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Makasi Canada Non Restrcited Rifle: A machinist tear down PIC HEAVY
- Thread starter Armedsask
- Start date
What are these serious problems that you refer to? Light strikes experienced during initial firing apparently resolve themselves as the Operating Spring becomes broken-in, along with the bearing surfaces of the Bolt-Carrier, the Hammer and the inside surface of the Upper Receiver. Some claim to have have accelerated the break-in period by applying very mild abrasive pastes to the bearing surfaces and then cycling the action several hundred times in order to induce limited wear. But I digress. Aside from one incident of a Trigger failure with a range demo Makasi, I am not aware of any serious, persistent, post-break-in problems with the platform. So please expound upon your claim, as I am genuinely curious....
To my understanding, the only NR Makasi to have been returned for warranty inspection had an incorrectly installed Gas Block. The rifle was short-stroking due to inadequate gas volume and resultant pressure. As a result, there was insufficient force to operate the Piston and drive the Bolt Carrier fully rearwards to complete the extraction and ejection cycle before stripping a fresh cartridge from the magazine and feeding it into the Chamber. Apparently repositioning of the Gas Block to fully engage with the Gas Port on the Barrel resolved the issue. Again, this is the the only rifle that I am aware of being returned to its vendor (RDSC) for inspection and adjustment. Clearly a factory error compounded by a Final Inspection QC failure occurred in the case of that particular rifle. So far that is one reported incidence of incorrect factory assembly, but NOT a serious, systemic problem with the rifle as designed and manufactured.
So notwithstanding the ongoing QC issues at Brigade Manufacturing, what are the serious, systemic problems with the Makasi rifle itself?
I was always under the impression that (if it is an issue) bolt bounce is largely a thing with Full Autos. Not semis. But I can easily be mistaken.
Painkillers
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
No. It's been discussed ad nauseum.
I wanted this rifle to work, I really did. I put my money on that. Seems these need some improvements before reliability is achieved. And, it's reliability that we deserve. What are these by the time it's shipped to your door, $2500.00? $3K? For that money, it needs to be a plug and play. Perhaps I'm spoiled with the $150 SKS's and the $500 AR's, but when I buy a rifle I'm buying something that just works. If I wanted to gucci the thing, that's my choice. The Makasi, or some of the Makasi's, seem to be anything but that. It needs an excessive break in. It has a bolt that bounces out of battery. It has a trigger group that has failed. It is finicky as to the magazine used, and that's not even taking into account the cosmetic issues. Again, I don't need to beat the dead horse. These issues are well known.
Painkillers
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Bro. I'm highlighting (bolded) your cognitive dissonance.
I would caution anyone considering such a treatment of a rifle. Lapping compound can easily take off more material than you may imagine, in a shockingly short time.
Mark didn't specify as to what "mild abrasive" is, so I am only making the assumption that someone might choose to use a lapping compound for this. IF you are going to use lapping compound, go slowly and check progress often.
Paraphrasing Buffalo Bill, It puts the lapping compound on its skin or else it gets the failure again..
No cognitive dissonance happening here. Everything that you highlighted is related to the Makasi's break-in period or poor QC at the factory. Should a new rifle with tight tolerances require break-in? In an ideal world, no. However it is what it is, and the vast majority of current NR Makasi owners are reporting a high degree of reliability following the break-in period. I can live with that given the lack of alternatives that appeal to me.
A random Trigger failure is not the end of the world given that the Makasi utilizes an AR15 Trigger Group which is easily repaired or replaced in its entirety. This is far from the first instance of a mil-spec AR Trigger malfunctioning brand new out of the box, so again, I am not particularly concerned. Repair or replacement is a simple end-user undertaking.
Factory QC failures do not equate to faulty design nor manufacturing flaws inherent to the rifle itself. They are human error and nothing more. Despite occasional issues caused by human oversight at the factory, the Makasi remains a solid rifle design IMHO. I have no concerns about my forthcoming rifle and am entirely confident t that it will run reliably following break-in.
