I ordered my pestilence mid May of 2023 and it was delivered at the beginning of November 2023. The rifle is absolutely beautiful, even better in person than in the pictures! Fit and finish are amazing, everything feels solid. The bolt, carrier, and trunnions look amazing, especially for a 1979-dated kit. The furniture is beautiful and feels great. The action is very smooth, disassembly and reassembly is the easiest of any AK I've owned. It really feels as good as it looks. During my first range session, the firing pin retaining pin failed, this allowed the firing pin to move backward out of the bolt, and it then got bent when the hammer hit it. This caused the rifle to go down. I was pretty disappointed considering the cost of the rifle and wait time, but sometimes things like this happen. This isn't an error of craftsmanship, sometimes parts fail. I contacted Meridian and they promptly got back to me with an RMA to send the rifle back to check it out. They got the rifle back to me about 3 weeks after I shipped it out to them. I'm across the country in NH so shipping took a while, plus Thanksgiving was in the middle of all this. Meridian was awesome and replaced the firing pin retaining pin and replaced the firing pin with an upgraded version. They also included 2 of their custom, 30-round, Xtech "Special Project Division" magazines when they sent the rifle back. Obviously, I wish this failure hadn't happened, but they made the process easy, were super respectful, and most importantly got the rifle back to me quickly, and working. It's nice to know they stand behind their product. The hardest part is simply the waiting. Since getting the rifle back I have put 390 rounds through it without a single issue. About a third of these rounds were fired with the rifle suppressed with my Dead Air Wolverine. The rifle feels great and has worked with a whole bunch of different mags. Overall, I'm very happy with my purchase and would buy it again. I fully recommend this to others if it's something you are interested in. I added the enhanced safety which I feel is a must. My only other recommendation would be to add the KNS Adjustable Piston. I didn't include that in my build, and after shooting suppressed, I think it would be a welcome upgrade. Thanks again to Meridian for taking care of me and making me a badass rifle! WOLVERINES!!!

On a scale of 1-10.. it's a 10 for sure .. runs great.. fit and finish is great.. top of the line workmanship.. functions flawlessly.. ( brass or steel case ) due to the adjustable gas piston... I do have questions on taking apart the gas tube for cleaning.. and I need a front sight tool that fits over the sight post.. EXCELLENT RIFLE !

This gun is an absolute work of craftsmanship! SMOOTH, QUIET(WITH SUPPRESSOR) AN BEAUTIFUL!!

Not only do i love how well the MDC Pestilence shoots and looks but i love how polarizing it is and the conversations it starts. You will encounter those who lust for it and ask to shoot it and others that will scoff at the fact you “wasted” $2k on a romy parts kit. That is, until they feel the Pestilence in their hands, see the superb finishing up close, and squeeze the trigger and fire off a round. It may not change everyones mind as there will still be those envious few but i love converting nonbelievers.

Happy

That’s my second one it’s always unbelievable

By far my best ak in my collection now very durable

Worth the wait ???

The AK-47 is so smooth and beautiful

Without question the pestilence is worth the wait. Out of the box jaw dropping beautiful yet no safe queen here, totally functional and insanely accurate. Great trigger reset and lighter than others in my collection. Paul and Marco were kind when i wanted a change and kept me informed on any updates. Great work guys. Thank you.

"Overpriced American made AK" as most haters say. However, with the attention to detail, and the ingenuity that went in to building these ( by American craftsmen ), then to me it's one heck of a bargain. Even if you don't have the means to buy one, then may I suggest save as much doll hairs as you can. Simply skip a few of those times buying the fellas a round of drinks, or the nights out on the town and you'll have the money in no time. Buy cheap, buy twice!" Any red blooded gun aficionados will always want something nicer, so why not start near the top. Yes, it is unwise to pay too much, BUT, it's worse to pay too little. I've said it before with my other MD, cool stuff ain't cheap, cheap stuff ain't cool. Nothing wrong with the cheap run of the mill AKs, but none of them turn will turn heads in the range. To those that dare say they don't care about that, then I call BS. I have close to 1k rounds fired with zero malfunction. I am no expert like Robski and the likes of him so I will limit my shooting feedback to just one word; SWEET!

I was hesitant to make this purchase because of the wait time. A coworker of mine purchased this gun (which is why I purchased mine) and he waited a year to get his. I ordered mine on 1.15.23 and picked it up from my FFL on 7.1.23. First things first it is beautiful, the finish on the wood furniture is amazing pictures don't always do it justice. Which is why I call it a piece of art. Second and most importantly it is solid. Nothing on this gun is loose or jiggles or rattles, with the exception of the sling attachment on the stock. I took it to the range on 7.7.23 and the performance is as exceptional as its look. The first magazine was to get a feel for it. The second and third magazine didn't miss the bullseye, I wish I could attach the image of the target. Most accurate rifle I have fired out of the box. I was only shooting at 25yds, two reason one to sight it in (didn't have to make any adjustments) and two the 100yd and up range was closed as it is under construction. The only negative or drawback in my opinion is how hot the Ultimak rail get. I don't have any attachments on it yet but I am curious how the heat will affect attachments, that rail gets HOT!! Overall I love it and it was worth the wait.