gose 17 Posted December 4, 2014 Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 I've been a very big proponent of the MKA for the last three years and I can count quite a few people that have bought them on my recommendation, but sadly it's pretty much reached the point where I feel I can no longer recommend MKAs anymore. I've just had and seen too many issues. For competion use, unless the match has a 35 round shotgun stage, you might as well just go back to a tube gun and quad load. Right now my hopes are for either FB to come out with a 100% US made Tac12A2(?) or Rhino finally getting their gun out. Until then, I might just mod one of my benellis for quad loading and put a dot on it. You guys think that XN will ever get their stuff right? It seems like upping their quality and increasing the price would be the way to go, IMHO. Even at $399, people are going to get pissed when the stuff doesnt work and/or breaks and until Eksen gets their act together, I doubt we'll see MKAs in larger numbers. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
voonman 133 Posted December 4, 2014 Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 Its not such a bad gun..i use to have one..they need a little fine tuning..and if you decide to get the firebird precision lower..it feels more of a quality piece than its original configuration..for the price it isnt such a bad deal..I think the rhino arms looks like a quality piece also but the price tag is very unreasonable Quote Link to post Share on other sites
james lambert 3,059 Posted December 4, 2014 Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 Bolt fractures are the only real issue, a USA bolt will come in time. and when the new importer gets it together parts should be available again Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gose 17 Posted December 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 Its not such a bad gun..i use to have one..they need a little fine tuning..and if you decide to get the firebird precision lower..it feels more of a quality piece than its original configuration..for the price it isnt such a bad deal..I think the rhino arms looks like a quality piece also but the price tag is very unreasonable Jim worked on both my guns and without the support of Firebird, I probably would have tossed the first one and never even bought a second one. The price to me doesnt matter that much. I'd much rather pay $800, or even $1000, and get something that runs and runs well, rather than something for 399 that wont run, requires a ton of hands on tuning and breaks after 1000 rounds. It's good to hear that things are coming and fortunately I just had a second kid, so shooting is currently on the back burner. Hopefully things will have improved once I get back in the game. Still, with all the turmoil around the MKA, they really need to get their act together or people wont even buy it at 399. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rapidrpr 3 Posted December 4, 2014 Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 where does that leave the other 95% or more that cannot send their mka to firebird? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SHOTGUN MESIAH 855 Posted December 4, 2014 Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 I seriously can not believe the problems you guys have with this gun. If you need someone else to get your gun to function correctly, then maybe the MKA is not for you. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rapidrpr 3 Posted December 4, 2014 Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 (edited) it took a $1000.00 to find out this was not the gun for me.black hole. Edited December 5, 2014 by rapidrpr Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SHOTGUN MESIAH 855 Posted December 4, 2014 Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 I've got about $1200 into mine and it runs like a champ. All mods were done by me with aftermarket parts. It is a super easy gun to work on. The only MKA parts left on my gun are upper receiver, barrel, bolt & carrier. Can't stress enough how important the tuning of the feed lips on the mags are in order for this gun to function correctly. Which is an easy fix you can do yourself. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
toothandnail 275 Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 We have 4 that have over 5k (1 close to 7K) each, the ONLY thing that has broken on any of them(2) was the factory drive block. they all failed between 3K-4K rounds. The others were replaced as a preventitive measure, 1 had the start of a tiny fracture, the other looked fine. We've sold more last month than any 2 months combined. Still the cheapest Open 3 gun option out there, as far as I know. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dwzuspsa 1 Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 I had one of the first MKS's to come into the country...just bought the $399 er last week. The day I got the gun I had the stock cut and started on a front tube...I did not like the original forearm. I then proto typed an AR stock adopter and a machinist freind of mine made one for me and I have run the gun the last two years in open. I read this forum and got mag extention from Jim and triggers from T&N...the only problem I have is light primer hits every now and then....so do what AMERICANs do and make it work...the MKA is a real fun gun to shoot and fiddle around with. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gose 17 Posted December 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 I seriously can not believe the problems you guys have with this gun. If you need someone else to get your gun to function correctly, then maybe the MKA is not for you. So parts breaking, or being so out of spec from the factory that they have to be replaced, is the fault of the buyer/user? Anyway, youre basically saying what I said, just in different words. A gun that needs a bunch of work to run is never going to be a gun for the masses and if its not a gun for the masses, we all lose out since there will be no interest in making parts for it. Maybe youre happy with polishing a snow flake in your basement, but a decent number of us just want a gun that runs, with good backing and a large selection of parts. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
toothandnail 275 Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 I seriously can not believe the problems you guys have with this gun. If you need someone else to get your gun to function correctly, then maybe the MKA is not for you. So parts breaking, or being so out of spec from the factory that they have to be replaced, is the fault of the buyer/user? Anyway, youre basically saying what I said, just in different words. A gun that needs a bunch of work to run is never going to be a gun for the masses and if its not a gun for the masses, we all lose out since there will be no interest in making parts for it. Maybe youre happy with polishing a snow flake in your basement, but a decent number of us just want a gun that runs, with good backing and a large selection of parts. I almost don't want to post this because somebody will do this then go online and complain "This gun is a piece of JUNK" When testing a new out of the box gun, we have started using 1200 fps Remington 100 rnd packs from walmart. If I remember correctly, there have been 2-3 that didn't run 100% in less than 10 rounds. I STILL STRONGLY RECOMMEND, a 50-75 round break-in with 1300 fps ammo. There are 2 consistent problems with the MKA 1 The owner using winchester universal ammo, or some similar crappy ammo. About 95% of the problems/calls, we get. Also guys falling for the "high brass" myth, it's not any better in many cases, just about double the cost. Read the specs on the ammo, it doesn't matter if it's HB or LB, as long as it meets minimum specs 2 A out of spec mag, that is one problem that has not improved from the factory. About 4% of the calls. A simple mag tuneing has fixed everyone Quote Link to post Share on other sites
deathray 4 Posted December 11, 2014 Report Share Posted December 11, 2014 I really wish somebody would make an aftermarket lower that uses the r&r modded S12 mags. After the HaH 3 gun match in St. George this last weekend I noticed how easy it was to bump the factory feed lips out of tune and suffer feed issues. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brett248Vista 5 Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 I really wish somebody would make an aftermarket lower that uses the r&r modded S12 mags. After the HaH 3 gun match in St. George this last weekend I noticed how easy it was to bump the factory feed lips out of tune and suffer feed issues. The lower doesn't need changed.... We just need someone to make some real "quality" mags.... I wish someone like Magpul could get involved! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rapidrpr 3 Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 their is no room in the mag well for a full plastic mag. only plastic add ons. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
deathray 4 Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 (edited) I really wish somebody would make an aftermarket lower that uses the r&r modded S12 mags. After the HaH 3 gun match in St. George this last weekend I noticed how easy it was to bump the factory feed lips out of tune and suffer feed issues. The lower doesn't need changed.... We just need someone to make some real "quality" mags.... I wish someone like Magpul could get involved! Or Lancer for that matter. But realistically it would make more sense to make lowers that use commonly available reliable mags as it is often swapped out anyway. Edited December 13, 2014 by deathray Quote Link to post Share on other sites
james lambert 3,059 Posted December 13, 2014 Report Share Posted December 13, 2014 the limiting factor is not the lower its the width of the carrier Quote Link to post Share on other sites
deathray 4 Posted December 13, 2014 Report Share Posted December 13, 2014 A problem I did not consider. However since you built Saigas for a long time I'm sure the idea has crossed your mind more than a few times. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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