IO AK-47c

midiwall · Jan 3, 2010

And... My better half and I are just getting back from the range.

Short form
MAN this thing is FUN to shoot!

Long form
HOLY CARP this thing is FUN FUN FUN to shoot!

We have a good collection of toys, but they're mostly handguns, 'cept for our trap shooting fun-guns. This is by far the post powerful toy we own.

I've shot a buddy's AK47 at a private range in Virginia, but honestly I never really had the inkling to get one. I was too much of a "handgun guy" and couldn't see myself getting into higher powered rifles. Then about 3 weeks ago we had our most recent "Ban everything! Kalifornia has the right answer!" scare out here in WA state, and that put me on the lookout.

I talked to a few folks and got some ideas on what to buy. A lot of folks said "Saiga!" and {insert any other assembly here}. When it came down to it, there were soooo many diverse opinions, you'd think I was shopping Dodge/Ford/Chevy! Bottom line, I found myself shopping cosmetics, and I really started to like the look of polished wood furniture...

That lead me to camping out on my favorite online site (Buds) and I wandered to see what was around. The IOI _looked_ good (remember, I gave up on brand and shopped cosmetics), so I started the other side of research. Reviews.

I couldn't find a lot at all, though the most important thing I kept in mind is that when it comes to researching on the 'Net, no news is good news. People will complain at the drop of a hat, but they really have to be pushed to say anything good about something.

So, one click of the "YOU BETCHA' I'LL BUY IT!" button and it was on its way. ($524 shipped, $30 local transfer fee).

You guys know from me showing up in this thread is that one of the things I want to do is to run optics on it, so you already know that the downside of this receiver is that it doesn't have that side rail/flange. My rail options should be delivered this week and I'll write more about them then. So the outing today was all iron sights.

We started out on the 100yd range, we walked out a target, setup the spotting scope, loaded up a round and I let Sandy have the first shot.

She's shot a .300 Win Mag before so I knew she wasn't gonna get spooked by any kick, but I had put us in a right-side corner at the range... The AK47 CRACK! should make her jump. :evilgrin3

CRACK! man this thing can toss a casing! Bounced through the last lane to our right, off the wall and back onto the table. And that sound... THAT sound... oh man. Yes, she jumped

Now, this rifle got delivered with the front sight kicked WAY left, and UPS's holiday schedule didn't get me the adjustment tool soon enough, so adjust the shot, CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! It's shooting WAY right (of course) so when the range went safe, we moved up to the 50yd line so we could have some fun with a smaller manual adjustment.

We went through two boxes of Wolf 124gr FMJ and loved every second of it. We'll go back next week, with the first optics option and a sight tool, and have even more fun.

Summary

Good:
- Built like an AK47 - aka, a TANK
- Stock's a bit short, but with the foregrip it's VERY comfy
- CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! no problems at all; and no issues with the double-stacked mag
- The trigger is like GLASS - I didn't expect that AT ALL!
- (I think) the wood finish is sharp looking
Not so good:
- That missing flange on the receiver requires more "exotic" optics solutions
- The varnish finish was a bit rough, 400 grit sandpaper took care of that in mere minutes, with no dulling
- The plastic pistol grip had nasty seam lines. I almost put a Hogue on it, but a few more minutes with 400 grit and it smoothed out just fine

All in all - VERY happy with the purchase.

ref:

joppaj · Jan 3, 2010

Very nice Mark, please keep us posted on the optics.

Dizzy · Jan 6, 2010

If you throw on a J-Tac47 compensator and a blackjack buffer, your IO AK-47 will almost feel like a rough AR

It's amazing how those two combinations brought down the recoil.

I still haven't gotten around to mounting a rail and scope on it. LOL. And yes, I still my Galil handguard on it.

Mark: Can you check your receiver on the bottom and on the right side to see which receiver they put on it? Mine was built by RPG Arms.

midiwall · Jan 6, 2010

DizzyV6P said:
If you throw on a J-Tac47 compensator and a blackjack buffer, your IO AK-47 will almost feel like a rough AR It's amazing how those two combinations brought down the recoil.

I haven't shopped a compensator yet, but I went Wilson Combat for the buffer - it's sitting on my doorstep at home.

