Tell me about Lancaster AK's.

[jehicks87]

So, What's the deal with Lancaster AK Mk99? Good weapon? Easy to fix if/when it does go down? Reliable as other AK's? I know it has a milled receiver, are there any other deviations? Weight? Etc?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Jake

 

[Hizzie]

Run away. Run far. Do not look back.

Lancaster Arms has one of the worst, if not the worst, reputations for horrific Customer Service in the AK Community. Poor builds and ignoring customers who try to get them fixed. Several people who ordered and paid for rifles that were then ignored by Lancaster until legal action was taken. Only a sampling of 1 but the Lancaster I saw did not impress me and I would chosen a WASR over it if it was my $$$.

As for differences in Milled Vs Stamped. Milled is heavier, holds more heat and leaves your furniture/accessory options more limited. They are not any more accurate or durable than stamped.

 

[brnmuenchow]

The only issue I had with them was a long wait, and then loose handguards. Otherwise no mechanical defects detected. I will however suggest not using the plastic mags that come with the gun, the Bulgarian steel mags have worked great! As with any purchase it is alway's going to be a hit or miss when it comes to everyone's opinion's and that's okay. (The plastic mags were causing some jamming issues.)

 

[jonnyc]

I asked about them on another forum. Word I got was that all the problems are with the AK74 variant, and that the 47 models are fine. And yes, their CS apparently sucks.

 

[Telekinesis]

I would definitely stay away from them. On a web forum run by Tactical Response (combat shooting school), they had a discussion about a Lancaster that failed in a class they were doing. What ended up happening was a rivet was out of spec causing the gun to literally fall apart as the owner was shooting it! It was something along the lines of:

Bang...
Bang...
Bang... dust cover flies off
Bang... gun loosens up
Bang... stock and recoil spring fly off gun

Granted, this was in their "Fighting Rifle" class which is (IIRC) a 1500 round class, but I sill wouldn't want to buy a gun that has issues with out of spec parts in critical areas like the receiver. Adding to that, the company has a pretty bad reputation as to how they treat their customers. I wouldn't go anywhere near them.

 

[AethelstanAegen]

I'd look into other companies. If you're trying to avoid Century Arms then perhaps look at Interarms, which generally falls in the middle of the price range from Century and Arsenal and seems to have decent build quality. I haven't had to contact CS at all but I haven't heard any complaints either. Looking at the prices of the Lancaster aks, it looks like Interarms is about the same price or less. I'd definitely give them a look; I bought my Interarms WZ. 88 from Atlantic Firearms and was very happy with quality and shipping time (ordered Monday morning and it arrived at my FFL on Wednesday) and they also have a discount for THR members.

 

[sarduy]

wow.. a lot of hate... have you ever owned a lancaster? it's easier to talk bad about a gun that you have never owned.


while it is tru that "a batch" of theit ak74 were out of spec that problem is all gone, in fact they issue a recall on the batch and offer a replacement, they even have the serial range of weapons affected... i got a lancaster ak74 and give them a call to check even when i knew that my 74 didn't fall in the range of affected weapons, and what i got? a friendly CS who told me that even if my 74 didn't fall in the affected range, if i ever got a a problem i can send it in for warranty...

2000 rounds later i haven't had a single problem with my 74, will i ever buy another lancaster? you bet i will. Some people run their mouth in forums without talking to the company first. BTW their ak74 is the clousest you'll get to an original Bulgarian AK.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTPDW9sdXTI

 

[brnmuenchow]

I have one and my father has one. I know my father had an issue with their customer service at some point but in the end everything worked out.

 

[jehicks87]

edited because I was totally wrong. lol

 

[EAJ]

A few years ago I requested that they replace the stock on my AK47, which they eventually did with a nice set of blonde Ironwood, but it took a few calls and about 30 days. Otheriwse, I've had no issues with it. Just recently installed a Krebs rail on it.

 

[jehicks87]

thanks all. I was interested in a cheap used one, but I'm going to pass because I learned the lancasters are spot-hardened. That's the kind of information I was after.

Thanks all.

 

[Davek1977]

With many sources of AKs out there, I see no use patronizing a company that has screwed over many people and has rotten cust. service. Spending money with them only encourages such behavior

 

[M1key]

Owned a Lancaster, met and talked to Chet Durda personally. Seems an upright guy. Prob was he outsourced the '74 builds to a low bidder and ended up with the same results a number of CAI '74s had, namely keyholing due to wrong diameter .224 barrels and improperly sized gas ports which led to excessive wear and tear on the receivers. The x39 models were not affected.

Personally, I would rather own a Saiga.

M