Wk180 why so unpopular

I own a Gen 1 in 7.62x39. 240 rounds in and it went in for warranty. Numerous FTF due to a lack of proper feed ramps, 60ish light primer strikes, bolt not picking up the next round.

Apparently it's good now according to the tech. He's sending a wk181 firing pin to try out since all I shoot is corrosive surplus.
 
You need to remember 2 things when evaluating anyone's opinion:

- Some of the people chipping in have no first hand experience and simply like to be heard and up their number of posts

- By definition half the people in the world are dumber than average, have less firearms knowledge and experience than average etc.
 
My gen 1 has worked reliably since I got it....has just under 1000 rounds through it so far. Accuracy is ok...at 50 yrds i can put 3 rounds inside a loonie pretty regularly. Have shot 2 deer via head shots. (less than 50 yards) That being said, I did get the wear and tear on the inside of the receiver as others have mentioned. Also, when I put the magazine in, I have to hold it there and chamber a round for it to stay. (won't stay locked in without chambering a round first) I'm not sure if thats a common issue for others or not.

When I bought it, I knew i was taking a chance...Trudeau was coming into power, and these were coming out, so i put my money down for a NR rifle somewhat similar to an AR that I could take to the woods. Probably should have saved up a bit more cash for something different, but ultimately it has served me well so far.
 
longranger85 said:
Anyone know what parts are interchangeable between the WS-MCR and the WK-180?
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Main springs, piston spring, triger parts... i think the bolt carrier itselt, cocking handle...guide rod assembly.

Ive talked to TNA about trying to source beefer main springs for the 181... i think that would solve most of the issues with FTf and premature spring compression leading to part breakage from getting beat to death.
 
Biggest upgrade is making that gas block stay put and in-line. The early first gens came with a pinned gas block, they didnt break pistons. Get a smith to pin the GB, or dimple the barrel and use high temp loctite on the set screws to keep that block in place. Check that they're tight regularly.
The nylon bushing in the upper that the gas piston rides on wears quickly. Mine was shot by ~800 rounds, allowing quite a bit of play/flex with the gas piston. TNA's brass bushing is an easy upgrade that should last a long time.
They're quite over-gassed, TNA's adjustable gas block helps reduce the gas. I'm not fully in love with it, it's not easy to adjust and needs high temp loctite to keep the internal set screws from walking. But I did find that it made a significant reduction in bolt slam and felt recoil. Don't know if I'd call it mandatory, but reducing thr gas should help with longevity.
If you have a gen one with threaded charging handles upgrade to CHs that have a shoulder (Spectre made a lightweight one, I think TNA may have one too), or upgrade to a gen 2 upper. Better yet find a TNA steel upper and bolt carrier (magnetic charging handle that fits perfectly), as steel on steel should last forever. I believe Spectre also makes aftermarket uppers but have never handled one.

They can be made reliable, top priority would be making sure that gas block can't loosen up and move out of alignment.
 
Spectre Ballistics still has their Lynx lower for sale, I don't see an upper for sale on their site. I know TNA used to have a receiver set for sale but that doesn't seem to be on their website anymore. Might have to look at the used market for receiver upgrades unless these companies decide to produce more in the new year.
 
Unholysavage said:
Biggest upgrade is making that gas block stay put and in-line. The early first gens came with a pinned gas block, they didnt break pistons. Get a smith to pin the GB, or dimple the barrel and use high temp loctite on the set screws to keep that block in place. Check that they're tight regularly.
The nylon bushing in the upper that the gas piston rides on wears quickly. Mine was shot by ~800 rounds, allowing quite a bit of play/flex with the gas piston. TNA's brass bushing is an easy upgrade that should last a long time.
They're quite over-gassed, TNA's adjustable gas block helps reduce the gas. I'm not fully in love with it, it's not easy to adjust and needs high temp loctite to keep the internal set screws from walking. But I did find that it made a significant reduction in bolt slam and felt recoil. Don't know if I'd call it mandatory, but reducing thr gas should help with longevity.
If you have a gen one with threaded charging handles upgrade to CHs that have a shoulder (Spectre made a lightweight one, I think TNA may have one too), or upgrade to a gen 2 upper. Better yet find a TNA steel upper and bolt carrier (magnetic charging handle that fits perfectly), as steel on steel should last forever. I believe Spectre also makes aftermarket uppers but have never handled one.

