I purchased my Sam 5 in 2021 and unfortunately had to send it in for warranty. I'm glad I did because now the gun runs like an absolute sewing machine and without a doubt is one of my absolute favorites. I'm very much looking forward to seeing what Arsenal is planning for 2025. Thank you for the great video and happy New Year.
@@misha5670I had only fired about a hundred rounds down range and I could tell the gun was just way over gassed more than normal.. I've never seen brass fly so far and also was getting dinged up pretty good. There was a lot of premature wear on the bolt stem and back of the receiver. I didn't want to keep running the gun like that so I sent it in for warranty immediately. I have run roughly about 2,000 rounds through the gun since getting it back from Arsenal and it's been 100% reliable.
@@misha5670 beating it self to death badly. Like part were getting smashed so much they were hard to disassemble. But arsenal fixed it like it never happened
hey Misha did u see what a guy on youtube called lemon grenade says about zastava? he says they beat themselves up also that the bcg is soft and other parts. any opinions as i really respect yours! thanks for what u do misha and happy new year. hope yours is great and the new year brings new promise!
This is something some claim about Zastava for over a decade. Years back i did a deep dive and really it was mostly a whole alot of nothing + accoutns of a handful of actual lemons. just see how many happy Zastava owners are around today.. And honestly, even if my SAM5 does starting marring itself, I"m not sure i care? I mean it runs and is accurate; mroe than could be said for the w"ASR3 lol.
This "Lemmon Grenade" fellow also said the Zastava M90 takes proprietary magazines, which is incorrect so take anything the fella says with a grain of salt.
I have a tip for you, start using capital letters at the beginning of each sentence! This way people will start thinking that you graduated high school. Ps. English is my second language, but that is a rule that is for every language all over the world 😊
I'm sure it has already been thought of, but because of the various reports of premature/abnormal wear with the SAM-5s people have been having (probably being too over-gassed perhaps) I wonder if a KNS tunable piston, an extra power recoil spring, and/or a recoil buffer (or a combination of all three) may help with those issues? For obvious reasons, you don't want too little gas for the action, but not so much gas that the BCG and the other internals are experiencing the abnormal wear and tear.
In the late 2000s I bought a waffen works AK in 545 from classic firearms on sale for 500 bux built from a Bulgarian kit, good deal at the time, how do you feel about those stamped rifles?
Just some random guy but some of those rifles had issues, some were functionally fine. To be honest I'd almost consider getting it rebuilt maybe with a new receiver and barrel to be a little more "correct" seeing as how actual AK-74's, especially built out in 5.45, are basically collectors pieces now and not high-round counter beaters/shooters. A good AK builder could also rebuild it in 5.56 with a new barrel and stuff.
I have one of the infamous batch 61s. Was horrid when i got it, Arsenal refused to repair. Since then i got a 74 front end, kns, flattened the rear of receiver, and welded up the gas port. Even with almost 2k rnds with the kns, she still looks almost new on the rear of the bcg. Honestly reliability has been top notch unless under gassed. The worst malfunction ive had is the alg trigger roll pin backing out one time and firing the gun when I was trying to put it on safe. Absolute sewing machine now.
I definitely prefer the 74 brake over the egg beater. There's alot of flash sure, but it essentially turns the gun into a loud 22. Unfortunately it causes so much carbon buildup that im essentially never gonna be able to get it clean haha.
to be fair, the fenix ammo we have been using frequently is reloaded itself. But no, i do not trust myself to attempt reloading. I am just afraid I'd make a mistake and I know my own limits.
What are the chances of you being able to do a video of the Chinese factory 66 AKM before it turned to norinco (from what I understand) ..In South africa, we have both! The factory 66 is a full auto mill factory great quality, and norinco is only semi auto from a few different factories, and quality seems to be getting worse!
I purchased my SAM5 in August 2022. Having never shot it, I sent it in to Arsenal to repair. They refused to say whether they replaced the barrel, welded up the gas port, or something else. I didn’t like the lack of transparency on warranty work and it remains in my safe unfired. I’m going to reach out to them again to see if they are willing to disclose what was done.
@@mistercisco81 I don't know of any car manufacturers that disclose their warranty repairs to their customers either. I think it's just common business practice. I say take the gun to the range and enjoy it.
