This came home with me today.  Ordered from PSA on Wednesday, arrived at my FFL this morning!  As others have said, if this is a blem, I can’t find it. I excite!

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So after looking at these, I decided to get on the PSA website to sign up for the notification when the AKs with red wood are back in stock and see that they are on sale for $550 and free shipping.

Had to fo hard. Can’t wait til it shows up.

You will not be disappointed my friend.  I don't have many rounds through it but I dig it so far.

Took this earlier. 3” orange pastie target, standing offhand at 25 yards. The first few shots are high, after I moved the rear sight to 100 it was dead on. I’m very pleased with the accuracy so far.

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Man that target looks familiar...

New look.

Added an AK-74 style brake and sling. Also just ordered a blem OD green

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Nice. Which brake did you get?

I’ve always wanted to try a 74 style brake on a 7.62 rifle to see if the recoil mitigation is all it’s hyped up to be. Arsenal seems to be perpetually sold out of them, so I was looking at the Strela “wolf fang,” which looks pretty legit, but not a lot of info out there for it.

ETA: just picked mine up today. Everything looks great (the stock is a little pinkish, but I ain’t even mad). Attached File

Tapco AK-74 for about $25. I ran about 30 rounds with it and although not night and day, it is more pleasant to shoot now. I bought it mainly for the look but it does reduce felt recoil.

OD green Blem came in today. Ran a quick 120 rounds through it then cleaned. A few minor marks, but still no more of a Blem than stuff I see new at gun shops.

One thing I did notice was some cheap Tapco mags that fit in my AMD-65 and other PSA were a pain to seat, but that could be due to the new-ness of the mag catch. Combloc and Magpuls seated just fine.

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In my case, it doubled the noise. Especially on a small indoor range.  GARY

I had to file down my Tapcos to get a smooth fit. I think Tapco makes them a bit oversized on purpose, the poly is soft enough they'll wear in over time.

I'm keeping an eye on PSA AKs, they're teasing some really interesting photos of their 9mm & .223 AKs. And it's not hard to catch a PSA blem'd AK for $500.

While I don't need anymore, I'd like to see a few solid choices for US made AKs. If imports dry up or price themselves out of the market, and the US companies just make garbage that's gonna run off any new AK fans.

Big market=good aftermarket selection of accessories & upgrades.

Here are my findings regarding mags so far:

MagPul Gen 1 and Bulgarian New production steel fit 100%

KCI steel 10 rounders were very tight, to the extent I had to file down some of the metal in the rear of one msg to fit.

I'm not really concerned about the KCI mags, as I only purchased to have some cheap 10 round range mags for times I want to shoot off bags to zero optics.

My one Tapco mag along with my Romanian drum were tight, but still fit. The magpul, Surplus Yugo and new Croatian mags that I had handy fit perfectly. I’ll dig out more when I hit the range this weekend.

Already ordered some new production Serb mags, a cleaning rod and a replacement Bulgarian extractor (just in case ).

Range day with the PSAK. Fired 80 rounds with no malfunctions using Croatian and Magpul mags. Sights needed a bit of tweaking to get her on target, but adjusted without any issue. Overall I am very pleased so far with this purchase.
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ETA: none of my 5 new production Serb mags fit, nor did 3/10 Croatian mags, so will need to take a file to them.

Added a strike industries jcomp brake to my OD green. I ran 200 more rounds today and it mitigates recoil and muzzle climb very well. My wife shot for a bit and said it’s pleasant to shoot compared to the slant brake.

Rules and all.

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ETA: the rapidly growing family.

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I also FO’d. Zhukov, $499 shipped. Used activejunky rebate and already have the $30 in my paypal account

I will be making 3 modifications:
- front sight gas block
- adjustable gas for suppressed use (either Definitive FSG block or KNS piston)
- ALG trigger

Once it’s in hand and I can measure barrel diameter, I may have the barrel cut and pin/weld ASR brake for suppressor.

Does anyone know if PSA used a bulgarian pattern 4.5mm pin sidefolder or the russian pattern 5.5mm pin?

I have had a couple of these rifles come through the shop as transfers and must say I was pretty impressed with the overall quality, fit, and finish of both of them. Do not recall if they were blems or not but IIRC they were less than $600 each. Were I in the market for an AK these would be at the top of the list.

Op, go for it on the Zhukov stock. I am not a fan of the accompanying fore end and prefer the polymer copy of the wood fore end. An Ultimak railed gas tube is a great choice for a red dot or extended/intermediate eye relief scope if you are leaning that way. Lastly, the ALG AKTrigger is the best ....for me at least.... option out there. Really makes my AK a joy to shoot.

Grats on the new rifle. Hope you like yours.

