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XN drive block breakage / replacement drive block


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  It seems the XN drive block is prone to fatigue and breakage. Mine broke at a match a while back, the first we'd heard of at that time. in the weeks since there have been a number more show up. i believe other MKA builders have seen the same thing.

 

  I have no idea how many rounds I have shot through my personal gun, A LOT in the 14 months or so of shooting 3 gun and testing of our products .

  Anyway, I'd advise anyone who has a lot of rounds down the pipe to check yours for cracks, especially those who shoot in competition.

 

  We have a new redesigned drive block, we think will solve the problem, or at least get a lot more rounds before needing replacement.

 

We hope to have the "NEW and IMPROVED" (like that phrase isn't beat to deathdeadhorse.gif ) version available in a week or so.

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Just how much money do people have to keep pumping into the MKA.

 

Is it made of cheese?

 

After you have swopped out all the parts to upgrade, it still brakes????

 

Fuckin waste of money, buy a Saiga Vepr or BR99

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That's like saying all US made AR's are the same.

 

All AK47's made are the same?

 

There is a lot of firearm company's in Turkey.

 

Brett be honest, how many parts have you changed & how much have you spent, just to have a AR looking shotgun

 

That parts keep failing???

 

The MKA is a money pit, Prove me wrong.

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We have been making chrome moly drive blocks for quite a while, this has been a known problem for well over a year.

 

I had to laugh when I saw aluminum drive blocks for sale.

 

Eksen has redesigned the carrier and drive block, I dont know when the new design will show up.

Jim

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That's like saying all US made AR's are the same.

 

All AK47's made are the same?

 

There is a lot of firearm company's in Turkey.

 

Brett be honest, how many parts have you changed & how much have you spent, just to have a AR looking shotgun

 

That parts keep failing???

 

The MKA is a money pit, Prove me wrong.

Get back to me when you've shot 2-3k+ rounds through the BR

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This guy lives to bad mouth the mka.

 

And is not smart enough to realize that the br 99 IS an MKA, just gen 1 bolt and carrier with a few upgrades.

All the same problems exist in the BR99, except ramp breakage.

 

And 3" shell will destroy any of them in short order.

Jim

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NO I have a life, just don't spent it trying to upgrade poorly made guns.

 

So you are saying the BR99 is as weak as the MKA. Fine, lets all buy Saiga's & Vepr's

 

I now, lets buy a MKA sling & the rest in after market parts. That might work.

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That's like saying all US made AR's are the same.

 

All AK47's made are the same?

 

There is a lot of firearm company's in Turkey.

 

Brett be honest, how many parts have you changed & how much have you spent, just to have a AR looking shotgun

 

That parts keep failing???

 

The MKA is a money pit, Prove me wrong.

 

 

I've spent a fair amount of money to have an AR looking shotgun. I never went into ownership with blinders on either. If I wanted a QUALITY, DUTY Semi Auto Shotgun I would

have a Benelli M4, it's really a no brainer.. I don't expect an Akdal or Bora or Saiga to be a top tier firearm.. I kind of look at them all like I look at KelTec's.

 

Mine hasn't been shot enough to fall apart yet.. Didn't get much range time before summer was gone last season. Hope to change that soon! And if a cheap part breaks I will

replace it! 

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Thanks Brett for a honest well put answer.

 

See my point, $600 gun + $800 in new parts.

 

I only put a M4 stock on my BR because they said you couldn't.

 

A Vepr12 for $800 very nice.

 

To me the BR is what it is, a cheap semi auto, not worth spending money on. I will keep firing till it falls to bits.

Its a fun gun, plane & simple. I also would grab my Saiga12 first.

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here in the U.S. we have this stupid thing called 922r. So regardless of if it is a Saiga or MKA or BR, you are going to have to swap parts out

if you want to use high capacity mags and an adjustable stock. So either way your gonna have to sink money into it.

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And 3" shell will destroy any of them in short order.

