So a while back I purchased a Palmetto State Armory JAKL. It’s basically an AR with an AK gas system. So, you get the top-notch ergo of Stoner and the better-than-direct-impingement reliability of the long-stroke gas system. Yup, there’ll be a tradeoff in accuracy since the barrel has moving parts attached to it that the AR does not. But, for my purposes, I’ve no doubt it will be plenty accurate for my needs.
It had some teething issues, but after about 200 rounds it was nicely broken in and its been running like a champ since. And, since we know that “one is none” it was time to…uhm…get another one.
What’d I get? Same thing but with a slightly longer barrel. In olive green, naturally. One thing I have to give PSA credit for…in a world of black guns (or is it ‘guns of color’?), they offer most of their products in green or desert. It’s nice to change things up once in a while. From a tactical standpoint, black seems a bad choice for when you’re out running around playing ‘Red Dawn’. Black objects stick out quite a bit during the day, and at night pretty much any dark color looks black.
The two things that, for me, make the JAKL attractive are the lack of a buffer tube which means a folding stock is a breeze, and the can-take-more-neglect-than-an-AR gas system. It’s also rather handy for logistics that the JAKL lower is simply a regular AR lower with a couple parts changed out.
So, I’ll grab a couple hundred rounds of .223, a couple pmags, and head to the range this weekend and break this little guy in.
By the by, from a mathematical standpoint, the AR pattern rifle makes more sense than the JAKL. They are much cheaper, probably more accurate, and are easier to accessorize with third-party parts. However….I rather like the side charging handle and the compactness. If/when this wrist brace nonsense blows over, the pistol version of this thing with a ‘brace’ makes for an exceptionally handy little carbine.
Storage space here is pretty darn full… but you make an interesting pitch for the JAKL. Looking at PSA’s site, it looks like all of the rifle ones are 14.5″ or 13.7″? Is that right- that would mean pinned and welded flash hider and not being able to change it out without pinning and welding on the new accessory?
Yup. Unless you wanna get the pistol version and put a ThingThatShallNotBeMentioned on the back.
Following. I believe these pistol sized versions would fulfill a niche, but that will in turn, not be a rarely needed role in one’s strategy. I posit this would be for everyday vehicular travels, and as part of one’s vehicle based forward deploy and get home gear. Those urbanite and burbs type of dwellers should long ago have grasped that concept of operating posture. Those of us simple folks encamped out in comfy rural areas and subjected to easy living numbing to the harsher realities out there should also be geared up a few notches with this kinda Jackl kit. There are really no gates or checkpoints into communities, and those wind up toy nutjob people are amongst all locales as well, so necessity being the mother of invention and all. O.D. green is what all the cool kids roll with as well. Keep us posted on Jakl performance testing Commander, and stay frosty.
Do you ever get a wild hair for one of the big bore ARs in 45 or 50 calibers? I wonder how they would handle those big ole bears ya’ll got up there.
I normally disdain AR’s in anything other than .223 because of logistics. But..I’ve been tempted to get one in the .35-caliber round that was released recently. But, if I wanted to go hunting with a rifle like that, I’d either get an AR-10 in .308, or, more likely, use one of my PTR rifles..like this one I set up for hunting. https://www.commanderzero.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/thumbnail.jpg
“Two is one.”
I like the way you think CZ! JAKL is an interesting piece for sure. Side charging handle is a winner IMO. Of all the AR design features, the “in your face” charging handle is the most annoying. I do wish they offered the JAKL with longer barrels.
Its coming. Theyre up to 14.5″ barrels now, so eventually they’ll get to that magic 16″ w/o muzzle device. I suspect the issue is that their toolong is set up for M4 copies which normally use about a 14″~ barrel and they don’t do as many 16″+ barrels that they can just pull off the assembly line. An 18″ would be nice.
Just wait, after 10 years as a PSA customer I bought and received a locked up, DOA gun. I learned that multiple emails and phone calls yield zero customer service, so horefully you are buying with a credit card so you can charge back to PSA and let the credit card company fight the battle. PSA lost this customer for life.