Akdal MKA 1919 Upper Receiver Wear

[StealthyBlagga]

I have an Akdal MKA 1919 (non-XN) that is just over a year old, but has only a few hundred rounds through it so far. It is modified with a 2-piece Firebird TAC-12 aluminum lower and FCG, but the entire upper half is stock. I pulled the gun apart to clean it and do some minor modifications, and found evidence of deep galling inside the upper receiver. From the photos below, you can see that the galling has worn through the anodizing, and indeed is quite deep. There were flakes of shaved aluminum floating around inside the upper and all over the bolt. Otherwise, the bolt appears to move freely when I manually cycle the action. Is this wear normal, or something I should be worried about?

Edited May 21, 2014 by StealthyBlagga

[RiggerJJ]

Richard,

I am pretty sure they all do that, the locking part of the bolt is bouncing against the top of the receiver. I "helped" mine by augering that area out. ?

jj

[LoganbillJ]

Wear you are seeing is very common. After about 750-1000 rds you should see that this has stopped completely.

[StealthyBlagga]

Thanks gents - just wanted to be sure.

[Flatland Shooter]

Mine did the same during break in. Until it stopped, I cleaned the upper every 75 rds or so and kept it well lubricated.

Bill

[TVpresspass]

Huh, mine is an XN model, but I've only got ~300 rounds through it. I'll keep an eye on it!

Has anyone else noticed that the ten rounder mags require a bit of modification to actually lock in to their guns?

[LoganbillJ]

Another very common problem. The over molding is not consistent in placement thus requiring a slight modification. We check all the mags we send out in a stock gun to ensure they will lock in properly. We very rarely see any problems with any mags we sell anymore.

[Twardca]

Are you guys having good luck using light loads with these? Would standard 3 dram 1 1/8oz Loads cycle the gun reliably?

[LoganbillJ]

We run 1145fps Winchester AAs on our comped barrels. We have zero issues with them. Prior to comping my barrel I was very close to getting the 980fps AAs to run reliably as well.

[Twardca]

We run 1145fps Winchester AAs on our comped barrels. We have zero issues with them. Prior to comping my barrel I was very close to getting the 980fps AAs to run reliably as well.

That's good to hear I have been looking at picking one of these up just to play around in open

[gerritm]

Great shotgun, I have one from Tooth and Nail and it runs perfect with the lighter AA loads. Their 23 round mag is the bomb. Makes most stages very easy.

gerritm

[Flatland Shooter]

Once you get them broke in and fine tuned, they run great. Mine now handles the 1145 fps rounds near 100% but for major matches I still run the 1200 fps Remington Gun Club shells for that extra little cushion.

One note of caution, some of the experts recommend we do not shoot the MKA 1919 with really hot loads. After some problems with a spinner that was sorely in need of lubrication, I bought a couple of boxes of Prairie Storm ammo when the LGS finally got it in stock. So far have not shot any of them and looks like I probably won't.

Turns out these shells have been known to tear apart a good Akdal. I do shoot the occasional 1300 fps #6 shot without problems.

Bill

[Twardca]

Thanks for the info. I was gonna order one but I think I'll wait until I have the extra money to order the one tooth and nail 3 gun setup.

[Twardca]

Probably end up saving me money in the long run

[bigblock455]

I agree with Gerrit here. Tooth and Nail do a great job on the weapon itself, that 22 rounder is a stage changer. Well shot match Sunday Gerrit.

[TVpresspass]

The 22 rounder scares the crap out of me. That thing looks like a monopod!

At a match this weekend I had one 10 rounder run fine, but one kept dropping in the dirt when I fired. Doesn't seem to be dropping fully!

As far as cycling loads: I've had zero problems with my XN model. Lots of locally made premium loads, but also ~150 rounds of crappy wal-mart target load.

[Flatland Shooter]

At a match this weekend I had one 10 rounder run fine, but one kept dropping in the dirt when I fired. Doesn't seem to be dropping fully!

Others have also had problems with the 10 rd mags not seating properly.

Mine have been fine but others needed to trim the plastic down a little bit so they would fully seat. Usually solved the problem,

Bill

[gerritm]

So far everything that Matt and Josh have sent me has run perfect right out of the box. They test everything before it goes out to make sure of fit and function. I ran the 23 rounder in a match the day after I got it with no problems and no testing. It has run at least 4 or 5 matches with out a failure of any kind, so don't be afraid of it. It is a big advantage. The 5 and 10 round mags have all functioned perfect.

To break in the shotgun they sent it with a heavy spring and recommended Win AA 1350fps shells for at least 250 rounds then you can switch to the lighter spring and loads. I probably ran 300-350 rounds of the heavy ammo thru it before switching springs and now run Win AA 1145 & 1200 shells, but have tried everything from Rio, to Federal, and Estate with good results.Great gun and excellent customer service. It has improved my shooting and fun factor.

gerritm