I still haven't gotten around to mounting a rail and scope on it. LOL. And yes, I still my Galil handguard on it.

My first rail option (the receiver cover replacement) is sitting in the same box on the same doorstep. I ordered it before the comments here. it'll be on the range this weekend and I'll have more words to share!

Mark: Can you check your receiver on the bottom and on the right side to see which receiver they put on it? Mine was built by RPG Arms.

You bet... It'll be a 5ish hours before I get home, but I'd be happy to!

WSM · Jan 6, 2010

simplegreen said:
, a place called trop gun in MT Joy PA.

+100000 for shopping at my favorite gun store, best part about those guys is that they talk me out out of buying guns using very logical points.

midiwall · Jan 6, 2010

midiwall said:
DizzyV6P said:

Mark: Can you check your receiver on the bottom and on the right side to see which receiver they put on it? Mine was built by RPG Arms.

Click to expand...

You bet... It'll be a 5ish hours before I get home, but I'd be happy to!

I got nothing on the right side, but the bottom of the receiver is stamped:

Code:

Model AK 47-C
Caliber 7.62x39
IO, Inc.
Monroe, NC  USA

midiwall · Jan 6, 2010

joppaj said:
Very nice Mark, please keep us posted on the optics.

midiwall said:
Leapers makes a replacement receiver cover that has a rail mounted on it. Midway sells 'em:

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productnumber=714473

I just found/ordered this last night, so I haven't tried it, but I'm hoping it'll be sturdy enough. In theory, it should be "ok". We'll see how tight it fits... Hmm...

So, I got the Leapers replacement cover tonight and I thought I'd share my "first thoughts".

I have to say that I'm pleasantly surprised - though of course, I haven't put _any_ rounds though it, much less a whole bunch to rattle the bajeezus out of it.

The front of the cover has a thick lip that sits up into the flange of the rear sight, and along with the curved lip that goes under the front of the receiver, it's used to form a pressure fitting. It's a dern tight fit - as tight as "stock".

The real surprise came from finding a pair of screws tapped into the rear of the cover. When screwed down, these clamp under the rear lip of the back of the receiver:

The net result (again, "for now"), is a solid fitting mechanism. The rails themselves are riveted into the receiver cover, as is the lip that sits on the rear sight.

An added bonus is that the top rail is actually a channel so that you can still see the iron:

Second bonus - it came with scope rings.

An overall shot:

It'll be on the range this weekend, and of course I'll have more real-world info once it goes BANG! a few times.

simplegreen said:
you wont like the one you ordered, i have one and it falls off every few shots

Is yours like this one, with the screws in the rear? If so, where do you find it being loose? I'd like to be able to keep a close eye...

joppaj · Jan 7, 2010

Looks like a solid set-up, be interesting to see how it does under recoil.

midiwall · Jan 10, 2010

joppaj said:
Looks like a solid set-up, be interesting to see how it does under recoil.

Sooo...

Had it on the range yesterday, it's SOOOOOOOOO nice having a sight tool now! Ended up with 3" groups at 50 yards. Not good, but I'm pleased given that the gun only has a handful of rounds through it. The trigger's got a little "kitch" in it just before release... I figure that'll go away with break-in and we'll get some better groupings.

Scope wise... I had pulled a scope off of another rifle, and kinda' roughed-in alignment. I wasn't too pleased at all with how the scope handled, the sight picture seemed really weird, something may be up with it. But scope issues aren't really the point of this discussion.

Anyway, we ended with about 40 rounds down range with the Leapers receiver cover on it, and it's still as tight as it was when I put it on. I have a Wilson Combat buffer in the rifle now as well, and I'm sure that helps.

We're headed back out to the range today with a buddy and we'll get the scope straightened out. More words when I get back!

joppaj · Jan 10, 2010

midiwall said:
We're headed back out to the range today with a buddy and we'll get the scope straightened out. More words when I get back!

clandestine · Jan 10, 2010

If you clean your AK that mount wil lose zero. I mean not to impune you, its a nice rifle but that mount is a no go.

The buffers on AK's are not good either. It can and will cause short stroking malfunctions, and on some guns the rear trunnion will be stressed and cause receiver damage. If your AK's bolt carier is hitting the rear trunnion hard then it needs a new recoil spring. If its still happening hen your AK is over gassed. There are fixes for that too.

