Bought my first AR - NEA in 7.62x39

TheWhole9Yards said:
I would say thats accurate.

That being said he is my take on those points:

- Yes this is my first AR, and in my first post I mention some of the reasons I decided to buy it. I wasn't looking for a high quality rifle, I went out and found the cheapest AR in 7.62x39 so I could burn through my inventory of surplus ammo. Self admitted novice so take everything within this thread from me with a grain of salt.

- From my research NEA had a bad track record with its rifles up to the current generation of rifle, which I was told I was purchasing. I ended up getting a 2014 production rifle with the previous generations BCG, barrel and barrel extension. In my research I also found they have a lifetime warranty - which so far has given me good service.

- It did indeed fail after the 5th round I fired, causing the charging handle to give me a little smack in the face.

- They only replaced the parts that caused and were damaged by the failure. From a purely business point of view this makes sense, from a customer service perspecitve it does not.

- Damages to the finish were not repaired when they had an excellent opportuity to be a hero. To be fair I didn't ask for them to fix this, I asked to have the rifle back ASAP. I'm not one who cares about small blemishes, it was sad to see on a brand new rifle, I've now added some character to rifle myself. I had the opportunity to look the rifle over when I picked it up and I didn't take it. Lesson learned.

After all of this I have put over 1500 rounds through the rifle, some of which have been shot by friends yes. I trust the rifle is safe to shoot and no longer worry about failures. The rifle was test fired quite a bit before it came back to me based on the wear I found on the BCG. I don't live in a state of paranoia with this rifle, it works now.

Yes I would reccomend the rifle for someone looking for a budget AR in 7.62x39. I received a rifle with bad parts, yes - I havent heard of someone with a Gen 2 (2015 production or newer) having any problems. As mentioned before I chose a beatup rifle made in 2014 sold to me as a Gen 2. I suppose I should be more clear in my endorsement, I would reccomend the purchase of an NEA15 in 7.62x39 as long as it has a production date of 2015 or newer. In the serial number the 3rd and 4th number is the year of production. Example: serial# NEA1514######XX = 2014 production. Serial # NEA1516######X = 2016 production.

I totally understand where you are coming from, I'm sure if I were on the outside looking in I would feel similar. Fact of the matter is I was the one who held that rifle in front of my face and had the failure, it wasnt as exciting as everyone is imagining it in their minds. It sounded not too different than a normal shot, and at first it wasnt apparent it had failed. That failure if it were to happen again would not be deadly or injure me, and them replacing my previous bolt with the current production further stregthens my belief that the '15+ production rifles are solid and not typical NEA.

I plan on continuing this thread as a long term review, I really appreciate everyones feedback and support through this - its been quite the learning experience!
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I have to say, this thread has me baffled too. I haven't had a horrible experience with NEA, but a "not so nice" experience. I bought one of their "super sweet 14" shotgun barrels" for my 870. Got it and the inside of the barrrel AND chamber was parkerized.... who does that? It wouldn't extract anything but the lightest of target loads - everything else required a dowel down the barrel and punching it into something hard whilst pulling back on the forend. Not impressed. Took polishing the living hell out of it with steel wool to get it to reliably extract most rounds, then had to take some 600 grit emery in the lathe to polish it enough to extract slugs. Great, now I realize, after all of this, that the gun hasn't even been locking up correctly in the barrel extension! Totally lucky I didn't have the bolt just thrown back through my eyeball!

Out to the gunsmith it goes to have it fixed, since of course NEA won't even answer my emails or talk to me about it. They simply didn't care at all.

Anyways, back to your issue - first off, I'm surprised anyone said that primer would be a sign of over pressure - not at all. The primer came out because the bolt wasn't there to stop it from coming out. The bolt started moving back before it was supposed to, because the barrel extension cracked. That allowed the primer to pop out.

Anyways, your confidence in that upper receiver and BCG is misplaced IMO. All sorts of damage could have been done that you can't see clearly or that you can't see at all, from the event that was caused by the brittle barrel extension. I am shocked that they would not replace it - from a business or customer service standpoint. If that thing lets go and you end up a pirate with a patch, they're going to be in a world of financial hurt and you're going to be in a world of real hurt. Personally, if it was me, I would be demanding they replace everything, including the lower, with a full Gen2 gun, then I would promptly be listing it on the EE for 50 bucks less than the lowest price one already on there. I'd want that thing out of my house as fast as possible.

A 7.62x39 AR is a cool idea, and if it works, great, very cool. But the number of issues people have had with various ones - I'd be sticking to something purpose built for the cartridge like the mutant or other similar ones. I know companies have finally found success with it, but it's still not what it was designed for. It's a bigger cartridge in a gun designed for a smaller one. (Edit: having read further down, you seem to want to keep it as long as it will run, kudos for that, be careful, and it might be worth setting aside some cash for a Mutant or something similar down the road ;))

But then those mags... what a cherry on the top of this cake.

Oddly (to me), you don't sound upset or perturbed at all. If that was me, and I just had my gun blow up in my face (like it or not, that's what happened....), then the company replaced only the parts that were visibly damaged (ignoring the fact that you didn't get what you paid for to begin with, and ignoring the fact that the upper and handguard had damage to it before you even got it), leaving you with a potentially weakened gun, then you had, what, 3 magazines fail on you, I'd be furious. Downright off the wall furious.

I'm trying not to rag on you, but I'd like to offer a little bit here - I'd suggest (quite strongly in fact) that the rifles from NEA that are working fine are the anomaly, not the rifles that break.

I do wish you good luck on this gun, and I hope it works out for you, but I would personally never fire that thing again, and would be demanding they replace the entire thing with a brand spanking shiny new Gen2 so that I could get as much of my investment back as possible by selling it.

Hope I didn't come across as a douche - just trying to offer another perspective from someone who hasn't been burned "too badly" by NEA
 
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beltfed said:
Yeah brass or 'soldier's gold' left in the anodizing is normal, but the anodizing removed down to bare aluminum after 2000 rounds isn't.
I'd say that is a sh!tty anodizing job.

The front takedown pin/detent issue is curious. I'd wager money on it being the pin being worn.
I wouldn't bother staking the buffer tube, just torque it down properly.
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To be fair, he's shooting steel case ammo - steel case is a lot harder than brass case, of course, so I understand if the steel cases chip through the anodizing much faster than the brass cases would
 
TheWhole9Yards said:
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Well, you answered my comment about your resale value - good on you for being ok with that. A better man than I.

I will say too, it's pretty cool it stands up to that kind of treatment that well. I'm baffled by this company. It seems like they could make decent products if they tried hard enough, but for me, there's just been too many failures, too many risky situations, etc, for me to risk it. But, I will give you credit, you stuck this out this far.... I'm curious to see how long it lasts... I just hope when you manage to break it, only the gun breaks :p

Cool videos though - I wish I could do videos even half that good.
 
krprice84 said:
I have to say, this thread has me baffled too. I haven't had a horrible experience with NEA, but a "not so nice" experience. I bought one of their "super sweet 14" shotgun barrels" for my 870. Got it and the inside of the barrrel AND chamber was parkerized.... who does that? It wouldn't extract anything but the lightest of target loads - everything else required a dowel down the barrel and punching it into something hard whilst pulling back on the forend. Not impressed. Took polishing the living hell out of it with steel wool to get it to reliably extract most rounds, then had to take some 600 grit emery in the lathe to polish it enough to extract slugs. Great, now I realize, after all of this, that the gun hasn't even been locking up correctly in the barrel extension! Totally lucky I didn't have the bolt just thrown back through my eyeball!

Out to the gunsmith it goes to have it fixed, since of course NEA won't even answer my emails or talk to me about it. They simply didn't care at all.

Anyways, back to your issue - first off, I'm surprised anyone said that primer would be a sign of over pressure - not at all. The primer came out because the bolt wasn't there to stop it from coming out. The bolt started moving back before it was supposed to, because the barrel extension cracked. That allowed the primer to pop out.

Anyways, your confidence in that upper receiver and BCG is misplaced IMO. All sorts of damage could have been done that you can't see clearly or that you can't see at all, from the event that was caused by the brittle barrel extension. I am shocked that they would not replace it - from a business or customer service standpoint. If that thing lets go and you end up a pirate with a patch, they're going to be in a world of financial hurt and you're going to be in a world of real hurt. Personally, if it was me, I would be demanding they replace everything, including the lower, with a full Gen2 gun, then I would promptly be listing it on the EE for 50 bucks less than the lowest price one already on there. I'd want that thing out of my house as fast as possible.

A 7.62x39 AR is a cool idea, and if it works, great, very cool. But the number of issues people have had with various ones - I'd be sticking to something purpose built for the cartridge like the mutant or other similar ones. I know companies have finally found success with it, but it's still not what it was designed for. It's a bigger cartridge in a gun designed for a smaller one. (Edit: having read further down, you seem to want to keep it as long as it will run, kudos for that, be careful, and it might be worth setting aside some cash for a Mutant or something similar down the road ;))

But then those mags... what a cherry on the top of this cake.

