Well I noticed with my new SAM7 that if I try to cycle the action and forget to turn the safety to fire , the action will force the flimsy bar upwards and off track, digging into the finish in a small area. Are all AK safety bars not designed to stay in the safe position if you force the charge handle  on it?

Nope.

Any of you know if Arsenal is worth dealing with to get my SAM7 fixed? The sight is canted left in the rear and my safety does that stop the charge handle , the handle hits the safety then pushes the safety level up and out of its normal position.

Man for the best AK available , its really not as pefect as I expected it would be.

I do not mean the arc the safety makes between F&S but when the charge handle knocks the safety higher than the dust cover catch. I was at the gun store today and took a look at the safety on it. First off it was a WASR-10 and it looked like garbage for 370$. Its dust cover was bent out a little bit to catch the safety from going any higher than needed. The difference is the SAM7 is nice and smooth and all the seams are tight but the safety lever does not have alot of contact surface on the dust cover so any force from the charge handle knocks the level away from the gun and over the dust covers seam.

??

When I first got my SA-M7 the lever was so tight that I couldn't push it down because it would catch on the inside of the receiver lip.  But I removed it and bent it and put it back.  Now it works fine.

I can't really figure out what your problem is caused by.  But I would imagine that a 5 minute "bend" session would cure all of your ills.

I can take some pics of it to show what I have to work with.  Also the dust cover is getting all knicked up by the shells being extracted. Is that normal?  Would it be possible to find a new dust cover with the new travel stop for the safety(that would have a good black finish)?

Shot it today, its trigger is really smooth. Like it.

Talked to a tech at Arsenal yesterday. He explained that the rear site is dialed in for each gun and that the sloped rear plate is not of concern.

Then I started talking about my 2nd concern the safety level not stopping the charge handle, the fact that there is no metal on the dust cover to act as a block for the safety level going upwards, he got really concerned and then ask me to send it back to him. He said usually repairs are done in 24hours. Well I am gonna shoot it one more time then send it off with a detailed video tape of what is happening so the same problem won't get sent back to me.

There customer service so far seemed to be darn good. I will let you all know how they take care of the rest of the situation.

Quoted: Also the dust cover is getting all knicked up by the shells being extracted. Is that normal?  Would it be possible to find a new dust cover with the new travel stop for the safety(that would have a good black finish)?

My suggestion to you is if you can't handle the little dings the gun will get from shooting then don't shoot it.  I have a Hungarian AKM with the newer dust cover and it gets roughed up by shell extraction.  Try Global Trades for the newer dust cover.

Wow, I said nothing about "not being able to take little dings". Stop reading into stuff that isn't there. I asked if it was normal, if its normal than no biggy, but if its not, why get a good looking weapon all dinged up if it can be avoided.

...why get a good looking weapon all dinged up if it can be avoided.

That's what my brother used to say before I backed-up over his new SLR-93.