SMGreen
Member
Over the years I've owned several AK clone rifles (Mak-90, Saiga 7.62x39, WASR-10, among others) and I've never had any real problems.
Recently (upon the suggestion of a friend) I purchased a Yugo M70AB2. I cleaned it up, and took it out to the range. I inserted the magazine, pulled the charging handle all the way to the rear (as I always do) and let it go. To my dismay, the bolt carrier rubbed against the hammer so severely that it stopped the bolt carrier from fully chambering the round. I removed the magazine, then the round, reinserted the magazine, and repeated the process from earlier. The same thing happened. When trying to chamber the first round, it will do this about 2/3 of the time. After getting that first round to chamber, I have no problems whatsoever until the magazine empties, and it's time to reload.
The rifle is properly lubricated, and I am absolutely sure that I'm pulling the charging handle all the way to the rear and letting it fly. There is no doubt in my mind.
I examined the gas block, and there's no cant. I also examined the gas piston, and it did have some slight wear, but nothing more than on any other ak I have. I removed the trigger group, and put the bolt carrier back on the railing, and the friction disappeared. I don't believe the gas piston or gas tube is where this friction is coming from.
I removed the dust cover (so I could see what the problem was) and the bolt, and noticed that the bolt carrier is hanging up on the hammer quite severely. I figured it might be a defective tapco hammer, so I replaced the entire trigger group with the one that's in my Saiga (that I know isn't defective). I've also replaced the hammer spring with one I know isn't defective.
Once the carrier hangs on the hammer, I have to use quite a bit of physical force to push it forward. I know that a little friction is normal, but this seems quite abnormal to me.
I had a spare tapco hammer, so I filed/polished it down quite a bit to see if that would help any. It didn't.
The bolt carrier itself doesn't appear to have any marks on it signifying that it's damaged. I've also tried using other bolt carriers from non-problematic rifles I have, and the problem still exists.
Basically, I'm out of ideas. Does anyone have any advice? I'm not looking to remove that friction entirely, I would just like it to chamber a round when I pulled the charging handle all the way to the rear. All I'm after is reliability, not cosmetics. Any input at all would be helpful. I'll try anything at this point.
Recently (upon the suggestion of a friend) I purchased a Yugo M70AB2. I cleaned it up, and took it out to the range. I inserted the magazine, pulled the charging handle all the way to the rear (as I always do) and let it go. To my dismay, the bolt carrier rubbed against the hammer so severely that it stopped the bolt carrier from fully chambering the round. I removed the magazine, then the round, reinserted the magazine, and repeated the process from earlier. The same thing happened. When trying to chamber the first round, it will do this about 2/3 of the time. After getting that first round to chamber, I have no problems whatsoever until the magazine empties, and it's time to reload.
The rifle is properly lubricated, and I am absolutely sure that I'm pulling the charging handle all the way to the rear and letting it fly. There is no doubt in my mind.
I examined the gas block, and there's no cant. I also examined the gas piston, and it did have some slight wear, but nothing more than on any other ak I have. I removed the trigger group, and put the bolt carrier back on the railing, and the friction disappeared. I don't believe the gas piston or gas tube is where this friction is coming from.
I removed the dust cover (so I could see what the problem was) and the bolt, and noticed that the bolt carrier is hanging up on the hammer quite severely. I figured it might be a defective tapco hammer, so I replaced the entire trigger group with the one that's in my Saiga (that I know isn't defective). I've also replaced the hammer spring with one I know isn't defective.
Once the carrier hangs on the hammer, I have to use quite a bit of physical force to push it forward. I know that a little friction is normal, but this seems quite abnormal to me.
I had a spare tapco hammer, so I filed/polished it down quite a bit to see if that would help any. It didn't.
The bolt carrier itself doesn't appear to have any marks on it signifying that it's damaged. I've also tried using other bolt carriers from non-problematic rifles I have, and the problem still exists.
Basically, I'm out of ideas. Does anyone have any advice? I'm not looking to remove that friction entirely, I would just like it to chamber a round when I pulled the charging handle all the way to the rear. All I'm after is reliability, not cosmetics. Any input at all would be helpful. I'll try anything at this point.
