New, more like virgin to AKs.  Was doing some research and I liked the look of the all black synthetic AKs.  Well I went with my friend to fire off his new S&W 500 hand cannon.  Next to us was 2 guys with exactly what I wanted in an AK.  It did not have a last round hold open and at one point they hammered it a little but it still kept on going.  Is this normal?  Or is this an early or rough AK?  

P.S.  The S&W 500 is the only hand gun that actually hurt firing it.  Do not buy one unless you are a manly man of men and have money to burn on really expensive rounds.  It was fun though.

AKs do not have a last round hold open feature.  My thumb learned that the hard way while I was cleaning my AK for the first time.

And Blackjack sells a bolt hold open follower for Chinese magazines. It works similar to the Yugo magazines.

I have some Chinese mags that have a hump in the follower of the mag. that serve to hold the bolt open. It is a pretty jerry rigged way of doing it, but it works.

While most of us are comfortable with a BHO, I have given it much thought and decided that it is not a big deal to go without one.  Here is my reasoning.  If you have a malfunction, the first thing you do is to check and see if your mag is inserted correctly.  The next thing you do is jack the action and out with the bad and in with good.  Not having a BHO simplifies the manual of arms when doing a mag a change.  Drop the mag, slap another in and jack the bolt.  Almost the same as an imediate action drill.