

If it's not an obvious or if you need parts, I'd be calling the manufacturer and let them fix it.

AJ

Look at the spot in the firing pin where it's supposed to ride up against the retaining pin, look at the retaining pin, and look at channel in the bolt your firing pin is in. The first two could be damaged or malformed and the channel could be drilled off-center or something. Somehow your firing pin was able to slip past the retaining pin and odds are it's probably going to happen again.

Would love to see some pic of this. Sounds very interesting

I promise, I will post pics.

Probably not my strongest decision, but I elected to head back out with it today.  I ran 100 rounds in 5 20 round mags as fast as I could, (hipfire) then shot a few at a target. With my cheek against the stock.  It held up fine for why it saw today.

Thanks for all the comments, I certainly don't trust this rifle, and will take some of the suggestions, and as I said above, will post pics soon.

Also, I have a couple saiga legion and Definitive builds to compare with.  Will work those into the photo mix as well.

Pics (links actually to imjur ) added to 1st post

Nothing really jumps out as a red flag from your pics, other than maybe the curious wear on your retaining pin. I'd probably in the least get a new firing pin retaining pin. Probably wouldn't hurt to get a new firing pin too.

The extra hole in the bolt doesn't seem odd to you?

I don't think of it as an extra hole, just that they kinda misplaced where the hole,is supposed to be.

It's a manufacturing defect, send it back and let them fix it.

AJ

It didn't initially, but now that I think about it it's possible they drilled the hole slightly off from where it's supposed to be which might be the root of the problem.

Called in to Palmetto State Armory-  Sounds like they are going to send me a shipping label to send back to them.

Will update with progress.

For that to happen you have at least 1 problem and maybe 2. I did not see a real clear
pic of the fp but the retainer had, to me, unusual wear. That pin is no more than something
in the channel to hold the fp from slipping out of the bolt. For that retaining pin to
show that much wear, to me, would be very strange. Did the flange on the firing pin show any wear?

not sure what the flange is.

Pic of FP

does this help?

if you zoom in on the FP there is wear on the "shelf" that is supposed to engage the FP retaining pin.

Already have the Airbill from PSA.

Could take a while to get back, but I'll let everyone know what happens.

The damage to the FPRP could easily be from the ejector hitting it because the FPRP hole is misplaced. Which would make the cause of both symptoms the same.

AJ

Are these U.S.-made bolts or are you saying this happened in the original overseas factory?

I was under the impression that DDI made their own bolts. I could be wrong though.

The flange is the raised area you see next to the retainer pin in your picture.

10/03/2017

UPDATE IN OP

Damn OP, looks like PSA is taking care of you since their arfcom account told you to send your info in. Hope they come through.

Thanks!

I  apologize that I failed to reply in this thread.

I have IM'd PSA and will update with results.

Really hope psa does the OP right

I have a DDI AK that I have barely had time to shoot (a few mags so far).  I registered on their website for the longer warranty right when I bought it because I knew with everything going on at home I wouldn't have time to break it during the 1-year warranty period.  I thought PSA was going to make that warranty good, so I have been sitting here thinking I had plenty of time to shoot the DDI AK and find any issues.

Now, I am worried.

PSA is still selling DDI rifles (in stock):  http://palmettostatearmory.com/ddi-ak-47-rifle-7-62x39-black-ddi474150mbp.html

So surely the email in the thread linked above was from some guy who showed up to work drunk?

I will update the thread when I receive info from PSA.

Hopefully, PSA will also post in their industry thread.

UPDATE in OP

Congratulations on getting the bolt repaired. I believe I would have taken the PSA offer of a new rifle replacement. But if you are satisfied, that is what matters most.

Did either PSA or DDI mention anything about the PSA/DDI buyout? Did it happen, did the deal fall-through, is DDI still a separate entity and making AKs? Is there still a merger/relationship between PSA and DDI? Any info?

I don't know anything on the merger/whatever.