Jim

 

Not what I wanted to hear.    I use 3" Prairie Storm shells sparingly (still on the first box) but do not want to break the gun this early in the 3 gun season.

 

I've got well over 2K rounds through my pre-XN gun with no cracks yet.  Any estimate on how many rounds of 3" constitutes "short order" and how soon will a pre-XN drove block be available?

 

Just one more thing to keep me awake at night.

 

Bill

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And 3" shell will destroy any of them in short order.

Jim

 

Not what I wanted to hear.    I use 3" Prairie Storm shells sparingly (still on the first box) but do not want to break the gun this early in the 3 gun season.

 

I've got well over 2K rounds through my pre-XN gun with no cracks yet.  Any estimate on how many rounds of 3" constitutes "short order" and how soon will a pre-XN drove block be available?

 

Just one more thing to keep me awake at night.

 

Bill

 

My Pre-XN drive block cracked way earlier than that with no 3" shells through it. The crack is now a decent gap, but hasnt affected function....

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It all depends on you application.  I shoot 3 gun, so that is the prism that I view the MKA through.  Others want it for blowing up pumpkins or home defense...whatever's your bag, but that will dictate what you need from that gun.

 

I'm starting my 3rd 3 Gun season on my original GEN 1 MKA (albeit with considerable amount of FB upgrades). This includes trips to the MGM Iron Man, Crimson Trace, and some other fairly big matches.  The first year was a little rough, as we all tried to solve issues on the fly with an entirely new platform.  However, last year my MKA ran pretty darn well.  Did it have malfunctions - yes, but none catastrophic.  Mostly just a FTF or FTE here or there.  I'd venture to say that now my MKA is as dependable as any shotgun - box fed or not, that I see in 3 gun matches.  That is saying something.  Last year I shot the Crimson Trace and Montana Multi-Gun Championship (within a 2 week span) without a single malfunction...of any kind.  

 

My original drive block is still going, although frankly I don't expect that MKA to last a whole lot longer.  Typically, if you shoot a lot of 3 gun, your shot gun lasts about 3 years, regardless of the brand.  They just aren't built to shoot 2-3k rounds, year in, and year out.  About 4k-6k rounds (or less) you'll start having problems with it, and replace all the parts (which doesn't always work) or maybe you'll just get bored with it and buy the next latest and greatest.

 

For those who think the Saiga just runs and runs...It's not an AK...it's a shot gun.  It still has to load those flat nosed shotgun hulls that were never designed for box fed shotguns. 

 

I not only shoot 3 gun, but RO as well, and I've seen my fair share of Saigas (and Benellis too) that have plenty of problems when put in a 3 gun match...even the $3000 R and R's can go belly up. I've seen bolts break, pistons break, etc.  I do know of a couple Saigas in this part of the county that run pretty well, but not any better than my MKA at this point.  Neither gun seems to run that well out of the box (at least not in 3 gun) but the MKAs seem to be easier and cheaper to get where they are dependable. 

 

Provided both guns run the main differentiating factor between the Saiga and MKA is if the Saiga guy has a 20 round drum that runs, they are going to be a little faster on stages with 20 rounds or less of shotgun.  However, 21-30 round stage and the MKA will be slightly ahead.  32+ round stage and the MKA has a pretty big advantage.  Also, woe be the Saiga shooter on a "gauntlet" type stage or a blind stage where you can't plan your mag out.

 

In 3 gun, if you are going to shoot Open, you're typicall going to either 1) shoot a stock MKA/Saiga which you've put a lot of time into OR 2) you are going to spend $1200-$3000 to upgrade and/or buy a quality Open shotgun.  I think I have about $1200 into my current MKA. Heck, most Tac Ops shooters I know buy a Versa/FN/or maybe a 930 JM and spend $500+ modifying it (Opening the load port, swapping out parts with Bennelli parts, etc.) so what's the difference?  I'm not saying you can't run what you brung at ANY 3 gun match, and have a GREAT time (that was me in 2005!) but it's not optimal.  You're not going to see a lot of those guns in the hands of guys winning good local matches, let alone Regional matches. If the new FB A1 runs well, and is made with the same quality as their oher MKA parts, it's a bargain at $2k.