Why wouldn't you shoot it!? Why would you send it in without shooting it!? They probably did NOTHING because there was NOTHING wrong with it! You don't know either because you haven't fired it! That makes NO sense!
for what its worth, I've directly told arsenal their lack of transparency is hurting them. They even replied that they knew that was something they needed to 'work on'. *shrug*
As I’ve commented before my 2020 model after 300 rounds of m193 cannot be disassembled without a mallet. Noticeable deformation to the receiver and bolt stem. I really think these were designed wrong. Normal overgassed AK’s don’t do this, the receiver being shaped the way it is definitely does not add to the wear problem.
Happy New Year! IWI-US has discontinued the Galil ACE in all calibers. AK fandom is becoming more arcane every day. The Tela is definitely corrosively primed but seems OK if overpriced.
@misha5670 because of the handguard right people love bitc-hing about everything they ask for 🙄 and people like me who waited for years to get which I did.
Man IWI has so much potential. They just needed better handguards on the Gen 2s. Strangely, I’ve seen new Tavor SARs popup for sale again at many places. Like a stockpile was discovered. SARs were discontinued and are way better than X95s imo. IWI just needs to think a little better with their products.
I have no idea which gas port my sam5 has because I put kns gas pistons on every AK anyways so gas will never be an issue for me. I love the sam 5! It's a tank and has ran with every mag and ammo perfectly; no malfunctions yet.
A 5.56 guns barrel would be shot out by then though. Plus I feel like a good built stamped gun will far surpass 20k rounds before the headspacing goes bad. Milled guns definitely are smoother but in the long run of actual functionality there doesn't seem to be a difference other than the extra weight. Funny though that a lot of the milled guns, norincos, and zastavas, all being the thick milled receivers or 1.5mm+ are often good shooters in my experience.
IIRC, Battlefield Vegas stated their stamped AKs last longer than their milled ones. Stamped AKs and milled Arsenals are both press and pin, and a stamped AK bolt still locks into a forged trunnion, so I don't see the headspace lifespan being materially different.
@JJW3 What I seen from battlefield vegas said that milled trunnions have yet to fail, but a stamped guns trunnion including all the good ones like saiga, arsenal bulgaria, chinese, romanian, etc. will eventually crack at 80-100k rounds, but at that point if you could afford all that ammo you could buy so many nice guns all over again. We're talking $40k to $50k in ammo at 50 cents a round, lol
@@JJW3According to them, their Chinese, American & Bulgarian milled receivers had yet to fail. Stamped eventually fail and quality seemed to be all over the place. For example commercial Zastavas had heat treating problems. Wasr's lasted 80k+ rounds with minimal maintenance & certain small failures like extractors etc I would conclude milled receivers are definitely better than stamped in the (very) long run. But 5.56, receiver type won't matter because the barrel won't last like a 7.62x39 barrel will. At the end if the day though, none of what they say really applies to us civilians. Even if the world went to hell & we turn into Tarkov scavs, hardly any of us are running full auto which is really what wears these things down fast, we will likely never acquire & go through 80,000+ rounds, nor would we likely survive that many fights. There is no reason to look past the mighty WASR if you want a gun that's going to last you a lifetime or more, and this coming from a guy who's owned 20+ kalashnikovs. Ex combloc factory rifle, chf barrel, you'll never wear her out. If you can get a milled Bulgy, go for it. But personally I think the older clinton ban era Bulgies were better, like an SLR-95. I just do not see the same quality with the newer ones.
Happy new year Misha. Good luck moving forward, in this glorious 2025 lol
Currently have a SA M-5. Grail gun for me, will never get rid of it
"I picked up this gun right in the middle of the whole thing": LOL
2020-2021 just feels like an entire event or 'thing' in my memory lol
Happy 2025!
I purchased my Sam 5 in 2021 and unfortunately had to send it in for warranty. I'm glad I did because now the gun runs like an absolute sewing machine and without a doubt is one of my absolute favorites. I'm very much looking forward to seeing what Arsenal is planning for 2025. Thank you for the great video and happy New Year.
Same with my Sam5.
Thanks for the report.
Were you having reliability issues? Or was the gun just beating itself up?
@@misha5670I had only fired about a hundred rounds down range and I could tell the gun was just way over gassed more than normal.. I've never seen brass fly so far and also was getting dinged up pretty good. There was a lot of premature wear on the bolt stem and back of the receiver. I didn't want to keep running the gun like that so I sent it in for warranty immediately. I have run roughly about 2,000 rounds through the gun since getting it back from Arsenal and it's been 100% reliable.
@@misha5670 beating it self to death badly. Like part were getting smashed so much they were hard to disassemble. But arsenal fixed it like it never happened
Happy New Year!!!!