Neither 4.5mm nor 5.5mm... The PSA sidefolder pin is larger than 4.5mm, but smaller than 5.5mm. I have to enlarge my 4.5mm sidefolder stock hole a little bit using drill bit #15 (4.572mm) to be able to mount it.
Here is my PSA KP.

Interesting, thanks for the insight.

I just purchased a new PSAK and figured I'd share my thoughts here in this thread, instead of starting a new thread; so, here we go.

I'll admit I've been a critic here of PSA a few times in the past, with good reason. But with time, irritations and aggravations can subside.

With that said, I've been reading a lot lately about the progress PSA has made on its PSAK rifle offerings. Being somewhat of an AK enthusiast, I decided to give PSA another chance and I ordered one the PSAK rifles on sale on the 4th of July (last Wednesday). I wasn't sure what to expect on the order processing and shipping time; but to my surprise, the order was processed and shipped the next day, on Thursday. I picked it up today at my local FFL.

Again, not knowing what to expect, I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the fit and finish of the PSAK. I ordered the blem with the red-wood furniture for $549 and free shipping. I have not had time to shoot it yet, (and I hope I'm not disappointed there... :-) but I am very pleased with what I see so far. Yes, I have noticed a slight blem; on the gas tube, it looks like the upper hand-guard was a bit loose (and still is), and they tried to tighten the hand-guard by bending the thin metal hand-guard brackets on the ends of the gas tube. But that is a small thing, and I knew I was ordering a blem. Some say they can't find a blem, but if the slightly bent gas-tube hand-guard bracket is the only problem, I'm still thrilled with the PSAK!

Other observations...

Like Rob Ski said, the safety lever is fairly loose, a lot looser than my other AKs. Again, not a big deal or something a little bending of the safety lever won't fix, but I'll leave well enough alone for now.

The machining of the bolt and bolt carrier is excellent; and, they fit fairly snug in the receiver, with very little play. When racking the bolt carrier back and forth, it was fairly snug but not binding. I just hope the hardness of the billet steel is there over time.

The gas piston was riveted solid on the bolt-carrier, with no play. I've read there should be some play/looseness of the gas piston fit, but one of my other AKs doesn't have any play in the gas piston-to-bolt carrier union. Again, no big deal.

The rivets in the receiver are excellent; this is a biggie with me. I hate sloppy rivets on an AK.

The top cover is good and tight, and fits well, as it should.

The front and rear sight blocks are good and straight, although I have not shot it or sighted it in. But starting out with straight sights on an AK is a good thing.

The red-wood furniture seems well made and finished. Not sure it is hard-wood, but it looks good and I like it.

The 30-round P-mag that came with it fits tighter than any mag I've ever seen in any of my other AKs. No wobble at all in any direction. Not sure that is good or bad, but I consider it good. I have not tried other mags yet. But I like a good, snug fit of the AK mags.

There is one thing I noticed that PSA might want to look at, and that is the description on their website. It says the PSAK has a double-hook trigger, but my new PSAK has a single-hook style trigger. From PSA's website: "The hardened steel 1mm receiver features a mil-spec style double hook trigger, and side rail mount". But, again, that is not a big deal, just not what the description says.

Didn't mean to be so wordy, and again, I have not shot the PSAK yet, and I hope my complements are not premature; but... PSA, you did good on the PSAK!!!

Again, I figured I'd post this here to give credit where credit is due...

Thanks, Josiah!

Henry1

FWIW, I hit the 500 round mark with my Blem OD green yesterday, with a mixture of Tulammo and Wolf FMJ, HP and SP rounds. No hiccups so far, and no abnormal wear that I’ve noticed internally or on the finish.

New PSAK47 first impressions continued...

Got my new PSAK47 on Monday, and was very impressed initially with overall fit and finish. Had to work late yesterday, but got home in time to shoot it for the first time. As mentioned, the bolt-carrier assembly is tight in the receiver; no play at all. I loaded 29 rounds in the P-mag that came with it and got my ear-plugs and hat. Went out to the back of my property to my small shooting range, and racked the bolt-carrier back and let it fly, and had to take my hand and push the carrier forward to seat the bolt all the way forward into firing position. I figured it was just new and tight. I was not focused on zeroing in the sights, but testing functionality more than anything. I was still hitting a 1-foot square piece of old metal roofing tin at 30 yards.

First few rounds fired great, with strong ejection. A couple of times I went to pull the trigger, and it seemed like the safety was on, but it wasn't; took aim again and squeezed the trigger and it fired fine. After a few more rounds, I got the stiff trigger feel again, like the safety was on or trigger not reset. Took aim again and it fired fine. I attribute the couple of hard trigger pulls (FTF) to the newness and tightness of the components inside the rifle.

I was pretty content that it functioned okay, except for the two hard-trigger pulls (FTF). Took it back inside and disassembled for cleaning. Everything look okay, but I could tell where the rear of the bolt-carrier was making contact with the front of the rear trunion; no deep gouges, but evident contact. This may be normal, I'm not sure. I also noticed some markings on the top left side of the bolt-carrier where it may be contacting the inside of the top cover just a bit.

Also, with the bolt-carrier and recoil spring in the rifle with top cover off, when I pull the bolt-carrier all the way back, it appears to move upwards a bit like it wants to jump out of the receiver; at this point, the bolt-carrier does have some play, because it is almost off the tracks inside the receiver. The recoil spring bracket at the rear trunion is the only thing keeping it from jumping all the way out of the receiver, and there is some binding at this point, like it is moving up too high in the receiver at the rearward most point at the end of its travel.

Also, I watched Rob Ski's YT video again on the PSAK47 5000 round review, and the double-hook trigger assembly in the PSAK rifle Rob showed in the video was much more meatier and robust looking than the thin single-hook trigger assembly in my new PSAK47.

Those are my observations so far. I do have a tendency to be a bit paranoid, and I recognize that you usually get what you pay for, but the jury is still out on how well I like it so far. Fit and finish is only part of the equation...

Henry1

Testing underway.    So far so good but we shall see.

Also, testing of the new steel reinforced Promags and Promag drum ongoing.   Stay tuned.

@Henry1, you might want to take some pictures of the areas you are mentioning and start a thread.  Perhaps contact PSA, describe what's happening and see if they offer advice.  Some of what you are describing is not at all what I have noticed in the operation of my PSA AK (I am far from an AK platform expert, however).

I've never used a cleaning rod with any of my AK's but I always have to have one... The rifle just doesn't look right without it.

@AeroEngineer:

Good advice. But I figured since this thread is about the new PSAK47 rifles, thoughts, reviews and opinions, I'd post my initial thoughts here. Not sure it is worth starting a new thread or contacting PSA just yet. And, I certainly do not want to sound too critical or negative about my new PSAK47. I do have a few other very nice AKs and maybe I'm comparing the PSAK47 to them too much.

I certainly did not mean to horn-in on the OP's thread, but figured since others posted about their new PSAK, it would be OK.

At the moment, my thoughts and opinions of the PSAK are preliminary since I have not fired the PSAK enough to draw a firm conclusion. And, since PSA has the lifetime warranty, if something is wrong with my new PSAK, they will make it right, I'm sure. My initial first impressions of the PSAK were great in terms of fit and finish, and I still feel that way. But after firing it for the first time, I'm focusing less on fit and finish (which is excellent) and more on functionality.

Yesterday, I polished the front surface of the hammer in an effort to get a smoother function of the bolt-carrier travel in the receiver. It may have helped a little. But the bolt-carrier will still stick/bind when you pull it all the way back to the rear. When it sticks/binds, you can release the charging handle and it will stay at the rear-most position until you nudge it forward a bit; none of my other AKs do this. It will stick in the mid position at times as well, and you have to nudge it a little to get it "over the hump" of the hammer; some of my other AKs will do this at times. The bolt also fails to fully close and lock-up at times as well and needs nudging a bit to go into lock-up; none of my other AKs do this.

As it stands, I plan to shoot it more and hopefully, it will loosen up a bit and if there really are some issues, they will reveal themselves and I'll contact PSA then. Sorry, I guess I'm the nervous type anyway, and figure Murphy's Law is always lurking near by.

Henry1

Mine hangs up if I ride the bolt... nothing compared to my NPAP though, which wouldn’t function reliably without swapping to a Wolff recoil spring.

@SemperFo:

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind on the Wolff recoil spring. I've read good things about the Wolff AK recoil spring.

I've been doing a side-by-side comparison of the new PSAK47 with my other AKs. Just bought a new WASR 10 last year, and the action on it is very smooth compared to the PSAK. No binding or hang-ups at all. Of course, the fit and finish on the PSAK is so good it makes me want another one in spite of the stiff action on the one I have.

My Saiga action, very smooth. My SAR1 action is smoother than the PSAK, but not as smooth as the newer WASR 10 or the Saiga.

Heck, at the price they are selling the PSAKs, I might just buy another one just because they seem like a good value for the money. I just wish the one I have had a smoother functioning action; maybe it will loosen up with use.

Henry1

I sighted in my new PSAK47 today and it worked like a champ. No issues, and I didn't focus on the stiff action. Just rared back and let it fly...
It was shooting low at 30 yards to begin with. The windage was good; the elevation was low. The sight leaf was all the way to the rear initially. I moved it up to 1 and got it up on the target a bit. Moved it to 2 and was still a little low. I lowered the front sight post a few turns and got pretty much on target. The top of the front sight post was probably located at the center of the front sight block circular window.

