Review of my I.O. Inc. AK47

[thunderstruck]

Hey guys, I'm new here but I wanted to talk about my Inter Ordnance (I.O. Inc.) AK47-C rifle since there isn't much widespread info about them. Forgive me if I say something dumb here, this is my first Kalashnikov. I went to my favorite gun store (Independence Firearms near Brenham, TX) a few months ago looking to buy a WASR-10 when this I.O. Inc. rifle, priced about the same as a WASR at $450, caught my eye. I had never heard of IO before I saw this AK, but I ended up walking out with it anyways. Impulse buy... shame, shame... Now that I've put about 1,000 rounds down-range, here are some things worth mentioning:

- I.O. Inc really pushes that this rifle is "Made in the USA." The receiver, barrel, front trunnion, side scope rail, slanted muzzle brake, trigger group, furniture, and included magazine are all U.S. made from what I have found. The rest appears to be surplus parts.

- The mag well is cut out nicely. Steel mags and the included polymer mag (which looks like it is a rebranded ProMag) fit great, barely any wobbling.

- It comes with a single hook Tapco G2 trigger group. No trigger slap.

- It has the side rail for mounting optics.

- The receiver has a blue finish that is very scratch resistant compared to the typical matte-finish AK receivers. It does rub off fairly quickly though.

- It is accurate for an AK47, IMO. IO's claim of 2" groups at 100 yards with iron sights may be pushing it, but that should be possible with good optics. It does out-shoot my friends Vector AK47 and MAK-90 rifles. Ditching the slant brake in favor of a flash hider made it even better.

- Although it feels cheap, I really like the furniture. It gives a ~64-year-old rifle a more modern feel without looking too "tacticool." The RPK-style stock is nice, the larger pistol grip is a big plus, and the picatinny-rail on the bottom handguard is a great feature.

Here's where things get bad:

- Initially, the stock had a small amount of play while the bottom handguard had tons. It was terrible with a vertical foregrip attached the handguard. Fortunately, I did manage to get all of the play out of the stock and most out of the handguard. Don't ask how I did it, I'm not too proud of it.

- At first, about one out of ten rounds would FTF. The pressure from the hammer would push the bolt up through the notches in the rails near the rear trunnion, causing the bolt to get stuck on it's way back. Fortunately, a recoil buffer "fixed" that. I never had a single round FTE from the rifle.

- The front sight is slightly canted to the left, I knew to look for that when I went to buy a WASR, but oddly I never checked it when I picked up the IO. It does shoot okay with iron sights, however. The gas block is fine.

- The top receiver cover kept coming off after a few shots, it even flew completely off the receiver more than once. I have temporarily fixed that by bending the rear of the cover and then...

- I tried contacting I.O. several times for a replacement cover. First, I eMailed them. After three days, I still hadn't received a reply, so I eMailed them again. About two more days passed before I tried calling them. When I called I never spoke to a live human, I was sent straight to voicemail and told that my call would be returned in a timely manner. They never did call me back but I did finally get my second eMailed returned a day later. In fact I was sent two eMails, one asking me for my address so they can send a longer cover, and another one telling me to send my bolt and recoil spring in so that they can replace the firing pin. I never said anything about my firing pin, they even quoted my original message about the dust cover in that eMail. I just ignored it and replied to the first eMail. Now six weeks later, I still haven't heard anything or received another cover. I did try eMailing and calling them once again after four weeks, but I have pretty much given up now. I am thinking that the rear trunnion might be the problem anyways, the smooth dust cover on my friend's Vector AK47 doesn't fit at all.

Given the price, I'm not *too* upset about the quality of mine, I'm happy that it took only minimal work to get it working as it looks like it like my impulse buy could have been worse. I had a good time putting about 1,000 rounds through it so far. However, I.O. really needs to tighten up their quality control and, at the very least, get their customer service's shit together. Until they do that, I wouldn't recommend anyone buy one of their rifles.

I.O. Inc. website: http://www.ioinc.us/
Royal Tiger Imports (parent company of I.O.) website: http://www.royaltigerimports.com/

Here is a pic of mine, sorry for the poor quality:

 

[TexasBrandon]

I was under the impression I.O.'s AK's were some of the better out there, but based on your review it isn't much better than the WASR-10 that I got rid of. Great information here.

 

[Jakashh]

They also import Mosin's. Got my old one from gander mtn, IO inc etched on the barrel.

 

[majormadmax]

I.O. AKs have a spotty reputation. Some folks love 'em, others think they are crap. I prefer AKs in their "natural" wooden state, with the exception of Saigas; and for the money I'd rather go with a lower-end Romanian.

I hope you get your issues resolved, but from the sound of things it doesn't appear that I.O. is being very responsive.

