Kodiak Defence WK180C questions from a total newbie

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.22LRGUY

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OK, so the gun hasn't happened yet but I'm hoping you experienced owners will chime in and steer me straight! Not a newbie to guns...but totally unfamiliar with this platform, and semi-auto centerfires in general.

First-off, I've done about 20 minutes of reading in the forum here...and did see basically the same question asked with no replies so far.

My question; I'm considering buying a new one of these rifles and want it to have a long service life. What (spare) parts should I consider buying to assemble a "kit" for this gun? If you think there is a good argument to be made for buying more than one extra, pls specify why. (if you don't mind?)

Also;
1.How do I know if the gun is a Gen. 2 (?) with a non-reciprocating charging handle?
2.What oil do you recommend for lubing the gun, and does it prefer to run more on the wet/dry side?
3.Anything you can do to eliminate the little bit of play between the upper/lower? (I've held maybe 3-4 of these, they all seem to have it)

Thanks for taking a moment to reply, I think it might be cool to own a modern/retro .223 semi like this! :)
 
I'm putting together a kit for mine but having said that I've owned it since the first run and apart from a couple early warranty issues the thing has run lile a clock so i don't really have any parts recommendations.

1.gen two in new and has a squared mag well rather than angled. it should be clearly labelled with any retailer.
2. bit of oil, doesn't need to be dripping, a light coat of anything on the moving bits should be fine. specific oils are stupid. lube is lube.
3. o ring but honestly doesn't matter for actual use. as long as both halves are assembled correctly the only interaction is the hammer swinging up and there isn't enough play for that to be a problem.
 
uAJollyRogering said:
I'm putting together a kit for mine but having said that I've owned it since the first run and apart from a couple early warranty issues the thing has run lile a clock so i don't really have any parts recommendations.

1.gen two in new and has a squared mag well rather than angled. it should be clearly labelled with any retailer.
2. bit of oil, doesn't need to be dripping, a light coat of anything on the moving bits should be fine. specific oils are stupid. lube is lube.
3. o ring but honestly doesn't matter for actual use. as long as both halves are assembled correctly the only interaction is the hammer swinging up and there isn't enough play for that to be a problem.
Click to expand...

So the slop/wobble do not interfere with POI?
If your rifle is sighted in using a sled on a bench the gun is tight but when you shoot it free hand it is separated.
Do the scope not move (pivot) when the upper and lower is not tight together?
 
Swap the Piston bushing out for an upgraded brass one before you even fire it. Loctite the gas block screws and charging handle to prevent them from coming loose.

Parts I would have on hand are
- Piston Rod
- Firing pin
- Bolt

With the brass bushing and the gas block loctited you shouldnt have piston breakages but it is always good to have an extra on hand considering they're around $25. Bolt and Firing pin are also a good thing to keep around for any semi auto modern sporting rifle.
 
45C said:
So the slop/wobble do not interfere with POI?
If your rifle is sighted in using a sled on a bench the gun is tight but when you shoot it free hand it is separated.
Do the scope not move (pivot) when the upper and lower is not tight together?
Click to expand...

I think there's some misconception about what this wobble is. It's not like the rifle jiggles in your hand, there's little bit of vertical play at the back where the upper pivots down and locks to the lower.

nothing related to POI happens on the lower. Barrel, chamber, scope and mount are all firmly attached to the upper unless you've done something wrong.

The only thing that happens in the lower is the trigger squeeze, the interaction between lower and upper is the hammer swing which is not affected by the play. the back side of the firing pin and the hammer itself had plenty of overlap.

Hold your rifle like it's, you know, A RIFLE. Put your head behind your optic, and squeeze the trigger like you mean it.
 
uAJollyRogering said:
I think there's some misconception about what this wobble is. It's not like the rifle jiggles in your hand, there's little bit of vertical play at the back where the upper pivots down and locks to the lower.

nothing related to POI happens on the lower. Barrel, chamber, scope and mount are all firmly attached to the upper unless you've done something wrong.

The only thing that happens in the lower is the trigger squeeze, the interaction between lower and upper is the hammer swing which is not affected by the play. the back side of the firing pin and the hammer itself had plenty of overlap.

Hold your rifle like it's, you know, A RIFLE. Put your head behind your optic, and squeeze the trigger like you mean it.
Click to expand...

The scope is mounted to the upper, the upper pivots , I know it’s not much but it do pivot.
The only way to grip it , to stop movement is to grip it at the rear of the receiver.
Now that would be tricky.. lol

The scope is attached to the upper so it will move with the upper.

I know, I had one.
The oring does SFA.
I used electrical tape and it was solid as a brick sh!t house
 
The WK isn't a precision rifle. That tiny bit of wiggle won't affect accuracy to any measurable degree, tons of threads on AR15s on that topic.

The second gens fixed alot of the problems many of us had with the first gens, so the 2nd gens should be much more reliable. About the only parts I can think of that are worth getting are small bolt parts. Not because they're known to break, but because they're easy to lose if you ever have to take the bolt apart. Not a bad idea to have a spare extractor, sometimes those cause issues after alot of rounds.
 
Bman12456 said:
Swap the Piston bushing out for an upgraded brass one before you even fire it. Loctite the gas block screws and charging handle to prevent them from coming loose.

