A question re these rifles for anyone that has handled and or fired one.
The reviews online seem to be overwhelmingly positive. One Canadian review publication mentioned not holding zero due to The steel/aluminum upper (?) construction. Can anyone comment on this and also how does it feel in the hands. Is it front heavy or decently balanced etc.
I am just looking for some insight and appreciate the help, I think these look awesome!
I have had one for over a year with about 1500-2000rds down the pipe.
Short answer: I've never encountered a gun with a more stark contrast between build quality and performance. It's a $2k gun that performs like a below-average SKS.
The build quality of this gun is incredible. The two-stage trigger is fantastic, the fit and finish is flawless, the gun has no wobble or give anywhere, the takedown and disassembly is a breeze, and the three-position gas system adjusts very easily. The top rail is nice and low to bore and is long enough that you can meaningfully use iron sights.
Unfortunately, that's where the praise ends. Before you read what I have to say and come back and say I'm a carpenter blaming his tools, I take extremely good care of my guns and properly clean and lubricate them. I also tested the ammo in a benchrest so we can't blame my ####ty marksmanship (which it's not).
The gun is brutally inaccurate and very picky on ammo. I dipped into my hidden stash of Czech 7.62x39 and it provided the best accuracy and performance - 3MOA and reliable cycling.
Of ammo that is actually obtainable nowadays, Chinese corrosive is next best. 3-4MOA and cycles fairly reliably. Barnaul (being hotter than Hell) cycles all the time but prints 4-5MOA.
That assumes, of course that the gun doesn't slamfire, which it does more than any other gun I've owned or used. It'll happen rarely with surplus/steel case. However, brass case with soft primers is unsafe to use because it slamfires so often. PMC stuff frequently doubles. Gecko has 2-3rd bursts. Of course, it cycles none of these reliably. You never know if you'll have a day of flawless performance or a day of scaring the #### out of the ROs when you're firing your full-auto-by-accident M10X. I am not the only owner with this problem.
Next is the mag pickiness. I have 10 AK mags for this gun (1 Romanian steel mag and 9 Magpul mags of various gens). Some rock into place no problem. Others will only lock if you hold the bolt open, which you have to do manually since it's like an AK. Some of them will feed fine. Some of them won't feed the next round. It's always a surprise.
And last, but not least, is my favourite feature: the disappearing bolt handle. The bolt handle connects the bolt carrier with the gas system so it's kind of hard to shoot without it. In another example of thoughtful design but poor execution, the bolt handle is removable and can be flipped from one side to the other with just a push and a 90 degree turn of a knob on the handle. Something that's so easy to do intentionally becomes just as easy to do unintentionally and the gun self-disassembles. The dreaded "chunk" of the bolt hitting the rear of the receiver and staying there lets me know that bolt handle has worked its way out of place and been launched somewhere within a 30ft, 360 degree ring. There is no predictability on where it will go. I've found it 30ft behind me at 4'o'clock and 5ft from me at 11. This has happened when it was -20C and +30C - temperature has no bearing on it.
TL;DR - if you want to blast ammo and use AK mags, this gun is great. Otherwise, don't buy it.
