Riley defense is.... not great.

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NickM37F

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Last weekend I decided I wanted to get into the AK game. Truth be told, I didnt do any research going in. I figured, hey, AK47s are supposed to be the most rugged and durable semi automatic rifles out there, right? well I was wrong. Saturday morning I eagerly drove down to fuquay gun (fantastic shop, BTW), and purchased a Riley Defense RAK47 with polymer furniture. (Let it be known that FG only had Riley defense AKs in stock). After getting home, loading up all the nice steel mags I purchased, and running a little safety and functions check, it became apparent that the RAK had a headspace issue. It would not chamber a round.

Immediately I returned it to FG, and the management was incredibly helpful, and even gave me a better RAK (wood furniture) at no extra cost. Surely this issue cant be present in 2 AKs, right? well, you guessed it, another headspace issue. I understand its on me to do research beforehand, but how is it possible that in a modern day, a firearms manufacturer can have that bad of quality control? I ended up returning that AK as well, and just spent the money on ammo and a Holosun instead.

I know many of you will respond telling me to go with a WASR10 or something of that nature, and I do agree, but unfortunately I did that research after, and not before. This thread is more a gripe about how a weapons manufacturer can have that poor of quality control.
 
I would agree Riley is not great. I would even call them "garbage". And I'm sure someone will be along to tell me I'm wrong and tell me how they've ran 60 rounds through their Riley and it's been perfect.

But how do you know it's headspace? Did you gauge it? Could also be a hundred other things. mag geometry, mag catch position, burr in the chamber, etc etc etc. It actually takes a lot more skill and quality material to produce a good AK than most people think.
 
Tagged for interest. And I agree this should not happen anymore in 2024.
 
I would try different magazine and possibly different ammo
When I got into the AK game I tried many surplus steel mags and have come to the conclusion these can be hit and miss. I know that you said headspace issue, but I’ve had issues where rounds fail to seat because of the odd angle the round is taking on approach into the chamber.

I have had great luck with polymer mags from Magpul and the polymer Bulgarian mags
I’m in new Bern area and if you ever find yourself nearby, I would be glad to let you try some different mags and ammo.
 
Slacker said:
Any info on how headspace was diagnosed as the issue? AK chambers and primer seating is probably the most forgiving of any battle rifle.
Click to expand...
Yep. I managed to bugger up a front trunion badly enough to have a banana shaped rifle building an AK and it still fed, chambered and fired. You just couldn't find the front sight lol
 
I have an old WASR, looks like crap, front sight slightly canted, probably stored in a russians outhouse at some point. But it still runs no matter what.
 
Seems odd that you have two rifles in a row that head space issues.
I know it sounds dumb but are you trying to put 7.62X39 in a 5.45 or 5.56 gun? I find it more likely they mislabeled the box or gun rather than not test fired or headspaced two rifles in a row
 
Yeah Riley is pretty terrible. 0/10 do not recommend. By the way, don't get an IO either, they're even worse. The reason FG&G, which is a great store that does lots of business, has the Riley AKs in stock is because they don't sell... because they're terrible. I would have steered you towards a Zastava M70 (like the one I've got listed for sale!) or a Romanian WASR if you'd asked beforehand. That or a PSA GF5. Those are all good, relatively affordable options. But most American-made AKs, especially the affordable ones, are terrible.

I'm sorry that's how you had to learn the lesson. Good luck getting it fixed.
 
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