 

[thunderstruck]

Update. I called IO again last Friday (9/23), and as expected I never heard back. But when I got home today, I was surprised to find that FedEx had dropped off the dust cover! IO sent me a new, unnumbered cover that has a much better finish than the cover that came with the rifle. However, it is the same length as the original cover! I immediately noticed that they had bent the bottom rear lip of the cover just like I had done with the original.

Does this mean the rear trunnion is too far back (it *looks* fine) or that IO's receivers are too long?

 

[doit26]

Steer clear of io inc.

Near Jan 1st of this year, my wife and I each bought an AK from Royal Tiger Imports and 6 additional 30 round magazines. The mags showed up about a week or two after placing the order. Then each AK showed up about 4 weeks after placing the order. When the rifles arrived I looked them over and noticed that one of the AKs had horrible assembly issues. Whoever riveted the rear trunnion to the receiver, they riveted them together without the receiver sides fully inserted into the trunnion. Because the receiver was so horribly bent out of shape, the dust cover would not install. However, that same dust cover/AK combo shipped to me assembled. That means someone had to use excessive force or tools to install that dust cover. There is no way that it would go on by hand (which is what all AK dust covers need to be installed with).

While I discovered the AK issue, I decided to test the magazines and load 30 rounds into each. With each AK we received 2 mags/ea and the additional 6 that I mentioned earlier. That puts us at 10 mags. 6 of the 10 mags that we received do NOT hold 30 rounds. They ranged between 25-27 rounds maximum capacity. Really? Out of the 12 products we bought from RTI, only a small percentage work properly. It is at this point that I assume IO, Inc has ZERO quality control checking these assembled items for completeness and functionality.

I went directly to IO Inc and spoke with Keith, who handles warranty repair. He quickly sent me a RMA to send the defective items back for repair/replacement. It took a few days for the package to arrive but it did show confirmation that it arrived. I allowed 2 weeks to pass and contacted Keith to determine any feedback regarding the situation. I was quickly responded by email stating to allow 4 weeks from time of receipt for my items to ship back. No problem as I understand the political agenda and current events have placed these guys in a difficult situation to supply the demand. I let another 2 weeks pass and attempted to contact Keith numerous times over the course of 1-2 weeks (now at about 5-6 weeks after receipt of the items for repair) via email and phone. I was finally replied by email 1.5 weeks after I was supposed to receive the items for the 2nd time. The email was very short and stated to wait until the end of March to receive my items. Now they are telling me it takes 8+ weeks to repair something that should never have left their facility in the first place. At this point it has been 3 months since we placed the original order and still have nothing to show for it. I replied back to Keith telling him that his answer was unacceptable and they should hold themselves more accountable as I was a customer who has paid my fees and waited just like the rest of society but because IO Inc screwed up, I have to wait even longer. Keith replied back asking for the serial number of the firearm in question. When he sent the additional 4 week email, he just sent it without even checking into my account or claim. He just replied to an email to clear it from his inbox. From there I did not hear from him until the next day when I got him on the phone.

I spoke to Keith about the situation and the recent email exchange. At that point he questioned why I had not received the repaired items yet as if he had current knowledge that the items already shipped. So, now I am getting 3 different responses from Keith and none are the same. Sounds like they are just running around with their heads cut off. Keith checks the status and says that he sees where they received the firearm but show no tracking for the repaired firearm. That is because it has not shipped yet, Keith. I don't even work for IO Inc and I could tell you that. Keith then told me to give him some time to see where my stuff is.

I got a phone call from Keith and he left a voicemail stating that my firearm was un-repairable and a new one would ship that same day. Not sure why it wasn't determined the first 4 weeks that it was not repairable but judging by the rest of my experience with IO Inc, it is assumable that their customer service and products are shoddy. I immediately called him back asking about the 6 magazines. He replied as if he were questioning that I did in fact turn in 6 magazines with my original shipment. He then stated, "If you sent in 6 mags, then you will receive 6 back."

Here we are discussing this issue after finally receiving a package from IO Inc last night. My wife and I opened up the package and who would have thought that IO Inc is cheating me? There were only two magazines with the new firearm. I looked over the firearm and everything seems to be OK. Still need to field strip it and do a good once-over on it. Then I decided to load 30 rounds into each of the two replacement mags they sent me. Sure enough, one of the mags does not load to full capacity. They cheated me yet once more. In the end we have purchased 2 AK-47s, including 4 mags, and purchased an additional 6 mags, and only 3 of the mags from the total lot work properly. STAY CLEAR OF IO INC PRODUCTS, THEY ARE NOT WORTHY.

I attempted to contact Keith again this morning and the phone rang off the hook. Attempted customer service and received the same results. Then I tried their accounting department and got someone on the phone. I explained my situation and she said she would look into it and to give her a few hours to diagnose the situation. It has been 3 hours and I still have no word back. I think they are just trying to capitalize on the demand that society has placed upon this business. However, this business has poor ethical leadership and their products reflect their values.