Oddly (to me), you don't sound upset or perturbed at all. If that was me, and I just had my gun blow up in my face (like it or not, that's what happened....), then the company replaced only the parts that were visibly damaged (ignoring the fact that you didn't get what you paid for to begin with, and ignoring the fact that the upper and handguard had damage to it before you even got it), leaving you with a potentially weakened gun, then you had, what, 3 magazines fail on you, I'd be furious. Downright off the wall furious.

I'm trying not to rag on you, but I'd like to offer a little bit here - I'd suggest (quite strongly in fact) that the rifles from NEA that are working fine are the anomaly, not the rifles that break.

I do wish you good luck on this gun, and I hope it works out for you, but I would personally never fire that thing again, and would be demanding they replace the entire thing with a brand spanking shiny new Gen2 so that I could get as much of my investment back as possible by selling it.

Hope I didn't come across as a douche - just trying to offer another perspective from someone who hasn't been burned "too badly" by NEA
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No offence taken, and no you're not being a douche. I get where you are coming from in regards to the rest of the rifle, maybe I shouldn't trust it but I do. I've run this thing hard in -40 weather and in +30 degree weather now without issue. If there were stresses or defects I feel I would have had a failure by now.

I was upset at first, but again I did my research and knew what I was getting into. I'm a realist and know you can't expect steak for the price of burger, which is exactly where this rifle is positioned in the market. The cheapest way to sling surplus x39 from an AR is an NEA.

Good news on the mag front is that NEA has sent me replacements finally, should receive them next week. My next video will go over how to repair them after they fail.

As far as never firing the rifle again, I still have 3 crates of Russian surplus to dispose of!
 
Well with my foot firmly planted in my mouth I must report that the AR is boxed up and headed back to NEA for repairs once again. While shooting last weekend one of the lugs sheared off the bolt jamming the rifle up quite nicely, looks like it was over treated. I must admit I'm quite upset, my optimism has evaporated and I no longer have a want to look at or touch the damn thing. A minor failure in the grand scheme of things, another chapter in my short time with this rifle.

They were ready to ship a new bolt right away, however after some discussion it was decided I will ship the rifle to them for repairs and inspection.

 
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This thread has been epic. I just hope I can accurately summarize what you experienced in the past six months with this rifle:

-You buy the rifle. It comes with mismatched and dinged up handguards/upper receiver out of the box.
-During your first range trip the gun suffers a catastrophic failure on the 5th round, due to a brittle barrel extension that got missed by poor QC.
-The retailer who sold it to you won't take the rifle back, and upon dealing with NEA warranty you discover they sold you a gen 1 rifle advertised as a gen 2 rifle.
-Two weeks later you get the gun back, and NEA has only replaced the conspicuously damaged parts.
-Two weeks after that, the NEA mags you bought from the same retailer (after they screwed you the first time?) start falling apart and 3/5 are unusable.
-NEA offers to replace the mags, retailer gives you the shaft again.
-A month after that, your receiver extension and pivot pin need repair.
-Now a broken bolt, and unusable gun which needs warranty repair work yet again.

You really must have the patience of a saint. Are you planning on carrying on with this experiment?
 
To me It appears this experiment has indicated that the 7.62 is not ment for the AR platform. Even some of the best manufacturers and custom builders like ARP have dropped it from their catalogs due to the issues reported here.
 
Grapeshot said:
This thread has been epic. I just hope I can accurately summarize what you experienced in the past six months with this rifle:

-You buy the rifle. It comes with mismatched and dinged up handguards/upper receiver out of the box.
-During your first range trip the gun suffers a catastrophic failure on the 5th round, due to a brittle barrel extension that got missed by poor QC.
-The retailer who sold it to you won't take the rifle back, and upon dealing with NEA warranty you discover they sold you a gen 1 rifle advertised as a gen 2 rifle.
-Two weeks later you get the gun back, and NEA has only replaced the conspicuously damaged parts.
-Two weeks after that, the NEA mags you bought from the same retailer (after they screwed you the first time?) start falling apart and 3/5 are unusable.
-NEA offers to replace the mags, retailer gives you the shaft again.
-A month after that, your receiver extension and pivot pin need repair.
-Now a broken bolt, and unusable gun which needs warranty repair work yet again.

You really must have the patience of a saint. Are you planning on carrying on with this experiment?
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Accurate summary, Epps has NEVER returned a phone call or email. I was able to get management on the phone once, they promised to replace my mags - haven't been able to reach him since. This is the 5th rifle I bought from them in the last 2yrs, safe to say the last.

