Help with WASR 10/63 Safety

[karaz45]

Hello

I recently acquired a Romanian WASR 10/63 AK Variant dirt cheap. My first AK. I got it dirt cheap. I took it to the range an immediately noticed a malfunction. I wanted to get a feel for the rifle so I was firing three rounds at at a target 50 yards away. I inserted a 30 round mag loaded with 10 rounds into the mag well, charged the rifle and fired off a three round without any problems. I put the safety in the up position so I could reposition myself on the bench. I returned to my shooting form, aimed at the target and pulled the trigger. A round fired down range but when I pulled the trigger a second time nothing happened. I thought failure to feed and removed the mag and immediately noticed the safety was still "engaged." So, the chambered round was still able to be fired while the safety was in the up position. The safety didnt allow the next round to be feed into the rifle. I purposely recreated this scenario a few times and the results were the same. That is probably why I got it so cheap. Is this common for the AK rifle? Any help would be great?

 

[VintovkaMosin]

It should not allow the hammer to drop, you do have a problem, but the safety does block the carrier from chambering again. Have a smith look at the safety.

 

[mgregg85]

This is why it is important to function check all new firearms and to periodically function check your other firearms, especially after disassembly/reassembly.

I thought the safety on the AK blocked the carrier from moving completely to the rear(its dust cover role), so that would mean that the safety doesn't work at all, it just prevents the weapon from properly cycling after it fires.

The only advice I can give you is to not use it anymore and get it to a gunsmith soon.

 

[seanie!]

I think I might know what's going on.

From what you said about the rifle being able to fire with the safety on, but not cycle, you may have some material missing from your safety lever. Forgive the terrible use of paint, but here are some pictures of what a functioning safety looks like:

When the safety is NOT engaged, there is a visible gap between the safety and the trigger hook.


When the safety IS engaged, the safety is moved over the trigger hook, which doesn't allow the trigger to release the sear.


If you have any missing material from your safety in the area circled, it could allow the trigger to be pulled, releasing the sear, and firing the rifle. Since the safety lever is still in the top position, this would prevent the bolt from moving back and chambering another round, which sounds like it's exactly the same problem you're having.


This could just be a bad safety lever, or an amateur "gun smith" job, to some guy tinkering with the safety on his kitchen table. Hopefully this helps out.

 

[Deus Machina]

Very likely a botched trigger job. I just had a look at mine while oilling, and it's not far from releasing even with the safety on.

Not sure how likely, but it may be possible the internal part is twisted out of sync with the lever, too.

Either way, take it to a smith. At the very least, replace the safety and/or the trigger assembly, depending on if you can figure out which is faulty.

Would be an excellent time to put in a bolt-hold-open safety, anyway, if it doesn't have a way to lock it open already.

 

[karaz45]

Thanks for the help. I took it to a smith and he said it would beto best to open the whole trigger group and safety up. He gave me some options for replacing even an upgraded trigger. The only rifle only cost me $150, why I jumped on buying it and gives me alot of room for mods

 

[bri]

Is it really necessary to have a gunsmith work on an AK? You can purchase the entire FCG new, for around $30 and throw it in yourself...