Dissident Arms KR 9 reviews

[RadarLuv]

People with these how do you like them. Trying to decide between one of these and a JP-5. Anyone that has shot or have both what are your thoughts. Anyone competing with a KR 9 how does it run for you? 

[CClassForLife]

If you care about having the best competition PCC, then get the JP-5. If you want to be different, then get a DA KR9.

 

The issue with the Vityaz platform is that all the parts needed to make it competitive are afterthoughts. Arhipov lever, index activated safety, extended handguard, buffer tube adapter for comfortable stock. These are all modifications to get the ergonomics to match the AR in efficiency. However, the mass of the bolt is still relatively heavy and forward biased. It's still possible to get roughly comparable times, but it's more work with the KR9.

[RadarLuv]

Thanks for the input. Hopefully someone that has a dissident version will chime in with what they like about them. 

[bulldog009]

On 12/3/2022 at 2:53 PM, RadarLuv said:

People with these how do you like them. Trying to decide between one of these and a JP-5. Anyone that has shot or have both what are your thoughts. Anyone competing with a KR 9 how does it run for you? 

In a similar dilemma - I've had a AR9 for several years and am itching for something different and have been looking at the KR9 a lot. I don't have experience with it specifically, but I do with Dissident. If it runs anything like their shotguns, it should run well. My biggest thing would be getting over the manual of arms difference between the two platforms, which is the biggest thing holding me back from getting one. 

They will also do a lot of the same upgrade work on PSA AK-Vs if that changes anything for you for mag choice.

[RadarLuv]

Sadly there seems to be a lack of shooters familiar with the dissidents

[bulldog009]

13 hours ago, RadarLuv said:

Sadly there seems to be a lack of shooters familiar with the dissidents

I shoot with a guy who runs Dissident everything, he is very connected with Lan and Mike at Dissident, and he has no apparent lack of funds for this hobby. He has recently switched from a QC10 build (was a sponsor of his) to the KR9, if that gives you any indication. I just haven't had a chance to talk to him about it yet, or shoot it; and I don't think he's on this forum unfortunately.

The KR9 is also still a relatively new offering for them, so there may not be a lot in circulation yet. But Dissident is widely revered in the shooting sports world, you should have no issues with them as a company. Their shotguns easily command the top spot in open division across the board.  

Edited December 12, 2022 by bulldog009

[rowdyb]

I have a kr9 amd have had 2 jp's and have shot the jp5 a few times. If we're keeping score I want the jp every time. If we're goofing g off, the kr9 is fine. Exactly how I felt about the cz scorpion. Turning a subgun into a game gun has never worked for me.

[RadarLuv]

Thanks guys thats the kind of feed back I was looking for. What is it about the KR 9 that you wouldn't use it for competition? 

[rowdyb]

The amount of work you have to do to get a manual of arms to be comparable in times and efficiency to an AR style gun is too much to not be worth it. The lack of tuneability of the reciprocating mass in the AK gun yields what many say is an inferior feeling of recoil and cycling. Sight height relative to the stock and where you can place it.

 

I have and tried different triggers, furniture, optic mounts, springs, short stroking and so on of my KR9 and looked long and hard at a dissident version. Can you shoot them in pcc and do "well" and have fun? Of course! You'll also get plenty of comments about running a unique gun. But to me, and others, when you start caring about everything you do and how it equals 0.10 on the timer, I would choose an AR gun.

 

And I teach the Foreign Weapons/AK class for the company I work for and still say that.

[bulldog009]

3 hours ago, rowdyb said:

The amount of work you have to do to get a manual of arms to be comparable in times and efficiency to an AR style gun is too much to not be worth it. The lack of tuneability of the reciprocating mass in the AK gun yields what many say is an inferior feeling of recoil and cycling. Sight height relative to the stock and where you can place it.

 

I have and tried different triggers, furniture, optic mounts, springs, short stroking and so on of my KR9 and looked long and hard at a dissident version. Can you shoot them in pcc and do "well" and have fun? Of course! You'll also get plenty of comments about running a unique gun. But to me, and others, when you start caring about everything you do and how it equals 0.10 on the timer, I would choose an AR gun.

