Pioneer Arms Affordable 5.56 NATO Under Folder AK Rifle Review

The 7.62x39mm isn't as cheap as it once was. The Pioneer Arms Under Folder semi-auto AK rifle in 5.56 NATO offers all the benefits of a standard AK but in the more economical 5.56 NATO cartridge.

September 05, 2024 By James Grant

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Remember back when AK rifles were affordable? Romanian WASRs were only $300, magazines were five bucks, and ammo was 12 cents a round. You could drop 50 bucks to buy enough ammo to blast away for hours with your favorite AK every single weekend. Maybe that wasn’t everyone’s experience, but it was certainly mine in 2005. I was in college, and every weekend, I would either buy a case of Wolf 7.62x39mm, a case of Remington UMC 9mm, or a spam can of 7.62x54r. On the way home, I would pick my girlfriend up from her college, and we’d eat dinner together before watching a movie and loading mags for the next morning’s range trip. Hell, I remember complaining that .45 ACP had an outrageous cost of ten dollars a box!

pioneer-arms-ak-underfolder-02 — This Pioneer Arms AK is chambered in 5.56mm and shoots flat as a laser and has very little recoil.

One memory in particular that stuck with me was how absurd the concept of a 5.56mm AK seemed at the time. Why would I buy into a gun with vastly more expensive ammunition and magazines that shot a “wimpy” .22-caliber round? But then, something unexpected happened; foreign-made 7.62x39mm ammunition was cut off by regulations enacted as a result of the war in Ukraine. Overnight, 7.62x39mm went from around 25 cents per round before the pandemic to 60 cents per round after the ban. Making steel-cased 7.62x39mm the same price as, or more expensive than, brass-cased domestic 5.56mm ammo. Suddenly, keeping a 5.56mm AK fed was slightly cheaper than a traditional 7.62x39mm AK. And that sold plenty of shooters on the prospect of a 5.56mm AK, but for me, the fact that most 5.56mm AKs were still north of $1,000 meant that I still couldn’t justify one. That is until Pioneer Arms came out with the Under Folder 5.56mm AKM.

Pioneer Arms 5.56mm Underfolder AKM

These interesting new guns retail for around $900 and have a street price of around $720. While this might seem expensive compared to old Romanian SAR-3s back in the early 2000s, compared to modern offerings, these guns are a fair bit cheaper. Plus, they include a ton of great accessories that would normally cost a shooter an additional $100 to $200. For example, the new Pioneer Arms AKs ship with three 30-round polymer magazines in the box. They aren’t steel-reinforced, but in my testing, they feed and function fine in every 5.56mm AK I had available to test them in. This includes my Polish WBP Jack, Foxtrot Mike FM-102 AR, a converted Saiga, and both of my Bulgarian Arsenal SLR rifles. (An SLR-106UR Krink SBR and an SLR-106CR mid-length gun.) Would I trust these magazines with my life? In a pinch - yes. If I had stronger, steel-reinforced magazines, I would still use those first. Another awesome accessory included with the Pioneer under folder is a pair of muzzle devices. The first is your standard scoop compensator, and the second is an aggressive two-port brake that cuts the recoil to almost nothing. The only downside of the aggressive brake is that it makes an already loud firearm comically loud. In all fairness, though, it’s a firearm, not Red Ryder. But let’s get back to the gun’s core features for a bit.

Pioneer Features

pioneer-arms-ak-underfolder-03 — The rifle ships with three polymer 30-round magazines that, in testing, run great.

Starting at the muzzle, the Pioneer Arms 5.56mm under folder AK features a 16.3-inch barrel topped with standard 14x1LH threads, so shooters can use any standard AK muzzle device they want. Just behind this, the rifle includes a standard AKM-style adjustable front sight with a pair of protective wings on either side. Note: a special AK sight adjustment tool is necessary to adjust this sight for windage, but all of them come pre-zeroed from the factory. Behind this, the Pioneer uses a traditional 45-degree gas block with self-regulating gas ports to keep the gun running, even when it’s especially dirty. Further back, the furniture on the Pioneer is blonde or red laminate wood — just like on military guns — that does a good job of keeping your hands comfortable as the barrel and gas tube get extremely hot.

pioneer-arms-ak-underfolder-04 — The included compensator is threaded to 14x1LH, and cuts the already light recoil to virtually nothing (top right). Despite being chambered in 5.56mm, the Pioneer uses the old-school AKM 45-degree gas block. The rifle includes excellent wooden handguards that keep the shooter’s hands safe from the boiling-hot barrel and gas tube beneath. The rear tangent sight is adjustable for elevation out to 1,000 meters if you fancy yourself a modern William Tell.