Happy New Year Sir.
same to you
Oh boy a AK update
Happy New Year!
hey Misha did u see what a guy on youtube called lemon grenade says about zastava? he says they beat themselves up also that the bcg is soft and other parts. any opinions as i really respect yours! thanks for what u do misha and happy new year. hope yours is great and the new year brings new promise!
This is something some claim about Zastava for over a decade. Years back i did a deep dive and really it was mostly a whole alot of nothing + accoutns of a handful of actual lemons. just see how many happy Zastava owners are around today.. And honestly, even if my SAM5 does starting marring itself, I"m not sure i care? I mean it runs and is accurate; mroe than could be said for the w"ASR3 lol.
This "Lemmon Grenade" fellow also said the Zastava M90 takes proprietary magazines, which is incorrect
so take anything the fella says with a grain of salt.
That lemon grenade guy doesnt know what he's talking about. Mishaco, Klayco and Robski can all give you better opinions
I have a tip for you, start using capital letters at the beginning of each sentence! This way people will start thinking that you graduated high school.
Ps. English is my second language, but that is a rule that is for every language all over the world 😊
That lemon grenade dood doesn’t know as much as Misha. Zastava runs like a champ. Btw
Happy 2025, brother!
GOD Bless you and your family.
thank you
Awesome video as always! I could watch Ak videos all day🫡🇺🇸
Thank you!
Thanks!
I'm sure it has already been thought of, but because of the various reports of premature/abnormal wear with the SAM-5s people have been having (probably being too over-gassed perhaps) I wonder if a KNS tunable piston, an extra power recoil spring, and/or a recoil buffer (or a combination of all three) may help with those issues? For obvious reasons, you don't want too little gas for the action, but not so much gas that the BCG and the other internals are experiencing the abnormal wear and tear.
In the late 2000s I bought a waffen works AK in 545 from classic firearms on sale for 500 bux built from a Bulgarian kit, good deal at the time, how do you feel about those stamped rifles?
Just some random guy but some of those rifles had issues, some were functionally fine. To be honest I'd almost consider getting it rebuilt maybe with a new receiver and barrel to be a little more "correct" seeing as how actual AK-74's, especially built out in 5.45, are basically collectors pieces now and not high-round counter beaters/shooters. A good AK builder could also rebuild it in 5.56 with a new barrel and stuff.
@ it’s super accurate but thanks for the 556 idea, interesting
I have one of the infamous batch 61s. Was horrid when i got it, Arsenal refused to repair. Since then i got a 74 front end, kns, flattened the rear of receiver, and welded up the gas port. Even with almost 2k rnds with the kns, she still looks almost new on the rear of the bcg. Honestly reliability has been top notch unless under gassed. The worst malfunction ive had is the alg trigger roll pin backing out one time and firing the gun when I was trying to put it on safe. Absolute sewing machine now.
Misha the Tela ammo is corrosive. Would avoid completely. There have been several tests that confirm it is corrosive
I definitely prefer the 74 brake over the egg beater. There's alot of flash sure, but it essentially turns the gun into a loud 22. Unfortunately it causes so much carbon buildup that im essentially never gonna be able to get it clean haha.
Feel better
the brass off the front porch. i love it! assume no one reloads. lol!
to be fair, the fenix ammo we have been using frequently is reloaded itself. But no, i do not trust myself to attempt reloading. I am just afraid I'd make a mistake and I know my own limits.
I have noticed buffers being sold to supposedly prevent the rear receiver being beat up, but most AK guys eschew them. I'm not sure why.
Reliability tanks
Looks good to me! 333
This is the only milled 5.56 AK option I know of. Are there some kit builds or customs out there?
What are the chances of you being able to do a video of the Chinese factory 66 AKM before it turned to norinco (from what I understand) ..In South africa, we have both! The factory 66 is a full auto mill factory great quality, and norinco is only semi auto from a few different factories, and quality seems to be getting worse!
Chinese rifles have been banned from further import here since April, 1994.
@misha5670 oh what a bummer 😕! Was curious on your view on the Chinese AKM (factorie 66) compared to the Russian,polish made AKM rifles!
I purchased my SAM5 in August 2022. Having never shot it, I sent it in to Arsenal to repair. They refused to say whether they replaced the barrel, welded up the gas port, or something else. I didn’t like the lack of transparency on warranty work and it remains in my safe unfired. I’m going to reach out to them again to see if they are willing to disclose what was done.
Why’d you send it in before shooting it? Was there a recall? Was there a visible defect?
@@mistercisco81 I don't know of any car manufacturers that disclose their warranty repairs to their customers either. I think it's just common business practice. I say take the gun to the range and enjoy it.
