I'm impressed with the ammo lol
Deformation on the rear bolt isn't a big deal if it stops after a while, so probably something to keep an eye on. Seems really promising.
On the other hand, it is possible to get combloc surplus and a Romanian/Polish CHF barrel built for about the same price and you 100% know what you're getting with that.
I commented that the AK-E was probably at least $300 too expensive on Reddit. I got a bunch of downvotes and called a Boomer. It might be great, but $900 for an American AK when you can have an RH10 or WASR for less? Sorry, but no.