Will I continue shooting this rifle? I'm really not sure at this point, I think I've provided enough insight on the product for it to be a useful review and I've had fun shooting it between failures. Its a great gun when it works. I guess I'll wait to see what NEA does with the rifle, I asked for them to buy it back - they refused. I won't even bother with Epps, they clearly doesn't care about customers stuck like me.

I work with people all day that have broken products in need if repair, I have high threshold for BS and a ton of respect for companies who stand behind their products. If this thread were to get locked out today this would be my final rant/summary:

Epps = Talks a big game on customer service, does not back it up in anyway shape or form. I kept going back based on peoples reccomendations and stories of awesomness, maybe its an old boys club. Everytime I was in there the customer service didn't even come close to what I receive at the gun counter at Cabelas. I'm embarrased for the management there, they had and still have an amazing opportuity for what we call a recovery, swoop in and do the leg for the customer and keep them for life. Instead it seems they screen phone calls, ignore emails, and can't even return voicemail messages only asking for a call back. I will never reccomend them again, or spend a $ in their store.

NEA = An innovative company that has fallen short on QC and or R&D, GREAT customer service, they have solved every issue up to this point with professionalim and genuine care. Have I had a bad go with their product? Hell yes, they haven't stopped trying to fix it which is what they promise when you buy their product. I honeslty respect them for what they are trying to do, I think they have rushed products and parts for those products into the market too quickly which has put me in this current position. I'm confident I'll have a functioning rifle again soon, I just hope I don't need to experience another failure to get the kinks worked out of this rifle. I Don't think what I am experiencing should become an expectation of their product, many others have no problems with theirs and really enjoy them. It seems they have consistent issues with their bolts, I'm interested to know of they are made in house or not. I would consider buying NEA again based solely on their solid customer service.
 
Sqr said:
To me It appears this experiment has indicated that the 7.62 is not ment for the AR platform. Even some of the best manufacturers and custom builders like ARP have dropped it from their catalogs due to the issues reported here.
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Sorry to hear the OP is having this experience with the NEA. All I can say is I'm glad I went with the Windham x39.

So far I'm having good luck with the Windham x39. I've put 2500rds of steel cased surplus through it, mostly Czech, and no real issues. Some light primer strikes but Windham sent me their 'enhanced' firing pin to solve this.
 
Steiner said:
Sorry to hear the OP is having this experience with the NEA. All I can say is I'm glad I went with the Windham x39.

So far I'm having good luck with the Windham x39. I've put 2500rds of steel cased surplus through it, mostly Czech, and no real issues. Some light primer strikes but Windham sent me their 'enhanced' firing pin to solve this.
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Windham is a fine rifle.
 
TheWhole9Yards said:
Compared to the original failure it is hah
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Actually I'd consider it quite a major failure. Imagine if that lug didn't jam up the gun and it just kept working? Maybe another breaks off. Or two more. Then all of a sudden there is a catastrophic failure of the remaining lugs, and you're standing there wearing a surgically implanted bolt carrier group.... As a new eyeball.

That is scary as hell man. I'd be beside myself in anger! Especially after what happened.

If I was you I'd be demanding a full replacement then I'd be selling it.

To be honest, if it was me I would be somehow marking every major piece of that gun :) including both the bolt carrier, bolt body, rotating lug, both receivers, and the barrel and extension. That way I can call them on it when they try to give me my old stuff back.

I'd also be letting them know the whole series of events would be posted publicly everywhere you can if they don't replace everything. Hell I'd tell them I'd be displaying the gun at every gun show near you with photos of the damage. They need to jump on this and go over and above to fix this. It's totally nonsense.
 
I've just picked up my first stripped lower and really wanted to build a 7.5" 7.62x39; this thread has me reconsidering the NEA upper although I'm far from decided. Especially if CanAms are Gen2, will see... May yet go .223.... Thanks for sharing it anyway, it's a good read.
 
UPDATE

I shipped the rifle to NEA with a short list of concerns, I had it back in just over a week with all of my concerns addressed and satisfied. An updated bolt was installed along with a new detent for the front pivot pin, they also test fired the rifle to ensure proper and safe function.

I've since had a chance to put 300 rounds through it without issue. For now I'm happy with the rifle, and will hopefully enjoy shooting it until x39 surplus dries up.

Thank you for reading up to this point, I hope this thread is useful for future reference as I had a hard time finding actual firsthand experience/reviews. I doubt I will be updating the thread going forward, I think I've provided enough info for someone to know what they are getting into both good and bad.
 
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