 

Finally, a word on Prarie Storm.  Please..no.  Step away from the Prairie Storm.  I know what you're doing...it's your secret shotgun spinner ju ju so you can spin that spinner in one shot.  I was doing the same thing 2 years ago, Control flight Turkey loads too, until I starting seeing what happend to those that danced with the Prarie Storm devil.  Last year a lot of shooters where using it in matches..and oh the fun it created.  I got to see all kinds of guns blow up.  FNs. Versas. etc. Tired of that charging handle?  Just run 4-5 rounds of Prairie Storm through it and watch as that charging handle flies over the berm to the next squad!  What fun! Sometimes we crammed the charging handle back in the gun and it ran, sometimes it was toast.

 

I was RO'ing a shooter in Billings last April and as he rolled his gun over to load (using "load 2 technique").  His gun (Versa) went off with a PS load in the chamber, likely caused by a piece of his gear hitting the trigger.  It blew the gun out of his hands, cartwheeling the gun 180 degrees so that it landed pointing back toward the squad, and the Match Director (who commenced cardiac arrest)...it sat there with a fresh, hot round in the chamber until I could figue out what had just happened.  If that had been a "normal" round, we would have just had an AD.  Bad enough, but not the same.  Oh ya, it blew his charging handle out too. 

 

Seriously, it is really hard on your gun.  Any gun.  Also, it's hard on the spinners.  I think we'll start seeing more rules in 3 gun this year that limit shotgun loads. 

 

I recommend Federal Control Flight Buckshot.  It is soft shooting, accurate, and will definately spin a spinner in two shots if you hit it....and doesn't have near the wear and tear on your gun. 

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I agree with pretty much all of M3G said,

except

with our 23 rnd magwink.png  the advantage is MKA by a large margin.

 

We are seeing less failures with our MKA's, than we did with both the Benelli's and Mossberg's we shot before.

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Thanks for the kind words. 

 

T & N - agree with you on the 23 rounders, relative to stage design and overcoming that gap with the Saiga drums. For that reason, I have some interest in both your 23 rounders and the 18 rounders.  I currently sport two 15's, 4  FB 10's and 6 5rounders.  Not all at the same time thank goodness.

 

There are two reasons I haven't bought the 18/23 round mags, but I look forward to more info and feedback on these issues: 

 

1) They seem pretty unweildy to me.  At some point, does it become a hinderance to have that big long mag hanging down there?  How does the gun swing?  Clays? What if you want to kneel and shoot a spinner at 50 y? (monopod! lol!)

 

2) As I stated in another post - I worry about spring tension on that 1st round.  At some point, the longer a mag gets, does the spring tension create problems?  One of the supposed advantages of a drum is the contstant spring pressure (I can't speak from experience on that topic - only basing that on others input).

 

With a self-rebuilt MKA running approx $1200 for all the bells and whistles, and a full custom built running $2k, if we can get a good 20-23 round drum, and we can collectively get the MKA platform to be more dependable (on average) than the alternatives - the MKA would become THE gun in the open division.  I think a well built barrel would really help as well, particularly with recoil, FTF issues (round hanging up on the extractor slot) and slug accuracy.   I honestly think that making improvements on all of those fronts is possible over the next 12-24 months, and thanks to the good vendors who have committed to this platform, it sounds like many of those improvements are on their way.

 

The race is on to get the MKA over the hump and put it in the same category as the other open guns before other platforms fill the gap....but it's very close.

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Finally, a word on Prarie Storm.  Please..no.  Step away from the Prairie Storm.  I know what you're doing...it's your secret shotgun spinner ju ju so you can spin that spinner in one shot.  I was doing the same thing 2 years ago, 

 

I've not tried the Prairie Storm shells on a spinner yet.   I picked up three boxes of this stuff for some nuisance coyotes. Only shot two rounds of it so far.  It didn't seem as bad as some hot slug rounds I ran through it in the past.