Why wouldn't you shoot it!? Why would you send it in without shooting it!? They probably did NOTHING because there was NOTHING wrong with it! You don't know either because you haven't fired it! That makes NO sense!
@@TimGibson-o7g That’s why I was asking if there was a recall or something seen that was an obvious defect.
for what its worth, I've directly told arsenal their lack of transparency is hurting them. They even replied that they knew that was something they needed to 'work on'. *shrug*
Hi Misha 😀😇😀👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Sam7r for the win
SF
@@blackcat86900 truth. I love the SF
As I’ve commented before my 2020 model after 300 rounds of m193 cannot be disassembled without a mallet. Noticeable deformation to the receiver and bolt stem. I really think these were designed wrong. Normal overgassed AK’s don’t do this, the receiver being shaped the way it is definitely does not add to the wear problem.
Yes, and thanks to your warning, I've made it a point to check for disassembly with mine after each range trip.
Happy New Year! IWI-US has discontinued the Galil ACE in all calibers. AK fandom is becoming more arcane every day. The Tela is definitely corrosively primed but seems OK if overpriced.
What really why?
@@thetest8777 sales haven't been great for one.
@misha5670 because of the handguard right people love bitc-hing about everything they ask for 🙄 and people like me who waited for years to get which I did.
@@misha5670I loved the gen 1’s was lucky enough to grab one of each of the gen 1’s. Love the platform not so much for the gen 2 wasn’t interested.
Man IWI has so much potential. They just needed better handguards on the Gen 2s. Strangely, I’ve seen new Tavor SARs popup for sale again at many places. Like a stockpile was discovered. SARs were discontinued and are way better than X95s imo. IWI just needs to think a little better with their products.
gas on it way too much
Arsenal's firearms are so good they have to turn off comments on their TH-cam videos.
exactly, that's always a sign....sign of something for sure lol
I have no idea which gas port my sam5 has because I put kns gas pistons on every AK anyways so gas will never be an issue for me. I love the sam 5! It's a tank and has ran with every mag and ammo perfectly; no malfunctions yet.
I think the milled receiver makes sense because stamped starts to go out of headspace after 20,000 or so but milled lasts forever.
A 5.56 guns barrel would be shot out by then though. Plus I feel like a good built stamped gun will far surpass 20k rounds before the headspacing goes bad. Milled guns definitely are smoother but in the long run of actual functionality there doesn't seem to be a difference other than the extra weight. Funny though that a lot of the milled guns, norincos, and zastavas, all being the thick milled receivers or 1.5mm+ are often good shooters in my experience.
@@JaayGraam The smoothness of the moving parts is the major advantage of milled receivers over stamped from what I can gather.
IIRC, Battlefield Vegas stated their stamped AKs last longer than their milled ones. Stamped AKs and milled Arsenals are both press and pin, and a stamped AK bolt still locks into a forged trunnion, so I don't see the headspace lifespan being materially different.
@JJW3 What I seen from battlefield vegas said that milled trunnions have yet to fail, but a stamped guns trunnion including all the good ones like saiga, arsenal bulgaria, chinese, romanian, etc. will eventually crack at 80-100k rounds, but at that point if you could afford all that ammo you could buy so many nice guns all over again. We're talking $40k to $50k in ammo at 50 cents a round, lol
@@JJW3According to them, their Chinese, American & Bulgarian milled receivers had yet to fail.
Stamped eventually fail and quality seemed to be all over the place. For example commercial Zastavas had heat treating problems. Wasr's lasted 80k+ rounds with minimal maintenance & certain small failures like extractors etc
I would conclude milled receivers are definitely better than stamped in the (very) long run. But 5.56, receiver type won't matter because the barrel won't last like a 7.62x39 barrel will.
At the end if the day though, none of what they say really applies to us civilians. Even if the world went to hell & we turn into Tarkov scavs, hardly any of us are running full auto which is really what wears these things down fast, we will likely never acquire & go through 80,000+ rounds, nor would we likely survive that many fights. There is no reason to look past the mighty WASR if you want a gun that's going to last you a lifetime or more, and this coming from a guy who's owned 20+ kalashnikovs. Ex combloc factory rifle, chf barrel, you'll never wear her out.
If you can get a milled Bulgy, go for it. But personally I think the older clinton ban era Bulgies were better, like an SLR-95. I just do not see the same quality with the newer ones.
Lmao, imagine spending north of 2k for an unreliable POS. Arsenal gotcha sucker.