I have contacted the BBB to notify them of the situation. That way a 3rd party can speak on my behalf because I am obviously not a priority for IO Inc, even though we spent $1600+ with them in a matter of a week or two. They got their money so they have fulfilled their obligations. Beyond that, there is no customer service. Next stop, my bank as I am submitting a claim for the faulty 6 magazines.

 

[Tyrvidar]

Update. I called IO again last Friday (9/23), and as expected I never heard back. But when I got home today, I was surprised to find that FedEx had dropped off the dust cover! IO sent me a new, unnumbered cover that has a much better finish than the cover that came with the rifle. However, it is the same length as the original cover! I immediately noticed that they had bent the bottom rear lip of the cover just like I had done with the original.

Does this mean the rear trunnion is too far back (it *looks* fine) or that IO's receivers are too long?

Its common practice to flair the top cover at the back a little to make a nice snug fit, I've done it on a few builds. Could mean three things, the rear trunnion might be too far back, the Front trunnion might be too far forward, or the rear sight block could be too far forward on the barrel. Ideally you should have a nice smooth flat transition from the back ears of the front trunnion sitting flat with the flat face of where the top cover sits into the rear sight block blah blah blah.

 

[TXARGUY]

Just read this entire review (and the rest of the thread) and found not one single photo.

Lots of good info here but without photos of the features/flaws/etc... such a review is worthless for all practical purposes.

 

[Rentz]

Just read this entire review (and the rest of the thread) and found not one single photo.

Lots of good info here but without photos of the features/flaws/etc... such a review is worthless for all practical purposes.

id love to see photos of the problems so I know what to look for.

 

[40Arpent]

Y'all realize that doit26 bumped a 2.5 year old thread? I'm betting he cut and pasted the same thing on every gun board where he could find something about IO.

 

[TXARGUY]

Y'all realize that doit26 bumped a 2.5 year old thread? I'm betting he cut and pasted the same thing on every gun board where he could find something about IO.

I did not notice the dates. i hate it when people do that. Wastes a shitload of time. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[doit26]

Here is the missing photo.

Just read this entire review (and the rest of the thread) and found not one single photo.

Lots of good info here but without photos of the features/flaws/etc... such a review is worthless for all practical purposes.

Bending the dust cover would not have helped in this situation. I spent hours trying to get the dust cover over this 3/16-1/4" bend in the receiver. And I did look at the dust cover for any flaring and there was none. I own several AKs and have never had a problem until now.

 

[doit26]

Sorry to have upset everyone. Seems like everyone has opinions. The dates began this year (Jan 1st-now).

 

[TXARGUY]

Sorry to have upset everyone. Seems like everyone has opinions. The dates began this year (Jan 1st-now).

Not a big deal. It would have been better if you had just created your own thread instead of bumping one from 2011.

You could always have provided a link to this thread if you thought the information pertinent.

Also, pics = 1000s of words.

 

[doit26]

Not a big deal. It would have been better if you had just created your own thread instead of bumping one from 2011.

You could always have provided a link to this thread if you thought the information pertinent.

Also, pics = 1000s of words.

To be honest, I thought this was a current thread. My apologies.

And yesterday my computer was having issues uploading pictures and couldn't get the pic up. It's up now and as you can see that whoever assembled this AK did not fully seat the rear trunnion with the receiver and riveted tit together. It should have been noticeable when installing the dust cover that it would not go on without extreme force and should never have left the facility.

 

[XinTX]

I have a build on an IO receiver. I wasn't real impressed with the receiver. I may end up demilling it and building using a Nodak in the future.

If I get energetic that is.

 

[country_boy]

Those problems aren't major as a builder. Dust cover can be ground to fit with a belt sander. Canted sight isn't hard to fix either.

 

[Trueno]

Y'all realize that doit26 bumped a 2.5 year old thread? I'm betting he cut and pasted the same thing on every gun board where he could find something about IO.

Did you have a point? Otherwise, if you're a fan of IO just say so.

t

 

[Trueno]

I did not notice the dates. i hate it when people do that. Wastes a shitload of time. Thanks for pointing that out.

Who gives a shit? If you or the other nannies were paying attention instead of looking for something to bitch about then you'd notice that doit26 posted some insight as to dealing with IO.

But no, all anyone can do is whine about "waste of time etc"...even though they took the time to post their whine.



doit26: excellent post, keep it up in the future.

t

 

[Trueno]

Sorry to have upset everyone. Seems like everyone has opinions. The dates began this year (Jan 1st-now).

Nah, quit apologizing to the wannabe hall monitors...thanks for your insight and your input.

t