 

And I teach the Foreign Weapons/AK class for the company I work for and still say that.

And this is why I haven't switched to one over my AR9. I want one just for the unique factor, but I don't think I'll be as competitive with it as I am with my AR9. 

Very well written. 

[mpmo]

I 100% second everything Rowdyb says.  I have both.  I would add the following:

 

I really do love the Dissident Arms KR-9, but... The do not warranty anything if you handload/reload ammo for the gun.  Ask me how I know?  After an OOB detonation with less than 500 minor PF loads through it, (doing a bill drill,) I sent it back.  They took a look and then realized that I said up front that I reload for it. The OOB detonation was with new Starline brass and as I said, minor loads.  Is it possible that i double charged N320 even with my double check system after 150,000 loads with out an issue? Yes.  Is it possible that caused an actual OOB detonation where it blew a hole in the side of the case? No. The case showed no signs of overpressure at all.  I'll add that all ammo I shoot is case guaged with a hundo, and checked for high primers.  I've only been reloading for 3 years and am still quite a bit more cautious than I probably need to be. 

 

Dissident says they ran tests which i understood to mean they ran 150 rounds through it trying to duplicate the issue.  They were not able to duplicate it and sent it back to me saying there is nothing wrong with the gun.  I had a few discussions pleading with them to do additional testing and help me figure it out but they would not.  Just putting a primed case behind the extractor, or a laser round and pulling the trigger OOB would have confirmed the issue.  They returned the rifle, with the bent dust cover (they said they repaired it but they didn't.)

 

Since then, K-USA the original maker of the KR-9 has admitted that they are having OOB detonations with the gun and I think they have come up with a fix.  I'm not sure that Dissident is aware as they have not contacted me.  I plan on following up with them this week.  

I don't fault them for a K-USA issue, but their service in general leaves something to be desired.  Numerous emails and phone calls on this or other questions, unanswered.  And if you are making a premium $$$ gun for competition use, you should expect that people are going to reload and warranty accordingly.  Not to say issues can't be caused by reloads, of course they can, same as bad factory ammo.   But, in my opinion, you have to do your due diligence to trouble shoot and figure out what the issue is, regardless of the ammo used.  Especially since they let me know this was not the first time they have had this issue with a KR-9.  

 

Side note, they also verbally told me the gun should be cleaned after any heavy range session, or 250-500 rounds.  That is way more than I like to clean my guns or have to clean any other competition gun that I own, let alone an AK platform...

 

Side side note, while I'm pretty down on Dissident Arms for this situation, I have had several other very positive experiences with the company.  I run a Komp-12 which is amazing, and their tuned mags are really great.  As well, everything else about the KR-9 is great.  It's so much fun to shoot, and has perfect AK pattern modification to run in competition.  

 

If you are considering a KR-9, I would recommend waiting a bit to see what the results of the K-USA firepin fix is.  I will update as I get new info.

 

 

Edited February 5, 2023 by mpmo

[mpmo]

Update:

Reached back out to Dissident, they were aware of the statement from K-USA but did not contact me to let me know.  They said I should email K-USA directly, which I did. 

 

K-USA responded within a couple days and said they would be sending me a shipping label to return the bolt for testing and the upgraded firing pin.   I'm very nervous that they are not going to want to deal with it once they see the left hand charging that Dissident added, but we will see.  That is why I was hoping for help from Dissident.  IMO, they should reach out to K-USA to make sure they are going to honor the fix for the guns they modified.  

 

Asked Dissident to explain or send me a new dust cover (they stated previously that it was fixed, but it wasn't.). They did not respond to that part of the email.  I followed up with a second email and still got no response.  Not sure where to go from here.  

[mpmo]

Update:
Sent bolt back to K-USA.  They had it back to me in about a month.  Sat on my bench.  I have it back installed in the gun and have shot it a few times.  They also sent me a new dust cover.  No further issues, but I haven't run any bill drills or done any crazy splits with it.  

 

Good chance I will run it at least at one AK competition this summer.

 

 

Edited June 21, 2023 by mpmo

[seako_916]

Ive shot one that was custom built. Loved it but went with a JP-5 because I'm left-handed and the AK platform just isn't as adaptable for me as the JP-5