They can be made reliable, top priority would be making sure that gas block can't loosen up and move out of alignment.
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Appreciate the response. Been looking at one for a yote/paper puncher.
 
Non-phixion said:
Its an absolute garbage rod of a rifle. These fly by night Canadian manufacturers are worse than Sig for beta testing their product on the customer. It started with NEA and other people obviously took notice you can build and sell garbage in Canada and as long as people know its made in Canada some will buy it.
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This is, of course, what happens when you over-regulate an industry, cut out competition (prohibited list), and are at the mercy of the remaining small number of industry players.

Such a common story in Canada. The nation of oligopolies and protected industries, producing sub-par products and selling at higher prices than available in other nations.

We sufferrrrrrrrrr.
 
Roog said:
Spectre Ballistics still has their Lynx lower for sale, I don't see an upper for sale on their site. I know TNA used to have a receiver set for sale but that doesn't seem to be on their website anymore. Might have to look at the used market for receiver upgrades unless these companies decide to produce more in the new year.
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Dang. Just went looking for myself and neither TNA nor Spectre have any uppers now.
I see that Kodiak Defense sells a steel gen 1 upper on their webstore for $250. That would be a good upgrade for the gen 1 crowd, especially the early gen 1 owners that kept their magnetic charging handle carriers.
 
With IRunGuns trying to have PSA make Jakl riding a NoDak 180 lower for Canada, a crazy thought occurred to me. Would it be possible to make a long stroke piston WK180-C bolt carrier, still using dual guide rods and springs, or would the piston be too thin and likely to snap? Could a thicker piston be used if the bushing was bored out more? Am I completely out to lunch, or would the idea work?
 
A lot of folks here have reported having a Gen 1 or a Gen 2. I have a Gen 1.5, with one of the noticeable differences being mine has the threaded charging handle (not sure why they changed from magnetic to this) and of course, no last round bolt hold open.

I bought it primarily due to it being Canadian-made, and I bought it post OIC, so it was one of a few options left for 5.56 semi auto.

I can't say I am crazy about mine and it really comes down to an overall disappointing craftsmanship. The primary things I have noticed about my 1.5 are...

1. Threaded charging handle - consistently works itself loose. And it's not the HT next gen threaded CH that were made by KD. Yes, I could have loctited it , or I could have bought the Spetre third party one. There are lots of stories of owners of the 1.5 Gen charging handles shearing away. There is a part of me that wishes that happened to me since KD told me they will not pre-emptively send me one of the replacement HT threaded charging handles unless mine sheared. It has not (as of yet) and no amount of tightening - even with a metal rod through the holes and cranking it with all my might, keeps the CH tight. I now just tighten it every time I go to my club with it.

2. The whole gun rattles. Not as bad as a set of maracas, but it doesn't instill confidence in how secure everything is. Reminds me of my SUV with all the heat shields rusted and every time I drive it it is a cacophony of mice dancing on an air duct

3. More loose stuff...gas block screws. IF I hadn't been a member on CGN and read up on things to look for on this, I would have likely become a statistic with a broken piston rod eventually. Once I read up on that in the subforum, I went to check my gas block screws and lo and behold, they were looser than my ex-wife's sense of morals... Tightening those screws with loctite saved what would have been an annoying catastrophe (sure, I know KD would have sent me new parts but that's not the point. And oh...before I went to check the gas block screws, I found this out when I went to take off the handguard....

4. 6 of the 8 or so (I don't remember exactly, I think it's 8 in total) handguard screws were in various states of looseness. Some were probably going to pop out at the next range trip. I didn't even know my handguard was loose - it didn't wobble but 6 screws needed to be tightened. I overtightened some and thankfully KD was good and send me a whole set of replacements.

5. I think they fixed this in the Gen 2 (I don't recall) but it would have been nice to have a brass deflector on my Gen 1.5. The ejection of the brass mars the surface. Yes, it's only aesthetic and it's not really a big concern for me but would have been nice to have that - and yes, I am aware there are third party deflectors I could have put on there but at this point the thing is pretty used and it wasn't too big of a deal initially anyway.

6. They definitely fixed this on the G2. Last round bolt hold open/release button would be nice. I am aware TNA sold a third party kit for my Gen 1.5 but having that feature natively would have been nice.

There was something else regarding the bolt assembly take down / reassemble that I was going to provide a comment, but my old brain doesn't work as well as it once did - I'll edit this later if I remember.

All that said regarding the above, I have to say the one saving grace on the WK180 is that it was pretty accurate out of the box, surprisingly so. And the times I contacted KD, they were quite responsive.

Once I got my X95, and saw the immense difference in quality and worksmanship, the WK was relegated to the back of the safe for...I'm not sure what, since I haven't used it much since (though this thread has prompted me to take it to my club next time just to get some rounds out of it).
 
They changed to a threaded charging handle for a couple reasons. The fitment on the early gen 1, between the magnetic handle and the carrier, was loose/sloppy. The charging handle also had a weak magnet, and could walk, so the charging handle had a tendency to chew the hell out of the soft aluminum upper as it cycled. Some were worse than others. The earliest gen 1s also had a serious bolt carrier issue, where several broke along the thin points where the guide rods went through. When the carriers broke they often snapped guide rods and gas pistons. Kodiak had a recall on carriers, replacing them with threaded carriers, and all the new rifles came with threaded CHs.
Up until a while ago TNA made a steel upper that came with their own carrier and magnetic handle. Much better machined, no slop at all. But it doesn't look like they offer it any more.
 
Unholysavage said:
They changed to a threaded charging handle for a couple reasons. The fitment on the early gen 1, between the magnetic handle and the carrier, was loose/sloppy. The charging handle also had a weak magnet, and could walk, so the charging handle had a tendency to chew the hell out of the soft aluminum upper as it cycled. Some were worse than others. The earliest gen 1s also had a serious bolt carrier issue, where several broke along the thin points where the guide rods went through. When the carriers broke they often snapped guide rods and gas pistons. Kodiak had a recall on carriers, replacing them with threaded carriers, and all the new rifles came with threaded CHs.
Up until a while ago TNA made a steel upper that came with their own carrier and magnetic handle. Much better machined, no slop at all. But it doesn't look like they offer it any more.
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This is great info and some good background context behind why they made the change, thanks!

As I ponder the original OP's question, I wonder how much of this is also partly attributed to an unrealistic expectation of the AR180B platform, specifically as it relates to the AR10 family. Certainly perhaps there is a degree of comparison here that may not necessarily be fair. Reminds me of a buddy years ago who had a very attractive girlfriend. I was shocked she was dating him. He obviously was happy to go everywhere with her and considered her a "trophy girlfriend" of sorts. But alas, it didn't last and they broke up. My buddy, like the rest of us, got older and the next few gals he dated were around his age, if not older, and were generally great women, but not the "knockout" (aesthetically) that his previous girlfriend was.

Unfortunately as a result, he never really go over the fact that life goes on and no everyone's the same, and every single woman he dated, he kept comparing to the knockout girl. He would nitpick at every personality quirk, etc. of his current dates, and I told him it's a bad mentality to have as he will never see the people for who they are, including the pluses that they had over the previous girl (he though she was perfect, she wasn't). As a result, even though sometimes he would have a girlfriend who was somewhat similar in appearance, he was very critical of lady number 3 or 4, because it wasn't lady number 1. As far as I know, he hasn't settled down yet, and he's pushing 55 now...

I wonder whether that's how some of us may view the WK180 or AR180B platform. It will never be as what we once had or what we had hoped to have. Of course it doesn't help that the WK specifically had some issues.
 
I'm sure later adopters had higher expectations, especially after the OIC removed a bunch of good options. I didn't have high expectations, but we also only paid $999 for them when they came out. And we could buy an AR15 for $650 that had no significant issues.

What's ironic to me is the earliest gen 1s that came out with pinned gas blocks are the most reliable version of the WK180 by a mile. Here we are, 5 years later, and for 50% more $$ you can buy a far less reliable grenade.
Guess we shouldn't have #####ed so hard back then....
 
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