 

I intentionally left my gun in 3" configuration (FB long handguard and no HES gas systerm) so I could shoot the occasional 3" load.  But now that sounds like a bad idea.

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There are two reasons I haven't bought the 18/23 round mags, but I look forward to more info and feedback on these issues: 

 

1) They seem pretty unweildy to me.  At some point, does it become a hinderance to have that big long mag hanging down there?  How does the gun swing?  Clays? What if you want to kneel and shoot a spinner at 50 y? (monopod! lol!)

 

 

 

I run a Roulette 18 rd magazine on 3gun stages and once you start shooting, you don't really notice all that weight hanging off the bottom of the gun.  Of course its a problem when you need to abandon the gun in a barrel, but I usually just drop the magazine as I set the safety.

 

A few weekends ago, I shot a match where the start position for the shotgun was inside the barrel.  Had to start off with a 10 rd magazine on a 16 rd stage.  The MD assured me it was a case of not enough tables for all the stages.

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I can stage mine in a barrel with the 23 rounder.  If the barrel is at a 45* i put the shotgun upside down so the mag is sticking straight up in the air.   If it's just a standing barrel I think the 23 rounder works better than a ten because it hangs outside the barrel.   Maybe it's just the way mine is balanced?

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I can stage mine in a barrel with the 23 rounder.  If the barrel is at a 45* i put the shotgun upside down so the mag is sticking straight up in the air.   If it's just a standing barrel I think the 23 rounder works better than a ten because it hangs outside the barrel.   Maybe it's just the way mine is balanced?

 

Around here if a barrel is used, its one of those blue plastic ones standing upright.  Now that I've added a metal handguard to my MKA, its a little more muzzle heavy so that may work.  I know that with the cheap plastic factory handguard, it was just didn't feel all that secure.  

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Finally, a word on Prarie Storm.  Please..no.  Step away from the Prairie Storm.  I know what you're doing...it's your secret shotgun spinner ju ju so you can spin that spinner in one shot.  I was doing the same thing 2 years ago, 

 

I've not tried the Prairie Storm shells on a spinner yet.   I picked up three boxes of this stuff for some nuisance coyotes. Only shot two rounds of it so far.  It didn't seem as bad as some hot slug rounds I ran through it in the past.

 

I intentionally left my gun in 3" configuration (FB long handguard and no HES gas systerm) so I could shoot the occasional 3" load.  But now that sounds like a bad idea.

 

Funny!  I assumed you were using it for spinners because you were talking about 3 gunning...that's what I get for Ass-u-me.  BTW, most of the problems I've seen are with the 2 3/4" PS.  Can't imagine what a 3" is doing. 

 

Seems like I can just barely get my MKA with a 15 rounder in a blue barrel?  I will also dump the mag if there is a few feet of transition, but sometimes you are standing over the barrel when you stop shooting and would like to just dump it in there and for whatever reason, my 15s don't always drop free.

 

Good to hear you haven't had problems shooting the 23.  I'm considering...

 

Starting with an MKA in a barrel is just wrong.  Good time for coupled 10s.

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  • 2 months later...

  It seems the XN drive block is prone to fatigue and breakage. Mine broke at a match a while back, the first we'd heard of at that time. in the weeks since there have been a number more show up. i believe other MKA builders have seen the same thing.

 

  I have no idea how many rounds I have shot through my personal gun, A LOT in the 14 months or so of shooting 3 gun and testing of our products .

  Anyway, I'd advise anyone who has a lot of rounds down the pipe to check yours for cracks, especially those who shoot in competition.

 

  We have a new redesigned drive block, we think will solve the problem, or at least get a lot more rounds before needing replacement.

 

We hope to have the "NEW and IMPROVED" (like that phrase isn't beat to deathdeadhorse.gif ) version available in a week or so.

can you describe or show what is meant by this mod please? 

  • REQUIRES very slight, simple and easy carrier modification to fit correctly

     

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