Best trigger for that gun is the Red Star Arms AK trigger. It has to be set up right or it wont work relaibly though.

For a good brake there are 2 choices. A krebs AK74 style brake in .30 call with a thread adaptor. Youll need this becsuse your threads are curreontly 14/ LH, and the brebs brake has 24 mm RH threads.

The US made 14/1 AK74 "style" brakes dont have the orrect baffles and do little to help manage recoil.

The other good brake is a PWS brake. Both are very effective but LOUD.

midiwall · Jan 10, 2010

clandestine said:
If you clean your AK that mount wil lose zero. I mean not to impune you, its a nice rifle but that mount is a no go.

Yeah, I got to thinking about that... I'm wondering if it will be that much of a hassle for me, I wouldn't mind a quick re-zero after a cleaning. Because of the range and area situation here in Western WA, it won't get shot a lot...

In the end I'll probs end up with the Texas Weapons system, it's easily a much better system.

Thanks!

clandestine · Jan 10, 2010

midiwall said:
Yeah, I got to thinking about that... I'm wondering if it will be that much of a hassle for me, I wouldn't mind a quick re-zero after a cleaning. Because of the range and area situation here in Western WA, it won't get shot a lot...

In the end I'll probs end up with the Texas Weapons system, it's easily a much better system.

Thanks!

Im glad to offer imput. I have seen about every AK gadget made and what they really do. I just want oyu to have a good solid AK to enjoy, and not have problems.

lease dont take my comments as deragatory, Im just trying to help.

Its a really nice rifle, and your posts are excellent!

midiwall · Jan 10, 2010

clandestine said:
Im glad to offer input. I have seen about every AK gadget made and what they really do. I just want you to have a good solid AK to enjoy, and not have problems.

Please don't take my comments as derogatory, Im just trying to help.

Not at all Chad, not at all. I've been around forums and folks that I don't know who have opinions since 1978 (yeup). I appreciate ALL input, and if it ever came down to it, I've developed a real thick skin in those 30+ years.

Its a really nice rifle, and your posts are excellent!

Thank you sir, I appreciate both of those points!

Just got back from the range - more coming!!

midiwall · Jan 10, 2010

Okay, another couple of boxes down range and... The scope is sighted in.

I'll say now that I never though I'd get a kick out of the "load, slam, sight, click, BANG!, release, repeat" style of shooting, and I may never enjoy it more than BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! but I did get a thrill out of having a spotter calling "1 Right, 2 High" ... "1 Right, 1 High" ... "BULLSEYE!".

I was pulling 3" groups on iron yesterday, and it took me about 7 rounds to get this scope settled down (I pulled it from a Beretta CX4 Carbine, so it was WAY out on this mount), but once I did... There's a different type of satisfaction to nailing a bull at will.

The receiver rail mount remains sturdy, but I have to say that each shot one of us took today, I thought more about the Texas Weapons mount. The litte voice was pinging at me "dirt... powder residue.. oil gunk..." --- "Mark, at some point, you WILL have to clean this thing...".

We'll be back on the range next weekend, so I'll be cleaning it tonight and we'll see how the receiver/scope combo fairs the next time out.

At this point I would say that the receiver topper is solid and sturdy in it's first mounting; and it remains sturdy after a "good bit of slow speed shooting". Long term though, while I won't mind resighting it once-in-a-while, I think the weak spot is the front pinch point. I can see that it'll start to loosen it's grip up there as you pull/replace the receiver cover, and that will become the death of the system.

For $30, I'll get my money out of it as a learning (and sharing) experience, then I'll get the Texas system and never have to worry about it again.

Thanks All!

IO AK-47c

The #1 community for Gun Owners of the Northeast

Member Benefits:

midiwall

BANG!

joppaj

Sheepdog

Dizzy

Active Member

midiwall

BANG!

WSM

Rugeritis

midiwall

BANG!

midiwall

BANG!

joppaj

Sheepdog

midiwall

BANG!

joppaj

Sheepdog

clandestine

AR-15 Savant

midiwall

BANG!

clandestine

AR-15 Savant

midiwall

BANG!

midiwall

BANG!

Users who are viewing this thread

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Latest threads

Forum statistics

Share this page