thunderstruck
Member
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:
- 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: