Why it matters: Palmetto State Armory sells some of the most affordable AKs on the American market, and its 5.56 models are pitched at shooters priced out of 7.62x39 and 5.45x39. A creator who calls himself a PSA fan says his AK-102 stopped running twice on the same part.
The YouTube channel Administrative Results posted a review of Palmetto State Armory's AK-102 in 5.56 on October 3 under the title "The Little Engine That Couldn't." The host says he has been trying to finish a video on the rifle for close to two years, and that in that time it stopped firing twice. Both times, by his account, the firing pin was the cause.
He opens with caveats. He calls himself a fan of PSA products and their price points, says the company has worked with him before on bringing firearms to the channel, and singles out its H&R line. He also says PSA's AKs draw criticism over quality control, and speculates that building at high volume to keep prices down may cut into inspection. He says that is his own guess, that he has no inside view of PSA's factory, and that he does not count himself an AK expert.
PSA AK-102 firing pin failures, first and second
The first failure came on what he believes was the rifle's first range trip. The gun went dead, he says, with a click and no shot, and disassembly turned up a broken firing pin. He says he reported it to PSA, which offered a replacement pin and wanted the whole rifle back to examine. He did not send it, citing other projects, and says "that is on me." He adds that a manufacturer asking for the gun back is part of giving it a fair shake.
The pin was eventually replaced by Copperhead USA, which he says had also installed a forced reset trigger in the rifle. He says the company usually advises against putting FRTs in PSA guns. During filming at Prevail Training Center in Flagstaff, Arizona, the rifle stopped again. Without the tools to drift the pin out of the bolt, the host looked inside and says the pin "definitely has faced a catastrophic failure." The video does not show the second pin removed, so that diagnosis rests on what he could see.
He offers possible causes without settling on one: back pressure from the suppressor combined with the added wear of the FRT, or a batch of parts that fell short. He notes the rifle is a couple of years old and may not reflect current production, and says he does not know its round count beyond that it is high and that the FRT sped it up. He also points out that the AK's firing pin floats in the bolt rather than being fixed.
Accuracy, suppressor and optic on the AK-102 build
“The rifle stopped twice in roughly two years, and both times the host traced it to the firing pin.”
J.D. Whitfield, The ReticleIn a group fired at 100.6 yards with AAC 77-grain OTM ammunition, he calls the result "definitely not the best," with strings of fire climbing above the red square he was aiming at, though better than the PSA Krink he tested earlier. In earlier desert shooting he says point of impact seemed to shift with how he held the gun, while allowing that the shooter is a variable too. Most of the video's shooting used 55-grain ammunition from Battle Arms Munition, which he names as the channel's ammo sponsor.
The rifle wears a Stealth Additive Works Tisha 5.56 suppressor, which he says has performed well with supersonic ammunition, and a Primary Arms 3x prism sight. He calls the prism an in-between optic, slower than a red dot up close and limited at distance, and says small steel targets were hard to pick up through it at a recent match. The Zenitco-style rail on the gun, he says, is a knockoff he believes is an airsoft part, fitted by improvised means.
Where 5.56 AKs like the PSA AK-102 fit
The host places the rifle in a wider market story. He says 7.62x39 and 5.45x39 were once cheap enough to make an AK an inexpensive range gun, until prices rose after the war in Ukraine began. A 5.56 AK lets American shooters feed it common ammunition. He sees the PSA as a range gun for now and says he is unsure whether it is ready for duty-style use. He names Jim Fuller, Brandon Herrera and Meridian Defense among U.S. builders he rates, and says many experienced AK owners look down on PSA's rifles over tolerances and specs.
He also gives the rifle credit. When it ran, he says, it was fun to shoot and a break from the AR-15. He closes by saying he wants affordable American AKs to succeed and that PSA has to "dial it in." The video also carries sponsor mentions for OpticsPlanet and the Sonoran Desert Institute.
For context
- The AK-102 is a short 5.56 rifle from Russia's AK-100 series; PSA's current listings show a 12.5-inch barrel, a stamped receiver and a Toolcraft hammer-forged trunnion, bolt and carrier, with rifles near $1,200.
- A forced reset trigger uses the action's cycling to push the trigger forward after each shot; after the Justice Department settled with Rare Breed Triggers in May 2025, FRTs are sold as legal at the federal level, though several states ban them.
- PSA's own owner forum carries individual reports of stuck and broken firing pins on some of its AK models, including the AK-V.
