AK-47 troubles - need help (pic)

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Lightsped

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Went out and shot my AK-47 SAR1 yestrday for the first time. It started off doing fairly well. After 20 or so rounds we started to get frequent FTF after cocking the gun (first round).

I don't know if it was the ammo or the magazine, but it seemed like if I just loaded one or two rounds, it would feed better when the gun was cocked.

I eventually just put the gun aside and used my others as I wasn't sure if there was a serious problem or just that my gun didn't like my particular ammo.

Pic below showing some of the Remmington rounds that FTF when cocking the gun. Note how the tip of the bullet is all dented, and how one bullet is pressed back into the shell.

myak47ammo.jpg


Any ideas? Thanks
 
Did you try different magaines? The round may not be feeding properly, causing it to nose dive into the ramp (granted I don't know squat about AKs, but I had similar problems in an AR).
 
By "cocking the gun", do you mean racking the action with a mag seated to chamber a round?

My guess would be some sort of nose diving as well. Make sure your mag was seated correctly.
 
Try it with FMJ and see if the problem persists.
Quite a few AK clones have a lousy "feed ramp" so the softpoints may be dragging on poorly machined metal and hanging up.
 
Seems pretty much like a mag issue, tho seems rare that we get probs like this. Check for full engagement of mag catch and slowly feed rounds manually (with gun in safe direction, of course) ....... and watch bullet tip as it moves forward.

There is no feed ramp per se .. just a chamfer at lower portion of chmaber .. like on many semi's ... L1A1 of mine is similar tho has chamfers either side.

I looked at my chamber mouth ... there is quite noticable copper deposition so I expect the bullet nose will always scuff a bit but if presented too low then it would do what seems to be happening to your bullets.

So .. carefully assess the feed .... quite what is wrong with mag set-up, not sure right now. Oh and .. have you stripped and cleaned mags yet? Could be the follower is not free and you could have round stripping off from too low .....below feed lips.

Let's hear what you find.
 
The setback on the Remington ammo is scary, you could have a casehead blow out from overpressure on a round like the one pictured. If you can stick with Wolf, but my guess is that you are using the remington UMC because the range you shoot at does not allow steel cased ammo.
 
The setback on the Remington ammo is scary, you could have a casehead blow out from overpressure on a round like the one pictured.
Click to expand...

I've had the same thing happen with my SKS. First round of Remington FMJ, it fired twice for my one pull. The third round ALMOST fed and it had the bullet pressed almost 2/3s of it's length into the case. :eek:

I suggest trying some Wolf or Barnaul FMJs. And perhaps someone else's working magazine.
 
Definitely try someone else's magazine known to work.

What size mag were you using when this happened? I have heard that the 10-round PC magazines that come with the gun are often rather out-of-spec. A former coworker of mine with a SAR-1 could barely get his 10-rounder into the mag well, but surplus 30-rounders fit perfectly.

If the magazine is not the problem, contact Century (assuming that was the importer) and they'll probably fix it or get you a new one. A properly functioning AK clone will NOT do stuff like that.
 
Yow!

Can't say I've ever had a problem like that with my SAR -- one FTF in 800+ rounds, due to the fact I forgot to push the lever that holds the gas tube back into it's holding notch --- still, the rifle kept chugging along until the tube nearly fell off of it -- 100% operator induced error. :eek:

I can't add too much here, but I'd check your mags first thing. I've never noticed a difference between seating full and empty mags. I did pick up a pair of 40 round mags with excess metal on the top rear which were pretty darn hard to get in or out of the SAR, until I filed it away.

One other possibility: are you sure the mags are properly seated in the rifle? It is possible to get an AK mag to lock into my SAR, even though it is really canted 5 to 10 degrees forward. If you hear the solid "AK click" when the mag seats, don't worry about this.

But it really does sound like the feed ramp. Time for a factory replacement?
 
ouch...

try a working mag with some good ol' Russian FMJ ammo. Also, only load a round or 2 in the mag as well for the time being.


My 10 round magazine doesnt even fit in my SAR1


oh well, my 15 30rounders all seem to work just fine


:D
 
I had a similar problem to that when I had my norinco MAK-90 a few years ago. Would dent the nose of every bullet that fed into the chamber and it even jammed a couple times and refused to feed. I always found that interesting myself seeing as how I've heard umpteen times about how an AK "never jams" and the AR's are the ones with the problems. I eventually traded in the MAK for my current Bushmaster shorty AR and have not had one hiccup or problem with it yet.
 
Thanks for the replies and ideas. The mag that I was using was the 40 rounder that came with this gun.

When inserting this mag, it is slightly difficult to get the mag in the gun correctly. Once the mag is in, you do hear and feel a nice "click", so I am 95% sure the mag is seated correctly. I will recheck this when I get home.

I don't want to (and probally won't) go through the trouble of sending the gun back to Century.

Like I said earlier, the gun worked great for the first 20 or so WInchester rounds. We only started getting this problem after firing about 20 rounds of Remington.....
 
Hrmm.. I'm gonna agree it sounds like a mag issue.

My SAR-1 only has a little ledge some distance below the flat face of the barrel, that could only generously be called a "feed ramp" as it does impact the case of the cartridge during the firing cycle. Certainly there's NOTHING like the little feed ramp cut-outs in the barrel like on an AR or FAL or M1A or... come to think of it, just about any autoloader I've seen.

Honestly, when I first looked at the darn thing I was rather dubious it would work, and yet it seems to chug along just fine.. not a single failure yet.


-K
 
Examine the feed ramp as well...is it loose at all? (usually riveted in place) Is the edge smooth?
 
The "feed ramp" that I spoke of can be a hunk of smooth metal or a built up wad of steel depending on who built the gun.
With mention of the 40 rounder I'd go with the groups opinion on the magazine being the problem.
At least it isn't a bum AUG mag.
 
It's the soft point ammo your using. Switch to FMJ and the problem will go away. The feed ramps in AK' s don't like SP period!
 
some ak's aren't as finicky on ammo as others. My MAK90 will feed just about anything (i.e. soft points, hp, fmj, eg plastic rounds), as does my buddies SAR1. Sometimes on the "feed ramp" there could be a roughness to it and it could use a little polishing. Mostly though it would be the mag angle. I had a similar problem with an AK drum that I found was my error when inserting the mag. Once I pulled the drum out and reinserted it, the rounds fed fine. Have you tried any other mags yet?
 
I'd try a different magazine, my Romanian came with 30rdrs and they both feed great, I even went thru a half case of hollowpoints with no failure to feeds.

I do have ejection problems, but I don't want to hijack your thread. I'll post a seperate thread.
 
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