I AM NOT A GUNSMITH!!!! I'm curious, and like 2 figure out how stuff works, and "fix" problems. Any attempt to duplicate the procedure outlined below may result in catastrophic damage to your rifle, your person, an innocent bystander, a hapless baby seal, or, any combination thereof!!!!!!
Any reference to "cycling" rounds through the action was done w/live rounds, w/the hammer secured in the down position, pointed @ a pile of blankets on the floor. Dummy rounds are an excellent investment!
Got my kid a WASR 4 Xmas and 200rds of Wolf HP ammo. 1st day @ the range, FTF after 1st round fired, no more issues thereafter. Got it home and started playin w/it, and noticed that the 1st problem, is that what passes 4 a feed ramp on the WASR, is actually a 90 degree angled step that catches the lower edge of the HP bullets, right outta the mag. The rounds get stripped outta the mag just fine, but a telltale copper trail is left behind, documenting the beginnings of a damaged bullet. My gun came w/a Tapco 10rd polymer mag, so, your results may vary, but I noticed that the rounds coming from the r side of the mag were hittin just below the chamber. Since I only had 1 FTF during my range session, it was clear that the force of the bolt was able to overcome this, but, at what cost? I manually cycled a mag through the action and inspected the bullets. To my horror, I found half of them (the 1's from the r side of the mag) had 1 side of the "hollow" crimped shut! This can't be good 4 accuracy! Here's what I did:
1. dremeled an angle in the sharply-angled feed ramp, so it actually resembled a ramp.
2. dremeled a shallow chamfer in the bottom of the chamber (approx 8-4 O'clock) WARNING: Gettin carried away w/this step, may result in you, or someone else, gettin carried away, by paramedics!!!! I've seen a few pics of what others have done, and I'd say I'm well below the 50th percentile, as far as the amount of steel removed from the chamber.
3. dremeled approx 1mm of steel (and angled the leading edge) from the bottom of the bolt to give myself clearance to create a real feed ramp. Careful w/this step! I got so focused on my dream of creating a feed ramp, that I didn't consider that the bottom of the bolt is what strips the rounds from the mag! Fortunately, I still have a functioning firearm!
4. Put approx 1.5mm tall bead of JB Weld behind original feed ramp. If you time it right, you can catch the JB when it's not tacky, but still pliable, and you can move the bolt across it to make a track, so you'll know exactly where you need to dremel. Grind the leading edge of the JB Weld to an angle that corresponds to the 1 you put in the original feed ramp.
5. Polish everything to a nice finish!
Once done, I manually cycled rounds, slowly, at 1st, then, full speed. I was delighted to see the bullets from the right side of the mag, now entering the chamber, just above the lower edge, and happily sliding into position. I inspected the rounds I'd cycled at full speed, and found no markings on any of them.
Nxt wknd, I took'er to the range. I fired the 1st mag, 1 at a time, from a position of cover, and inspected each spent case for damage. All good! I then proceeded to hava blast, killin bottles of water, pumpkins, and actual targets.
Proof of my hypothesis regarding the bullets being "crimped" shut prior to my mods:
The 1st time I shot the WASR, I had some small pumpkins, left over from Halloween. I was surprised to find, that, even when hit directly, they didn't explode, and the exit wound, was hardly larger than the entrance wound. After my mods, I shot similar pumpkins, w/dramatically different results! Vaporized is the word that comes to mind!
I've seen ppl who've said just 2 shoot FMJ ammo, because the AK wasn't designed for HP's, and I'm inclined to agree that it clearly wasn't, but, while I can understand the Russian minimalist approach, I don't have to adhere 2 the Geneva Convention, and, honestly, I think, even FMJ ammo could benefit from a gentler journey 2 the chamber.
I wonder how many of the folks lamenting their WASR's poor accuracy, are suffering from deformed bullets, and don't even know it.
Not sure how well the JB'll hold up, but, the concept has been proven. If it fails, I'll spot weld a piece of steel in there nxt time.
Any reference to "cycling" rounds through the action was done w/live rounds, w/the hammer secured in the down position, pointed @ a pile of blankets on the floor. Dummy rounds are an excellent investment!
Got my kid a WASR 4 Xmas and 200rds of Wolf HP ammo. 1st day @ the range, FTF after 1st round fired, no more issues thereafter. Got it home and started playin w/it, and noticed that the 1st problem, is that what passes 4 a feed ramp on the WASR, is actually a 90 degree angled step that catches the lower edge of the HP bullets, right outta the mag. The rounds get stripped outta the mag just fine, but a telltale copper trail is left behind, documenting the beginnings of a damaged bullet. My gun came w/a Tapco 10rd polymer mag, so, your results may vary, but I noticed that the rounds coming from the r side of the mag were hittin just below the chamber. Since I only had 1 FTF during my range session, it was clear that the force of the bolt was able to overcome this, but, at what cost? I manually cycled a mag through the action and inspected the bullets. To my horror, I found half of them (the 1's from the r side of the mag) had 1 side of the "hollow" crimped shut! This can't be good 4 accuracy! Here's what I did:
1. dremeled an angle in the sharply-angled feed ramp, so it actually resembled a ramp.
2. dremeled a shallow chamfer in the bottom of the chamber (approx 8-4 O'clock) WARNING: Gettin carried away w/this step, may result in you, or someone else, gettin carried away, by paramedics!!!! I've seen a few pics of what others have done, and I'd say I'm well below the 50th percentile, as far as the amount of steel removed from the chamber.
3. dremeled approx 1mm of steel (and angled the leading edge) from the bottom of the bolt to give myself clearance to create a real feed ramp. Careful w/this step! I got so focused on my dream of creating a feed ramp, that I didn't consider that the bottom of the bolt is what strips the rounds from the mag! Fortunately, I still have a functioning firearm!
4. Put approx 1.5mm tall bead of JB Weld behind original feed ramp. If you time it right, you can catch the JB when it's not tacky, but still pliable, and you can move the bolt across it to make a track, so you'll know exactly where you need to dremel. Grind the leading edge of the JB Weld to an angle that corresponds to the 1 you put in the original feed ramp.
5. Polish everything to a nice finish!
Once done, I manually cycled rounds, slowly, at 1st, then, full speed. I was delighted to see the bullets from the right side of the mag, now entering the chamber, just above the lower edge, and happily sliding into position. I inspected the rounds I'd cycled at full speed, and found no markings on any of them.
Nxt wknd, I took'er to the range. I fired the 1st mag, 1 at a time, from a position of cover, and inspected each spent case for damage. All good! I then proceeded to hava blast, killin bottles of water, pumpkins, and actual targets.
Proof of my hypothesis regarding the bullets being "crimped" shut prior to my mods:
The 1st time I shot the WASR, I had some small pumpkins, left over from Halloween. I was surprised to find, that, even when hit directly, they didn't explode, and the exit wound, was hardly larger than the entrance wound. After my mods, I shot similar pumpkins, w/dramatically different results! Vaporized is the word that comes to mind!
I've seen ppl who've said just 2 shoot FMJ ammo, because the AK wasn't designed for HP's, and I'm inclined to agree that it clearly wasn't, but, while I can understand the Russian minimalist approach, I don't have to adhere 2 the Geneva Convention, and, honestly, I think, even FMJ ammo could benefit from a gentler journey 2 the chamber.
I wonder how many of the folks lamenting their WASR's poor accuracy, are suffering from deformed bullets, and don't even know it.
Not sure how well the JB'll hold up, but, the concept has been proven. If it fails, I'll spot weld a piece of steel in there nxt time.