Just behind the upper handguard, the Pioneer's rear sight is adjustable for elevation in 100-meter increments from point-blank to 1,000 meters. Is it actually possible to hit a target at that range with a budget AK? Yes, I have, in fact, done so with a PSA AK in 7.62x39mm in Gillette, WY, at the Highbar Homestead. Is it as much luck as skill? Absolutely, I landed two hits out of 30, and both keyholed so bad it looked like a ninja threw them. Will you be doing so with this gun? You could, but there are certainly better platforms for it. Below the rear sight, the receiver features proper dimples that prevent magazine wobble with the provided magazines. The magazine release is standard AK—meaning very positive—but unlike some budget guns, the paddle isn’t overly difficult to hit. This makes sense because the gunsmiths at Pioneer Arms give every gun a once-over before shipping it out. That includes checking parts fitment, including magazines inside the well. Above the magazine well, the safety is a modified version of a standard AKM safety lever. It features a small cutout that allows it to function as a bolt-hold open. While not necessary, it’s a nice addition, especially for shooters who want to bring their AKs to public ranges that require guns to be locked open and empty during a ceasefire.

pioneer-arms-ak-underfolder-05 — The left side of the trunnion features a laser-etched Radom logo.

Further back, Pioneer's trigger is also custom. The engineers at Pioneer based their trigger design on the old Tapco G2 trigger. They did this because it provides a cleaner, crisper trigger pull and totally prevents trigger slap. Continuing back and up, the gun features a ribbed dust cover, which adds to the military aesthetic of the gun as a whole. Below this, the under-folding AK ships with a brown polymer pistol grip that matches the overall color scheme of the entire rifle. Finally, the rear of the receiver uses an under-folder trunnion to accommodate its stamped-steel folding stock. The stock included with the Pioneer AK is standard mil-spec and has little play compared to earlier imports from both Yugoslavia and Romania. It’s not ultra-rigid like the old Norinco guns, but it doesn’t move enough to interfere with accurate shooting. Speaking of which, let’s get to performance.

5.56mm AK Under-Folder Performance

pioneer-arms-ak-underfolder-06 — The Pioneer Arms AK ran perfectly with my DeadAir Wolverine but was by no means quiet.

For the review, I fired 500 rounds of various ammo through the Pioneer Arms AK using both the included magazines and examples from Arsenal, WBP, and AC Unity. Across all these rounds, I only encountered a single malfunction, which was a blown primer lodged itself in the firing pin channel. Once that primer was removed, the gun ran flawlessly for the duration of the test. One thing I did notice is that the Pioneer AK is clearly designed for use with all ammo brands and types. By which I mean it was moderately over-gassed to accommodate anemically loaded Russian steel-cased ammo, which can cause issues in some American guns. This became much more noticeable when I mounted a Deadair Wolverine sound suppressor on the Pioneer, and the cases ejected with such force they entered low orbit. Not a big deal, but it definitely makes good use of the included more aggressive muzzle brake.

pioneer-arms-ak-underfolder-07 — Overall, the Pioneer Arms Under-Folding AK seems like a solid buy for shooters in need of an AK that won’t break the bank.

As far as accuracy is concerned, the Pioneer performs like an AK. No, you won’t be sniping bumble bees at 100 yards foolish enough to land on your target. But you also won’t have the notorious, often over-exaggerated “minute-of-barn” accuracy that AK detractors claim either. In my testing, the Pioneer achieved 10-round groups hovering around 2.6 to 3.1 MOA. This might seem lackluster to shooters accustomed to high-end AR-15s firing match-grade ammo, but for home defense or as a ranch gun, this is more than sufficient. A 3-inch group at 100 yards is a 6-inch group at 200, which is acceptable to nearly every country’s military for a combat rifle, which is why I would consider this gun combat-accurate. That’s precisely what it was designed to be. Plus, it doesn’t help that there’s no easy way to mount optics on under-folding AKs. Yes, you can replace the handguard and install a reflex sight, but if you want something magnified, you’ll need to spend some serious cash to get a railed dust cover that isn’t terrible. And that narrows your selection to either Texas Weapons Systems or Zentico, with the latter likely costing more than the rifle itself.

Overall, the Pioneer Arms 5.56mm Under-Folding AK is a solid budget option for shooters who want to dip their proverbial toe in the AK game. It has all the “cool” features of an AK, and it runs reliably with all my ammo tested. Yes, there are more high-speed, low-drag options on the market, but most of them cost at least double what the Pioneer Arms sells for. In the simplest terms, Pioneer’s 5.56mm AKs are a call-back to the golden age of affordable AKs. And as such, is a great option for shooters on a tight budget who want plenty of bang for their buck.