Arsenal AK = Massive Fail (pics included)

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orangeninja

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So I purchased an Arsenal SLR107FR (Bulgarian, side folding, AK47) from Atlantic Arms just before year end last year and it arrived today for pickup. Yipeee...right? Not so fast. Upon unboxing this rifle it was obvious something was wrong, at first I thought it was a canted sight but no, after a brief inspection it was obvious the entire barrel was bent to the side and downward.

I know some of the early SLR107s had canted sights and Arsenal supposedly corrected the problem (bad batch). This one on the other hand looks like maybe they tried to "fix" it by placing the gun in a vice and twisted the entire dang barrel (pure speculation on my part of course).

I read on another forum that if your Arsenal contains a sample target, you're likely okay, if not, inspect it carefully (I don't know if this is true or not).

Anyhow, given this is a $1K+ stamped AK, I cannot believe Atlantic Arms allowed this weapon out the door (though in their defense it's possible they don't even bother inspecting before shipping) but Arsenal? Their reputation is the entire reason anyone would pay literally twice as much for one of their rifles versus a CAI.

I've not yet transferred the rifle from my dealer, so maybe Atlantic will exchange it, maybe not. Maybe Arsenal will give me a new rifle, maybe they'll attempt a repair.

I want a new rifle mostly because as I understand it, the optics rail mounted on the side of the AK is calibrated to the barrel. Swapping out the barrel would render the optic rail useless. They took a shortcut on quality inspection of the barrel, I have no faith that they'd do a proper repair of the entire rifle.

As of now I would consider this rifle unsafe to fire with the barrel pitched to the left and downward. Any thoughts?
 

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Maybe I am looking at it wrong...I'm not seeing it? You might want to measure jow straight the barrel is after umscrewing the MB.
 
The pic with the ruler next to it. The barrel is squared up to the ruler and flush with the flat of the handguard. You should see it swing leftwards towards the end of the muzzlebreak. I left the gun untouched at the FFL as this is definitely going to be a warranty issue. This is not a slightly bent barrel.

Regardless, the ruler is a straight object, compare that to the barrel and you'll see what I mean.
 
I'll assume you're measuring/eyeballing correctly, though it is hard to tell anything from the pics.

The problem with the idea of getting a new barrel -- or even of the optic rail -- is that the barrel stub presses into the front block or trunion. It can't really go in crooked. That means that the trunion is mounted in the receiver crooked. Not terribly hard to do when assembling the rifle, though not terribly easy, either.

Since the trunion is crooked, any other barrel you swapped into it will be exactly that crooked as well.

The optics rail -- IF it is intended to be calibrated at all to the barrel's point of aim, which is entirely questionable *-- simply rivets to the side of the receiver. If the receiver wall isn't parallel to the bore of the barrel, the optics won't point anywhere close to where the barrel does.




(* -- When you install the rail, you can fix it in place with one rivet before drilling for the other rivets. That lets you install a scope temporarily and bore-sight the elevation by canting the rail up or down a hair, and then using the holes in the rail as the guide for drilling once you have the elevation set. That lets you get the elevation of your scope about neutral from the start, so you don't have to crank through the whole elevation range just to compensate for a discrepancy between the rail and bore. There isn't really anything to be done to adjust for windage in the mount itself.)
 
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Now, alternately, your GAS BLOCK could be mounted slightly crooked/clocked/canted to the right. That would pull the front of the gas tube off to the right and make the barrel look bent to the left. And that probably wouldn't affect operation or accuracy, though the piston will wear heavily on the left side of the inside of the tube.

Again, it is hard to tell from the pics.
 
It's a little easier to tell when seeing the entire rifle, especially if laid out flat. Maybe I should take a level to it. Anyhow, hopefully Atlantic or Arsenal will make it right. Barrel, gas tube, whatever...a $1K+ AK shouldn't have these issues.
 
Thanks hrvatska, I've sent them an email, I'll report back here how it gets handled.
 
Never dealt with Atlantic myself but I've heard very good things about their customer service. I believe they even have a THR account.

Let us know how it goes. I've been thinking about an Arsenal from Atlantic or KVar.
 
How'd it go?

I am very close to buying an AK through Atlantic. I'm all ears on this one. If they do you right, then I'm all in. If not, well...
 