Parts I would have on hand are
- Piston Rod
- Firing pin
- Bolt

With the brass bushing and the gas block loctited you shouldnt have piston breakages but it is always good to have an extra on hand considering they're around $25. Bolt and Firing pin are also a good thing to keep around for any semi auto modern sporting rifle.
Click to expand...

what about the charging handle? i hear that is something that goes often

I picked up a used one of the EE but i haven't taken it out yet.

Much like OP, im trying to build a parts inventory
 
Unholysavage said:
The WK isn't a precision rifle. That tiny bit of wiggle won't affect accuracy to any measurable degree, tons of threads on AR15s on that topic.

The second gens fixed alot of the problems many of us had with the first gens, so the 2nd gens should be much more reliable. About the only parts I can think of that are worth getting are small bolt parts. Not because they're known to break, but because they're easy to lose if you ever have to take the bolt apart. Not a bad idea to have a spare extractor, sometimes those cause issues after alot of rounds.
Click to expand...
The wk wiggle is different and more pronounced than an AR15.
The Wk has more of an up and down movement where as the AR15 has more of side to side movement and not enough to notice.

The oring do not do anything to help the issue.

On my first gen , I mounted an optic and I could move / pivot the optic in an up and down movement, at least an 1/8 of an inch.
So regards to precision, it will effect it if your not careful to keep an upward pressure on the upper.
I used electrical tape and it worked.

These are marketed as hunting/varminting/ sport rifles ,so accuracy counts.

My gen 2 with the rear pin ,was shooting Nosler BT at 1 MOA.
That’s pretty good in my books
 
Best upgrade for the gen 1 is to upgrade to the TNA steel upper + bolt. You'll never have to worry about receiver wear again, and the magnetic charging handle (which actually fits tightly/properly, unlike the POS that came with early gen 1s) will never break. And it keeps takedown tool-less. Recoupe some of your money by selling the original upper, or keep it and build a grendel upper for deer.
As for spare parts, firing pin, extractor, small pins for the bolt. A spare piston wouldn't be a bad idea.
 
A couple of people have mentioned KD discourages the use of thread locker on the gas block screws and / or the charging handle. Given enough folks who have pointed out the root causation of the piston rod snapping is because of loose gas block screws, it would be incumbent on owners to mitigate potential problems on G1s by applying thread locker. I did blue loctite for both my gas block screws (and subsequently handguard screws - which were super tight from the factory already), but I yet didn't for my charging handle (which keeps coming loose despite me putting an allen key through the holes and torquing the crud out of it - I am wondering what KD's justification is for telling owners not to do this.
 
thegazelle said:
I did blue loctite for both my gas block screws (and subsequently handguard screws - which were super tight from the factory already), but I yet didn't for my charging handle
Click to expand...



Just so your aware, when loctite heats up it gets soft and no longer does any "locking". For the gas block you may want a specific high-temp threadlocker, or just stake them.
 
eatredmeat157 said:
Just so your aware, when loctite heats up it gets soft and no longer does any "locking". For the gas block you may want a specific high-temp threadlocker, or just stake them.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the information. So it looks like what we need is the Loctite 272 version. I will check my gas block screws again, based on this information. Thanks.
 
thegazelle said:
Thanks for the information. So it looks like what we need is the Loctite 272 version. I will check my gas block screws again, based on this information. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Just so you know: Red loctite will require heat to back the screws in the future.

If I may suggest: It might be better just to dimple your barrel.
 
DavenK said:
Just so you know: Red loctite will require heat to back the screws in the future.

If I may suggest: It might be better just to dimple your barrel.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I took off everything to have a look. Interestingly enough the handguard screws - 6 of the 8 of them were loose. The other two needed a FAT wrench to remove.

Just curious - and I should have checked this last time - I just used an allen key to tighten the handguard screws - does anyone know what the torque pounds should be for those? Without thinking I just put my FAT wrench on 60lbs and tightened them but it started stripping so I left it. I don't see in the manual what pounds/inch to tighten these.

EDIT: RATS, I overtightened them. Now even the FAT wrench is stripping most of them. Wonder if I have any recourse other than pulling out the dremel tool and putting a flat cut on the screws...arrgh
 
Last edited:
thegazelle said:
Thanks. I took off everything to have a look. Interestingly enough the handguard screws - 6 of the 8 of them were loose. The other two needed a FAT wrench to remove.

Just curious - and I should have checked this last time - I just used an allen key to tighten the handguard screws - does anyone know what the torque pounds should be for those? Without thinking I just put my FAT wrench on 60lbs and tightened them but it started stripping so I left it. I don't see in the manual what pounds/inch to tighten these.

EDIT: RATS, I overtightened them. Now even the FAT wrench is stripping most of them. Wonder if I have any recourse other than pulling out the dremel tool and putting a flat cut on the screws...arrgh
Click to expand...


I would suggest 30in/lb for those screws with blue loctite.
Torquing in a cross-patern.
 
DavenK said:
I would suggest 30in/lb for those screws with blue loctite.
Torquing in a cross-patern.
Click to expand...

If I overtightened them, which I did with double what you suggested and now can't get them off (I didn't use loctite though thank goodness), do you know if the rifle is still safe to use? If so I may shoot it for a bit and hope that the handguard screws all loosen on their own over time. Last time I used an allen key and applied a lot of torque to it but it still came loose with use. This time I used the FAT wrench set to 60in/lb and now I can't loosen them at all without stripping them.
 
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