AK-47 and bolt carrier peening?

[David Sinko]

I have an AK that was assembled by a competent local gunsmith. He said it was built from a kit and was an unfired Romanian battle rifle. One of the markings is an empty triangle, which I understand is indeed Romanian. I have put about 1000 rounds through this rifle and noticed that the rear part of the bolt carrier that cocks the hammer is rather heavily peened. Should I be alarmed by this? I presume that this is due to improper heat treatment of the bolt carrier but I don't know how common an occurrence this is. The fire control group is Tapco G2. Should I file away the peening and carry on? The rifle functions fine, at least up to this point. I really like the AK platform but I'm starting to wonder if I ended up with a specimen that's low quality.

Dave Sinko

 

[nalioth]

Is it destroying the rear block? (the part the butt stock is screwed into)

If it's not battering the stuffing out of the rear block, it sounds like any other AK to me.

If it IS battering the stuffing out of the rear block, PLEASE don't put a "recoil buffer" in it - this is not the correct fix.

The correct method is to find the reason for the excessive recoil, but if you don't feel sciency, a new recoil spring will probably alleviate the issue.

 

[David Sinko]

The marks on the rear block appear to be mostly finish wear and there is no damage that I can detect. The peening on the carrier is at the same angle that the carrier contacts the hammer. I was under the impression that the bolt carrier was peening from contacting the hammer.

As far as excessive recoil is concerned, I do handload for it. But before I bought this rifle I shot quite a few of my handloads through a Krebs Custom Russian made Izhmash that a friend loaned to me, and last I checked his rifle has no peening whatsoever.

Dave Sinko

 

[nalioth]

The marks on the rear block appear to be mostly finish wear and there is no damage that I can detect. The peening on the carrier is at the same angle that the carrier contacts the hammer. I was under the impression that the bolt carrier was peening from contacting the hammer.

You have no issues.

 

[WardenWolf]

Sounds like normal wear and tear for me. You're good. Continue having fun, comrade!

 

[dfariswheel]

This is normal for the AK rifles.
That "tail" on the carrier is part of the slam fire prevention system.
If you ease the bolt forward until you can pull the trigger and allow the hammer to drop on the back of the carrier, you'll see how the hammer can't contact the firing pin until the bolt is locked.

It's normal for the "tail" to get some battering and some displaced metal forming a burr on both sides.
As long as it doesn't get really deformed or starts forming a big burr, it's normal wear.

I have a Bulgarian AK-74 built from a brand new de-milled kit, and these Bulgarian military rifles are about as good as it gets.
Mine has started forming the burrs and the slight battering.