AK 47 Problem

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rugmar

rugmar

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Recently purchased a GP 1975 from CAI. After shooting it a few times (3 or 4magazines) I noticed several jams. Upon inspection, I found the charging handle, when brought to the rear would feel like it was getting stuck or having to go over a hump. This was not just the act of cocking the rifle but even if pulling back the charging handle while the gun was already cocked. The charging handle will also get stuck on the closing stroke if you don't let it slam home.

After looking the gun over thoroughly, it appears the problem is, the top of the bolt carrier is rubbing the top left portion of the hole through the rear sight block.

Anyone ever seen this problem before? Any ideas how to fix?

Thanks!
 
That's a common thing for AKs. The carrier is hitting the top of the hammer. After a few hundred rounds it'll smooth out some, but it probably will not go away. And that's fine, it's probably not the cause of your jams

What kind of magazines are you using?
 
On a Century build I'd make sure the frame is bent correctly so the bolt doesn't come up off the rails and catch the round in the extraction groove instead of the base -- which is about the only AK failure I've seen -- either bad rails or bad mag has caused this in my experience.

For me its was always the mags except once where the frame was not fully bent. An improvised press with a couple of large C clamps moved it in the necessary 1mm or so. No failures since.

That "hanging on the hammer" thing in slow cycling is normal.

--wally.
 
I am currently using the tapco magazines that came with the rifle and one unknown metal-bodied magazine. The problem seems to be the same regardless of which magazine is being used. I am wondering if some polishing on top of the bolt carrier might be beneficial?

I'm not too sure about the problem Wally describes with the rails. Can you eliborate?
 
Buy a few com-bloc steel mags and see if the problem continues. Tapco mags are infamous for turning an otherwise good rifle into a jam-o-matic. Throw them away and save yourself the frustration.

BTW, the proper way to charge an AK is to let the bolt slam home under the full power of the spring. You shouldn't ride the bolt forward and slow it down. ANY AK will fail to close if you ride the bolt forward. I agree with Nalioth, don't polish (grind) anything until you figure out what the problem is. 3-4 mags are not enough to judge if there is really an issue especially with Tapco mags in the mix. Shoot it some more more with different (steel) mags and you'll likely find there is not problem after all.
 
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Cycle it slowly (unloaded) with the top cover off. You can see if the bolt and/or carrier come up off their "rails".
 
I polished the bolt and hammer face where they make contact until it ran smoothly. I DID NOT REMOVE A LOT OF MATERIAL! Just polished the edges of the bolt carrier and smoothed the hammer face. I also polished the weld that Century places on the gas piston so it was smooth.

Worked like a charm on mine.
 
Sometimes the gas tube is not correctly seated. This seems to happen during the building/rebuilding process. If the builder doesn't understand why the lever can't be swung into place they start grinding on the part of the gas tube that they think is causing the problem. Eventually the lever swings into place but the gas tube is still not seated correctly. Sometimes it's the wrong gas tube and won't seat until material is taken off at the bottom so it will be the same shape. Like others have said though you need to know what the problem is before taking any material off.
 
They are mil spec and steel-reinforced, so what sort of problems? I own an SLR-95 and they work fine...
 
never could get them to feed right.....had 5 30rd's and sold them....i take any steel mag and tweak the lips and a little gridin' with the dremel as far as straight mags goes....this here is the best out of the box i'v ever had.... Chinese 75rd drum...
2dvpdtd.jpg
 
So you guys are saying forget the problem of the bolt carrier rubbing heavily as it goes through the rear sight block and just buy some good magazines?

Seems to me like that would be putting a bandaid on the problem. While I fully agree that the Tapco mags may not feed the best or possibly not at all, I can't see where buying and using ANY other magazine would stop the bolt carrier from rubbing on the rear sight block. The Tapco mags came with the rifle. I will get some good ones.

Back to the problem of the bolt carrier rubbing the rear sight block, does anyone have advice how to fix that? I realize as others have stated, the charging handle should not be ridden forward. I don't do this when normally operating a semi-auto. However, even if it's not the proper way to charge the firearm, it still should not rub on the rear sight block.
 
rugmar said:
The Tapco mags came with the rifle.
Click to expand...
The Tapco mags are the cheapest POS' that Century could buy in quantity. They "came with the gun", but the gun didn't come from a Kalashnikov factory. It came from a drunk-monkey-works run by bean-counters.

They could have spent a few more pennies for surefires or master molders and had far less (if any) magazine issues.

Century is not known for it's high quality in-house firearm production (buyers are lucky to get "adequately functional")
 
rugmar said:
So you guys are saying forget the problem of the bolt carrier rubbing heavily as it goes through the rear sight block and just buy some good magazines?

Seems to me like that would be putting a bandaid on the problem. While I fully agree that the Tapco mags may not feed the best or possibly not at all, I can't see where buying and using ANY other magazine would stop the bolt carrier from rubbing on the rear sight block. The Tapco mags came with the rifle. I will get some good ones.

Back to the problem of the bolt carrier rubbing the rear sight block, does anyone have advice how to fix that? I realize as others have stated, the charging handle should not be ridden forward. I don't do this when normally operating a semi-auto. However, even if it's not the proper way to charge the firearm, it still should not rub on the rear sight block.
Click to expand...

Again, the bolt carrier "hanging up" on the hammer when it is slowly hand-cycled is completely normal and is not a concern. It is also normal for rub marks to be visible on the bolt carrier where it enters the front trunion. As for "rubbing heavily"... well, that's pretty subjective. I bet it's rubbing lightly up front, and all the resistance you're feeling is from the bolt carrier/hammer interface. An AK will NEVER give you the smooth-feeling cycle of a bolt gun or many other autos. It's just not made for smoothness.

As Nalioth said, Century is well known for turning out extremely shoddy builds with little to no quality control, so you may really have a problem gun. However, it's SOP to start with the simplest/cheapest fix (and most likely cause) and get some good mags. If that fails, then you can delve into more complicated solutions or attempt to get Century to make good.
 
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AK problems

I would just send it back to Century and have it straighten it out. I have an WASR that came with 2 Tapcos and I do not have any problems. The Tapcos in my experience and from what I have seen, heard and read in different publications like Small Arms Review give them a good rating. In fact Eastern European mags, Russian mags and Chinese all get a good rating. The Bulgarians are very stout. Just send your rifle back and get it warrantied and disregard all of the dreck you hear. Its your rifle get your moneys worth. I will concede that sometimes Century sends out a dog but having worked for a firearms distributor all of them do at one time or another. Its a mechanical apparatus made by human beings. Some will work even if they are not up to standards. Also dont start modifying your mags thats the opener for more problems. Good Luck.
 
bolt rub/stove pipe

I have a GP 1975 century akm. My bolt stick was my hammer I polished it till it smoothed my action. Your hammer is slamming the bolt carrier up into the reciever locking it up and causing it to hit the rear sight block ! My stove pipe was a weak exctracter spring and worn exctracter. NOT THE MAGS! Hope this helps
 
Smooth the hammer face and apply some light grease. Shoot more , it will get smoother as more rounds fired.
 
Yes, it is fixed now. It seems the pin/weld (couldn't really tell which it was) that holds the gas piston to the bolt carrier was the culprit. Just a small hump of metal sticking up slightly. I filed it down and smoothed it with a little emery cloth and it works like a charm now.

Recently added one of the Timbersmith wooden stock sets, an UltiMAK rail,and a Burris red dot sight. I'm starting to really like this thing a lot.

Sorry I didn't get back to let you know the problem has been rectified.
 
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