You have not pointed out any specific, systemic shortcomings inherent to the Makasi's design or construction, despite alleging that serious problems exist. Reliability issues that resolve themselves during during break-in are not serious, nor persistent problems. So I reckon we will simply have to agree to disagree. As far as I am concerned, I have heard nothing to date that suggests a serious problem with the Makasi's design or manufacture. Are there persistent QC issues at the factory? Without a doubt, but that does not equate to a systemic problem or problems with the rifle itself....
It always seems to be the people with zero experience with a firearm that crap on them the most.
I can't count how many times over the decades of CGN that someone has posted about "known issues" and proclaimed the firearm that is the topic of the day to be garbage.
And when asked what their personal experience is they just don't have any. They read a couple of posts and maybe saw a youtube video. Screw that, if you are going to tell us a particular firearm is great or junk then tell us how you personally came to that conclusion.
Most of us that have a reasonable amount of experience with different firearms have encountered troublesome guns and that is interesting and informative information. Zero experience people talking schit about something should be translated to "I saw something posted by someone I don't know so I'm just gonna repeat it because I have nothing constructive to say"
That's exactly the approach to take.
"Break in" has always been a thing with firearms, whether it's the first few shots of a semi shotgun or the barrel of a bolt action. Often guys would smear some toothpaste or JB paste on a bolt action and work the bolt for an evening to smooth out an action. But I hate that now "100 round break in" seems to be the norm which to me suggests sloppy finishing, rough parts, burrs etc that need to be worked out by shooting.
It's especially frustrating for people like me who bought BNIB SKS rifles for $75, $600 AR15's or dozens of other moderately priced firearms that worked perfectly from brand new. However it seems to be the place we are at in 2026 and it seems to be a situation of "it is what it is"
I chose to buy the Carmel instead of Makasi simply due to my very positive experiences with IWI firearms but frankly these days I have grown accustomed to blasting through several magazines of break in for everything.
So yeah....shoot it. If it don't work return it.
And if your total experience with a firearm is that you saw someone on youtube, then don't pontificate about how good or how bad it is.
I'll never forget my first range trip with the X95 three years ago, my first semi-auto and second firearm, and I was having some feeding issues and last round bolt hold open issues. There was a guy, competitive shooter, two stalls over from me with an X95 and he took a look at it and just said "Don't even worry about it until you get through 500 rounds. Until then it's all just break-in..." Sure enough after maybe 200-250 rounds the X95 ran like a top.
That always stuck with me and has tempered my expectations for any new semi-auto. Have had break-in issues with every semi-auto from that X95, to the Raven, and even the B&T APC 308 but all were short-lived and they all ran great until they were deemed unacceptable for ownership.
Well said!
I ordered a 15” version I’ll post when I receive it, however the comments I’ve heard from other people who’ve actually fired the makasi is that it’s the bees knees. Sure some will get duds, the crafm black one had a trigger failure outside of makasis control. It happens.
IWi is a reskinned tavor in short, so if it floats your boat great.
Makasi will be my choice for longevity tho.
Barrels are easier to get, the gun isn’t 40% proprietary parts. And easier for gunsmiths to work on should the case arise.
I fired the makasi 15 inch at crafm m and the backland side by side. There was some subtle differences, the back land being lighter than the makasi, apart from that they both felt similar.
IWi is a reskinned tavor in short, so if it floats your boat great.
Makasi will be my choice for longevity tho.
Barrels are easier to get, the gun isn’t 40% proprietary parts. And easier for gunsmiths to work on should the case arise.
I fired the makasi 15 inch at crafm m and the backland side by side. There was some subtle differences, the back land being lighter than the makasi, apart from that they both felt similar.
I had 3 Tavors and 3 X95 and I don’t recall much break in for any of them but if I did, I think it was minimal.
But your experience echoes my feelings. X95 were not cheap guns and should run fine without much break in. I don’t really mind “ break in” if it doesn’t last too long and I’m the first to say we should give new guns a chance until they break in. It’s just me going 200 round break in ? “huh?”
Like I say, it is what it is these days. We gotta deal with it or just not shoot cool guns and the latter isn’t an option!
fritzhanzel
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
You would probably agree with me today that the Kodiak WK180 was the best rifle ever made.
"Just needs some love"
