AK47 Jam - Help!

[HGM22]

Hi All,

Was wondering if anyone had any ideas as to why my Yugo M70 AK47 jammed, and any ideas to prevent it from occurring again. The jam occurred at the shooting range using Wolf FMJ ammo. I loaded up 5 rounds into a mag and fired 2 rounds fine. The third round fired but did not eject. When I tried pulling back the bolt handle it would only move slightly rearwards. However, I was able to unlock the bolt (but not able to pull the bolt all the way back). I think, but am not sure, that the bolt was not fully forward after firing the third round.

I actually ended up having to take an empty mag and using it as a hammer to force the bolt back. The first time I knocked the bolt back the fired round stayed seated and rechambered. The second time I used more force and the round was ejected. The spent casing did not appear to be unusual in any way. I did not fire any more rounds just in case there was something seriously wrong with the gun (was thinking maybe a headspace issue).

I'm going to take a stab at this and say that maybe there was just too much fouling in the chamber and the expanded steel case got hung up in the fouling (probably fired 250 rounds without cleaning). On this day I had only 25ish rounds through it spread over 30 or more minutes, so I do not think it was hot enough for the polymer on the ammo to have melted and gummed up the gun. However, this is only the speculation of a relative newby, so I'd appreciate any input you guys (and gals) might have.

 

[WardenWolf]

That's weird. Very weird. My advice: take a chamber brush to it, and oil those locking lugs and the channel where the bolt interacts with the carrier.

From what I've read, the Yugo M70 doesn't have a chrome-lined barrel and chamber. This is an important feature because it prevents fouling from building up and casings from sticking. And it sounds like exactly what you are experiencing. Steel-cased ammo doesn't expand to seal the chamber as well as brass does, resulting in the chamber becoming fouled until the fouling + the expansion is sufficient to seal the chamber. However, eventually too much fouling can build up and jam the gun.

Fouling, combined with it being a new gun where the bolt and other components haven't quite broken in yet, seems to be the most likely culprit. Hate to say it, but should have bought a WASR or an Arsenal SGL-21. They're chrome-lined at least and potentially a heck of a lot cheaper.

 

[SC_Ed]

It was probably grunge in the chamber. This is also the time of year when shooters carry their firearms to the range in a air conditioned car or truck. When taken out of the vehicle the gun is a moisture magnet causing bad things to happen.

 

[dom1104]

It was probably grunge in the chamber. This is also the time of year when shooters carry their firearms to the range in a air conditioned car or truck. When taken out of the vehicle the gun is a moisture magnet causing bad things to happen.

Lo the mighty AK 47. Put together by nigerian peasents, can run for 2000 years without cleaning and never... ever... jam.



Or maybe its just another gun and stuff happens.

 

[zhyla]

That really sounds like out of spec ammo.

 

[tescrex]

Same thing happened with my M70. I found out that my bolt was basically scraping off polymer bits from ProMags (yeah yeah, I know better now) and shoving it into the chamber which caused some nasty gunk build up.

Been using Bulgy polymer mags now, much better.

 

[wally]

Lo the mighty AK 47. Put together by nigerian peasents, can run for 2000 years without cleaning and never... ever... jam.

True until you let Century assemble them and feed them with Pro-Mags. Yugos are also "out of spec" since they don't have chromed chambers and bores.

I suspect well be seeing a lot more of this now that barrels are not allowed in with the parts kits.

 

[Hizzie]

Using an empty magazine as a hammer. God I love the AK!

 

[WardenWolf]

Well, the problem here is two-fold. The third-world AK's have very loose tolerances. Their chambers and such are larger, their bolts lock up looser, and thus fouling and lack of chrome lining don't affect them as much. Here, though, you have a gun built to modern high-industrial tolerances without a chrome-lined barrel. Tight tolerances + lack of chrome lining = a very finicky gun. It's the exact same thing that caused problems with the early M-16's.

Basically: the idiot who built it managed to put together an AK with all the problems of an early M-16 by combining tight-tolerance but low-quality parts. My advice: sell it and buy a WASR. Your best bet is to just walk away from this gun.