I have no experience with Atlantic Firearms but I have dealt with Arsenal before. The bolt carrier on my SGL31 cracked rather badly where the gas piston attaches. With no proof of purchase and only my word that there was a problem they sent me a UPS shipping label. The part was replaced and shipped back to me literally the day they received it.

Good people overall so I think you'll have no problems if you choose to replace the rifle. BTW, a poorly built AK is a tragedy, but a properly built one is just awesome, and Arsenal gets a whole more right than they do wrong.
 
I've not yet transferred the rifle from my dealer
Just curious, how does your FFL feel when you find an issue with the firearm and not doing the transfer? Your FFL is not responsible for the firearm and you can't ship back yourself taking it from your FFL without a transfer, now he is stuck with it unless he ships it back for you which is not his responsibility either! I ask since I may be one day in the same situation.
 
@Winthepennant...I posted this just last night and have been checking my email hourly since. :) I will post something as soon as I hear from Atlantic. I am contacting Atlantic 1st before I do anything else.

@HankC...I have a pretty good relationship with my dealer (I think) and I have assured them I will not stick them with the gun regardless of what happens. The reason I did not complete the transfer is this gives Atlantic the option of sending a packing label to the dealer and having the gun shipped back new in box. Once you complete the transfer, the gun is considered "used" and it becomes a warranty issue between the buyer and the manufacture, essentially limiting Atlantic's options.

Should Atlantic tell me they cannot/will not do anything about it, I will transfer the rifle over from my FFL and deal with Arsenal directly. Since I want the rifle replaced and not repaired, I'm hoping Atlantic will send a packing label and just exchange the rifle, thereby making the defect issue theirs to deal with rather than mine. I chose to purchase through Atlantic rather than my local dealer or KVAR simply because of Atlantic's outstanding customer service reputation "just in case". Now that the "just in case" has actually happened, it will be interesting to see if I made the right choice.

I have to admit that yesterday standing in that store, looking at a $1K+ AK with a bent barrel, I was madder than a provoked hornet. I specifically ordered (and paid) for Arsenal quality just so I wouldn't have to play grab@$$ games dealing with warranties between the manufacturer and myself. Otherwise I would have just rolled the dice and bought a Century for half as much (literally). It is ironic that I now find myself in this situation and now that I've calmed down a bit I have to say, I should have bought a Century instead, specifically the VG58. Live and learn. Even the best manufacturers put out a lemon every once in a while, I just seem to get a disproportionate amount of them (recently had a defective Remington 870 too).
 
Umm...they sent you the "Spetsnaz Operator" model by mistake. The barrel is canted low/left to compensate for the rapid-fire muzzle climb of a right handed shooter. That option alone is a $300 add-on, you got a bargain!
 
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Update, Annette from Arsenal called me this morning and asked me for the serial of the rifle so she could start the RMA process. She wanted to get this taken care of before some big show they have coming up. I told her I have not yet transferred the rifle and wanted to see if Atlantic would be willing to do an exchange. She thought this would be a good idea and told me to let her know what Atlantic decides. So far, Arsenal has been on the ball.
 
For the cost...for what you get? Yeah, massive. This isn't a $450 AK with a canted sight. As I said before, a cursory "eyeballing" of the AK would show that this thing was defective yet someone held this and placed it in a box to ship and sell. An absolute fail in quality control at every level from the time the barrel was placed on the gun to shipping to the FFL.
 
I think the companies will stand behind it and treat you right. Atlantic should pay all shipping. I had a saiga 308 which was crooked looking but not like that. The darned thing was a good shooter though.
 
I heard from Bradly at Atlantic, he is contacting Arsenal and will hit me back this afternoon. So far, both organizations have been quick to respond.
 
Update: Atlantic worked something out with KVAR, their wholesaler, who contacted my FFL and will be sending a shipping label to the gun shop to have the gun shipped back to KVAR. They informed me at that time they will decide whether or not to repair or replace the gun. I have been very impressed with the amount of coordination and number of people who have been involved in this so far (4 up to this point). They have all been very polite, professional, and helpful. Kudos to Atlantic for taking ownership of the issue sight unseen and to Arsenal for calling me back so quickly. Let's see what happens from here

Now the question on repair or replace...I'm unsure of how to feel about either option. If I replace the gun I get another sight unseen weapon (though I'm sure they'll at least inspect it once more before shipping). If I get a repaired weapon I will get one that has probably been gone over with a fine tooth comb...but again, will that affect the accuracy of the rail mount? I have no idea. Any thoughts?
 
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