Another observation: although the action is stiff, the rear sight-leaf was easily moved up and down and just a tad side to side. It could probably use some more downward tension for stability. But I'm not complaining. I like my new GB2 PSAK47!

Anyway, just wanted share a few more thoughts. My adult son came by yesterday and I showed him my new PSAK47 and he tried to buy it off of me. I told him I was not ready to sell it, but he could get a good deal on one just like it on the PSA website. :-)

Here is the target...

RE: rulz:  you are a lucky man indeed!

RE: AKs - how did you like the new PSA compared to the AMD-65 in your pic?  Does either gun have an edge as far a accuracy and or ergonomics?

What furniture can you put on these?

Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure any standard AKM furniture will fit on the wood or MOE rifles.

IIRC
The Zhukov stock rifles don’t have a handguard retainer, and the folding stock uses a non-standard pin (but it is close in size to Bulgarian).

The AMD is a blast (literally) to shoot, but the PSA is more practical and easier to shoot, which could just be due to actually having a full stock.

If you are referring to the PSAK47, yes, mine had the bayonet lug.

My plum "blemished" PSAK just came in today, and darned if I can tell what's blemished about it. Fit and finish look awesome, particularly as the only AKs I really have any experience with are WASRs. Everything is tight, nothing rattles, and the Pmag locks in with no resistance and no wobble at all.

At $500 plus 6% cash back through ActiveJunky it seems like a steal so far. Heading to the range tomorrow to start writing it out!

I have transferred 3 of the PSAK 47s for customer through the shop. Must say I was impressed with fit and finish, and overall quality of what I saw. Obviously did not get a chance to shoot one, but based on the customers comments and my limited experience with PSA, I would be okay buying one from them if I was in the AK market.

OP, the ALG AKtrigger is the best money I have ever spent on ANYTHING AK related.

Don't sweat the lack of cleaning rod.

It is MUCH better to get a surplus G-3 cleaning kit.

It includes oil holder, pull through, Bore Brush & Chamber brush.



Shouldn't cost you over $10...

Best .30 cal kit around for in the field use.

Disregard -- answered already in thread.

I have really been looking at getting one of the blems…..thanks for the updates guys.

Ok, made it out to the range this weekend with my new plum "blemished" PSAK, and I have a question: are all AK triggers like this? I very much like the rifle but the trigger seems to have a very long takeup and a light trigger pull (maybe 3.5#?) with no real perceptible wall, which made it pretty tough for me to shoot for groups and zero. I'm not necessarily complaining, it's just going to take a lot of getting used to as I don't have much experience with AKs. The gun consistently surprised the heck out of me when it went off during the trigger pull, as I wouldn't necessarily feel a point of greater resistance during takeup.

Like I said, probably a training issue, but it's very weird coming from ARs with GI or drop-in 2-stage triggers.

Mine came with a cleaning rod.

Mine is like that too. Switching to my AR with mil spec trigger was night and day difference... Still better than my SKS trigger though!

That being said, I get surprisingly good groups at 100yds with the AK, so I think it does take some getting used to... or an upgrade to the ALG trigger.

Well, that sort of mirrors the same experience I had the first time I shot my new PSAK47. The first time I shot it I was more or less just testing functionality and not sighting in, per-se. A couple of times I went to pull the trigger to fire, and nothing happened. I completely released the trigger and made sure the hammer was reset and then tried again and it fired. I guess I was not releasing the trigger far enough forward to reset.

I still like my PSAK, especially the fit and finish. But the action sure is stiff, especially compared to my other AKs. If you ride the bolt handle any at all while charging the bolt carrier, it will hang at the rear and stay there till you push it forward, or hang midway on the hammer till you push it forward. If you pull the bolt carrier back and let if fly on its own, it doesn't hang up or bind; but I hate to let the action slam shut that hard without loading a round from the mag. It just seems like too much pounding on the bold carrier and front trunion... hopefully it will smooth out some as it wears with use.

Really liking the looks of that PSA AK..I have one in the cart now....

I find the same thing when I shoot Chinese AK's with the double hook triggers. Not much resistance, and no stopping of the trigger just before the gun fires. But after 20 rounds, or so, I can figure it out. OTOH, when I shoot European stamped guns with single hook triggers, there is a definite stop, & I know if the trigger moves any further, the gun will fire. But if you compare the hooks on double, vs single hook triggers, they are very different. GARY

I finally bought a blemished MOE version since they were too good to pass up at $499 with free shipping. That was about a week ago, just waiting patiently for the shipping e-mail!

I’ve surpassed 500 rounds apiece on both my Russian Red and OD green Blems as of yesterday. RS Products Light Mount came in the mail today:

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