AK-47 chokes on brass ammo? Why?

Status
Not open for further replies.
W

walking arsenal

Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2003
Messages
2,076
Location
Bemidji, MN
I had my SAR 1 AK-47 out this weekend and had some problemes with it feeding brass ammo. specifically Olymipc brand ammo. The problem i had was that the bolt wouldnt lock. The gun would fire a round or so then the bolt would stop about a half inch from lock up or so it seemed. i could push the bolt home with my thumb but if i tried to eject the round i would end up banging the bolt at the bench to get the round out.

Anyone else ever heard of this or had this problem, is there a way to fix this?
 
Beats me, but I suspect manufacturing issues. I have seen AR15s be unable to shoot more than 2-3 rounds of olympic at a time. Their quality isnt exactly awesome.
 
I haven't tried Olympic personally, but the word from all the AR guys is that it makes Wolf seem like world-class quality ammunition. Yes, it is that bad (so they say). Massive failure rates of all forms.


I've reserved judgment because the internet wreaks with BS and AR folks can be snobs on everything from ammo to rifles to optics to shoelaces.

It is almost hard to believe that an ammo that badly out of spec in so many areas..or made this poorly that it cannot perform in dozens and perhaps hundreds of quality ARs in so many internet testimonies is actually available on the market as a safe product. Hearing this sort of thing coming from a very reliable platform such as an AK isn't confidence inspiring....
 
Kharn said:
AKs love steel-cased ammo. ;)

Kharn
Click to expand...

What nations actually issue steel-cased 7.62x39 ammo? All the surplus I have ever seen is brass, and I'm pretty sure that when MK designed the rifle it was with brass-cased ammo in mind.
 
Have fired brass Winchester in my SAR 1. Functioned fine but showed no advantage over the Barnual I was also shooting. Dump the Olympic.
 
What nations actually issue steel-cased 7.62x39 ammo? All the surplus I have ever seen is brass, and I'm pretty sure that when MK designed the rifle it was with brass-cased ammo in mind.
Click to expand...
Russia. All Russian surplus I've ever seen is steel-cased.
 
Also all the Chinese ammo that used to come in, even the steel core ones, were steel cased.
 
c_yeager said:
What nations actually issue steel-cased 7.62x39 ammo? All the surplus I have ever seen is brass, and I'm pretty sure that when MK designed the rifle it was with brass-cased ammo in mind.
Click to expand...

MOST real military issue ammo in 7.62x39 is steel cased. E.g., Chinese, Soviet, and East German. Back when steel cored Chicom 7.62x39 was cheap as dirt it was all steel cased.

Yugoslavian M67 Ball is brass cased, IIRC, as is some Portuguese FNM, but not much else. Not sure what the Finns issue.
 
Cases or headspace different?

Save a few and compare the rounds via dial calipers. Obviously, you need to back up your findings today with some steel case ammo to be sure it's not the gun.

Are these significantly different from the steel case - are the bullets really lighter, lower recoil, etc.?
 
walking arsenal said:
I had my SAR 1 AK-47 out this weekend and had some problemes with it feeding brass ammo. specifically Olymipc brand ammo. The problem i had was that the bolt wouldnt lock. The gun would fire a round or so then the bolt would stop about a half inch from lock up or so it seemed. i could push the bolt home with my thumb but if i tried to eject the round i would end up banging the bolt at the bench to get the round out.

Anyone else ever heard of this or had this problem, is there a way to fix this?
Click to expand...

had that same problem with my wasr-10 when it was new. it seems that after 200 rounds the problem just went away. now it eats like no other. also before you go shooting whipe the barrell with a dry patch to get the oil out.
 
benEzra said:
Russia. All Russian surplus I've ever seen is steel-cased.
Click to expand...

Huh, I seem to recall seeing a lot of brass-cased ammo pre-1980, back in the days that the Russians were still issuing 7.62x39. Maybe it just looked like it was brass.
 
There was a lot of 7.62x39 brass ammo made in South Africa during that period, because the proliferation of AK in that entire region. Some of the brass ammo I've seen was Cheetah branded. But as far as official Soviets and Warsaw pact nations, they've been using steel cases.
 
Garret

What effect does wiping the oil out versus not have on the operation of the rifle?

I do oil the barrel for storage after i shoot it and typically i forget to wipe it out so im curious.
 
OK, now i know why.

The case shoulders were larger and wouldnt allow the case to seat in the chamber properly.

The difference was about an eigth of an inch!

The fact that my ak would make some of this stuff fit in the chamber is a testiment to the rifles design.

I compared the olympic stuff to two other brands, wolff and some chinese tiger stuff (shrugs), the steel cases would fully seat, the olympic stuff, not so much.

I guess that answers that question.

All is well though, an employee at a local gunshop traded me 500 rounds of wolff for the 544 of olympic i had, aparently his mini 30 likes it.
 
As you already discovered, the problem is Olympic ammo has abysmal quality control and often produces out-of-spec ammo for many different calibers.
 
Hee-hee!

All is well though, an employee at a local gunshop traded me 500 rounds of wolff for the 544 of olympic i had, aparently his mini 30 likes it.
Click to expand...

That says something for Ruger Mini-30's, doesn't it? :eek:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

P
  • Locked
AK-47 vs. AK-74
Replies
12
Views
3K
Prince Yamato
P
M
  • Locked
223 AK mag question
Replies
3
Views
527
Malamute
M
K
  • Locked
AK Problems
Replies
1
Views
361
Matt Dillon
M
S
  • Locked
AK 47 jam! HELP!
2
Replies
35
Views
3K
nathan
N
M
  • Locked
Romanian 75 Rd Drum Problem!
Replies
0
Views
396
Magnuumpwr
M
Back
Top